A memorial service held at the Newtown Campus on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attack, showed that two years have not healed the emotional wounds of that day.

Pain at the loss of so many lives and our own innocence; longing for the brotherhood we embraced in the aftermath; and hope for a better, safer future were recurring sentiments expressed both during and after the brief but touching tribute.

Nick Orrison, a Student Government counselor-at-large who helped plan the event, was pleased by the turnout and response. “I’m glad to see everyone come together in a time of need to remember something so important,” he said.

Eileen Zolotorofe of the Foundations Office appreciated the memorial service.

“It takes something like this [tribute] to bring you back to what is important,” she said.

Eric Vanderslice, a 19-year-old cinema-video major from Croydon thought the ceremony was very moving.

“It almost brought a tear to my eye thinking about all that was said.”

As participants read tributes and shared experiences from that fateful day, those in the audience stood in reflective silence. As speakers took their turn at the podium, faces in the crowd had a look of haunting numbness that was our universal countenance on that tragic fall morning.

Derek Meyers, 19, a liberal arts major, was moved by the speakers’ words.

“They brought back memories that were very painful,” he said, “but I hope we will all remember – that generations will all remember. I feel anger and sadness and at the same time hope and pride,” he said.

Meyers also expressed a wish that all the good that followed the tragedy would continue; “It [the events of 9/11] made us stronger and brought us together.”

Like many, Meyers expressed a hope for the future but confessed to sometimes feeling uncertain.

“What’s going to happen,” he asked. “Could it happen again?”