Razorbacks Remember: University of Arkansas to Hold Memorial for Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks

Photo Submitted

Students are raising money to install a memorial flagpole in front of Old Main. An early flagpole can be seen behind cadets about 1910.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Many of today’s traditional college students were not even teenagers when terrorists commandeered four commercial airliners and used them to attack New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, but the events of that day are something with which they have all grown up, a central underlying event of their generation.

For another member of the campus community, alumna Sara Elizabeth Low, the events of that day ended her life. Low, who grew up in Batesville and earned business degrees at the University of Arkansas, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the plane that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

In honor of Low and the other 2,752 people who died as a result of the terrorist attacks, students at the University of Arkansas have organized memorial events commemorating the 10^th anniversary of Sept. 11 that include placing flags on the Central Quad for each of the victims, raising funds for a permanent memorial flagpole on the Old Main lawn, a campuswide blood drive and volunteer opportunities.

“I originally began working on a much smaller 10th anniversary program,” said Matthew Seubert, a junior political science and economics major and member of the University of Arkansas Honors College. “Early in the process I sought out other organizations to help grow the events. After just a few meetings I knew this would turn into a great deal more than a small program with events. Everyone I have worked with on this initiative has taken a deep interest in seeing it succeed. I think this speaks to how much the Sept. 11^th attacks affected us as a country, and also affected my generation.”

Some of the groups helping with the Razorbacks Remember events are the Associated Student Government, Residents’ Interhall Congress, Volunteer Action Center, University Programs, Greek Life, University Athletics, ROTC, and other registered student organizations including the Al-Islam Student Association.

There is a fundraising effort as part of the memorial events. The funds being raised will be used to purchase and install a new flagpole on the lawn of Old Main. During Razorbash this past week, students held a fundraiser called Hog Tees, in which anyone could pay $1 for a T-shirt that had been donated by individuals and departments across campus. This effort garnered more than $1,200 to be used for the flagpole memorial.

“These programs and fundraising efforts, and the voracity with which students have pursued them, are emblematic of how the attacks have hung over our growing-up experience and dominated the national discourse during our formative years,” Seubert said.

Another scheduled event is a blood drive sponsored by the Al-Islam Student Association, the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and its registered student organization. .

“The victims of 9/11 need to be honored,” said Hameed Naseem, professor of electrical engineering and faculty adviser to Al-Islam. “It is important that we come out and do our part. This blood drive is part of a nationwide effort known as the Muslims for Life Campaign.”

The Volunteer Action Center is organizing two activities to recognize Sept. 11 memorial week as a national week for volunteering and giving back to local communities.

The memorial events wrap up on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 6:40 p.m. with a candlelight vigil, a flagpole dedication on the lawn of Old Main and an address by Chancellor G. David Gearhart, looking out across the Old Main lawn to a maple tree that was planted in 2002 in memory of Sara Low.

Schedule of events is:

• Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 5
• 6 to 8 p.m.: Placing of flags on Central Quad between Mullins Library and the Arkansas Union.
• Tuesday, Sept. 6
• 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Volunteer Action Center volunteers at Leverett Elementary School.
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Blood Drive in Parking Lot 67 near the HPER building.
• Wednesday, Sept. 7
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Blood Drive in Parking Lot 67 near the HPER building
• 12:30 p.m., chalk artist Richard Hight will create a series of patriotic-themed chalk drawings on the Central Quad between Mullins Library and the Arkansas Union to commemorate the events of Sept. 11.
• Thursday, Sept. 8
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Blood Drive in Yocum Hall.
• Saturday, Sept. 10
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Volunteer Action Center volunteers at Wilson Springs for Audubon Society Restoration Project.
• Sunday, Sept. 11
• 6:40 to 7:30 p.m. Candlelight Vigil on Old Main Lawn to dedicate the memorial flagpole.

In addition, the football game between Arkansas and New Mexico on Sept. 10 in Little Rock has been designated Razorbacks Remember in tribute to the anniversary. The department of intercollegiate athletics is asking all fans to participate in the Red, White and Blue Out by wearing alternating red or white depending on their seat location inside War Memorial Stadium. Fans in odd-numbered sections are asked to wear white, and fans in even-numbered sections are asked to wear red.