Cheryl Seligman, Presentation Editor
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, UR will pay tribute to the lives that were lost and the devastation that rocked the world with a series of community service events, memorial ceremonies and concerts this weekend.
Many of the events that UR has planned this year focus on community service. The Rochester Center for Community Leadership (RCCL) has not officially organized anything for the day in the past because of Wilson Day and Be the Change Day, which are about a week before and a week after Sept. 11, respectively, said Glenn Cerosaletti, who is the Director of the center.
According to Cerosaletti, clubs and organizations made more of an effort this year in honor of it being the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
Students will be volunteering this Sunday around Rochester from 1 to 4 p.m., and graduates from the Rochester Youth program will serve as project coordinators. The RCCL, which is sponsoring the service opportunities, will provide transportation to and from the events. Events will focus on helping community members through activities like cleaning, organizing, painting and beautification, Cerosaletti said.
One key part of Sept. 11 was how people were struck by the ways in which communities and the country came together,” Cerosaletti said. “The strength of the national community, as a whole, is what we should carry forward and not let go of, and I hope that’s what we’ll be facilitating through our service projects this Sunday.”
There will be a Remembrance Wall set up along the fence bordering the new Warner School building. The fence will be covered with fabric so that students can write and paint their feelings and thoughts as they reflect on the events of Sept. 11.
The Memorial Art Gallery will hold a commemorative concert Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. Poet William Heyen will read from an anthology of works of American writers. The event will alternate between reading, dancing and Baroque organ playing by Eastman School Professor of Organ Hans Davidsson.
The Bosnian Female Choir will also perform a remembrance concert on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m.
Karyn Schmidt, a doctoral candidate in the biochemistry department at UR’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, said she thought UR has done “an amazing job of giving students a myriad of opportunities to express their thoughts and come together to honor the lives which were lost.”
Schmidt received the Jeremy Glick Scholarship during the 2005-2006 academic year, and said she is grateful to have been awarded the honor for the courage displayed by Jeremy Glick, class of 1993, who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
Six UR alumni died on Sept. 11, 2001. Three had just settled into their offices in the World Trade Center, two were flying on United Flight 93 when it crashed in Pennsylvania, and one had gone to help survivors escape the towers.
“These events are paying a good tribute to the people affected by Sept. 11, especially in Rochester,” Senior Adrian Goodwin said. “We live in New York, and that’s where it happened. Something has to be done to commemorate, so it’s good that UR is doing all this.”
“Sept. 11 is a memory that will remain with many of us for the rest of our lives,” President Joel Seligman said in a statement. “It is fitting to pause and reflect on the meaning of the events of that terrible Tuesday morning- — what we lost, and how we have endured.”
Acosta is a member of the class of 2012.
