On Sept. 11, 2001, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks by militant Islamic supporters of Al Qaida and Osama Bin Laden were carried out. 19 people hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed them into the two tallest towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and into the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Va. A passenger rebellion on the fourth plane caused it to crash in a field near Shanksville, Penn. instead of its intended destination. A combined 2,986 people died directly from these events.
Cornell attempted to find its own peace with the attacks and focused its energy toward helping victims and their families.
University officials quickly set up televisions across campus to inform students about the incidents. Classes were not cancelled, however.
“There were TVs in Willard Straight Hall and a pull-down screen in Baker to let people know what was going on,” said Gerren Faustini ’04, in the Sept. 12 issue of The Sun. “I don’t think a lot of people were shaken up until later when it hit them — they weren’t really fazed by it until later in the day.”
Thousands gathered on the Arts Quad late in the afternoon of Sept. 11 for a candlelight vigil arranged by members of the Student Assembly. President Hunter R. Rawlings III expressed his sorrow and offered words of hope for the future. He also commended students at Cornell’s Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College in New York City for donating blood and helping injured victims.
On Sept. 12, about 100 students gathered on Ho Plaza for a non-denominational prayer service organized by Cornell United Religious Works and the Office for Student and Academic Services.
Sept. 14 was declared a national day of prayer and remembrance by President George W. Bush; Rawlings cancelled midday classes for a University-wide memorial that attracted over 12,000 members of the Cornell community.
With the Star Spangled Banner playing from McGraw Tower, Rawlings spoke of Cornell as a beacon of hope.
“Cornell is united in its condemnation of terrorism. Cornell is united in sympathy for the innocent victims of violence and hatred,” he said.
Administrators started funds for disaster relief to be donated to the Red Cross, the United Way and alumni victim’s families. Student groups of all types organized fundraisers and other disaster relief events. Greek organizations raised a combined $15,000 by Sept. 19. The Muslim Educational and Cultural Association collected almost $2,000 for the Sept. 11 Disaster Relief Fund and Scholarship Fund and helped educate people about the distinction between the Sept. 11 perpetrators and Arabs and Muslims at Cornell and around the world.
“We are mourning just like all other Americans,” said Nassir Memon ’04, a MECA member, at a memorial event on Sept. 17. “We have lost friends in the bombing.”
Many professors, administrators and students echoed the sentiment of MECA, reminding students to be tolerant. Nassim Majidi ’03, who was president of the Iranian Students Association at the time, and Gershon Lewental ’03 founded the Sept. 11 Israeli, Arab, Middle Eastern Students Remembrance Coalition, which held its own candlelight vigil on Sept. 20 to encourage tolerance.
No Cornell students at the Medical College, in the Cornell-in-Washington program or Cooperative Extension workers were injured in the attacks.
Several alumni, however, were.
Eamon McEneaney ’77, a world champion lacrosse player and an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, was one of the first alumni confirmed dead after Sept. 11. Alumni who were worried about the well-being of other Cornellians were able to access a special website designed in the days following Sept. 11. The website allowed alumni to post their names, signaling to friends that they were not harmed in the attacks. Alumni were also able to use this website to discuss their emotions.
University Police Deputy Director Curt Ostrander felt campus safety was not threatened and said that security was not increased on the Ithaca campus.
Instead, administrators brought extra mental health officials to campus; members of CURW and Empathy, Assistance and Referral Service were also available to students for help.
“We are focusing on the campus community,” said Susan H. Murphy ’73, vice president for student and academic services, in the Sept. 12 issue of The Sun. “We’ve put counselors and support staff in residence halls and community centers on campus to help students, faculty and staff whose families may be affected by this disaster.”
Outside of Cornell’s campus, the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport was closed by the Federal Aviation Administration following news of the attacks. The FAA placed a ban on all national air traffic.
Though air travel resumed shortly thereafter in Ithaca and nationwide, the local airport received far fewer travelers for a short period after Sept. 11. About three of the eighteen flights were cancelled every day during September 2001. Compared to major airports, however, local changes were minimal.
“Security measures have been ramped up to a higher level causing delays for getting people checked in,” said Airport Manager Robert Nicholas in a Sept. 25 issue of The Sun.
Additionally, primaries for Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca and towns of Enfield and Newfield, scheduled for Sept. 11, were postponed by The New York State Board of Elections around 12:15 that day. The primaries were later rescheduled for Sept. 25.