Kappa Sigma leads 9/11 memorial service

Today marked the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Somber faces, tearful eyes and warm hearts were seen on every news channel throughout the day. People gathered by the thousands in New York, Washington D.C., and other major cities across the world.

In Australia, for example, people wore red, white and blue shirts and made a giant American flag. E-mails circulated that asked everyone to drive their car with their lights on during the day. Red, white and blue were the popular colors to wear. Everyone was just a little bit nicer; everyone took that extra step to appreciate one another. The American Spirit was standing tall and proud.

On a smaller scale, the Kappa Sigma fraternity held their own September 11 commemorations at Georgia College & State University. The remembrance started with the lighting of the Olympic Torch followed with a moment of silence at 8:48 a.m.; the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Following the moment of silence, the names of all 2,823 victims of the attacks were read.

The GC&SU Jazz band set the mood with patriotic music while Milledgeville firefighters and police, campus police and students and faculty discussed their feelings and recited poems. Kappa Sigma’s dedicated their September 11 memorial on this day.

“We wanted to place a memorial to remember everyone,” said Kappa Sigma vice president Charles Preston. “This attack affected everyone-all races, genders, ethnicities, everyone. We felt that we needed to do something and get everyone involved since it involved
everyone.”

The planning for the ceremony began in the summer. On a national level, the Kappa Sigma fraternity lost five of its brothers.

“That really hit home. I personally did not loose anyone that I knew but because my fraternity was affected, it really hit home and made me realize that it could have been anyone,” said Kappa Sigma president Chris Whitley. “It made it that much more real.”

After the idea formed, the Kappa Sigma’s pieced it together and presented their idea to the school after which everyone wanted to help.

“We wanted everyone’s involvement,” said Preston.

After permission from the school, Dr. Rosemary DePaolo got all of the contributing parties on the same page. Aside from Kappa Sigma, other organizations and people helped. Gamma Sigma Sigma, who lost a member in the attack, the Wesley House, international students and GC&SU Public Safety played key roles in the commemoration as well. National Panhellenic Council, the Student Government Association president Keith Woodruff, the National President of Kappa Sigma and the Capital Cloggers also attended.

“We had great help from Dr. DePaolo, Kendall Stiles, Eddie Howard, Bruce Harshbarger, Max Allen and our alumni advisor Craig Henry. He helped us get everything together,” said Preston.

Also in attendance were city and county firefighters, Milledgeville police, Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies and local EMS. In all, around 200 people attended the remembrance.

“I wanted to stay but there was such an understood undertone of sadness that I couldn’t,” said junior Amanda O’Donnell.

“Seeing the international students speak really gave me an idea of how it affected everyone,” said Preston. “It just shows how the whole world was affected. In every town across the United States, someone knows someone who was lost or lost someone. The scar runs deep.”

“I was proud that we did something. Not so we could get any credit but just that we all came together and did something as a school. I was really happy about the turnout and happy to be involved in something this big,” said Whitley. “I feel a kinship with everyone just because I am an American and my heart goes out to the victims. I was looking at the flag today while we were singing the Star Spangled Banner and my heart was beating so fast. I knew it wasn’t because I was nervous but because I was just so proud to be an American.”

While many people did attend ceremonies to remember the worst attack on the United States in history, many people had their own way of commemorating the one year anniversary.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 13 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry