Remembering Sept. 11 attacks 25 years later
By Dylan Pichnarcik
Editor-in-Chief
Twenty-five years ago, America, and the world, stopped.
Broadcasts changed to breaking news coverage as two planes flown by individuals identified as al-Qaeda terrorists were flown into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York, NY, at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m.
These events were particularly impactful for those living in Massachusetts, as the two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, originated from Boston’s Logan Airport.
Even closer to home, 17 people from Framingham lost their lives.
Just 34 minutes later, at 9:37 a.m., a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A final hijacked plane crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m.
The attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 would claim the lives of 2,977.
Neilie Heffernan Casey, Barbara Keating, Linda George, Lisa Fenn Gordenstein, Meta Fuller Waller, Laura Lee Morabito, Tara Shea Creamer, Charlie Murphy, Paige Farley Hackel, Judith Larocque, Todd Hill, Christine Barbuto, Susan Mackay, Herbert W. Homer, John J. Wenckus, Robin Kaplan, and Darin H. Pontell all called Framingham home and would have driven by campus often during their daily lives. It’s likely they still have family living in the city.
Each of these individuals is now honored in a monument at Cushing Memorial Park in Framingham.
Seventeen trees line a half-circle memorial pathway that is interrupted at its center by the main pedestrian crossing of the park, signifying the lives tragically cut short.
On campus, the community came together in various ways, including a prayer service and blood drive.
The events surrounding the attacks were documented in The Gatepost’s first edition of the academic year.
In the Sept. 14, 2001 edition, The Gatepost’s Editorial Board wrote, “There is no doubt that the lives of Americans were changed forever on Tuesday. Our sense of security has been shattered, and for a day, at least, it seemed that life stopped.”
In producing this special edition of The Gatepost, the staff spoke with students, administrators, and faculty about the impact the tragedy had on them and, more importantly, how they moved forward.
Just hours after the attack, 50 students and faculty gathered in the Ecumenical Center, now named for the then-President of FSU, Helen Heineman.
“Students said prayers aloud and sat in a circle with bowed heads. There was crying, comforting, and a shared sense of hope as the Lord’s Prayer was said,” according to The Gatepost’s news coverage of the week.
Shortly after the attacks, students participated in local drives to provide aid to those injured and in need.
One student leader remarked at the time that after hearing there was a shortage of blood, she “invited all those interested to give blood at the MetroWest Medical Center,” according to The Gatepost’s article.
About 30 students carpooled to the hospital and were met with a seven-hour wait to donate.
“I’m extremely proud to be an American, and it does make me feel really good to see how people are coming together,” the student leader told The Gatepost.
Twenty-five years later, Glenn Cochran, now associate vice president for Student Affairs, who was then the director of Residence Life, recalled being on campus the morning of the attacks.
While in a meeting with then-Dean of Students Cynthia Forrest and members of the University Police, Heineman informed the meeting participants that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.
“I remember at the time thinking these things about little private planes hitting the Empire State Building or something years ago, and in my head, that's what my assumption was. ‘Gosh, someone learning to fly or something hit a building, that's terrible,’” he said.
The Dean’s meeting continued for a short while until Heineman returned and delivered more bad news. She instructed Forrest and Cochran to come to her office, “which was not a common thing. I'd been there for a few years at that point. I think it was maybe starting my fifth year, and I don't know if I'd been in the president's office before,” Cochran said.
In her office, Heineman, Cochran and Forrest were joined by former Vice President of Finance Dale Hamel, and they watched the attacks on two small emergency television sets. After the attack, these individuals would be responsible for assisting students and keeping the campus community informed.
Shortly after, public officials contacted the University and recommended they close the University for the rest of the day.
Cochran said, “I think one of the important things we did was acknowledge that traumatic events like that can trigger people's other traumatic incidents they've had in their life. So it was the triggering part that was a big thing for a lot of people.
“There's a lot of confusion, like not knowing how to react or what to do, and not being able to do a lot. I think people found themselves just staring at the TV images for hours on end. Later, we realized that probably wasn't a good thing to do,” he said.
On campus, the impact of the attacks is still present today. “I think there was a shift in attitudes around safety and security. We’d always valued safety and security, but things like checking bags and having limited access to doorways started to feel more normal,” Cochran said.
Nathan Piette, vice president of SGA, remembers Sept. 11, 2001 well. It was a day he was supposed to spend with his family at the zoo. Instead, he spent the day watching the news coverage, a six-year-old now being asked to question what death means.
"Before that, I didn't really know what dying was. ... It felt like a veil breaking, of, 'Oh, the world can be kind of bad,’” he said.
"We were sitting there when they showed the video of the second plane hitting the tower, and we mostly reacted to our parents being shocked. When you're a kid, you don't really understand that the thing on the TV that's blowing up is a hundred miles from you,” Piette said.
