Students gathered to commemorate the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001 during a memorial service in the Shapiro Art Gallery last Thursday.The service was an open forum moderated by Father Walter Cuenin, the Catholic Chaplain on campus. Ryan McElhaney '10, the co-coordinator of diversity and social programming, planned and moderated the event with the help and approval of Student Union.

Jason Gray '10, the Student Union president, also helped moderate the event and explained, "I think people should share why it was important to have the opportunity to remember, commemorate, and express themselves and to know that Sept. 11 is a special day to pray and reflect."

Father Cuenin began by telling the students that the events of Sept. 11 should "remind us how complicated the world is."

Cuenin spoke about the difficulty of remembering such a tragic day but also about the importance of what we learn by remembering.

He explained that by remembering events like Sept. 11, we can learn about the need to repair the world.

Students told their personal stories about how they learned of the attack on Sept. 11, as well as their fears at the time.

The one-hour forum allowed students to share their political thoughts on government policy before and after Sept. 11 and discuss the impact the event had on the nation and the world.

Julion Olidort '11 shared his father's incredible survival story, detailing his escape after the first plane crashed.

Olidort said, "My father was in the building in the second tower and worked on the 92nd floor." Olidort explained that his father is an engineer, so he understood the structure and design of the building.

"He saw the fire in the first building and walked down to the 65th floor. [The 65th] floor was one of the highest floors that survived. He knew the building wouldn't stand for another 10 minutes, because he knew the stairwell was the central structure of both the towers. . He made it down the stairs and left the area to go and call my family."

The event was publicized through a campuswide e-mail sent the day of the event.

The event was attended by only eight students, but McElhaney said he was not deterred:

"The number of people who attend is less important than the value of the time for the people who do come. That is to say, if only one person comes and that one person is better off in some way, then the 'forum' is successful in my mind."

Olidort said, "I think an event like this is very important because it brings awareness to a national day of mourning. It should be commemorated."

Gray said, "I think that it is important for all of us to remember how tragic Sept. 11 was and continues to be. We need to continue to keep the event that happened in our thoughts and prayers.