Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) and Indiana State University (ISU) teamed up for the sixth year on Tuesday to place thousands of miniature flags across both campuses in remembrance of the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor.
The nation will honor the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks later this week. On campus, around 20 student volunteers placed 1,500 memorial flags along The Avenue. Another 1,500 flags were placed between ISU’s Career Center and its Welcome Center. Each flag represents one of the nearly 3,000 lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
“By planting flags on our campus, students can develop a personal connection to the lives lost and the lives impacted and remember and honor the people who gave their lives so that we all could continue to thrive,” said Gabbi Fisko, a junior criminology major from Phoenix, Ariz., and a Saint Mother Theodore Guerin (SMTG) Scholar who helped place the flags.
The flag planting was a partnership between SMWC’s SMTG Scholars and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) organizations and ISU’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Lambda (SAL) – a national leadership and honors organization. Begun in 2007, flag planting has become a tradition for SAL chapters nationwide to honor the lives lost on 9/11.
“No history of the United States will ever be complete without reference to the events of 9/11, as they forever altered the course of our nation,” said Tim Tesmer, SMWC campus minister and SMTG Scholars coordinator. “None of the SMTG Scholars were alive when these events unfolded, yet they understand, on some level, the essence of ensuring that we, as a nation, never forget what happened that day.”
The event is about more than commemoration, though.
“On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we gather not to remember the past, but to honor those we lost, reflect on what we stand for, and reaffirm our commitment to the liberty and principles of our constitutional American Republic,” said Dustin Bryant with ISU’s SAL organization.
On Friday, SMWC will hold a moment of silence and prayer around the flagpole at 9:03 a.m. to commemorate the time when the plane struck the second World Trade Center Tower a quarter-century ago.
“Every flag represents a real person whose life mattered. So many people were affected that day, from the lives that were lost to the families who lost someone they loved, the people who were working that day, and the first responders who put their own lives at risk to help others,” said Jayden Hickenbotham, a sophomore kinesiology major from Center Point, Ind., and co-president of SMWC’s FCA organization that will lead the moment of silence. “Every one of those people had a life, a family, a story, and a purpose, and in such a devastating tragedy, so much was taken away from so many people. Even though most of us college students today weren’t alive when 9/11 happened, I think it’s still our responsibility to remember. Taking the time to plant these flags and honor those lives is a small way that we can make sure they are never forgotten and that we never forget the impact that day had on our country and so many families.”
The flags will be on display on both college campuses through Sept. 14.