| From: | President John Sexton |
| Date: | September 5, 2006 |
| Subject: | A Ceremony of Remembrance at NYU on September 11th |
I would like to invite the NYU community to attend a ceremony of remembrance next Monday on the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Francis Fukuyama, then a State Department official and now a faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote a journal article, later expanded into a book, called The End of History. He advanced a thesis that western, liberal, capitalist, democracy had triumphed in a world-wide struggle of political philosophies, and, slowly but surely, the entire world was progressing inevitably towards an embrace of it.
In those days, when many of our current freshmen were infants, such a concept seemed possible. Communism was collapsing, and many authoritarian governments were giving way to democratic institutions. Such a concept might still have seemed possible even on September 10, 2001.
The great moments of history rarely play out in sight of our campus. As an institution of higher education a great assemblage of scholars and learners we are the chroniclers, the probers, and the interpreters of such moments, but rarely are we the direct witnesses.
Not so on September 11, 2001. From our own windows and doorways and roofs, we saw that history was not at an end; it was unfolding before our eyes. And in that breathtaking day, we understood that in the years to come we would know the sorrow and the courage, the mysteries and misunderstandings, the new knowledge and the untried doctrines, the feelings of uncertainty and of steadfastness, the outbreak of war and the forging of new alliances, and all the other events that accompany the making of history in a short time.
Certainly, the first few days that followed 9/11 were filled with feelings of grief, incomprehension, and tragedy. But they were also replete with examples of heroism, compassion, resiliency, and resolve. The men and women of the NYU community did not flee; they looked for ways to help one another, and the city to which we are so inextricably tied. With over 3,000 students displaced from lower Manhattan, many of us unhesitatingly opened our homes to assist them. Students collected money for those in need, made meals and delivered clothing to those who labored at Ground Zero, and stood in long lines to give blood. Faculty sought to convey some understanding of the events, and to make it an opportunity for learning, contemplation, and dialogue. Administrators toiled around the clock to make sure that members of the University community were safe and cared for. The surging sense of community so evident at NYU at that time was one of the proudest moments in my 25 years at the University.
The events of that day remain very much before us; almost every newscast and front page carries its clear echo, and rarely is it far from the forefront of our thoughts. So, it is fitting and proper to honor the memory of 9/11.
On Monday, September 11, the fifth anniversary of that day, the University will hold a ceremony of remembrance at 12:30 pm in the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in the Kimmel Center (doors will open at 12:00 noon). The program will feature musical performances and readings by our students, faculty, and administrators, and a color guard from the New York City Police and Fire Departments. And a special exhibit of memorabilia and literature related to 9/11 will be on display on the second floor of Kimmel.
I hope you can join me for this occasion to come together in recognition of those who lost their lives, in tribute to the resilient spirit of the citizens of this city and the members of this university community, and in hopes for a more peaceful future.