Colby Magazine | September 11: Colby Reacts


9:15 a.m. Senior staff meeting interrupted with news of attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 10:20 a.m. Student phone centers in the Dean of Students Office and Eustis open, staffed by deans and counselors. Pugh Center designated TV-free zone, staff and snacks available. Student with parents in affected areas contacted by deans. Students and faculty in Colby programs abroad and in Washington contacted and advised to cancel all travel. Athletic contests postponed. 12:03 p.m. Colby phone system nears capacity. Request to limit nonessential calls. 12:05 p.m. President Adams announces plan for evening community gathering. 1:52 p.m. Some professors receive e-mail from Michael Daisey '96. From New York he reports: "The sky is black with ash, the people have been panicking and fleeing in unadulterated terror." 7:30 p.m. President Adams opens "Community Gathering" in overflowing Page Commons Room.

Noon Silent Rally for Peace on library steps attracts about 300 students, faculty and staff. One student chooses to sing the national anthem, a cappella, from the base of the flagpole. Another rises from the ranks and speaks before placing a rose before the monument to Colby's war dead. "I've learned that we all grieve differently," said Katherine Rauch '02. "I just had to get up and say something." 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Students solicit money in Cotter Union for the American Red Cross. This and an evening event raise more than $4,000 for disaster relief.

9:30 p.m. Forum in Foss. Two hundred students stay past 11 p.m. Margaret McFadden (American studies) asks students to consider coverage of the attacks: "The mass media shapes the way we see the world all the time. ... We don't notice it; it's like asking a fish to notice water." Kenneth Rodman (government) compares events with Pearl Harbor and the Truman Doctrine: "When Pearl Harbor was attacked, we were invaded by a state. We knew what the return address was." Jeffrey Kasser (philosophy) speaks of the necessity of adequation of thoughts and events: "What ought we aspire to if we can't grasp these events?"


	7 p.m. Government Professors Sandy Maisel and Joe Reisert speak and moderate discussion in Anthony-Mitchell-Schupf residence halls.

	11:12 a.m. Web pages on College's response to tragedy launched. 1:03 p.m. Mass e-mail to alumni about online resources (alumni directory, bulletin boards, Web pages). Use of online directory doubles and alumni bulletin boards see 6,402 hits the following day.

	Noon Interfaith Prayer and Remembrance service in Lorimer Chapel. Students, faculty and staff are led in prayer by College chaplains, Rabbi Raymond Krinksy, Rev. Ronald Morrell, and Father Philip Tracy. The chaplains invite anyone to remain in the chapel after the service. Many do. 7 p.m. Candlelight vigil at Lorimer Chapel.

	8 p.m. Colby Muslim Group convenes forum (titled "Am I a Terrorist?") on Islam in the Pugh Center. Overflow crowd of listens as Muslim students, from several different countries, explain the tenets of Islam. "It's a very peaceful religion," says Amjad Tuffaha '02 of Amman, Jordan. He directs the audience to the group's Web site: www.colby.edu/muslim

	In the weeks after the attacks, President William Adams articulates the institution's role. "I believe that Colby, and colleges like Colby, must play an important part in the long-term solution to international discord and violence. By teaching young men and women from this and many other countries to debate issues rationally, to resolve disagreements peacefully, to appreciate cultural and religious differences with open hearts and open minds, and to assume positions of thoughtful and responsible leadership, we are doing what we can to make this world better and safer."