Reflect and Remember

members of the Blue Mountain Battalion ROTC participate in the 9/11 remembrance ceremony.

Dickinson commemorates 9/11 anniversary

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

Dickinsonians and community members gathered on the lawn in front of Old West to attend an early-morning Patriot Day ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks.

“It’s about community,” said Matt Melott, a student at Penn State Harrisburg and member of the Blue Mountain Battalion ROTC, which is headquartered at Dickinson and has been recognized as one of the top 25 college training-corps programs in the nation.“We know that we can grieve together and we can celebrate life together.”

President Nancy Roseman began the ceremony by laying a wreath in honor of the victims of the attacks, and Dickinson cadets raised then lowered the flag to half-staff to the mournful strains of “Taps.” Donna Hughes, director of community service & religious life, offered a prayer of remembrance, healing and worldwide justice and peace. And vocalist Kyle Klose ’16 closed the ceremony with a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace.”

Class of 2015 members Katie Henwood, Ali Wittner and Gillian Pinkham rose early to attend the ceremony together. “It means a lot to me to be able to come here to remember those who lost their lives to this act of terrorism,” said Henwood, a New Jersey native who paused to recall the many funerals that her father, who worked in Manhattan, attended in the weeks after the attacks.

“The attacks really shook the city—they changed everything,” added Wittner, a New Yorker. “This is one way I can show my support, even when I'm far from home.” 

Published September 11, 2013