Tuesday morning in Library Plaza looked like most other idyllic fall days on campus – students chatting, a few catching a last look at their readings before classes, staffers tending some plantings and mowing the grass.
But as news of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon quickly spread, members of the campus community walked about in stunned silence, stopping occasionally to whisper in small groups as the campus fell into an eerie silence.
In just moments, the focus shifted from upcoming classes and daily errands to the realization that Tuesday 's events would reshape individuals, families, the campus, the country.
As classes were canceled for the day, students, faculty and staff went to the nearest television. The Humanities lounge, packed with shaken students and faculty, was quiet except for a TV tuned to CNN, an occasional sob or a sigh of disbelief the only other sounds. The scene was repeated in perhaps dozens of venues across campus.
A number of students hurried across campus talking on their cell phones. Some were just learning of the day 's tragedies. Others, apparently, were frantically checking on loved ones.
An all-day meeting in the athletic department was called off, participants being “too distracted to focus ” in the words of one coach.
Bill Thomas, director of international programs, awaited news on travel restrictions, wondering how nearly 70 students would get to terms abroad that are about to start in the Czech Republic, England and France. Another 90 are already in their host countries, he said.
The Rev. Viki Brooks-McDonald, the Protestant chaplain, officiated at an impromptu 20-minute service of prayer in Memorial Chapel that drew about 150 students, faculty and staff. Prof. Brad Lewis read from Anne Weems ' Psalms of Lament. Prof. Seth Greenberg offered prayers in both Hebrew and English. Sobs were audible during moments of silence, and a number of those in attendance made use of tissues and ice water placed at the back of the chapel.
Afterward, groups of administrators convened in a corner of the Chapel to review notification procedures, and to ensure that students knew where to find counseling.
At 1:42 p.m., members of Facilities Services lowered the American flag to half staff.
'We had the Cold War and Vietnam … for this generation of students this is the moment they lost their political innocence. '
“We had the Cold War and Vietnam, ” said one faculty member after Tuesday 's gathering in Memorial Chapel. “But for this generation of students, this is the moment they lost their political innocence. ”
The day after
On Wednesday morning, a day after the attacks in New York City and Washington, most morning classes devoted at least a few minutes to discussion, with faculty urging students to feel free to talk among themselves, with faculty and with counselors.
Within 24 hours of the blasts, International Programs had received about 20 calls from parents of students abroad, Prof. Thomas reported. Hosts in York, England, were accommodating early arrivals by Union students who had been traveling in Europe, he noted.
Campus offices that deal with graduates – the Career Development Center and Alumni Relations – were beginning to make lists of those who might have been in harm 's way, though it was much too early on Wednesday to know for certain the extent of the tragedy.
A number of sports contests were postponed on Tuesday and Wednesday, for times to be determined. The fate of weekend contests was not known.
Also on Tuesday, a second prayer vigil drew about 100 members of the campus community. President Roger Hull, who had been traveling on Tuesday, told the audience, “We lost much yesterday, but most important of all, we lost our innocence. It was our darkest hour, but it can be our brightest. As we give our blood, our hands, our hearts, we come together to embrace freedom. ”
Hull also recited John Donne 's For Whom the Bell Tolls, which reads, in part: “Any man 's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never sent to know for whom the bell tolls … it tolls for me. ”