Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars announce schedule for Remembrance Week 2008October 15, 2008Kelly Homan Rodoski
kahoman@syr.edu
Syracuse University's Remembrance Week 2008, a weeklong series of events
honoring the 35 Syracuse University students who lost their lives in the terrorist
bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988 -- 20 years
ago -- will be held on the SU campus Oct. 19-26.
Each year, 35 Remembrance Scholarships, one for each of the SU student victims, are
awarded in the amount of $5,000 to undergraduate seniors representing a broad
range of majors. The events planned and hosted by the students are meant to honor
the victims and further education about terrorism.
The Remembrance Week schedule of events includes:
- Sunday, Oct. 19-The scholars will build a cairn, a traditional Scottish
monument of remembrance, on the Quad in front of Hendricks Chapel. The
cairn will be built of 35 stones, each one in memory of one of the student
victims lost aboard Pan Am Flight 103.
- Monday, Oct. 20, to Wednesday, Oct. 22-The scholars will distribute lapel
ribbons and carnations on the Quad from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The rain location for
this event is the atrium of the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center.
The scholars will also tie blue and white ribbons-each bearing the name of
one of the SU students killed in the bombing-to trees on the SU campus.
- Thursday, Oct. 23-"Celebration of Life-Remembering the Lives They
Led," a performance showcase celebrating the lives of the victims of Pan Am
Flight 103, will be held at 8 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The event will begin
with a luminaria display on the steps of Hendricks Chapel. The showcase will
be performed by individuals and groups, and will include monologues crafted
from journal entries, letters and poetry from some of the victims (now found in
the SU Archives), along with music and dance. SU London faculty members
will also be sharing their memories of the victims.
- Friday, Oct. 24-The traditional Rose-Laying Ceremony will be held at 2:03
p.m. (the actual time of the tragedy) at the Wall of Remembrance in front of
Hendricks Chapel. Each of the scholars will lay a rose on the wall in honor of
the student victim they are representing. The Remembrance Scholars
Convocation will follow at 3:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.
In addition to the activities listed above, the scholars will interact with members of
the campus community throughout the week to inform and enlarge
understanding of the Pan Am 103 tragedy and of terrorism. They will lead
discussions in local high schools, make presentations in SU residence halls and in
their classes, and lead activities in local community centers for young students.
The scholars will also hang portraits of the 35 student victims in buildings around
campus, where they will be displayed until Dec. 21.
