Resiliency

Luminaries greeted motorists along Route 11 and 15 in the days following the attack.

Just 18 days into their fall semester, first-year students in the class of 2005 faced September 11, 2001 -- an event with the potential to define not only their college experience and their lives, but also the lives of the country and the world for generations to come.

"My first thought was, 'How will we ever get through this semester?'" recalls Assistant Professor of Sociology Simona Hill. "But the students got back on track. I attribute that to resiliency," she adds. "If they can bounce back, there's hope for us as a society."

Faces and Names

Shock turned into grief as hours and days passed and the enormous tragedy took on faces and names. Though physically insulated by 200 miles, the Susquehanna community lost some of its own: Colleen Supinski '96, an assistant trader for Sandler O'Neill on the 104th floor of the south tower, and Chris Vialonga '93, who worked in foreign currency exchange at Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of the north tower. Among others with losses we know of: Dianne Mead '86 Wall lost her husband and the father of their two daughters, Glen, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. Erich Maerz '97 lost his brother, Noel, who worked for Euro Brokers on the 84th floor in tower two.

Forum to Explore 9/11 Events and Response The University's Jewish Studies and Holocaust/Genocide Studies programs will sponsor a public panel discussion, "Responding to 9/11: Before and After," on Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Degenstein Campus Center meeting rooms. Faculty experts from a cross-section of the university will lead a panel discussion on the historical context of the September terrorist attacks, the consequent American responses, and international perspectives on America's place in a post-September 11 world.

But there was hopeful news too. Peter Grover '97, who worked at Lehman Brothers, was not in the office that day. Other alumni who worked at the World Trade Center were reported safe: Claudia Calich '88 and Heidi Heikenfeld '00 at Oppenheimer Funds; Peter Kamford '76 and Jill Beachell '98 at Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc., Stacey Peters '90 Lopis at Cantor Fitzgerald, and Kevin McCaffery '87 at Garban PLC.

At Ground Zero

McCaffery, a bond broker, was on the 26th floor of the north tower when the first plane struck. "We proceeded fairly calmly to the stairways," he says. "We had no way of knowing the second tower had been hit, but later I figured I was probably on about the tenth floor when it did," he adds. "Outside, it looked like a scene from a movie. Because the buildings were so tall, it was still very far away. We were looking up 800 or 900 feet at something surreal and unfathomable."

Steven Rhoads '86, a special agent for the firearms trafficking unit with the Department of Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), was at a makeshift command post a few blocks away. His wife, Kara, also an ATF special agent, miraculously survived the collapse by taking cover inside a parked vehicle. "Things went from bright daylight to pitch black - you couldn't see two feet in front of yourself," recalls Rhoads.

Roller Coaster Emotions

ATF agent Steven Rhoads '86, right, assisted in the response efforts at Ground Zero.

Terry March '67, chief executive officer of Midwood Securities and vice chair of the SU board of directors, was in his offices on the 26th floor of One Battery Park Plaza, which faces the World Trade Center site. Midwood's 35 employees, including Terry's wife, Pauline, and son, Edward, came through the ordeal safely. "But our thoughts immediately were of what happened to the somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 people who work in the buildings every day," he recalls.

"There was a whole range of emotions, from fear at first, to concern about the safety and security of those in our company and those who we know," says March. "That very quickly went to thoughts of compassion and security and anger as we started to find out what had happened - it was a horrific roller coaster ride of emotions."

Across the globe in China, Mary Coughlin '82, chief investment officer for Barnegat Bay Investment Advisors and a member of the University board of directors, and her husband, David Shanker, were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the two-year-old they were to adopt.

"While people on the East Coast were just beginning the workday, we were in the hotel room in bed, because there's a 12-hour difference. The only English-speaking station was CNN," says Coughlin, whose niece, Colleen Supinski, was among the missing. "I knew where Colleen was. I was in immediate panic and I made a ton of phone calls and we just waited and waited," she recalls. "To have that much joy and that much pain at the same time was unbelievable."

Counting Blessings

Among those counting special blessings is Susquehanna Board Chair Nick Lopardo '68 who had just been in one of the the buildings the day before the attacks. "I'd often been to receptions at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center and would marvel at the private aircraft flying below," he says. "I remembered growing up as a kid on Long Island during the 60s and seeing that building project - how incredible it was right from the start … and how incredible it felt to fly back recently and not have the two towers there."

A senior attorney and government ethics specialist in the office of the secretary of defense, Gail Mason' 70 was attending a conference in Norfolk, Va., when the plane crashed into the Pentagon. "It was like the building was wounded," she says. "There was this gaping hole." A civilian, as are most of the people working in the Pentagon, she returned to a workplace that was also a crime scene. "You were greeted by several military persons with Uzis as soon as you got off the train, then you got to the turnstile and there were more - at every point along the way there were armed guards."

Familiar Faces

Beth Sullivan '02 had just completed a summer internship at the World Trade Center.

Beth Sullivan '02, a marketing major from Long Island, was fresh from a summer internship at Baseline Financial Services on the 77th and 78th floor at 2 World Trade Center. Four of the company's 250 employees lost their lives. "It hit me really hard," she says. "A month earlier I was working there, going in every morning at 7:30 or 8. I didn't know a lot of people or a lot of names, but by going in at the same time every day, everyone's faces on the subway had become familiar."

At home that morning in Manville, N.J., Red Cross volunteer Lynn Hassinger '57 Askew was assigned by 11:30 a.m. to a Jersey City shelter. "We took two-hour sleep shifts and sat up all night and watched it burn," she says. But it was a "very different kind of shelter experience" for Askew, a veteran of disaster sites including Oklahoma City and Hurricane Floyd, when floodwaters were literally in her own neighbor's backyard. "I have never seen so many ambulances and first aid vehicles sitting in lines and lines waiting to be used. Of course, they expected a lot more victims to be survivors."

Outpouring of Support

"People stepped forward and did what they had to do," says Steven Rhoads. "It showed to not only the people in this country, but the people around the world, that even if something as devastating as this happens you can still pick yourself up and keep going."

Afghan-born Baktash Ahadi '05 is among members of the campus community who share post-September 11 experiences and reflections in our cover story.

On campus, the student life staff -- especially residence life, the counseling and health centers, Director of Multicultural Affairs Brian Johnson, Chaplain Mark Wm. Radecke, and Dean of Students Dorothy Anderson -- were tracking and staying in touch with at least 20 students early on. "We really worked, with help from the computer center, to discover as quickly as possible students who had family and friends in New York City and DC," explains Anderson. Several students were trying to get in touch with parents who worked at the site. One student lost a cousin and had another cousin seriously injured; one lost her future stepfather, a transit policeman; two are related to Mary Coughlin and Colleen Supinski. But on the whole, says Anderson, "We had more good news than bad as the day unfolded."

The days were particularly stressful for Americans of Middle Eastern descent such as Baktash Ahadi '05 who was just two-years-old when his family fled Afghanistan in 1984 during the Soviet invasion. After a harrowing six-day ride over the mountains and six months in a Pakistan refugee camp, the family emigrated to the United States with a sponsorship from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carlisle, Pa. "I received so many phone calls on September 11th, asking me if I was okay, letting me know if I had any troubles where I could call," says Ahadi. "I never had even met these people, they were just there."

Kate Skivington '05 collected funds for Afghan children.

For others, carrying on meant continuing with classes and activities. "There is no place I would rather have had our students during the course of this week than in the company of the mature, thoughtful, and wise members of our faculty," said President L. Jay Lemons at the service for prayer and remembrance.

Relief efforts blossomed on campus as well. Among them: the football team contributed $2,560 from the Lycoming game to the disaster fund. Alpha Phi Omega and Chapel Council donated profits from a Penny Wars competition to the American Red Cross. Phi Mu Delta hired a bus to transport members to a blood drive in Williamsport. And Kate Skivington '05, an elementary education major from Scottstown, N.Y., spearheaded campus efforts to collect funds for President Bush's Fund for Afghan Children. Meanwhile, church pastors and members of Lutheran communities in Costa Rica that benefit from an annual Central American service learning project sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain sent a powerful and moving Letter of Solidarity.

Channeling Hope

Erich Maerz '97 ran in the New York City marathon in memory of his brother, Noel.

By Thursday, Sept. 13, students in Assistant Professor of Sociology Simona Hill's Social Problems class were laying the groundwork for "Voices of Concern," an on-campus forum on the tragedy. "The focus of a liberal arts education is to make sense of events, not only in our everyday lives, but in a global sense," explains Hill. "I am so proud of my students. They took some of that initial panic, dread, fear and uncertainty and channeled it into an academic endeavor."

Seeking his own way to honor his brother's memory, Erich Maerz trained in just three weeks and ran with his father in the New York City marathon with his brother's race number and picture on the front of their shirts. The two also discussed their family's loss on television shows, "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Dateline".

"You wonder how could God do this?" he says. "But think about how many people stayed home from work that day. How many people went in late or went out to get coffee. How many people got down the steps."

"It makes you realize that every day you have is a gift."

The New Normal

Four months later and just blocks away from the WTC cleanup site, Terry March and his firm are trying to return to what he describes as "the new normal." They have dealt with short-term issues such as air quality and supplies of fire extinguishers, and now face larger, longer-term issues such as adequate insurance and the possible chilling effect on business posed by a threatened urban environment.

"There is a much greater feeling of vulnerability and the security issues that come with that," says March. "But we're going to work here. We're not leaving. We will not be driven away by the barbaric acts of terrorism."

"Some of my attitudes might change," says Gail Mason, recalling reports of people in the World Trade towers who went back to work instead of evacuating. "I'm one of those people who will work through the fire alarms - and wish they'd shut it off! Or I will be the first one back at work," she says. "And I don't think any of us can afford to do that any more. They're not false alarms, nor just inconveniences."

Amid it all is an air of uncertainty succinctly expressed by the University's Director of Computing Services, Roozbeh Tavakoli, who had lived under the dictatorship in his native Iran until he emigrated to the United States at the age of 25. "I spent the first 25 years of my life living in fear, the next 25 living in times of great opportunity, and now I'm not sure what's next."

More Cautious Travel

For those who travel in the most vulnerable metropolitan areas, longer commutes and security checkpoints are the new order of the day. And many in the Susquehanna community admit to being more cautious in plans for travel, particularly during high-profile times, such as the holidays.

"I spent 15 to 20 years traveling 150,000 to 200,000 miles a year, even on airlines like Aeroflot and China Air," says Lopardo. "Now I have second thoughts about getting on an American Airlines flight."

Five of the 26 students planning study abroad during spring semester postponed or cancelled their plans, according to Scott Manning, coordinator of international study programs. But, he adds, interest in study abroad for next year actually appears to be higher than usual, with students citing an increased need to understand the international arena or interest in careers oriented toward government and international issues.

Perspective

The events have provided fertile ground for discussions on topics from the Islamic faith and personal freedoms to morality and the meaning of life. "It comes up all the time in quite a few of my classes," says first-year student Kate Skivington. "Something draws us back to that day."

"I am always looking for new ways to present material, but this is an opportunity that I didn't want," says Simona Hill. "It will change how I teach minorities," she says. There have also been some calls to focus on issues dealing with Arabs and Jews in the capstone course in diversity studies, which she coordinates. "It is a good sign," she adds. "It's important that we go outside of ourselves," she stresses.

In late November, Baktash Ahadi declared a major -- psychology with a political science minor -- definitely influenced by post-September 11 events. "Psychology is great. People are interacting day in and day out. You can't get bored. And I think it's the same thing with political science, especially where the two disciplines intersect. Just think about how strong someone's views are that they might strap a bomb to their chest and blow themselves up along with 20 other innocent people for a cause they think is just."

Lessons Learned

From a business owner's perspective, the events have in many ways prompted a renewed commitment, says Terry March. "Each and every one of us will be re-channeling resources -- perhaps from increasing efficiency and growing the existing business to improving security and looking at doing business in more creative ways."

"I think the biggest lesson is that we've got to have better intelligence in this country, because we should have known about this," says Mary Coughlin. And Coughlin, a former New Yorker, also stresses the need for better evacuation plans, especially after experience gained from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

"We need to be more careful, more observant. The terrorists were here a long time trying to blend in," says Gail Mason. But, she adds, we also need a careful balance of questioning more without going to the extreme of labeling people. "I was a small child during the McCarthy hearings - some of the rhetoric we're hearing almost reminds me of that. It terrifies me that that could happen again."

Our Part in the Global Community

"This opens Americans' eyes and minds to what the government is doing and to how other people are suffering day in and day out," says Baktash Ahadi. "In this country we can think about things like life, food, computers, free time and a college education," when many of the people in the world, especially in Afghanistan, can't even read. "All of a sudden, people want to know about these things," he adds. "I feel like I have a moral obligation to help people understand."

"One of the lessons President Bush has learned is that we can't just stand here alone as a nation and think somehow we are self sufficient and everything is going to be just fine," says Associate Professor of Philosophy Jeff Whitman. "For better or worse, we're part of a global community and things that happen on the other side of the globe affect us in the United States.

"If we're going to win the war against terrorism, the military effort is going to be the least important part of the equation," he stresses. "We need to change conditions in certain areas of the world that breed terrorism - that's the hard part - that will take sacrifice because it will cost money."

"I have always been an optimist - a glass half full kind of person," says Nick Lopardo. "Unfortunately, there is a lot of good in the world that goes unnoticed while evil gets the attention," he says, urging people to look around and recognize everyday heroes who are making a difference in the lives and institutions around them.

"The lesson that's most important is to be thankful for every day that you're here, even if things don't go right … In the blink of an eye, as the Bible would say, those precious days can go by."