Stunned Campus - Swarthmore College Bulletin

On Tuesday morning, Sept. 11--a day now frozen in all of our memories--colleagues filtered into my office with the horrific news about the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. With our minds reeling, we all stood together around radios in co-workers’ offices and televisions set up in the Lang Performing Arts Center and Parrish Parlors. Students nearby were on the pay phones, frantically checking on parents’ travel plans that morning, while others were openly weeping.

Many drifted through the hallways of Parrish, looking stunned, clearly unable to concentrate on anything but the emerging horror. To allow staff to join their loved ones, the College closed at noon for everyone except emergency staff. Professors and students made individual decisions about holding and attending classes. A continuous prayer vigil was held in Bond’s common worship room, and walk-in counseling was available in the Admissions Office.

“We know there were students who had family in New York, and other students [were] concerned for them," Dean Bob Gross ’62 told The Phoenix. He said that all of the deans are committed to counseling students during such emergencies. Gross saw several students throughout the day, each “trying to deal with the shock, the enormity of it all, trying to make sense of it." Confessing that he could only lend support, the College dean said, “I don’t have any more answers than anybody else does.”

On Tuesday evening, a Quaker-style Collection was held at the Friends Meetinghouse, allowing students and others to openly express their grief, thoughts, and concerns about the incident. “The students filled the room," said Pauline Allen, protestant adviser and a Quaker. “They have upheld me during the past few days," she added at a subsequent Collection for staff and administration.

Students struggled to grasp the enormity of the situation. “I think the real terror is not in buildings collapsing or even in people dying," Jennifer Barefoot ’05 told The Phoenix, “but in the hearts of every one of us ... the hatred and delusion that could cause someone to do this, the lust for vengeance it will produce."

Pari Deshpande ’04 expressed a similar concern. "I think we all feel a new fear, a new monster under the bed," she said.

“And unfortunately, this time we aren’t dreaming."

During the Collection on Thursday for staff and administration, repeated concerns were expressed for students--particularly those from abroad. Registrar Martin Warner rose: “At lunch today, I learned about a multicultural student who was accosted and pushed by another who said: ‘You so-and-so Arabs.’ I’m worried about the way we will deal with this anger," Warner said, as the possible ramifications on campus for foreign students began to register.

Raghu Karnad ’05, who has lived in India all of his life, told The Phoenix: “I won’t say the U.S. has been unsympathetic so far. But I do think the U.S. will be more sympathetic to countries like India, which experience acts of terrorism on a regular basis."

Andy Scarborough ’04, from Bolivia, added: “If they can hit the U.S., and to this extent, that is very scary to the international community. If they can hit the Pentagon, where can’t they hit?"

Firsthand accounts of the incidents from members of the College community in both Washington, D.C., and New York started to trickle into the College. President Alfred H. Bloom and his wife, Peggi, had been in New York with Vice President for College and Community Relations Maurice Eldridge ’61 and Treasurer Sue Welsh, to meet with board member Jerry Kohlberg ’46. “There was a gouge in the World Trade Center, with smoke pouring from the top. It was surreal because it was one of the most beautiful days," Bloom said. Thinking that a plane had hit the building by accident, they turned on the radio.

“Then I heard Peggi saying, ‘Oh my God--another plane is going to hit,’" he said at Thursday’s Collection for staff and administration. The president regretted not being able to attend the gathering for students and the general community on Tuesday evening; closed tunnels and bridges made a return to Swarthmore impossible. “We need to be part of a community that cares about each other--and others at a distance. We need to try to comprehend this for the future and draw strength from each other," said President Bloom.

He later described one alumnus who recently started working at Salomon Brothers and had lost his office in the World Trade Center. “He came back to walk around campus," Bloom said. “He said there was nowhere he would rather be."

Faculty members also gathered to express their shock and horror. Carol Nackenoff, chair of the Political Science Department, told The Phoenix, “I think we’ve all recognized that terrorist attacks were going to be part of our future, but it’s still staggering, the scope and the orchestration of this set of events." Ray Hopkins, professor of political science suggested that the attacks may have occurred to “release personal and widely shared feelings of hatred toward the United States and also to cause us to draw back from the world." Hopkins recommended examining the socioeconomic roots of this hatred to combat terrorism.

Patricia White, associate professor of English and film and media studies, was also in her downtown Manhattan apartment that morning. Watching smoke pouring from the World Trade Center before it collapsed, she said: “[It] is such a visual symbol of the city. As a New Yorker, the idea of it being gone is unbelievable."

By Thursday morning, Director of Psychological Services David Ramirez and his staff were starting to see more students. “The shock begins to wear off, and more feelings may emerge, such as sadness and anger," he told The Phoenix. “This delayed reaction is typical, as it often takes time to go from being shocked to having the emotional distress register." Concerned for those in the College community with small children, he also sent out a campuswide e-mail, offering guidelines on “What Children Need to Know in a Crisis Situation." He emphasized responding honestly and letting children know that “this is real"; “many people will be sad for a long time"; and “there are many questions adults cannot answer."

Ramirez also advised the community to expect many questions from children, including “Who will take care of me if my parents die?" and “Why did God let this happen?" He told parents to also anticipate children experiencing fears of the dark, separation from family, and dying; regression to bed wetting, thumb sucking, whining, and not wanting to be alone; indifference and the desire that life continue as usual; clinginess; acting out; and hyperactivity.

To facilitate communication with each other--and provide news about survivors--Director of Alumni Relations Lisa Lee ’81 contacted alumni who had provided the College with their e-mail addresses, encouraging them to post messages on an electronic bulletin board called the Swarthmore On-line Community. By the morning of Sept. 17, 95 messages had been sent to the discussion board. According to Lee, many notes included comments such as, “‘The following 12 people are fine.’"

The Records Department had also received an “overwhelming response," that morning, according to Ruth Krakower, director of alumni and gift records. “Many simply thanked us for making the message board available," she said.

In a message to the Publications Office, Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59, former director of alumni relations at the College who is now director of affiliate and public relations at the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Washington, D.C., described the continuing eeriness just four days after the attack. “Things are still strange here; the Pentagon Metro stop, which I usually use, is still limited only to those with Department of Defense IDs," she said. “And the National Airport looks ghostly. I wish I hadn’t seen the Pentagon burning--can’t get rid of that nightmare. But this is trivial compared to the permanent living nightmares of so many thousands."

A memorial service on campus was in the planning stages, with the date still to be determined. Staff members were also making phone calls to the 30 alumni who worked in the World Trade Center and the 10 who were in the Pentagon. As of this writing, many alumni in these areas were reported to be safe; one was reported as missing, and another was listed as injured. But it was still too early to gather verified information, when a total of approximately 5,000 people were still reported as missing in lower Manhattan. “We must hold these people in our hearts," said Dan West, vice president for alumni, development, and public relations.

Contacting recent graduates living in New York, we were relieved to find them safe. Andrea Juncos ’01, who recently began working a few blocks from the World Trade Center, watched the billowing smoke as co-workers tried to grasp the unfolding events. “When we finally evacuated, I tried to get home on a bus. But we couldn’t move for a long time, so I walked 80 blocks to get home," she said.

On campus, students requested that faculty put together a symposium to help the College community process and come to terms with this disaster. To address immediate needs, a small panel of faculty--including Scott Kugle from the Religion Department, Jeffrey Murer and Carol Nackenoff from the Political Science Department, Robin Wagner-Pacifici from the Sociology and Anthropology Department, Andrew Ward from the Psychology Department, and Craig Williamson from the English Department--planned to answer student’s questions at a town hall meeting and open discussion on Sept. 20. The meeting, with the theme “Free Speech, Civil Liberties, and Security," was also intended to encourage students to “wrestle with the problems facing this society in the aftermath of last weeks’s events," according to Murer.

Several other faculty members such as Wagner-Pacifici; Steven Golub, professor of economics; and Frank Moscatelli, professor of physics and a native New Yorker, had already provided commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, NPR, and salon.com.

Moscatelli thought that the “splendor [of the World Trade Center towers] was their undoing." Their mass and height made them attractive targets, he told the Daily Gazette, a student on-line newspaper. “Being from New York, I understand the desire to rebuild those towers," he added. “But we might consider for a moment the wisdom of reconstructing buildings that stick out as such clear targets and hold such destructive potential as well."

Both students and staff took active measures to join the relief effort. In Sharples, students raised more than $900 to contribute to the Red Cross relief effort. Faculty and staff added more than $3,700--for a total College donation of $4,618. Tom Krattenmaker, director of news and information, had contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency and was waiting to receive his assignment to assist the digging-out efforts in New York.

On Sept. 20--in “solidarity with students across the nation,” according to Director of Community Service Learning Pat James--the Swarthmore Progressive Action Committee planned an “open dialogue in response to the wave of violent, retaliatory sentiment that is sweeping the country.” Along with campuses nationwide, those at Swarthmore were urged to gather from noon to 1 p.m. to reflect on the possibility of going to war. “Here at Swarthmore, we will be holding a rally and forum for dialogue in front of Parrish Hall, where faculty, students, and staff will have an opportunity to speak,” James said.

As Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approached, Rachel Kobrin, Jewish adviser, was coordinating carpooling efforts to local synagogues during the High Holy Days for students unable to return home because of travel limitations following the crisis. Wishing everyone “a sweet New Year," Kobrin joined others on campus providing spiritual support.

Pauline Allen, protestant adviser, offered those at the Friends Meeting solace during Collection. “I encourage us to stay aware of opportunities in our corners of the world to do our best.... Opportunities will come again. We can wait until the muddy water clears a little."

In the quiet meetinghouse stillness, agitated expressions on the faces of those present relaxed slightly. The comforting sounds of children playing and bells ringing on the quarter-hour signaled the regular patterns of campus life just outside the door.

“I would like to close with words of advice from an early Quaker minister," she said. “‘Live up to the light that thou hast / and more will be given thee.’"

The Bulletin thanks the editors and writers of the Sept. 13 issue of The Phoenix--including Matthew Fitting ’05, Nicole Brunda ’04, Jared Lenow ’04, Lillie Dremeaux ’04, and Amanda Schneider ’02--as well as photographers Nathan Ashby-Kuhlman ’02, Michael Pasahow ’04, and Liz Singreen ’04. This issue may be found on-line.