Commemorating 9/11 Through Memory and Hope

Duke Chapel will lead the campus community in commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 attacks through a series of events and actions that aim to remember the victims of the attacks, to explore their ongoing effects, and to seek hope.

Read the full article on Duke Today.

“As we approach September 11 this year, I invite the Duke community to take some time to remember and also to hope,” said Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery. “We will remember first and foremost the people who died in these terrible attacks twenty years ago. We will also seek to remember and understand how 9/11 has shaped, and continues to impact our country and world.”
 
“Memory can be difficult and painful, but it is also the space out of which hope rises because when we remember the past and learn from it, we can also re-member the future that we long for,” Powery said. “How can we honor those gone with how we live today? What can we learn from looking back that helps us become more fully human and humanizing toward each other as we move forward?”

The Chapel and campus partners will commemorate the attacks in the ways listed below on Saturday, September 11, 2021. All events are free and open to the public. Please note: face masks are required  on the Duke campus in all indoor and outdoor locations. See the university’s public health measures.

Tolling of the Chapel Bells
The chapel carillon will ring in memory of the September 11 victims at the times of the attacks:

• 8:46 a.m. when the first of two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center (North Tower)
• 9:03 a.m. when the second plane crashed into World Trade Center (South Tower)
• 9:37 a.m. when hijackers crashed a plane into the Pentagon
• 10:03 a.m. when hijackers crashed a plane into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania

‘Remember and Hope’ Interfaith Vigil
Beginning at 10:04 a.m., faith leaders from across campus will lead a vigil on the steps of the chapel, which will include times of prayer, reading, and silent reflection. President Vincent E. Price will give welcoming remarks. People of any faith or no faith are welcome to join in this time of remembrance and hope.

‘Call and Response’ Photography Exhibition
Beginning at 10:04 and throughout the day, the chapel will be open to visitors to view an exhibition of photographs of past campus vigils and protests. Titled “Call and Response: Remembering Prayer, Protest, and Acts of Justice,” the exhibition includes “remember” buttons for visitors to take as a symbol for remembering the love and hope that have united us in times of personal and national loss and struggle.

‘Grant Us Peace’ Concert
At 7:30 p.m. in the chapel, Duke Chapel musicians and the Ciompi Quartet will perform compositions with themes of remembrance, peace, and reconciliation by composers such as Joan Tower, Felix Mendelssohn, Shireen Abu-Khader, Ned Rorem, Ola Gjeilo, and George Walker. The musical performances will be interwoven with poetic commentary. The concert, co-sponsored by Duke Arts, will be livestreamed here.

The Chapel is also holding these events related to the commemoration of 9/11:

— Thursday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. in Duke Chapel: Choral Vespers
This Choral Vespers worship service will have a theme of remembrance in connection to the September 11 anniversary. Music from the Chapel's Vespers Ensemble will include excerpts from the Requiem Mass of Jacobus de Kerle (1531/32-1591), a Magnificat by Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594), and motets by Pierre de Manchicourt (c.1510-1584), Henry DuMont (1610-1684), and Francisco de Peñalosa (c.1470-1528).

— Sunday, Sept. 12, at 9:45 a.m. on Zoom: 9/11 Twenty Years Later: What Has Changed?
This online Adult Forum, hosted by the Congregation at Duke Chapel, features Samia Serageldin, a writer, novelist, editor and public speaker. Born in Egypt and now living in Chapel Hill, Serageldin is the author of three novels, “The Cairo House,” “The Naqib’s Daughter,” and “Love is Like Water.” She has also contributed to anthologies on Islam and was the editor for the Duke Press edition of “In the Name of Osama bin Laden.” Email congregation@duke.edu to receive a link to participate.