Remembering 9/11 Twenty-Five Years Later
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, shocked the country with the dramatic collapse of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, damage to the Pentagon, and nearly 3,000 people killed on American soil. That morning changed the lives of many individuals directly harmed by the airplanes used as missiles; it also changed the course of the nation, which responded with memorials, increased security, and wars that would last more than twenty years.
This year, Duke University Chapel is inviting the campus community and others to observe the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks with quiet reflection, a symbolic tolling of the Chapel bells, remembrance of the victims, and an interfaith service project.
“At the start of the semester, we have an opportunity to slow down and be intentional about marking an event that shattered the lives of thousands and shapes our national consciousness to this day,” said the Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery, the dean of Duke Chapel. “We remember people who are no longer with us and also take time to seek wisdom about how we may best respond to today’s tragedies and challenges.”
Quiet Reflection
The Chapel will be open to the public on Friday, September 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. A time designated for quiet reflection, meditation, prayer, and remembrance will begin at 10:00 a.m. and last until 4:00 p.m.
Tolling of the Chapel Bells
Also on September 11, the Chapel carillon will ring in memory of the 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
Listen to the bells from anywhere on West Campus near the Chapel or watch a livestream from the Chapel tower on the Duke Chapel Facebook page.
9/11 Memorial Plaque
Another way to remember the September 11 victims is to visit a plaque on Keohane Quad that memorializes the six Duke alumni who died during the attacks: Michael Morgan Taylor '81, Frederick C. Rimmele III, M.D. '94, A. Todd Rancke '81, Christopher Todd Pitman '93, Peter Ortale '87, and J. Robinson "Rob" Lenoir '84. Read more about them in this story.
Interfaith Service Project
On Saturday, September 12, join Chapel ministers and campus Religious Life leaders in bagging potatoes to give to people in need. This interfaith service project, the “Crop Drop,” begins at 8:30 a.m. on East Campus on the lawn next to the East Duke Building with volunteers working in 90-minute shifts until 12:30 p.m. The potatoes are gleaned from farms by the nonprofit Society of St. Andrew and delivered to campus, where volunteers sort and bag them. The bags of potatoes are then taken to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, which provides food to people in need while advancing long-term solutions to end hunger in our communities.