Share Your Memories

“The whole story cannot be told by any one person or from any single perspective,” writes Robin W. Lovin, Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics. So students, alumni, faculty and staff of SMU we invite you to share with us your memories of that fateful day (see below), and read Professor Lovin’s entire invitation.

On September 11, America will observe the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that touched all of our lives in many ways. SMU will join the commemoration in several ways, with memorials to those who lost their lives, tributes to those who responded, and lectures and discussions that explore the changes that began in 2001. You can read about these plans on this special website prepared by the Maguire Center on Ethics and Public Responsibility.

Nevertheless, the whole story cannot be told by any one person or from any single perspective. Our remembrance will be more complete as more of us make our own stories part of it. To help this happen, the Maguire Center invites the SMU community—students, alums, staff, and faculty—to contribute your memories and reflections to this blog and read what others have to say. Our memorial is the sum of our memories.

Different kinds of responses are welcome in this memorial. Some of us were near the events in New York, or Washington, or rural Pennsylvania. Others will recall how the news came to them in different ways in more distant places. Some of us entered immediately into the response by taking action, volunteering for service, or joining a political cause. Others may have been too young or too confused to know what to do. For some, it was clear at once how their lives would be different because of what happened on September 11. Others are still learning from the day and from what happened afterwards. Memories and reflections, tributes and regrets, hopes and fears for the future are all appropriate contributions. The important thing is to make it a personal statement that invites others in the SMU community to share your experience.

We see the future most clearly when we remember our own past and understand the different experiences of others. The Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility invites you to join in this public moral reflection.

Robin W. Lovin
Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *