A day to remember

It was a cool September day in 2001 when hijackers seized four planes and took thousands of lives. The weather Tuesday reminded one girl of the conditions that fateful day as she shared her Sept. 11 experience with a crowd in front of McNutt Quad. \nBetween 150 and 200 students gathered at the residence hall for a candlelight vigil to remember the sixth anniversary of the tragedy. \nFreshman Corey Celt, a New York City native, said he remembered being in middle school during the time of the attacks. Now, as a member of McNutt Student Government, Celt helped plan the vigil. \n“It was something that had an … effect on everyone,” he said. “I know people who lost friends, coaches, parents.”\nCelt said he and others in McNutt Student Government realized it would be the only event of its kind at IU. \n“We had seen that nothing was going on on campus,” he said.\nFreshman Jordan Jacobs said the student government came up with the idea for the vigil a few days prior and put the event together. Jacobs even added the vigil as a Facebook event and invited other students, 200 of which responded as “attending.” \nFreshman Katie LaPlant, who lives on the same floor as Jacobs in McNutt, said she received Jacobs’ Facebook invitation and decided to go. She said she noticed an apparent lack of remembrance among students. \n“When I was walking around campus today, a lot of people didn’t (seem to) realize it was Sept. 11,” she said.\nAs the sun lowered against a deep blue sky, students helping with the vigil began preparing. Candles that kept blowing out in the breeze lit the walkway leading to the spotlighted McNutt flagpole, where the stars and stripes hung at half-mast. A crowd of students slowly accumulated and were given their own candles to hold. \nCelt began the vigil with an account of his own Sept. 11 experience, after which they held a moment of silence. Freshmen Kareem Bacchus and Daniel Weber sang the national anthem. Students in the crowd were then asked to relate their own experiences into a megaphone. As students listened, many stared down at their candles, a few wiping their eyes. \nAlthough the event sought to remember those who perished in the attacks, Celt added a positive note to the solemnity of the vigil.\n“(Sept. 11) reminds me to just be thankful of what we’ve got,” Celt said.