Like other college students across the country, students at Lee University (TN) gather for a candle light prayer service in remembrance of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. (Photo courtesy of Lee University)

Colleges and universities across the country joined the rest of the nation in their responses to the horrific events of September 11. Students, faculty, and administrators demonstrated the full range of national impulses—to help victims of the attacks, to come together to grieve, to create memorials, and to make their own campuses as secure as possible. They have also begun the longer range efforts that are particularly appropriate for educational institutions, using existing classes as well as specially convened forums to assist students in moving toward deeper learning.
    Students on CIC member campuses organized candlelight vigils, prayer circles, and Red Cross blood drives. They came up with many ways to raise funds for disaster relief and scholarships for victims' families. And they created artwork, banners, and symbols as a means of expressing their horror at the September 11 terrorist attack on America (see story).
    College administrators tightened campus security, developed short and long-term plans to deal with the implications of the national tragedy, and set up counseling and church services to help students and staff cope and grieve. In the wake of the anthrax postal scare and other biological or chemical threats, they began implementing new mail procedures and establishing bio-terror policies, and they revamped campus crisis and communication plans.
   The more subtle and enduring aspects of the campus response—in which students and educators attempt to draw deeper meanings from the events—is occurring in classes and special forums. Faculty members are using the crisis as a "teachable moment" and are engaging students in open discourse about terrorism. (CIC President Richard Ekman's column addresses the powerful contributions of the liberal arts disciplines in helping students learn to make moral judgments).
   Campuses also have made efforts to ensure that their foreign students—particularly Middle Easterners—are safe, and they are monitoring government efforts aimed at overhauling the nation's immigration policies, and the legal implications for foreign students. The immediate impact for many academic institutions and international student advisement offices is that there will be more scrutiny and additional monitoring requirements (see story).
    The entire higher education community has been highly visible throughout the crisis in numerous ways. Colleges and universities have been contributing to a newly established national scholarship fund, the September 11 College Fund, which will provide assistance to cover higher education expenses for dependents and survivors of those lost in the terrorist attacks. The Lumina Foundation for Education kicked off the fund with a $3 million grant, and a $100 million campaign for the fund will be co-chaired by former President Bill Clinton and retired Senator Bob Dole. The fund will be administered by the Minnesota-based Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America (CSFA). CSFA plans to begin assisting financially needy eligible persons currently enrolled in qualified institutions as early as January 2002. For information about the fund and ways to donate, call (877) 862-0136 or e-mail inquiries to familiesoffreedom@cfsa.org.
    The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) is also working with CSFA to develop a list of member institutions that are making their own scholarship funds available to assist the September 11 victims. College officials are encouraged to visit the NAICU website at www.naicu.edu/survey/ to complete a survey, to ensure that families in the CSFA registry of victims are aware of any additional scholarships. The survey will also help NAICU collect and catalog information on non-scholarship relief efforts by colleges.

Following the terrorist attacks, Wilkes University (PA) set up a large canvas on the campus for members of the Wilkes community and the public to express themselves through painting. (Photo courtesy of Wilkes University)		Monmouth College (IL) students organized a campus blood drive on September 27. (Photo courtesy of Monmouth College)

In their own words...

"At the time of the attack [on the World Trade Center], Nyack College provost, Dr. Samuel Barket, and I were attending the Annual International Prayer Breakfast at the United Nations. Remarks about global peace were offered.... As we excited the UN and drove away, we saw numerous emergency vehicles headed south. After turning on the news, we heard why and looked to the south. Seeing the immense cloud of dust and smoke, we both immediately sensed the irony o having just heard a brilliant message entitled, 'From Exclusion to Embrace: Reflections on Reconciliation.'"
—David E. Schroeder, president, Nyack College

"Hiram College has remained open this week. We do so because we wish to make a statement in defense of civilization and democracy against terrorism. For that is the fundmental mission of education: to educate citizens and perpetuate the benefits of civilization, especially civilized discourse among ourselves.
—Richard J. Scaldini, president, Hiram College (OH)

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Last updated: November 26, 2001
Copyright © 2001 The Council of Independent Colleges