Students, staff remember 9/11

By Maria Morkas     9/18/24 12:35am

A memorial honoring the lives lost during the 9/11 terrorist attacks was held Sept. 15 at the Rice Memorial Center Chapel. A flag-raising ceremony followed in Ray’s Courtyard. Guest speakers and attendees also placed small U.S. flags in a 9/11 formation to “honor the fallen.”

Speakers reflected on personal impacts of the 9/11 attacks. Warren Weissbluth, co-president of Students Supporting Israel, spoke alongside sociology professor Craig Considine, Rice University Police Department Chief Clemente Rodriguez and Houston Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum.

In his speech, Weissbluth spoke about how 9/11 shaped his understanding of patriotism, unity and national optimism. With two of his uncles serving as a paratrooper and a special forces operative, his own life has been molded by the sacrifices of first responders, he said.

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“For me, 9/11 instills a profound sense of purpose to fight and build for a stronger America, to protect American values and to secure the future of a strengthened community,” Weissbluth said in his speech. “I feel a deep sense of responsibility to contribute to this mission, to the service members, police officers, first responders, firemen, nurses, teachers and mothers, those who work tirelessly to maintain order and stability in our society.”

Similarly, Rodriguez thanked local first responders in his address, while sharing his own experiences as a first responder. On 9/11, he said, many first responders knew the dangers of serving, yet they still did not hesitate to go into the wreckage to help civilians.

“You saw police officers, firefighters, paramedics and countless others who ran to the danger when for most the instinct is to run away from that danger … I did not see hesitation, not once,” Rodriguez said. “Many of them gave the ultimate sacrifice. Some never came home, leaving behind families, friends and a nation forever grateful for their service.”

Considine shared an encounter he had in 2008 with David, a man who had lost his wife and daughter in one of the planes that struck the Twin Towers in 2001. Over time, David had a “spiritual awakening” and founded the BRAVE program, dedicated to conflict resolution and interfaith dialogue. Now, Considine is trying to do something similar — encouraging people to not use violence to solve their problems.

“I’m encouraging people to use dialogue, education, understanding, compassion, engagement,” Considine said in an interview with the Thresher. “If we can get more humans to just interact with one another, on the fundamental level, I think we can start seeing each other as humans before we see each other as members of this religion, or this ethnic group or this nation.”

During her speech, Castex-Tatum said that 9/11 tested national security as well as America’s national values. 

“In the face of hatred and violence, we chose resilience and unity,” Castex-Tatum said. “We chose to reaffirm our commitment to the promise of America, a country founded on liberty, justice and equality for all … these lessons are as relevant today as they were 23 years ago. We must continue to build a nation where every person, no matter their background, faith or origin, feels safe, valued and heard.”

Weissbluth said he wanted to organize this event to memorialize the attack on the U.S. He said the past year has reminded him of the importance of national unity, security and countering terrorism globally.

“As a Jewish American, it’s become a really important concern of mine. There’s been a lot of hate, frankly, in this country lately,” Weissbluth said. “I think that hopefully that that [unity] will overcome this hate that I’m seeing across the country on campuses often.”

Weissbluth also mentioned a broader threat of terrorism, including the Austrian Taylor Swift concert that was threatened by the Islamic State, the 2015 Paris attacks and more recently the events of Oct. 7.

“Certainly Oct. 7, as a Jewish American, engaged me on the topic,” Weissbluth continued. “But it’s not really something new to America or Americans, and that’s what makes it so important to remember when we were directly attacked … The connection between all this is we all share American values, so it’s good to remind ourselves of that every once in a while.”

In response to the rise of Islamophobia and antisemitism recently, Castex-Tatum said that, as a nation, we need to continue to focus on unity.

“Nothing drives out darkness but light, and we have to rise above the sometimes negative stereotypes and the hatred and the talk of division,” Castex-Tatum said in an interview with the Thresher. “and the only way that we can do that is by getting to know each other, making sure that we keep an open dialogue and realizing that we are stronger together in all situations, we will be stronger together.”

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