Paying Tribute, seeking understanding

	Students hugged each other before a memorial service on Cannon Green for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. For more photos of the University's response to the tragedy, see page 8.

Princeton NJ -- In the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the campus tried to come to grips with the tragedy. Through services, panel discussions and efforts to help others, members of the University community paid tribute to those who died and sought comfort and understanding.
    At a Sunday, September 16, memorial service for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman called for members of the University community to "acknowledge both the distinctiveness of each person's experience and the common humanity that unites us all."
    More than a thousand University community members gathered on Cannon Green, spilling over to the steps of Whig and Clio halls. The service was planned by Tilghman's office to give the community an opportunity to draw strength from each other, to give voice to sorrow and grief, and to offer comfort and peace.

Other speakers at the service included: James McPherson, the George Davis '86 Professor of American History; Toni Morrison, the Robert Goheen Professor in the Humanities; Paul Muldoon, the Howard Clark '21 University Professor in the Humanities; and Marta Tienda, the Maurice During Professor in Demographic Studies and professor of sociology and public affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
    For more information on the University's response to the tragedy, visit this Web site: <September11>.

President Tilghman: "In the days and weeks ahead, we all together have a responsibility to acknowledge both the distinctiveness of each person's experience and the common humanity that unites us all and to prove what we know to be true: that love is stronger than hate; that justice is stronger than injustice; that democracy is stronger than despotism; and that freedom does allow for the fullest flowering of the human spirit. I ask each and every one of us to accept that responsibility today.
    "And so we gather today in a spirit of remembrance, and reflection, and resolve: remembrance of all who have lost their lives; reflection on the lessons we can learn from what they have endured; and resolve that we will honor their memories in the ways we choose to live our own lives in the challenging times that we know lie ahead."
-- President Tilghman
Sept. 16 memorial service
Cannon Green

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