Grove City College will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with a series of in person events and online experiences.
“Never Forget: A 20th Anniversary Reflection on 9/11” begins Sept. 3 with the virtual opening of a curated online exhibit that tells the story of that fateful day from a Grove City College perspective. Visit the exhibit at alumni.gcc.edu/neverforget911.
Through a digital gallery of quotes, photos, oral history recordings and an archive of firsthand accounts, alumni and other members of the College community explain in their own words what they experienced on 9/11 and how events of that day changed their lives.
It includes over 50 eyewitness reports, harrowing stories and thoughtful observances from Grovers who lived and worked in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., alumni in law enforcement who rushed to secure the Shanksville, Pa. crash site of Flight 93, students who were on campus at the time and many others whose recollections add to the understanding of one of the milestone events in American history.
College President Paul J. McNulty ’80, a former top Department of Justice official who was “in the room where it happened” as the federal government reacted and responded to the attacks, contributed to the exhibit.
On Sept. 11, he led the U.S. Department of Justice’s Command Center on the morning of the attacks, and later joined Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and others at the FBI’s Strategic Intelligence and Operations Center in coordinating the nation’s response. Days later, McNulty was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia where he oversaw the prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui, who was suspected of training for the attack, and others charged in the legal war on terror.
McNulty will share his first-hand experiences and spotlight the selfless acts of Americans who answered the call of duty on 9/11 at noon Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Rivers Club in Pittsburgh. His lecture – “Let’s Roll: The High Price of American Freedom” – is part of the Foundations of American Leadership Series presented by The Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College. The event is sold out, but it will be livestreamed at gcc.edu/livestream.
The observance continues with “The Wisdom of Remembering,” a special chapel presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9 in Harbison Chapel. Students – most of whom weren’t even born on Sept. 11, 2001 – will have a chance to pause and consider the wisdom of recalling and reflecting on events of the past. The service will be livestreamed at gcc.edu/livestream.
Other anniversary events include:
- On Saturday, Sept. 11, Grove City College will present a 9/11 halftime tribute featuring the Wolverine Marching Band during the annual Night Game.
- On Friday, Oct. 1, the Grove City College Orchestra concert will present a special program in honor of all whose lives were forever changed by the attacks.