UW to hold Sept. 11, Oct. 11 commemerative ceremonies

At noon on Sept. 11, UW students, faculty and administration members will join together in Red Square to honor the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. To commemorate the attacks, those in attendance will be treated to song, speeches and will have an opportunity to place flowers at the base of the Broken Obelisk.

"The UW administration was pretty cognizant that our community wanted to do something [for the one-year anniversary of the attacks]," said Norm Arkans, associate vice president for university relations.

According to Gus Kravas, vice provost for student relations, a committee consisting of six or seven student, faculty and administration representatives, including Kravas, was formed to decide how the anniversary should be handled.

The committee decided to hold the ceremony in two parts, one on the actual anniversary (a Wednesday) and one on Oct. 11 (a Friday) when classes are in session.

According to Arkans, it is unlikely school will be cancelled for the ceremony, as was the case last year.

The committee decided a dogwood tree would be planted as a time-capsule-like box. UW community members will be invited to write thoughts or reactions to the anniversary of the attacks to be placed in the box before it is buried.

"People can put any kind of thoughts [about the attacks] into the box," said Alex Narvaez, ASUW president.

Along with the ASUW, Narvaez sponsors the idea of the box. "It's obviously going to be a time of reflection for a lot of people," she said.

The committee and the ASUW are calling the box "eternal messages."

"100 years from now, somebody might want to dig the box up and see what people were thinking a year after the attacks," Arkans said.

The tree and the box will be introduced during the ceremony on Sept. 11 and will remain in public view for a month. During the ceremony on Oct. 11, the tree and the box will be planted near Thomson Hall by a commemorative bench and a similar tree, which were placed there after the attacks.

"[The bench] is a popular spot to stop and reflect or sit during a stroll through campus," Kravas said, adding the second tree will add balance to the bench.

Until the Oct. 11 planting ceremony, the box will be open for additions.

"Perhaps we'll even have a little desk there for people who want to sit down and write something," Kravas said.