The Campus Remembers

REMARKS: Memorial Service, September 17, 2001
Wally Adeyemo, President, ASUC

There is a time and a place for every thing under the sun; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001 the world as we knew it changed forever, and the world entered a time to mourn. No longer would the twin towers stand in the New York skyline; gone forever were the hopes and dreams of over 6,000 people; changed were the lives of an entire generation.

As we watched from 3,000 miles away, the images were surreal, hard to realize that the unthinkable had really occurred, hard to understand how something so heinous could happen in America. Yet, from 3,000 miles away, and even across the globe, every man and woman understood that life would never again be the same.

Whether Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, or even evolutionist, September 11th reminds us that we are one people, torn from one cloth, with one spirit. No matter one's race, gender, or religion, we all felt a common sense of loss. For the first time since December 7th, 1941, a generation of Americans awoke to the possibility that our nation could be attacked by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Mourning the dead is one of the hardest parts of humanity, because death is something that we have so little control over. While the deaths of individuals are hard to understand, the death of masses invokes even greater questions for humanity. In mourning others we must reflect upon our own lives and how we are living. If you were to die right now would you be ready to go? Have you lived everyday to it's fullest and if not, why not? Those who now lie dead had no choice as to the hour of their death. Where will you be in your hour?

How many of those that were lost would give but one more second to tell their wives or husbands they loved them, to call a friend just to say hello, to hold a brother or sister just one more time. Death teaches the living the value of time and the finite nature of life. It took four years to build the World Trade Center, but it only took one hour for it to crumble to the earth. You have spent your entire life building, but in a moment's time it can all be gone. Yet the difference between you and those that are gone is that you still have a chance to write your personal history, to hug that last person.

On September 11th terrorists attempted to blow out the light of humanity, they allowed their hate and anger to drive them to murder. We cannot allow those that instigate violence through terrorism to make us hate as they hated or be angered as they themselves were angered. We as a people and as a society must stand by a higher calling. We cannot let the spirit of terrorism blow out our lights of hope, compassion, and love. If we allow our lights to be smothered by those that promote terrorism, we will have allowed them to take more than our buildings.

We reserve today to mourn those that we have lost, but what we do tomorrow is as important as what we do today. History will not judge us based on how we mourn the dead, but rather based on how we respond after the dead are buried. Will we learn from the deaths of thousands or will we allow history to repeat itself?

Today is not a day to speak of vengeance or anger, but rather a day to consider our humanity. Deep within the hearts of many lies the want and desire to do something for those who have lost so much. This desire manifests itself in blood drives, food donations, peace rallies, and a number of other things. But while the "do something" spirit allows us to deal with the crisis at hand, the true long lasting change that September 11th should teach us is that without love we have nothing. The light that each of us posses, the light that those that promote terror attempt to remove, can only be fueled by love.

We can plan blood drives, but without love, we have nothing, we can pray for victims, but without love we have nothing, we can educate the world about the evils of terrorism, but without love, we have nothing.

Fiat Lux means to let your light shine. Let your light shine from the mighty mountains of California; let your light shine from the rolling hills of the golden state; let your light shine from the red woods of Humboldt; let your light shine from the valleys of our great state; let your light shine in every dorm; let your light shine in every classroom; let your light shine on every street corner; let your light shine from sea to shining sea.

And when we allow our lights to shine, when we let them shine from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - Arab men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Christians and Muslims - will be able to join hands and say: Love is kind, love is patient, and love never fails.