Remembrance Scholar Jacqueline Arbogast ’26, a television, radio and film major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, grew up knowing about the Pam Am 103 bombing and the effect it had on the University community. Her mom, Michele, was a senior in the Newhouse School at that time and had friends who died in the tragedy.

The bombing, which happened on Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland, took the lives of 270 people, including 35 students returning from a semester of study abroad in London and Florence through the University’s Division of International Programs Abroad (now Syracuse Abroad).

“My mom remembers it like it was yesterday,” Arbogast says. “Like her, many others remember where they were and when they got the phone call that friends and family had passed. I want to remember the friends that my mother lost as well as all of those who were lost in the tragedy, to allow their lives to live on through the University and those who honor their memory.”

To conclude Remembrance Week, Arbogast and her fellow 2025-26 Remembrance Scholars will be honored at the annual Remembrance Scholars Convocation on Friday, Oct. 24, at 3 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

The convocation will be preceded by the annual Rose-Laying Ceremony at 2:03 p.m. at the Place of Remembrance, located in front of the Hall of Languages. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided at the Rose-Laying Ceremony, and ASL and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided at the convocation. The Rose-Laying Ceremony and convocation will be livestreamed.

Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars

The Remembrance Scholarships are funded through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations. Significant support for the Remembrance Scholarships has been provided by C. Jean Thompson ’66 and Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus Richard L. Thompson G’67, H’15 in memory of Jean Taylor Phelan Terry ’43 and John F. Phelan, Jean Thompson’s parents; the Fred L. Emerson Foundation; Deborah Barnes and Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus Steven W. Barnes ’82, H’19; and the Syracuse Association of Zeta Psi in remembrance of Alexander Lowenstein.

Applicants for the $5,000 scholarship are asked to highlight their academic achievements, creative pursuits, leadership activities and community service. They also wrote essays and participated in interviews with members of the evaluation committee.

The Remembrance Scholars are joined on campus this week by the 2025-26 Lockerbie Scholars. This year’s scholars are 10 students from Lockerbie Academy who were chosen through a competitive process. During their time on campus, the Lockerbie Scholars, accompanied by Lockerbie Academy Head Teacher Brian Asher and Deputy Head Teacher Kerry Currie (a 1996-97 Lockerbie Scholar), are representing the 11 Lockerbie residents who died in the bombing and 2002-03 Lockerbie Scholar Andrew McClune, who died during his scholarship year in Syracuse. The Lockerbie Scholars will also be recognized at Friday’s convocation.

‘Look Back, Act Forward’

This is the 36th year of the Remembrance scholarships, which were established in the year following the tragedy. Since then, 1,280 scholarships have been awarded to Remembrance Scholars and 80 to Lockerbie Scholars.

The motto of the Remembrance Scholars is “Look Back, Act Forward,” and each scholar brings knowledge, perspective and lived experience to Remembrance.

For Remembrance Scholar Edward Lu ’26, a music composition major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, that motto encourages him to reflect on what it means to be a contemporary artist.

“I aim to honor my predecessors and their past contributions to composition while finding ways to push boundaries and envision fresh and exciting ideas,” he says. “Remembrance has helped shape who I am as an artist and as an individual.”

During his time at Syracuse, Remembrance Scholar Rohan Bangalore ’26, a policy studies and law, society and policy major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences, has worked with the Special Olympics basketball club.

“Getting to know each athlete—not just as a player but as a person—reinforced my belief that everyone brings value when given the opportunity. Their example deepened my commitment to empathy, respect and public service,” says Bangalore. “As a Remembrance Scholar, I carry those lessons forward with gratitude. In law, policy or public service, I hope to honor those lost on Pan Am 103 through thoughtful, people-centered work.”

Once Remembrance Week has concluded, Remembrance Scholars will continue to be engaged in “Act Forward” projects, the results of which will be shared with the University community in the spring.