Remembrance Scholars announce schedule for Remembrance Week 2008

Thursday, October 16, 2008, By News Staff

Kelly Homan Rodoski
(315) 443-5381

Syracuse University’s Remembrance Week 2008, a weeklong series of events honoring the 35 Syracuse University students who lost their lives in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988 — 20 years ago — will be held on the SU campus Oct. 19-26.

Each year, 35 Remembrance Scholarships, one for each of the SU student victims, are awarded in the amount of $5,000 to undergraduate seniors representing a broad range of majors. The events planned and hosted by the students are meant to honor the victims and further education about terrorism.

The Remembrance Week schedule of events includes:

  • Sunday, Oct. 19-The scholars will build a cairn, a traditional Scottish monument of remembrance, on the Quad in front of Hendricks Chapel. The cairn will be built of 35 stones, each one in memory of one of the student victims lost aboard Pan Am Flight 103.
  • Monday, Oct. 20, to Wednesday, Oct. 22-The scholars will distribute lapel ribbons and carnations on the Quad from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The rain location for this event is the atrium of the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center. The scholars will also tie blue and white ribbons-each bearing the name of one of the SU students killed in the bombing-to trees on the SU campus.
  • Thursday, Oct. 23-“Celebration of Life-Remembering the Lives They Led,” a performance showcase celebrating the lives of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, will be held at 8 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. The event will begin with a luminaria display on the steps of Hendricks Chapel. The showcase will be performed by individuals and groups, and will include monologues crafted from journal entries, letters and poetry from some of the victims (now found in the SU Archives), along with music and dance. SU London faculty members will also be sharing their memories of the victims.
  • Friday, Oct. 24-The traditional Rose-Laying Ceremony will be held at 2:03 p.m. (the actual time of the tragedy) at the Wall of Remembrance in front of Hendricks Chapel. Each of the scholars will lay a rose on the wall in honor of the student victim they are representing. The Remembrance Scholars Convocation will follow at 3:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

In addition to the activities listed above, the scholars will interact with members of the campus community throughout the week to inform and enlarge understanding of the Pan Am 103 tragedy and of terrorism. They will lead discussions in local high schools, make presentations in SU residence halls and in their classes, and lead activities in local community centers for young students. The scholars will also hang portraits of the 35 student victims in buildings around campus, where they will be displayed until Dec. 21.