Scholars Announce Activities for 2014 Remembrance Week

Remembrance Scholar William Fletcher speaks about Syracuse University student Stephen Boland during the Rose-Laying Ceremony in 2013.

Syracuse University’s Remembrance Week 2014 will be held on campus Sunday, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 25.

The weeklong series of events honors the 270 people, including 35 students studying abroad through Syracuse University, who lost their lives in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988.

Each year, 35 Remembrance Scholarships—one for each of the 35 student victims—are awarded in the amount of $5,000 to undergraduate seniors representing a broad range of majors. The Remembrance Week events planned and hosted by the students are meant to honor the victims and further education about terrorism. Remembrance Week activities are all free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

All week
Pen and ink drawings of the 35 student victims will be on display in the Panasci Lounge, located on the third floor of the Schine Student Center. Portraits of the victims will be on display at various locations around campus.

An exhibition of 35 empty chairs on the Kenneth A. Shaw Quad, an installation created by the 2012 Remembrance Scholars, juxtaposes the visual representation of 35 students lost with good deeds inscribed upon the chairs. The exhibition is meant to serve as a reminder of how a lost past can inspire positive actions in the present. Members of the community can record their good deeds and demonstrate how they “act forward” by visiting the Remembrance information table in the atrium of the Schine Student Center on Friday, Oct. 17, and Monday, Oct. 20.

Remembrance Scholars will visit classes around the Syracuse University campus to educate fellow students about the tragedy.

Monday, Oct. 20
Dove Balloon Release, Walk for Peace and Candlelight Vigil—The event will begin at 6:15 p.m. on the Quad in front of Hendricks Chapel. A choir of a cappella groups will sing “In Remembrance” from Requiem as 35 bio-safe, dove-shaped balloons are released. Those assembled will then walk to the Wall of Remembrance, where a candlelight vigil will be held at 7 p.m. in honor of all lost in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing.

Tuesday, Oct. 21
Acting Forward–The scholars will make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Oxford Inn and Bishop Foery Foundation to help those in need. Members of the campus community are invited to join in this effort starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Whitman Atrium.

Wednesday, Oct. 22
Open Mic Night—A night of poetry, music, dance and more to remember the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 and act forward for peace. The event will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the Slocum Hall Auditorium.

Thursday, Oct. 23
Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives Open—Items from the archives will be on display from 2-5 p.m. in the Spector Room, Room 608 of Bird Library.

Documentary Film Screening and Panel Discussion—“We Were Quiet Once,” a documentary produced by SU alumna and former Remembrance Scholar Laura Beachy ’12, will be screened. The film tells the story of 9/11, specifically the crash of United Flight 93 into the Pennsylvania countryside and how the tragedy affected the small town of Shanksville. Before the screening, a panel will discuss the effects of terrorism on small towns such as Lockerbie, Scotland, and Shanksville. The event will be held in the Slocum Hall Auditorium; panel starts at 7 p.m. and film screening begins at 8 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 24
Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives Open—Items from the archives will be on display from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Spector Room, Room 608 of Bird Library.

Rose-Laying Ceremony and Remembrance Convocation—The annual Rose-Laying Ceremony will begin at 2:03 p.m. at the Wall of Remembrance, located in front of the Hall of Languages. The Remembrance Scholar Convocation, honoring this year’s scholars, will begin at 3 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

For more information on Remembrance Week activities, visit http://remembrance.syr.edu or Twitter at #RW2014 or #actforward.