We remain in a daze. Our lives have been forever changed. The pain and the suffering, the destruction of our buildings and the shattering of our security still seems like a bad dream. Our grandparents and our parents before us have born witness to national and international tragedies on a scale, perhaps, rivaling those of the last ten days. Their nightmare is all too familiar.
While we approach this tragedy from different perspectives, different experiences and different generations, now we must come together and set aside time to slowly evaluate the new world around us. For most, coming to terms with last week’s attacks has involved working through a series of stages of recognition. First, there was shock, then grief, then anger, and now as we prepare to embark on a new and dangerous journey, there is a sense of confusion.
Where do we go from here? We must take pains to examine this new world in order to fully understand the ramifications of the acts that destroyed the old one.
Colleges and universities have a unique role to play in this vein. Mission statements and recruitment brochures exalt the critical roles of real-life discussions taken from the headlines around us. The most enjoyable classes are often the ones that allow students to learn by examining real stories from the world around them. And while our world remains shaken, the time for reflection is now.
To our teachers at Ohio State, classes have just begun and in a ten-week quarter we know that every day counts. There is so much material to cover and for some, it may be inconceivable to set aside an hour or two to reflect on current events. But the healing process that we are all struggling through demands attention. Moreover, talking about how the terrorist attacks affected us will encourage students to come to know and to trust each other as well.
For the students, our plates are full. We have classes all day long and extracurricular activities most of the night. The frantic need is strong to obtain a syllabus and get lecture notes recorded so we can use our free time to begin preparing for examinations and the like.
But we should not overlook the events of the world around us. Wednesday’s vigil on the Oval and Thursday’s teach-in at the Ohio Union are both exceptional attempts to localize the discussion.
For the administrators, President Kirwan has already sent out a positive signal, calling for the university community to seek comfort in others and to internalize important lessons of tolerance and strength from this incident. We encourage the higher ups to embrace this open platform for continued deliberation.
For many of us, OSU is our home away from home for most of the year. As such, we must turn to those nearest to us, to our fellow students, teachers and friends, for support.
We encourage everyone to set aside a portion of their day to sit down with others and thrash out these circumstances. By vocalizing our grief, our frustrations and our fears, we will become stronger people. And in the end, we will become more adequately prepared to understand and to learn from this catastrophe.
