University of Miami students and organizations honored the memory of the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, 24 years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
Student organizations, including UM College Republicans, Hillel and ROTC, each had their own unique remembrance of 9/11.
Hillel, a Jewish organization on campus, organized a volunteering event. Students and faculty of Hillel assembled gift bags filled with various snacks and candies and later handed them out to the UM police and Coral Gables fire stations.
“We have a volunteering initiative,” said Sabrina Shapsis, a sophomore and intern of service at Hillel. “We’re packing snacks and food into bags with notes thanking people who provide service, so the UM police and the fire department, in commemoration of 9/11.”
The UM College Republicans also hosted an event in remembrance of 9/11. On Sept. 10, at 8:30 p.m., Students gathered around the U statue to hear remarks from the executive board before placing American flags in the area behind the statue.
“By planting 2,977 flags, we honor each individual whose life was taken on 9/11,” said Joey Insinna, an executive board member of the UM College Republicans. “We ensure that even 24 years later, our campus community pauses to reflect, remember, and never forget.”
On Sept. 6, ROTC students led a 9.11-mile “Ruck to Remember,” a memorial run dedicated to the victims of 9/11. A group of more than 150 people completed this run while carrying 35-pound rucksacks.
In an interview with Local 10 News, Ricardo Cisneros, ROTC member and assistant professor at UM, said that “Paying tribute to the service members, carrying the weight,” got him through the ruck. “People say never forget. But as time passes we have to keep on remembering why we do what we do.”
Events at the University of Miami echoed remembrance ceremonies across the country, from reading the names at the 9/11 memorial in New York City to a presidential speech at the Pentagon.