GREENEVILLE – As the nation paused to remember the tragic events of 9/11 Thursday, Tusculum University family members gathered to join in prayer and share their memories of that day.
The Rev. E.J. Swatsell delivers a prayer during the 9/11 remembrance.
Matilda Green speaks during the event.
A group of about 25 stood by the flagpole began the commemoration at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. The bell atop McCormick Hall tolled then and at the other times throughout the morning to mark the moments when the remaining planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington and crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The emotional ceremony lasted about 30 minutes. It began with a moment of silence, followed by a prayer from the Rev. E.J. Swatsell, Tusculum’s director of spiritual life and special projects and chaplain for the Greeneville Fire Department.
“God, I pray for those families of the 3,000 people who lost their lives,” he said. “I pray for those who know so dearly the cost of terrorism. I pray, God, that as they hear the bells that we just heard and as the tears well in their eyes that you will comfort them in a way that only You can. Father, I pray also for those who are standing ready and willing on the front lines to climb those stairs again.”
Swatsell told everyone assembled that one out of three males in his high school graduation class went into emergency services or the military because of 9/11’s impact on their lives. Their common refrain was, “We’ve got to be the ones who step up.” He hopes people will remember they are called to serve their fellow human beings in some manner and to answer that call.
Event leader speaks
Matilda Green, operations clerk in the Office of Admission, who spearheaded the event, had just moved to Greeneville from Washington when the terrorist acts occurred. She recalled how the plane that hit the Pentagon had flown over her father’s grave in Arlington Cemetery. She also reflected on a friend who knew all of the flight attendants on that plane. She talked about another friend who had opened the door at the Pentagon the day before for a general who was subsequently killed in the attack.
“I was never so happy in my life to be in Greeneville, Tennessee, that morning,” Green said.
Representatives of the Office of Admission participate in a moment of silence at the start of the event.
Cindy Pippin shares her memories of 9/11.
Cindy Pippin, administrative assistant for academic affairs, had just returned from a Jimmy Buffett concert in Washington. Interestingly, she and her boyfriend, with whom she had attended the concert, had thought about staying in Washington to tour some museums but decided to return home instead because they were tired. Once she was at home, her grandfather came and told her that the United States was under attack.
“Thank goodness I was in Bristol, Tennessee, when that happened because I couldn’t even imagine being in Washington.”
Zack Kassebaum, vice president of enrollment management and financial aid, reflected on waking up that morning through his radio alarm and hearing the disc jockey talk about a plane hitting one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He turned on the television and saw the damage to the first tower. He had a friend who worked in one of the Twin Towers and thankfully was sick that day and did not go to work. It took Kassebaum three days to learn about his friend’s whereabouts.
“While I was watching the news on TV, I saw the second plane hit,” he said. “That means this is coordinated. That means we’re under attack. At that moment, everything stopped because for those of us who didn’t grow up after 9/11, everything that happened that day was not imaginable.”
Kassebaum talked about the difference those attacks have made in the United States. Before 9/11, family members could greet passengers at the airplane gate and the huge checkpoints at the airport did not exist. A sense of feeling secure before 9/11 vanished.
“It was a paradigm shift,” he said. ”Something was stolen from America that doesn’t exist anymore, and that’s one of the things about the day that sticks with me.”
Words from the university’s president
Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president, was a professor at a university in Texas at the time. He was dropping off his daughters at school when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
Michala Hash offers her memories and perspective about 9/11.
Dr. Scott Hummel discusses 9/11 during the ceremony.
“The university let classes out as you had hundreds of students come out on the lawn and prayed,” he said. “You had a variety of emotions, both anger and that appeal toward God. You saw that day some of the worst of humanity, but you also some of the best of humanity. You saw people making sacrifices and people taking care of others. You saw not only a paradigm shift related to security but also people reevaluating their lives, their marriages. It changed the perspective of a lot of people.”
His hope is people will learn lessons on the proper way to respond in times of crisis and tragedy that will bring out the best in them.
“It also often drives us back to the biblical passage: ‘God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in times of trouble,’” Dr. Hummel said.
Michala Hash, an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team, was in first grade in Virginia at the time. Her teacher received a call and immediately turned on the TV. She and her classmates watched the attack live, something she said is hard to comprehend. Her school was placed on soft lockdown, and school officials tried to comfort the students.
Years later, she had an English teacher in eighth and ninth grade who had been a lawyer nine blocks from the towers. As a result of what transpired that day, he quit being a lawyer and moved to a small town in Virginia to become a teacher.
“I just hope that we can all continue to teach the younger generation that doesn’t understand what it truly means to be an American like it did after that attack,” Hash said. “It’s also important to share the love and mercy of Jesus.”
Student Janelle Zirger shares her thoughts about 9/11.
Kim Jones provides a spiritual message during the event.
Kim Jones, assistant director of graduate and online programs, also highlighted the spiritual element.
“What I’m glad about is God’s grace and mercy for those of us who are still here,” she said. “You never know what’s happening, so we try to live our life every day as though it’s our last day. This is another day to reiterate in our minds that life is special. I’m thankful to God for every day that I wake up, that my family wakes up and those around us wake up because we never know what’s ahead.”
Janelle Zirger, a senior at Tusculum and president of the Student Government Association, was born three years after 9/11 but she heard about it as she was growing up. Her grandfather was in New York but fortunately was OK. Her uncle helped in the aftermath of the attacks because he worked with the fire department in New York.
“I really wish that it never, ever happens again, and if it does, I really hope that we can come together,” Zirger said. “While we are angry, while we are upset, while we have a differing opinion on whatever is the matter, I hope that we can be civil and come together because at the end of the day, a tragedy like this doesn’t hurt one, it hurts all.”
More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.