Tomorrow marks 20 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Many of you receiving this note were not yet born at that time. Many others remember it like it was yesterday.

I believe it is right and just to take a moment and reflect on the pain the families of victims endured on and after Sept. 11, 2001. A colleague recently reminded me of the trauma many New Yorkers, public servants in Washington D.C. and residents of Shanksville, Pennsylvania experience every Sept. 11. Of course, we must consider the service, sacrifice, hardship and recovery that rescuers, U.S. military members and their respective families sustained on that day and for years thereafter. UW Oshkosh lives certainly have been affected.

I also believe it is right and just to recall the feelings of connection and oneness people in this nation felt during that passage of loss and darkness. Perhaps there is a lesson about help and hope through crisis that perseveres.

However we look back, however intense our heartache and healing, I hope we will not forget the lives lost and the endurance of their loved ones.

We offer solace to everyone whose lives changed on and after Sept. 11, 2001.

This post was originally shared via email with the UW Oshkosh community on Sept. 10, 2021.