Campus tells stories of 9/11

Traveling to New York City or Washington D.C. or the sight of the American flag has a new heartfelt meaning because of the tragedies that took place beginning at 8:46 a.m. on Tuesday Sept.11, 2001.Nearly 3,000 people died due to the attacks that day and many more suffered and grieved days and months after.  A total of 19 terrorists hijacked four planes and by 5:20 p.m. the Twin Towers were shattered, a part of the Pentagon lay in memory and a plane of innocent and brave people crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa. to avoid targeting the U.S Capital.Vince DeFruscio and Amy Gassen, two past editors of the Loquitur, covered the breaking news of the tragedy that changed America.“My first or second article as a staff writer was the campus reaction to 9/11. ” De Fruscio said. Each resident hall displayed a board for students to tell where they were when they heard about the attacks. Student ministry held a special chapel to pray for the victims of the attacks and the bells rang at the time the Twin Towers were attacked. Students and faculty from around the United States remember exactly where they were when they heard the news and how it affected them. Since Cabrini is in such close proximity with New York City and Washington D.C., many students and faculty on campus were affected by the attacks and the aftermath. The Loquitur would like to give students and faculty on campus a chance to express where they were and how the events of September 11 affected them.

John Solewin  

Alumnus 2011

“I was sitting in class when my teacher, Mrs. Stise, told us what happened. At the time, I knew it was bad. I’m not sure being in middle school I knew what it meant. I am not sure I knew that the world around me would change forever. 9/11 was a terrible day, the day America got knocked down but 9/12 is the day that America got back up, the day we began to rebuild and showed the world that we could.”

Kelsey Cummins

sophomore education major

“My Uncle Brian died in the 9/11/01 attacks. He was in the first building on the fourth floor, he was a market maker and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald. I will never forget that day. Me and my younger sister were pulled out of class and were brought to my neighbor’s house where we then found out the tragic news. My whole family was at my grandparents’ house in Manasquan, New Jersey.  We did not find his body for a couple of days. This day is very hard for me because he was my favorite uncle, rest easy Uncle Brian.”

Gloria Jimenez

sophomore business major

“I’m from Central Jersey and many people from the area I lived and commuted to NYC or worked at the WTC. I was in class and a lot of my friends were leaving early, except for me. The principal came around the school and told us what had happened. At that point, we found out that one of our classmate’s father passed away; so my whole grade was affected since we were all either best friends or acquaintances with him. We were very supportive when he came back to school a few days later and even until this day.”

David Watson

sophomore education major

“I was in school. My mom picked me up at the end of the day and was in tears, she was very emotional and I didn’t understand why until I saw the video footage. I was young and didn’t understand the magnitude of it all until I watched the news daily because it was the only thing on tv. That day changed everything around me. I wasn’t affected personally but since then nothing seems the same”

Maureen Browne

senior education major

“I was in sixth grade and the teachers did not tell us anything, but we knew something was wrong. We saw teachers taking phone calls during class, which was very unusual so we knew something horrific happened. Some students left school early and we could not figure out why.  At 2:30 p.m. as we prepared for dismissal, the principal came over the loud speaker and informed the student body, two planes had flown into the the World Trade Center buildings earlier that day. She warned us to not turn on the television when we went home unless an adult was there. My mom was home at the time, babysitting, when my uncle called right after the attacks. He frantically asked my mom, “Is Dan okay?” and my mom responded, “ Yeah he’s at work. Why?” My uncle said a plane just flew into the World Trade Center. My mom hung up and immediately called my dad’s cell phone. She was relieved when he answered and said he was figuring out how to come home. My dad worked in the city and I remember my mom picked my sister and me up from school at the same spot she did every day. I remember shouting, “Is Dad okay?” as I ran down the street. I remember starting to cry when she told me he was fine and on his way home. Once we were home, my phone kept ringing. It was my family calling to make sure my dad was safe. He arrived home a little after 3:00 p.m. A 45-minute travel time home took my dad five hours to get home. My dad worked 10 blocks away from the buildings. He told me he was at the copy machine and heard the loud bang. He went to the window and could not believe his eyes. He saw the buildings on fire and the immense clouds of heavy smoke. Then the next thing he saw was from out of a movie; he saw bodies falling from the World Trade Center. He saw bodies on fire jumping from the windows. When I asked him why, he said they probably were stranded at that floor and did not want to burn to death. Several students in my school were absent the next couple of days due to deaths. Our family friend’s grandmother’s body was never recovered, not even a piece of her. There were other stories where people took a later train or were late to work and did not even make it to the buildings. So many lost their lives that day. We will never forget and continue to pray for those who still protect our country. God Bless America.”

Stephanie reed

Director of Student Diversity

was working as a career counselor at the University of Georgia in a staff meeting when the plane hit the first tower. We completed the meeting abruptly but we were not dismissed from work. I was in my office for the next hour and watched the second plane hit the 2nd tower live on CNN and was glued to CNN for a while. One of my closest friends was flying from N.Y. to LA that day for business and I received a call from her frantic mother who was worried sick because she could not find her! Thank the LORD, her flight was grounded and she never made it to LA. I stayed at work until my mother was finally able to reach me and she urged me to go home despite not having been “officially” dismissed. Needless to say, I left, permission or not. I watched CNN for the rest of the day and it was the most devastating thing I have ever witnessed in my life.

In 2001 I purposely stopped watching news for quite some time so that I could move on with my life. I wanted to be healed and I wanted my mind to be free of the negativity. I had & (still have) friends who are Muslim or of Arab descent and at the time, the media was portraying the religion in the nationality so negatively that I felt myself being affected. I made a conscious choice to tune it out.

Charlene Guzman

senior, history and political science major

“I remember being in sixth grade in my Spanish class, and we’re all talking in class waiting for it to start. And my principal comes in, she tells us not to panic, the towers had been hit. So immediately we all run to the window, from my school we had a clear view of the towers. And it was the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen. I kept thinking, where was my mom and dad because they were both off from work. My school went into immediate lockdown because we were a block away from the 59th Street Bridge. As our Spanish teacher tried to calm us down, we played some games. But none of us kept our eyes off the windows, then I remember, looking out and only seeing one tower. I didn’t know it had collapsed, I thought all the smoke it the air was covering it. Then my principal came back in and told us one of the towers had fallen. I remember her taking one of my classmates, a small little boy by the name of Josh, with her.  We all were wondering why, and then we found out his father was firefighter, on duty that day. Josh stood by to see if there was any news about him. His father never made it home. I remember my mom picking me and my brother up, and it was like the heavens opened up, but now we had to see if my grandpa and my cousin were okay, both who lived in Brooklyn. It took us forever to get to Brooklyn; it’s usually only a 10-minute ride. I remember looking out to the city the skyline and only seeing the Empire State Building, and smoke where the towers were. My cousin had her first job interview that day, in the North tower at 8:00 a.m. I’ve never seen my mom more scared to go to my aunt’s house. My cousin came out and we all started crying; it was a miracle, she told us. The lady who scheduled her interview changed it to 12 noon. If she went when they originally scheduled it, who knows if she would have been here. I look at her now and she’s married and has three kids, and I can’t help but think God was watching over her that day. As for my grandpa, who was a taxi driver, he stood in Brooklyn that day, and was safe when we got to him. I am a New Yorker, as many people know, but my story of 9/11 isn’t that amazing. I wouldn’t want it to be, that day there was never more a silence in the air. My school went on lockdown for the rest of the week, so of course I was happy. But the magnitude of what happened  never really hit me, until now. I never went to ground zero, I refused because to me hell was in my backyard, that day you smelled the difference in the air. It didn’t have to take me being right there in front of the towers to experience anything. My outlook on life was never the same since then, I always thought I lived in the untouchable city, my city was shaken that day. A day I’ll never forget, I remember it like yesterday.”

BRANDON MINCER

junior social work major

“I remember being in gym, and coach Adams told all of us to come to the locker room. He turned on the tv and we saw the the second plane hit the South Tower. We all thought it was a movie, because it didn’t seem real. We saw people running the streets crying and panicking. The principal started praying over the loud speaker. My dad came to my school to pick me up. My entire family was worried because the last we heard my grandparents were supposed to visit the towers that morning. We couldn’t get in touch with them, so we thought the worst. Later that day they finally got in touch with us. I will never forget the events of that day. I continue to pray for the families who lost love ones.”