Lipscomb University honors 9/11 with student-led memorial service
Lacey Klotz |
Click here to view Tennessean coverage of the event.
In remembrance of the 16th anniversary of 9/11, students from within Lipscomb University’s Campus Veterans Organization held a special memorial service to honor the 2,977 victims from New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, who lost their lives as part of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Nearly 3,000 flags were placed on the quad at Burton Sciences Center to represent each life lost, and were assembled into a pathway for community members to come and pay their respects throughout the week.
During the memorial service on Monday, Sept. 11, Tristan Brews, a communication major at Lipscomb, along with Charlie Smith, CVO president, led the Lipscomb community through a prayer and moment of silence, before inviting community members to participate in a memorial walk along the pathway of flags.
Tristan Brews, a communication major at Lipscomb, serves as the public relations officer for Campus Veterans Organizations and says the sole purpose of the memorial service was to bring the community together to remember all of those affected by 9/11.
“9/11 happened 16 years ago today, and we [Lipscomb’s Campus Veterans Organization] wanted to create an event that brought the university community together to commemorate the victims," said Brews. "9/11 is an event that affected nearly everyone in this country, so we wanted to do something to memorialize those people, and those who have served this great nation over the past 16 years since the attacks."
Chad Staggs, director of Lipscomb’s veterans services, says many veteran students at Lipscomb decided to join our armed forces after 9/11, and he is very proud of the way the CVO has worked to prepare a platform for students, faculty and staff to remember, mourn and pray for all of those affected.
Lipscomb’s CVO is a student-led, campus chapter of the Student Veterans of America national chapter. Open to all students, alumni, faculty and staff, the chapter serves a voice and working body for veterans on the Lipscomb University campus. The CVO also provides recreational and educational opportunities as well as a support network for participants to better achieve educational and career goals, help raise awareness, provide selfless service to the local community through volunteer work, and act as leaders on- and off-campus.
— Photos by Kristi Jones