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Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11/2001. We will share on social media tomorrow a brief reflection by our Principal, Dr. Daniel McMahon '76. Dan was in his second year as principal on that fateful day.
Below we share part of our story we did two years ago on faculty member Mike Curran '99, who teaches a class called "Understanding 9/11." This is the 13th year Mr. Curran has taught the class:
Understanding 9/11 is usually taught in the spring semester. However, student interest has increased down through the years and the class is being offered in the fall as well, this year for the very first time. (Class will be held tomorrow -- 9/11/26 on the actual anniversary date).
"The students in my classes now were not even born yet when this event took place," Curran said. "However, many of my students have some connection or have family members who remember the day vividly." In fact, by the end of the semester, Curran asks each student to produce a podcast, speaking with someone who has a particular perspective on the day itself.
Curran says he was a student at St. Bonaventure on that tragic day back in '01. He said that while St. Bonaventure was in upper New York State, a number of his classmates were from New York City and had relatives directly impacted by what transpired that day.
As for the class, the course description lays out several objectives including the exploration of how the United States addressed terrorism prior to 9/11 and the policy changes the US faced in the aftermath of the attacks.
The class will also take a field trip to New York and Mr. Curran is hoping to get to the Pentagon as well.
There are a number of us still at DeMatha who can recall that infamous day. Students were permitted to leave early with permission although classes remained until the scheduled end time. As we know, there was a pause in the days that followed as America tried to process what had taken place. Athletic and extracurricular events were put on hold, and the varsity football team's scheduled trip to the midwest for a game was cancelled. The experience was surreal, to say the least.
In addition to Mr. Curran’s 9/11 class, all of our students in the DeMatha Way class watch The Man in the Red Bandana, the remarkable story of Welles Crowther, a young man who repeatedly returned to the World Trade Center to help rescue people after the attacks. Crowther ultimately lost his life when the South Tower collapsed.
A number of DeMatha related people reported back to us with many varied experiences on what they experienced on that day in 2001.
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Our prayers remain with all who died or were affected in some way by the events of 9/11. In particular, we recall Steve Jacoby, who worked for Bill Collins '68. Steve was on the American Airlines Flight that crashed into the Pentagon. For a time, Bill raised money for a scholarship at DeMatha in the name of "Jake."
We also recall Anthony Miller '99 (Army) and Brendan Looney '99 (Navy) who were a part of the Army-Navy game in December 2001, the most watched college football game of that year. Sadly, Anthony died the following spring after a brief illness, and Brendan gave his life as a Navy SEAL serving his country in Afghanistan in 2010.
We will never forget.
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