2,977 American flags were placed on Decker Quad on Wednesday, Sept. 10 to commemorate the Sept. 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which three airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with another airplane crashing in Western Pennsylvania. This memorial was completed in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins College Republicans, Democrats and the Hopkins Political Union.
As club members were laying down the flags, The News-Letter asked the presidents of the Hopkins College Republicans and Hopkins College Democrats to reflect on the significance of the commemorations for the greater Hopkins community.
In an interview with The News-Letter, president of the College Republicans, Aneesh Swaminathan, expressed that remembrance of the attacks is important not just for the Hopkins community, but for all American universities.
“I think it is important for all universities to commemorate these attacks,” said Swaminathan. “Not just because it’s a very dark day, but since that day and the events that happened after that day were a symbol to how patriotism can be a really strong force of unity in this country.”
Kelsey Miller, president of the College Democrats, echoed similar sentiments, urging students to unite in the face of increasing political polarization.
Swaminathan further commented about the significance of the event for students. When asked about the large population of students who do not identify as American, Swaminatham clarified that the event was not meant to be exclusionary of any nationality.
“Regardless of where you're from, who your parents are, your race, your background, your ethnicity, we're all united as Americans,” Swaminatham said. “I think 9/11 is a strong symbol of the unity behind this country.”
When asked to comment on both organizations working with each other, both Swaminathan and Miller praised the collaboration between their respective organizations.
“We've had an initiative called Hopkins Political Union, where we've come together to discuss hot button political issues and really just find the humanity in each other and find where we agree with each other,” Miller said.
When Miller was asked if she thought Hopkins was doing enough to adequately commemorate the attacks, she said that there was more that the University could do.
“I haven't really heard much from them in terms of 9/11,” further adding “There's definitely more that they could do to foster our civic unity and our patriotism and our Americanism. Because this is a very diverse campus, but we are Americans, and I do wish that Hopkins would be more outspoken about things like that.”
In regards to the student response to the event, students passing by the memorial in front of Decker Quad also opted to share their opinions on the memorial to The News-Letter. Many students were pleasantly surprised by the memorial. Maulika Masson, a senior studying Molecular and Cellular Biology, was one such student. In an interview with The News-Letter, Masson was both surprised and impressed when first viewing the memorial.
“I was just coming in for classes, and I was like, ‘Wow, this looks beautiful.’ I feel like this is really well organized, and the way the flags are being oriented here,” Masson said. “I feel happy about it looking at it.”
In an interview with The News-Letter, freshman Zoe Tseng also shared the positive impression the memorial left on her. She noted the effort that the organizers put into creating the memorial was admirable, considering the effect it could have on the entire student body.
“I feel like putting this up probably took quite a bit of time, but I feel like it's very visible for everyone to see. So it's nice to have this remembrance of 9/11,” Tseng told The News-Letter.
Upon learning about the collaboration between the Hopkins College Republicans and Democrats, students believed it to be a gratifying display of unity amongst political parties.
When asked how the collaboration between the two groups made him feel, freshman Ryan Zhang believed the creation of the memorial showcased a positive example of teamwork that is especially important in the current political climate.
“You feel good [to hear collaboration], because national tragedies affect everybody. I think it's important to have bipartisan collaboration,” Zhang shared.
Additionally, while sharing the impact the collaboration had on her, freshman Siyeon Joo reflected on both her initial shock and then happiness in seeing the memorial, and the implications of the memorial for the modern day.
“Well, I didn't know this was going on, so I think it's a beautiful tribute to a very traumatic day in this nation's history,” Joo said. “Honestly, it's very heartwarming – in this very devastating time, not just of this week, but also just in this history that we're living in and living through.”
Joo also expressed her disappointment in the lack of attention given to the Sept. 11 attacks by the University as a whole, mentioning the absence of response from Hopkins about the attacks.
“It would have been nice to have an official statement. Maybe I haven't seen it yet, but just something a little more widespread for us all to feel connected as a University.”
In terms of on-campus awareness of both the attacks, out of the nine students The News-Letter interviewed about the event, a majority did not remember the anniversary of the attacks before visiting the commemoration.
Senior Arushi Devgun shared her initial confusion upon viewing the memorial in an interview with The News-Letter.
“I was more curious. One, I forgot it was 9/11 and two, I was like, ‘Oh, there's a lot of flags. Like, why are they there?’” she said.
