Volunteers Needed for Sept. 11 Commemorations

UPDATED with additional events on Sept. 8 at 2:15 p.m.

August 31, 2011 — Organizers hope to draw volunteers from the University of Virginia community for a series of local events observing the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The University is among several community and civic organizations sponsoring the Weekend of Remembrance and Honor, which includes three events over the Sept. 11 weekend culminating in a march and ceremony in downtown Charlottesville. It's one of several 9/11-themed events occurring on and around Grounds in observance of the anniversary.

"The weekend events give us an opportunity to come together to remember and to honor as we mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11," said Ida Lee Wootten, the University's director of community relations. "Sunday's Community Gathering and Remembrance program on the Downtown Mall is a free public event that will give area residents an opportunity to remember those who so tragically lost their lives on Sept. 11, and to honor the contributions of first responders."

Organizers are seeking volunteers for the 9/11 Remembrance and Honor Commemorative Event, which begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 on the Downtown Mall. The event will begin with a planned flyover by Pegasus and the ringing of downtown church bells. The March of Honor will begin on the Downtown Mall and continue to the nTelos Wireless Pavilion.

Jay James of WINA (1070 AM) will host a 5 p.m. program at the pavilion that is free and open to the public. It will spotlight and honor community first responders: firefighters, police, rescue and military personnel. Retired Navy Rear Adm. James Barnett, the chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, will be the guest speaker.

Organizers are also seeking volunteers to install American flags on the Downtown Mall on Sept. 9, beginning at 10 a.m.

Anyone interested in volunteering for either event should contact Melissa Burr at Melissa@paraderestva.org.

The Weekend of Remembrance and Honor also includes:

• The Operation Remembrance Golf Tournament presented by the Virginia NeuroCare Foundation on Sept. 9 at 8 a.m. at Meadowcreek Golf Course.
• The Stephen Siller "Tunnel to Towers" 9/11 Remembrance 5K Run/Walk on Sept. 10 at 8 a.m. at University Hall

A variety of commemorative events will also be occurring on or near Grounds.

• The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library will exhibit items left at the memorial wall on Grounds immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. The exhibit, which goes up Monday, will also feature photographs and brief bios of the five University alumni killed as a result of the terrorist attacks.
• Fred Hitz, former inspector general of the CIA and an adjunct professor in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, will discuss the intelligence community’s evolution since 9/11 on Sept. 8 at 7  p.m. in the Great Hall in Garrett Hall. This Batten School talk is based on Hitz’s 2002 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy article, “Unleashing the Rogue Elephant: September 11 and Letting the CIA be the CIA,” and a follow-up piece, “The Creation of the Spy Commando,” which is due in publication’s fall edition.
• Melvyn Leffler, the Edward R. Stettinius Chair of Modern American History, will present a forum, "Rethinking 9/11: Its Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy," at the Miller Center on Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. Leffler and Jeffrey Legro, the Randolph P. Compton Professor of World Politics, co-edited the books "In Uncertain Times: American Foreign Policy After the Berlin Wall and 9/11" and "To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine."
• The University's Air Force ROTC Detachment 890 is sponsoring and leading the U.Va 9/11 Memorial Flag Run on Sept. 10 and 11. Beginning at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 10, three-person teams of U.Va. ROTC cadets will begin a continuous 24-hour run around Grounds carrying a U.S. flag that previously flew over the Pentagon. U.Va.'s Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC units will participate. The cadets and midshipmen will return the flag to the flag pole area on the north side of the Rotunda at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 11, to coincide with the time of the first attack in 2001. The ROTC will raise the flag as the national anthem is played and will retire it to half-staff while "Taps" is played.
• The University Singers will perform in the Oratorio Society's "Mozart Requiem – A Service of Remembrance" on Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m at the First Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville.
• On Sept. 12 at 5 p.m., the University of Virginia Law School will host a panel discussion on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, featuring law professors John Harrison, David Martin and Tom Nachbar, as well as Duke University professor Curt Bradley.
• U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt will speak at a ticketed memorial service for students at the Rotunda Dome Room on Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. Students seeking tickets should email Evan Davis at ed8h@virginia.edu.
• Tables will be set up on the Lawn from Wednesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for students to write cards of gratitude for the nation's public servants. Free 9/11 ribbons will be available, and students may sign a classwide banner to hang in various locations on and off Grounds.
• There will be a candlelight vigil Sunday, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the McIntire Amphitheater. The rain site will be Memorial Gym. The vigil will include a musical performance, brief documentary and speech by 9/11 survivor Tom Duke.
• On Monday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., there will be a poster display on the South Lawn featuring the names of all of the American victims of the 9/11 attacks. There will also be a table at Old Cabell Hall where students can get a mini American flag to place in the ground in remembrance of someone who has passed away.
  

To submit information on additional Sept. 11 commemorative events at the University, email rseal@virginia.edu.