For a week in October every year, the Syracuse University community collectively remembers the lives of 35 SU students who were killed on Pan Am Flight 103 in a terrorist attack over Lockerbie, Scotland.

During Remembrance Week, Remembrance and Lockerbie scholars organize a variety of events to create awareness about the tragedy, which took place Dec. 21, 1988.

Judith O’Rourke, who was working at SU in 1988 when the terrorist bombing occurred, is the faculty adviser for the Remembrance and Lockerbie scholars. The 35 Remembrance Scholars are chosen based on academic achievement and community service, while two Lockerbie Scholars travel from Scotland to participate in an exchange program at SU, she said.

O’Rourke said it is important to remember those who have been lost, and Remembrance Week is ‘a time for students, faculty and staff to think about what we can do.’

‘There are a lot of problems in the world, and it is a time to reflect on those problems and imagine how we can make a difference,’ she said.

Courtney Mansfield, senior fashion design major, said she did not know anything about it when she arrived on campus because the terrorist attack happened in the 1980s.

‘When I went abroad and after all the recent terrorism threats, it is more real to me,’ she said.

To commemorate Remembrance Week, ribbons will be tied on trees around the Quad with the names of the victims, bracelets and carnations will be handed out to students and a range of presentations about terrorism will take place.

‘Remembrance Week is a little bit different every year, but most things stay the same,’

O’Rourke said. Some activities will be used for publicity, intended to draw people’s attention to what Remembrance Week is really about, she said.

Educational events start Wednesday night, O’Rourke said, with a panel discussion about terrorism, and a candlelight vigil will take place, followed by a remembrance celebration Thursday when people can contribute their own thoughts.

In addition, the scholars will be speaking to their classes and giving a presentation at Nottingham High School about terrorism.

Ryan Kelly, Student Association president and a Remembrance Scholar, said the scholars are organized, and they do not get a lot of help from the administration.

‘That’s great because I think it is better for students to be reaching out to other students,’ said Kelly, a senior advertising and marketing major.

It is especially important to remember the victims because ‘at a university, after the undergraduates leave, there is short-term memory with the students,’ Kelly said.

‘Remembrance Scholars are aware of what happened, who the people were, because history repeats itself. Remembering promotes peace and reminds us how it affected our lives,’ Kelly said.

Published on October 22, 2007 at 12:00 pm