NC State's first 9/11 Memorial Ceremony and Run is held on Stafford Commons to honor those who lost their lives due to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. American flags formed a pentagon which surrounded the two towers and the numbers nine and three, which commemorated all of those on United Airlines Flight 93 who died in the attacks. Christopher Caporali, a senior studying meteorology, hoped this event would "inspire change in how we respond to acts of terrorism as a Pack, as a Raleigh community and as a country." Caporali, several on-campus organizations and local Raleigh fire and police departments gathered Saturday morning to celebrate the resilience of the American people 15 years later." />
Anna Matthews
NC State's first 9/11 Memorial Ceremony and Run is held on Stafford Commons to honor those who lost their lives due to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. American flags formed a pentagon which surrounded the two towers and the numbers nine and three, which commemorated all of those on United Airlines Flight 93 who died in the attacks. Christopher Caporali, a senior studying meteorology, hoped this event would "inspire change in how we respond to acts of terrorism as a Pack, as a Raleigh community and as a country." Caporali, several on-campus organizations and local Raleigh fire and police departments gathered Saturday morning to celebrate the resilience of the American people 15 years later.
Last summer, a group of students realized that NC State did not have any specific event to recognize and remember the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed close to 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000. Over the next few months, a memorial run was planned, which successfully occurred on Sept. 10, 2016.
“I am in naval ROTC,” said Sam Perry, a second-year studying electrical engineering. “Last year, one of the seniors in ROTC, Chris Caporali, felt that the 9/11 event was especially important to him and his family so he wanted to make a memorial to the tragedy of that day. He put the event on and used ROTC cadets to help with putting on the event. I was one of those volunteers. After the event, I realized the impact it had on me; it was really moving. I went up to Chris and said ‘thank you for doing this’ and he unexpectedly gave me a hug. From that point, I took on the leading position of secretary and we formed the 9/11 Memorial Event Planning Committee.”
This year’s race will occur again on Sept. 10. The event will start at 8:15 a.m. The course is roughly 3 miles long, beginning and ending in Stafford Commons.
Last year, the event featured guests like Lt. Charlie Corr, a campus police officer from Wake Technical Community College who served as a police officer in New York on September 11, 2001. Benny Suggs, the executive director of the NC State Alumni Association, also spoke at last year’s event. According to Ian Barclay, president of the 9/11 Memorial Event Planning Committee, Suggs was a huge help with getting the event started last year. Suggs also helped organize a 9/11 memorial event on campus in 2011 for the tenth anniversary of the attack.
Barclay, a fourth-year studying accounting, said he cannot currently confirm any of the event’s guests for this year, but some of the potential candidates include a first responder who was in New York on 9/11, as well as members from the local police and fire units.
People wishing to participate in the run this year can register at 911memorialrun.org. Registration will go live sometime this week, no later than Friday. The event costs $8, which covers the cost of a T-shirt that will be given out to each runner. If a runner requests a shirt that is XXL or greater, the fee will be $10.
“Something new this year is that we are going to have a tent up where anybody who comes can write letters to soldiers overseas,” Barclay said. “Soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors, whoever overseas they can write letters to and we’ll send those out.”
Barclay said that runners can also register on the day of the event.
“It’d be really cool for people to understand that the 9/11 Memorial Run exists to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11, to remember those who lost their lives in ongoing battles and wars since 9/11, and to celebrate our country’s resilience in the face of 9/11, the global war on terror, and continuing terrorist attacks around the world,” Barclay said. “This event is unique because we strike a couple of chords. We have that somber remembrance of a tragedy aspect of it, where people can come and reflect, but it’s also kind of a celebration. We are not going to let them win by striking fear into us because they did what they did. The beginning of the event before the run is going to be that somber reflection. The run itself is going to be time for people to reflect.”
The race will begin at exactly 9:11 a.m. and continue throughout the rest of the morning.
*Editor’s Note: This article originally misdated September 11, 2001 as September 1, 2001 in the first paragraph. The date has been corrected.