Pan Am Flight 103 : SU announces 2011-12 Remembrance Scholars
When Laura Beachy visited Syracuse University as a senior in high school, she knew she wanted to be a part of the Remembrance Scholars.
‘My dad and I both knew that it was something I was looking to apply to,’ said Beachy, who visited during SU’s Remembrance Week in 2006.
Beachy and 34 other students entering their senior year of college were announced as Remembrance Scholars on Monday. SU officials established the scholars to honor the 35 students who were killed during the Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in Lockerbie, Scotland.
Judith O’Rourke, director of undergraduate studies, was on campus in 1988 and said she has kept in contact with all of the families of the students since then.
‘It’s always been very, very important for me,’ O’Rourke said.
The announcement of the scholars marks the beginning of the duties they must complete during their senior year. On Sunday, a breakfast was held for the 2011-12 Remembrance Scholars, in which new and previous scholars met and socialized. Suzanne Thorin, dean of the library, chaired the search committee for the third consecutive year and attended the event. Thorin said in an email it is always a pleasure to meet the new scholars each year.
Beachy, a television, radio and film and anthropology major, said she has seen the firsthand effects of terrorism.
‘It’s just something I have lived with and been very close to,’ said Beachy, who is from Somerset County, Pa., where Flight 93 went down on 9/11.
After seeing the families and friends that were affected by the tragedy, she said she felt as if she could relate to the purpose of the Remembrance Scholars and felt it was her obligation to apply.
‘For a school that has had such a tragedy, this is the way to cope,’ Beachy said.
The number of applicants was similar to other years, O’Rourke said, although she did not have the exact number. Scholars are chosen based on academics, but also on involvement in the community, O’Rourke said. Each student is awarded a $5,000 scholarship.
The primary mission of the scholars is to help memorialize the SU students who died in the Pan Am 103 bombing, O’Rourke said. The scholars will be in charge of planning Remembrance Week, held each fall. They will also be responsible for explaining the effects of terrorism and how individuals can work to make a difference in the world, O’Rourke said. Plans for Remembrance Week have not yet begun, she said.
Although the bombing happened more than 20 years ago, O’Rourke said she believes students still feel connected to it. She said she thinks it helps them better understand the events of today, too, especially considering what has been happening in Libya for the past year.
Kadiah Kamara, a junior biology major, was chosen as one of the Remembrance Scholars. Kamara’s family is from Sierra Leone, which experienced a civil war throughout the 1990s.
‘With that background, I always was brought up in a household that remembered those that passed so tragically,’ Kamara said.
The Remembrance Scholar application process was the same as other years, with students submitting an application and going through a review process. Subgroups of the selection committee processed the applications and then interviewed applicants.
Kamara said she was initially ‘very nervous’ about applying for the scholarship and felt her chances of being accepted were low. So when she received the email announcing her acceptance, she said she wanted to blast the news to her friends and family.
Said Kamara: ‘It’s such a privilege.’
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High achievement
Every year, 35 Syracuse University students are named Remembrance Scholars and are awarded $5,000 scholarships for their academic achievement, citizenship and service to the community.
The 2011-2012 Remembrance Scholars are:
Firdaus Arastu
Arts and Sciences
Forrest Ball
Whitman
Stephen Barton
Arts and Sciences
Kelly Baug
Arts and Sciences
Laura Beachy
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Erin Corbett
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Kelly D’Angelo
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Catherine DiVita
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Yonathan Eyob
Arts and Sciences
Oriana Fuentes
Arts and Sciences and Whitman
Calvin Iverson
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Christopher Jennison
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Kadiah Kamara
Arts and Sciences
Sean Kenney
L.C. Smith and VPA
In Gun Kim
Arts and Sciences
Megan Kinney
Whitman School and L.C. Smith
Jordan LaPlante
Arts and Sciences
Hunt Lau
Whitman
Junjie Li
Whitman
Margot Manasevit
Arts and Sciences
Christine Oh
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Whitney Mercer
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Vera Osafo
Arts and Sciences
Scott Pepperman
Human Ecology
Olivia Rhinehart
Arts and Sciences and Education
Kathleen Ronayne
Newhouse
Jessica Smith
iSchool and Newhouse
Margaret Spinosa
Arts and Sciences
Kathleen Walpole
Arts and Sciences
Melissa Weston
Arts and Sciences and Newhouse
Evan Wichman
Education and VPA
Vivian Yu
Arts and Sciences
Yifeng Yuan
L.C. Smith
Ariana Yuen
Arts and Sciences, Whitman and Newhouse
Robert Zaccaria
Whitman
Published on May 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride