The second week of October is the halfway mark for the fall semester at Syracuse University. It is also Remembrance Week.

It’s a powerful image to see the chairs that sit on the quad, with numbers that represent the seats of the 35 SU student victims from the Pan-Am Flight 103, also known as the Lockerbie Air Disaster, which took place on Dec. 21, 1988. Scattered through different buildings across campus are similar chairs. This year’s theme “Look Back, Act Forward” is written on them.

And so, in the midst of midterms, every student should make time to attend or participate in an event planned by dedicated Remembrance Scholars and honor the memory of the student victims.

Though many faculty, staff and alumni remember the tragedy when it happened, most undergraduates weren’t even born in 1988. This year’s incoming freshman class was 6 years old when the Sept. 11 attacks happened.

So despite societies’ annual remembrance of the wounds left by terrorist attacks, most students can’t recall the terror of hearing of such tragedies as they happened. Yet simply because the attacks happened a quarter of a century ago does not mean that the impact has diminished, nor has reflection on the event become less relevant today.

A lot has changed since 1988. Our generation can access information instantly through the Internet, connect with friends immediately via their smartphone and rarely handwrite assignments — a college reality different than the students who boarded the Pan-Am flight in London more than two decades ago.

Yet as we read about them, and learn about them, we relate our collegiate experience to theirs. We can see our closest friends, our freshman floor mates and ourselves in their memories.

They were, after all, students with similar hobbies and interests, similar frustrations and similar ambitions. But for anyone who has experienced loss, remembering his or her memory isn’t sad.

As promised to the families and loved ones by then SU Chancellor Melvin Eggers following the bombing, “Your sons and daughters will be remembered at Syracuse University, so long as any of us shall live and so long as the university stands.” Through documentaries, portraits, story readings and online profiles, the university gives current students the chance to get to know these students.

Some events, such as the candle light vigil and rose-laying ceremony, reflect on the young lives taken away much too early. While personal reflection is important, sometimes it’s necessary to call out their name. These events are important for the community, and anyone affiliated with this campus to understand how such a distant event has left a loss at SU.

Other events are academic by nature. Last year, given the death of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was accused and convicted of the Pan-Am 103 attack, there were panels discussing terrorism. This year, guest speakers will arrive on campus to discuss how the media has portrayed the tragedy over time. Unfortunately, terrorism will continue into the future, and so understanding their relation to our future professions is just one benefit of these events.

Yet some events serve to embody that theme of what the future holds regarding the tragedy.

How can we move forward without forgetting their legacy? Remembrance scholars have chosen to interact with the student body by asking students to write on a chair or drop in a blue box, both scattered around campus, a good deed they did or how they are helping move the university forward. The week has concluded, but we can still continue to act forward.

Ignacio Nava Auza is a junior international relations major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at ninavaau@syr.edu.

Published on October 13, 2013 at 1:51 am