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Remembrance Scholars met at Syracuse University’s Wall of Remembrance for a candlelight vigil Sunday night to mark the start of this year’s Remembrance Week, which honors the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing.

The 35 scholars, seniors who represent the SU students who died on the flight and other victims, read aloud the names of people killed in the bombing. Judith O’Rourke, the liaison between SU and the Pan Am victims’ families, spoke about the attack before the names were read. After the reading, scholars silently placed electric candles on top of the Wall of Remembrance.

Eric and Jason Coker, two SU students who died in the attack, are no longer represented by scholars due to the discovery of a swastika and antisemitic language in their archival material in 2022. Instead, one of the scholars will represent the flight crew and another will represent passengers who died in the attack. The Coker’s names were not recited at Sunday’s vigil.

O’Rourke reminded the audience about how the flight’s bombing attack unfolded on Dec. 21, 1988 in Lockerbie, Scotland. She said the Remembrance Scholarship program is important to provide support for the families of the victims and keep their memories alive.

“Just this week, I received an email from a mom of one of our students. Since 1991, she has been exchanging Christmas cards with a Remembrance Scholar who represented her son back then,” said O’Rourke, who is also a Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholar advisor.

The scholars themselves also emphasized the importance of remembering the victims, which is reflected in the program’s slogan of “Look Back, Act Forward.” Hannah Skelton, a dual political science and citizenship and civic engagement major representing Timothy Michael Cardwell, said she relates to the topic personally after losing her father. She said it’s a privilege to represent him.

“It’s something that I live by in my daily life just because of personal experience,” Skelton said. “Thirty-five students is an unimaginable loss, and so it’s really special to be able to represent that and carry on their legacy.”

Madison Wallace, who is representing Pamela Elaine Herbert, said she has familial connections to the attack. Her mother was a freshman at SU when the bombing happened and her father attended high school with one of the victims.

“The fact that we’re able to still have connections with the parents and the siblings, it’s really our duty as a school,” Wallace said.

O’Rourke also said she has personal ties to the Pan Am bombing as one of her high school friends died on the flight. The former director of the office of graduate studies said even after being retired from SU for many years, she’s still involved with the Remembrance program because of the scholars’ work carrying out the legacy of the victims.

“We honor their memories by living our lives and acting together to make the world that they left behind a better place,” O’Rourke said.

Surya Vaidy | Staff Photographer

Megan Cooper, a senior who attended the vigil, said she sees Remembrance Week and the Remembrance Scholarship as effective ways to move forward after the attack with a change-oriented mindset.

“When we lose people, all we can do is remember, and remembering is a really important way to make a change to make the world a better place,” Cooper said.

The process of representing victims is important to encourage other students on campus to become involved in Remembrance Week. Remembrance Scholar Elliot Salas, who is representing Amy Elizabeth Shapiro, said this introduction to Remembrance Week is a good way of informing students about the victims of the attack prior to the other events coming up this week.

“You want to give back to the community,” Salas said. “And that’s why it matters a lot because something was taken from us on that day, so now it’s our turn to give back to the community … and just show others what we can do to spread (their) legacies.”

Disclaimer: Dominic Chiappone is a Remembrance Scholar and also works as an assistant news editor for The Daily Orange. He did not have any influence on the editorial content on this story. Megan Cooper previously worked at The D.O., but no longer influences editorial content.

Published on October 16, 2023 at 12:24 am

Contact Roxanne: rmboychu@syr.edu