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.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

 

*****

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