Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of terrorist attacks and death. App State Wellness and Prevention Services provides free mental health resources for students and can be reached at (828) 262-3148.
Madalyn Edwards curated the first page of “ASU community responds with shock” written by Editor-in-Chief John T. Bennett, which The Appalachian published Sept. 13, 2001.
This article was curated in remembrance of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and those who tragically lost their lives.
On Sept. 13, 2001, The Appalachian published a special edition related to 9/11. Multiple articles were included, including those titled “Measures taken to help students cope,” “Professor details likely U.S. probe,” “Faculty members expect swift retaliation,” “Assault on America: Timeline of Terror” and “ASU family witnesses terror.” The following story is curated from the front page story, titled “ASU community responds with shock.”
The Appalachian State University community watched with shocked disbelief Tuesday as a devastating terrorist attack turned the World Trade Center towers to rubble and severely damaged the Pentagon in an unprecedented assault on American soil.
“We’ve always had an unrealistic view that we’re safe. The rest of the world doesn’t have that and I guess we won’t ever again,” said Director of Student Programs Dave Robertson as he and a throng of students, faculty, and staff watched the terror unfold on video screens in Plemmons Student Union.
Robertson said his initial reactions to the hijacking of four commercial airliners that culminated with the deaths of thousands of Americans in New York was Washington, D.C., was one filled with sadness and disbelief.
“My reaction is just sadness that human beings can do this to each other,” he said. “[The attacks] are just the slaying of innocent people… it’s sad that humanity would do that to each other.”
