When autocomplete options are available, use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
Apply Give

Students honor 9/11 victims with prayers, flags, and cross

Liberty University students and staff, in recognition of 9/11, join hands to pray for their country and the victims' families.

Liberty students pray as they remember 9/11.
Liberty University students pray and honor the 9/11 victims with a display of 2,977 American flags to represent the lives that were lost 13 years ago.

Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Liberty University students, along with staff and faculty, faithfully lifted up prayers across campus in honor of those impacted by the day’s events.

At 9:11 a.m. on Thursday, students and staff — including representatives from Liberty’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter, Army ROTC students, and Mark Hine, senior vice president for student affairs — joined hands at the lawn of the Jerry Falwell Library in prayer for the families of the victims.

After the campus-wide vigil, students continued to pay their respects at the prayer station, where 2,977 American flags covered the front lawn, each honoring a life lost at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field where United Airlines Flight 93 went down. Passersby stopped throughout the day to pin their written prayer requests to a wooden cross erected at the center of the memorial.

Marissa Kusayanaci, a sophomore psychology student and event coordinator for YAF, said that chills went down her spine each time she saw a Liberty student take time out of the day to stop, kneel, pin a note to the cross, and pray.

“It just struck me that we’re on a campus with thousands of students, and (people are still willing) to stop and kneel while hundreds of people are walking by to remember this day and leave it at God’s feet,” Kusayanaci said. “This event is not about bringing recognition to our YAF chapter. It’s about remembering the day, what this day did to our country, and how we can grow from it.”

Freshman Marcy Gonzalez stopped to pay her respects as she recalled the fear she felt losing communication with her father, who was in New York City on Sept. 11. Later that day, she learned that her father had been busy helping people in the wake of the attacks — but she carries the haunting memory of the uncertainty with her to this day, though she was in her native Guatemala on the day of the attacks.

Sherell Wilson, a senior health promotion major, was amazed to see the reverence in the students nearby.

“I think it’s a blessing to have the ability to declare that we are actually giving recognition,” Wilson said, adding that students’ ability to freely express their faith and lay prayers at the foot of the cross added to the memorial’s meaning.

YAF is also holding a candlelight prayer vigil at the library at 9:11 p.m., open to all students, faculty, and staff.

Liberty University students remember 9/11 in front of the Jerry Falwell Library.

Chat Live Chat Live Request Info Request Info Apply Now Apply Now Visit Liberty Visit Liberty