Moments of silence, open conversation and, in some cases, a conspicuous lack of discussion characterized Penn's lecture halls yesterday as students and faculty returned to normal schedules.
The University sent memos to all faculty urging them to address student concerns about Tuesday's terrorist attacks. Department heads, deans and administrators alike all asked professors to invite students to talk about the previous day's tragic and unbelievable events.
In fact, professors found that some students who attended classes were among those who lost family members and friends in the burning infernos at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"I started off the class by asking if anyone in the class had any family or close friends involved in the terrorist attacks in New York in Washington," City and Regional Planning Professor John Keene said.
"I had one [student] in a class that had some friends who were on the plane that went into the Pentagon. About five people that he knew were killed," he added.
While some department heads reinforced these messages with further suggestions of support and discussion, many professors and students preferred to carry on with day-to-day business.
Wharton senior Ling Qiu said his music class was filled, but most in attendance did not want to discuss Tuesday's tragedy.
"The professor asked if we wanted to talk about it and everyone said they didn't really want to talk about it in class, so we just went on with class," Qiu said.
Other students said that their professors' attempts to deal with students' concerns through discussion were useful.
"I think it helped us all to kind of think about it," Nursing senior Jennifer Oh said of her Psychiatric Nursing professor's thoughtful questions.
"She gave us the nursing perspective on our roles [as healthcare professionals], and learning how to deal with it," she added.
University administrators encouraged such class discussion. University President Judith Rodin sent a separate memo to faculty members, encouraging them to set aside time in yesterday's class for open discussion. Provost Robert Barchi left similar messages in faculty voicemail boxes.
"We urge faculty to make themselves available to students who want to talk and share their concerns," read one e-mail sent by the provost's office to all faculty.
"We encourage faculty and students to use some of their classroom time to share concerns and exchange ideas about these events," a later e-mail added.
Many professors said that their respective departments had not conferred over how they should or should not approach students' concerns, nor did they initiate any programs for students to approach professors outside of class.
However, some departments did take the initiative in setting guidelines for proceeding with classes and supporting students.
"In teaching today we will need to find a balance between keeping attention on and off this ongoing tragedy," English Department Chairman David Wallace wrote in an e-mail memo to faculty on Tuesday.
"Above all we must provide an understanding and flexible framework, and be aware of what is going on for our students," he added.
English Department offices were kept open after classes for students who wanted to come by, and professors were encouraged to be considerate of students who were not prepared for class.
"We should not hold them to hard and fast deadlines for papers due today; some humane and flexible negotiation should be made," Wallace added.
While many departments extended their availability and support to students, others felt that the University-wide support initiatives were adequate.
In classrooms, some professors tried to apply the logic of their various disciplines to make sense of the attacks.
Communications Professor Barbie Zelizer devoted her entire "Critical Perspectives in Journalism" class to discussion of media coverage and public response to the crisis.
And across campus, Kathryn McMahon's French class received untranslated copies of French President Jacques Chirac's official letter of condolence to President Bush.
From another perspective, Herbert Levine tried to explain to his Economics 001 classes how economic factors like unequal distribution of income could motivate terrorist attacks like the one that rocked America on Tuesday.
"I chose to discuss the issues," Levine said. "There's an element of economics that we've already talked about that really relates to the issue of terrorism."
"One of the problems is that many groups in underdeveloped countries view the distribution of income as a zero sum gain -- that is, the fact that we're rich, and other advanced industrial nations are rich, that makes them poor," he added. "There's anger that builds up in that."
Some professors allowed their students to decide if they wanted to hold a discussion, with several leaving it to a vote. While some classes elected to talk about the events, others said they wanted to focus on course material.
Other professors preempted all discussion by telling students they preferred to stick to the task at hand.
"It felt like normal class," Engineering freshman Michael Wong said. "The professor said... we need to carry on and resume normal activities, and shouldn't let something like this stop our daily functions."
Some professors said they saw a drop in attendance, which they attributed to students continuing to deal with personal issues surrounding the attacks.
Among those who did come to class yesterday, many said they were still emotionally unprepared to learn.
"I was mainly distracted, not really paying attention to what was said in class," Qiu said.
