A year has passed.
One year ago today, United States soil was attacked for the first time in any Penn undergraduate student's memory.
It was a blow that struck the nation deeply -- not just the victims' family and friends; not just the New Yorkers and the Washingtonians and the Somerset County, Pennsylvanians; not just the politicians instrumental in the ensuing international turmoil.
New York City's hazier, humbler silhouette graced television screens in millions of homes across the country. Parents from coast to coast waited hours for cell phone service before making sure their children were all right. Young and old questioned their own safety and security, fearing that such an attack could happen again.
But many saw America's response to Sept. 11, in all its tragedy and shock and political ramifications, as a showcase of its ability to rebuild itself and its citizens' innate human resilience.
And as men and women all over the country worked together to reconstruct the obliterated Pentagon offices, restore the rubble-strewn streets at Ground Zero and piece their own shattered lives back together, Penn's campus paralleled those efforts and became an environment in which students could come to terms with the events and aftershocks of that fateful morning with people of different nationalities, ages, colors, religions and upbringings.
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Usually a season of excitement, expectation and campus revelry, autumn immediately became a time of mourning, reflection, fear and patriotism following the events of Sept. 11.
While the war in Afghanistan, anthrax scares and security step-ups filled the front pages of newspapers across the nation, Penn students did what they could to act.
Sororities and fraternities organized blood drives and fundraising fetes. Other groups held candlelight vigils and handed out free American flags to passers-by on Locust Walk.
Never known to shy away from controversy, Penn students also tackled tough topics surrounding the political turmoil.
Student group Penn for Peace built a tent city on College Green to protest the war in Afghanistan. Organizations representing different cultural backgrounds joined together in a forum to discuss backlash discrimination against Arabs and Muslims. International Relations students partook in a terrorist crisis role-playing simulation. Professors looked at Sept. 11 in their classes through a critical lens.
On an international level, winter brought with it more tension between Israel and the Palestinians and between India and Pakistan, the search for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden continued and the last piece of the World Trade Center facade was pulled down just before one million tons of debris were removed from Ground Zero.
And as the cold December winds blew through the Hamilton Village wind tunnel and down Locust Walk, many Penn students fought the inclination towards winter hibernation and instead continued to engage in candid, informed and oftentimes heated discourse.
The University hosted lecturers, including right-wing advocate David Horowitz, author and filmmaker Steve Emerson and former University President and History Professor Sheldon Hackney, to discuss with students the implications of the Sept. 11 attacks and aftermath, as well as other controversial topics that dominated national debate.
While a U.S.-patrolled Afghanistan struggled in a state of volatility, springtime at Penn taught students more lessons about living in a nation at war.
Freedom of speech during politically tense times became a real issue in April when a graduate student posted a comment on a newsgroup calling for the death of all Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
And Penn seniors in search of work after graduation realized firsthand the effect of a depressed economy on the job market.
Over the summer, even though corporate scandals, baseball strike threats and budding pop stars kept the news channels busy, the impact of Sept. 11 remained a constant undercurrent.
Independence Day celebrations across the United States not only acknowledged the tragedy, but also rekindled the paranoia of the possibility of another attack.
The question of tolerance arose when national outcry greeted the University of North Carolina's decision to assign a book on the Qur'an to its incoming freshmen.
Currently, the possibility of declaring war on Iraq looms large.
And now on the anniversary of Sept. 11, the nation cannot help but turn its attention back to what happened on this date, one year ago.
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Today, many students will probably relive the same sadness, the same passion and perhaps even some of the same fear felt on that unforgettable day.
Local churches will ring bells for each of the four flights that crashed onto American soil.
Houston Hall will hold a Red Cross blood drive.
Students, staff and faculty of all faiths will come together for an evening vigil on College Green.
Today, after a year's worth of educated discussion, engaged learning and individual healing, Penn will remember Sept. 11, 2001.
