CMU instructors recall 9/11 memories, encourage awareness

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The attacks on the U.S. Sept. 11, 2001, were in many ways Justin Hoyle’s first exposure to the Middle East as a junior at Mount Pleasant High School.

Political rhetoric of the time and mainstream media amid the War on Terror would at first shape his perception of the region. But now, 10 years later, Hoyle is teaching a class about the Middle East for the first time at Central Michigan University, and things have changed.

“There’s probably not a single perception I hold today that I can say was a perception I held in 11th grade,” he said.

Hoyle lived in Egypt for more than two years as he worked for his graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies at the American University of Cairo, even traveling to other nations in the region. Classes he took as an undergraduate at CMU inspired this area of study, he said.

Issues of racial profiling in airports and the federal government’s invasion of citizen privacy, among others, have risen over the last decade. In many ways, he said American attitudes haven’t changed.

Thomas Stewart, an assistant professor of political science at CMU, said it is important for students to understand the agendas and philosophies of any potential enemy in the world, such as al-Qaeda and others that have surfaced in the Middle East since 9/11.

“Time and time again, generals have said, ‘This is a battle for hearts and minds,’” he said. “And if we don’t understand why these people hate us so much, we will never be able to defeat them.”

Reflection and moving forward

Stewart was an instructor of tribal law at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College during the attacks. He said a sense of tension and concern came over the Mount Pleasant community.

But more potent in his mind was his then-recent trip with family to the top of the World Trade Center on July 4.

“When we read that Mohammed Atta had his luggage lost between Portland, Maine, and Boston, Mass., and when it was recovered, they discovered that the original planning was for July 4, being the nation’s holiday,” Stewart said. “It really did give us pause.”

Hoyle had been in a high school sociology class doing group work that morning when a knock at the door summoned his teacher away. He said she returned with a “complete blank stare” on her face.

“She turned to all of us and said, ‘A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.’ Just very shocked, very sort of expressionless,” Hoyle said. “And we turned the TV on, and sure enough, there it was.”

Tom Brauch, an assistant English language and literature professor, points to words like “bewilderment” and “confusion” when recalling his feelings for those around him during the attacks.

He said his own concern was distinguishing Islam from what happened and not to blame religion for what happened.

“I tried to think about how it was something that isn’t right by their principles or ours,” Brauch said. “Trying to make that distinction is important to me. Terrorism and Islam can’t be directly connected because it’s all so different.”

Brauch said he doesn’t talk to students very much in his own classroom about 9/11, but that he would encourage it if a student took a topic.

Likewise, Hoyle urges students to take classes about the Middle East to gain perspective. Since the attacks, he said American attitudes at large have not changed as many remain “very emotionally connected to 9/11.”