College Republicans place 3,000 flags in remembrance of 9/11
Waking up and sticking 3,000 flags into the dew-covered ground of the Charles V. Park Library is a six year tradition of the College Republicans at Central Michigan University.
Nearly 3,000 lives were lost due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, and members of the registered student organization want people to remember.
“We believe it is important to pause and remember those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,” said Megan Gill, CR Chair and Traverse City junior.
CR Communications Director Rodney Harris agrees with the purpose of the event.
“The event is a great way to honor everyone who was affected by 9/11,” the Canton junior said.
Gill and Harris, along with 14 other CR members, started setting up the flags at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
"The memorial is assembled for students to see as they head to classes beginning at 8 a.m.,” Gill said. "We would like to remember those who fell in the World Trade Towers, at the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania, as well as the emergency responders who lost their lives trying to save others."
Sept. 11 is not a day of politicking, Gill said.
"It is a day of united remembrance of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks,” she said. “9/11 is a chance for our group to set aside our election year agendas, join with CMU and the greater Mount Pleasant community, and honor those whose lives were unjustly taken 11 years ago.”
Not only has the CR organization brought this visual remembrance to campus, but they have shared it with the local golf community as well.
“Last year, since 9/11 fell on a Saturday we set up the memorial at the Maple Creek Golf Club in Shepherd for their annual Veterans Memorial Golf Outing," Gill said. "This year we actually expanded our schedule to include both events. The flags were at the golf outing Saturday and next to the library on Tuesday.”
This registered student organization made effort to bring together the campus and they encouraged their members and other community members to attend the Sept. 11 events sponsored by the Volunteer Center, such as the candle light vigil.
“The flags are a wonderful presence on campus which reminds people to take a minute and reflect on the events,” Harris said. “I will never forget where I was 11 years ago on Sept. 11.”
