Rutgers-Newark Will Mark Anniversary Of 9/11 With Video Memories, Reflective Discussion, Blood Drives

Members of the Rutgers University community in Newark will mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks during public programs next month ranging from video recollections of where people were on 9/11, to an open forum on the tragedy, to blood drives.

A video presentation of a series of short, “inquiring reporter”-type interviews, followed by a discussion, will take place Monday, Sept. 12, 11:30 a.m., Paul Robeson Campus Center, Multipurpose Room, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., Newark. The program, What Happened, What’s Next? 9-11 Ten Years On is free and open to the public. Two R-N students and resident assistants, Babatunde Odubekun, Class of 2013, and D. Justin Figueroa, Class of 2013, are filming short, informal interviews of faculty, students and staff on campus, asking them where they were on 9/11 and to describe their memories of 9/11. Their answers are the subject of the film presentation, which will be followed by an open, non-political discussion by a panel and audience members about that day and its impact on their lives.

September 11th A Decade Later: Has Everything Changed?, is intended as a “humane exchange of ideas and emotions.” This forum, which is open to all, will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 2:30 p.m., in the Essex Room of the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., Newark. All forms of expression, from images to art to music, are welcomed. Written responses, which should be limited to 500 words, can range from poetry to memoir to historical analysis. The program is sponsored by the Graduate Program in American Studies and the Writing Program at Rutgers-Newark.

Two blood drives on campus will honor the memories of those lost on 9/11; both are open to all donors. The first, on Sept. 8, will be in the Paul Robeson Campus Center from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., sponsored by Muslims for Life. The center is at 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., Newark.

The Center for Law and Justice will be the site of the second drive, on Sept. 13, from noon – 5:30 p.m. The drive is sponsored by the Rutgers School of Law-Newark. The Center for Law and Justice is at 123 Washington St., Newark.