In commemoration of the 15th anniversary of 9/11, members of the Washington University in St. Louis College Republicans will plant 2,977 flags — one for each victim of the deadly attacks — on Mudd Field on Saturday, Sept. 10. The flags will remain on view through Monday, Sept. 12.
College Republicans President Ruben Schuckit said the third annual tribute is a reminder of the scale of the day’s devastation.
“Many of us were too young on 9/11 to understand what happened,” said Schuckit, who was a kindergarten student in Indianapolis on the day of the attacks. “But when we see Mudd Field, covered in American flags, we see the magnitude of 9/11 and how it forever changed our nation.”
Schuckit said last year’s event had a powerful impact on him, one he hopes observers will share this year.
“With each flag came a moment of reflection for a life lost forever,” said Schuckit, a junior majoring in computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. “It was a profoundly solemn act.”
Washington University also will lower the American flag and ring the bells of Graham Chapel 15 times at 9:28 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, the moment the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.