Content Warning: This story contains mentions of antisemitic language.

At 2:03 p.m. on Friday, the 2022-23 cohort of Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars walked from the Hall of Languages to The Place of Remembrance to the sound of 35 rings of Crouse College’s bell. Almost 34 years ago, 35 Syracuse University Abroad students died in the terrorist bombing at 2:03 p.m. of Pan Am Flight 103.

The scholars carried roses to honor the victims they’re representing at SU’s Rose-Laying Ceremony, the culminating event of its annual Remembrance Week recognizing the students who died in the attack. On Dec. 21 1988, the students returning from SU Abroad were among 270 people who died when the plane crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland.

Each scholar delivered sentiments about the victim they represent to the crowd of about 100, sharing details about each victim’s life and character. The scholars shared their interpretations of the Remembrance Program’s motto of “Look Back, Act Forward” through the lens of both their and their victim’s values and plans.

Remembrance Scholar Josh Meyers, who had planned to represent victim Jason Coker, found antisemitic letters less than a week before Remembrance Week written by Jason Coker and his twin brother Eric Coker, who was also honored in the Remembrance program, in SU’s Pan Am Flight 103 archives. The Coker family has since requested that all materials on the twins be removed from the archives.

This year, the scholars had the choice to lay a stone along with their rose. Placing a stone on a grave or memorial is a Jewish custom.

“We strive to stand up against hatred in all its forms including antisemitism,” Remembrance Scholar Emma Dahmen said. “This Jewish custom shows that one has been there and just as the stone lasts forever, that the individual’s memory continues to live on within us and through us.”

Dahmen also spoke about the ceremony’s significance as the closing event of Remembrance Week. She said remembrance means bearing the weight of collective grief, but it also means unity.

“Remembering a tragedy like Pan Am Flight 103 is multi-dimensional,” Dahmen said. “It requires that we both grieve the people we lost and acknowledge that we lost them too soon, but also that we cherish the memories we have of those people.”

Remembrance Scholars Adam Landry and Car Shapiro shared personal connections to the victims they represent. Stephen John Boland was from Landry’s hometown, and Shapiro said Frederick Sandford “Sandy” Phillips made an impact on everyone he crossed paths with, including Shapiro’s mother and her roommate in college.

“He was a poet and advocate for underrepresented communities and an important part of SU’s campus while studying here,” Shapiro said. “I see aspects of Sandy within each member of this cohort and his legacy will live on for each of us.”

Scholar Maggie Sardino admired Pan Am 103 victim Alexia Kathryn Tsairis for her commitment to exposing injustice through photojournalism and said she plans to continue her legacy by advocating against hatred and making space for marginalized voices to be heard. Scholar Taylor Stover emphasized victim Miriam Luby Wolfe’s great determination to make the world a better place.

“She had a passion for social justice, and was described as an idealist who cared deeply about our world and the pain and suffering of others. She was also, like me, someone who is deeply proud of her Jewish identity,” Stover said. “As we grapple with how to move forward in the wake of antisemitism and hate, I hope we all keep Miriam and her passion for tzedek, or justice, deep in our hearts.”

Meyers placed a rose and a stone in honor of John Patrick “JP” Flynn and addressed the crowd on the nature and purpose of remembrance in the context of an act of hate and terrorism.

“We are a group of 35 imperfect SU students representing 35 imperfect people, but through our imperfections, we will continue to learn how to act forward and refocus our mission to combat the very hatred that ultimately led to the bombing Pan Am Flight 103,” Meyers said.

2022-23 Lockerbie Scholar Zach Blackstock, who represents the “Lockerbie 11” who died on the ground when the plane crashed in Lockerbie, said though it may seem to some that the tragedy is fading into the past, it’s a part of the town. He said the town represents how a community can rework and rebuild in the face of despair.

“The roads have long since been paved over. The houses mostly repaired or rebuilt. But the impact still remains for all of those who lost someone,” Blackstock said. “Even without any closure and without the array of questions that will never be answered, without a chance for those who lost someone to even say goodbye.”

Natasha Gilfillian, the other 2022-23 Lockerbie Scholar, remarked on how Andrew McClune, a 2002-03 Lockerbie Scholar who died while at SU, impacted the community during his short time at SU and how she shares his passion for exploring the world.

“His life touched so many. Those in Syracuse, friends he made abroad internationally and those in Lockerbie, Scotland,” Gilfillian said. “And so we are responsible to act in honor and memory of him and to live our lives the way he and the victims on Pan Am Flight 103 never got to experience.”

At the end of the ceremony, Campus Rabbi Ethan Bair of SU Hillel spoke about The Tower of Babel as an origin story for the need and value of diverse languages and cultures.

“During this Remembrance Week … we particularly mourn the loss of our 35 SU students who were tragically killed that day,” Bair said. “We pledge to continue to remember them as we recommit to the values of diversity and tikkun olam, (or) repair of the world, so that understanding and love will overwhelm and overpower senseless hate in our time.”

Published on October 21, 2022 at 11:27 pm

Contact Jana: jlseal@syr.edu | @JanaLoSeal