News & Messages

Never forget

On the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill honored the victims with a remembrance ceremony and by planting of thousands of American flags.

Chancellor Carol L. Folt attended the solemn remembrance ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial Garden near George Watts Hill Alumni Center. There, attendees reflected on the six Carolina alumni who were victims of the attack:

  • Karleton Douglas Beye Fyfe ’92
  • Mary Lou Hague ’96
  • Andrew Marshall King ’83
  • Ryan Ashley Kohart ’98
  • Dora Menchaca ’78
  • Christopher Quackenbush ’79

“They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, husbands and wives, neighbors, colleagues and friends,” said Doug Dibbert, president of the UNC General Alumni Association. “As we recall and mourn how they died, we should also remember and celebrate how they lived.”

After a moment of silence, Folt placed Carolina blue flowers at the memorial garden to honor the alumni.

Nearby, a dozen members of the UNC College Republicans planted nearly 3,000 flags at the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower. Each flag, which will remain in place until Monday evening, represent one of the 2,996 victims who were lost in the attack.

“This is the most important thing we do every year,” said Hayden Vick, chairman of the UNC College Republicans. “It means a lot more than rallying behind a politician or bringing in a speaker. As we get further along in generations who don’t remember where they were or what happened that day, it becomes more and more important that we do it.”

Read more about Carolina’s remembrance of 9/11

Story by Brandon Bieltz and photos by Jon Gardiner, Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Published September 11, 2016