Syracuse University honors students killed on Pam Am flight 103 with annual Remembrance Week
This week, the Syracuse University community remembers the victims of Pan Am flight 103 who were students at the University
“They were risk takers, dreamers, planners, leaders. They stimulated their teachers to work harder and be smarter. They wanted more than a simple education. They were willing to try the new and the different. They were cherished by their families and friends. And with terrifying suddenness, they were gone.”
On December 21, 1988, Pam Am flight 103 was on it’s way to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport from London, England’s Heathrow Airport. 35 Syracuse University undergraduate and graduate students were on their way home from an exciting semester at the SU London Center and the SU Florence Center to spend winter break with their families. In what is now known as the most devastating terrorist bombings that Britain has ever seen, those 35 students, along with 235 other passengers, lost their lives.
They were siblings, friends, significant others, cousins, students, mentors, and children. They were and still remain a member of our community.
Place of Remembrance at Syracuse University
October 23rd-28th is Remembrance Week at Syracuse University, a week dedicated to the lives our community lost. Syracuse University offers thirty-seven scholarships every year to students to honor the 35 students who perished and the 11 passengers from Lockerbie, Scotland. 35 of the students are “Remembrance Scholars -35 seniors who receive $5000 scholarships during their final year at the University” and the other two are “Lockerbie Scholars – 2 students from Lockerbie, Scotland who study at Syracuse for one year” with their tuition paid in full. The Lockerbie Scholarship Program is intended to unite the two communities and to celebrate the lives of all who were lost.
The goal of the scholarship program is to unite these two communities through this tragedy and to educate people on the horrible consequences of terrorism, both domestically and globally. To be a Remembrance Scholar is the highest honor for an SU undergraduate.
Remembrance Week is planned entirely by the senior scholars. Every event is intended to “look back and act forward,” the motto of the Remembrance Scholarship Program. The week begins with a candlelight vigil at the Wall of Remembrance and commences with a rose laying ceremony, a convocation to honor the Scholars, and a dove balloon release.
Other ceremonies will be held in New York City, Washington, D.C., London, England, and Lockerbie, Scotland. The ceremony in Lockerbie is planned by the Lockerbie Scholars, both past and present.
Rose laying ceremony
The 2016-2017 Remembrance Scholars were recently honored at the home football game against Virginia Tech and will be honored again at a convocation ceremony on October 28th at 3pm in Hendrick’s Chapel.
2016-17 Remembrance Scholars