Upwards of 50 people attended Campus Ministry’s 9/11 Memorial Prayer Service held in Donahue Hall last Wednesday, a gathering intended to provide a space for reflection and remembrance of the national tragedy.
Among the first to arrive were members of Stonehill's Women’s Basketball team. Team member Sharn Hayward ’25 said the team attended the event to exhibit their solidarity, support, and appreciation for Assistant Coach Jill Conroy, who lost her father in the Twin Towers.
The demonstration of unity by the Women’s Basketball Team was a sentiment echoed throughout the service, particularly in the remarks of Stonehill’s President Father John Denning, C.S.C., who repeatedly voiced the importance of connectedness in the world. “Make us builders of peace and justice,” said Denning as a candle was lit in honor of the September 11th victims. Six victims were mentioned by name due to their direct association with the Stonehill Community: Kevin Conroy, Father of Coach Jill Conroy; Timothy Coughlin ‘80; Peter Gay, Father of a Stonehill Graduate; Rev. Francis Grogan, C.S.C.; James Hayden ‘76; and Timothy Reilly ‘82.
Denning juxtaposed the lighting of the candle with remembrance of the ashes that fell from the Twin Towers, to signal that the violence that materialized during 9/11 can today be transformed into a call for hope and peace in our world.
Reflecting upon the importance of the service, Moreau Student Minister Ana Varholak ’26 said it is easy for college students to feel disconnected from the remembrance of 9/11 since many were not yet born when the attacks took place. Another Student Minister, Katie Kish ’26, agreed, but added that reciting the names of those directly impacted in our community subverts that fact and emphasizes that such national tragedies will forever “echo throughout time.”
Varholak and Kish said that unity on campus is a central part of being a member of Student Ministry, and that not only holding events such as these, but engaging in the forums that follow are integral parts of fostering connectedness on campus.
At the end of the final prayer, a soft giggle was heard from one of the newest additions to Stonehill's campus: Miles, the ten-month-old baby of Villa Theresa’s Pastoral Resident Brittany Joy Lorgeree.
Miles’ concluding coo felt eerily synonymous with the message of the Mass – a reminder of youth and joy to close the memorial of a day defined by loss.
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