The Aftermath

Students with opposing views on the bombing of Afghanistan clashed at a peace rally in October. While speakers called for an end to the bombing and the protection of civil rights of Arab Americans, other students attempted to disrupt the event with shouts—some from a nearby balcony and others through a megaphone. (Photo: Neil Michel/Axiom)

By Teri Bachman

On Sept. 11 at 10:30 a.m., my mother-in-law phoned me at work. “I just wanted to call. . . .,” she said, and I was glad she had. The tragedy of that morning was still unfolding and among my many emotions was the feeling that I wanted to be with my family, including this beloved mom in Southern California.

She was feeling it, too, and I knew that she had likely called every one of her six kids—a mother hen counting her chicks and bringing us all in under her wing, via long distance.

I believe it was that same sort of feeling that led to a filled Freeborn Hall the next morning. The gathering had been announced the afternoon of the tragedy in a letter to the campus community from Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. “I will convene a campus gathering for faculty, staff and students at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in Freeborn Hall,” he had said simply. And with that, hundreds came. No speakers promised, no program offered, just a chance for family to come together. And we did, filling nearly every seat. In the dwindling days of summer, with few students yet returned, the campus assembled seeking comfort, answers, a sympathetic ear that allowed us to voice our incredulity, our outrage, our despair, our hope.

UC Davis had not closed on Sept. 11 as some universities had. In a conference call that morning, UC chancellors and the Office of the President had discussed sending students and employees home but ultimately decided against it. “Had we closed, it would have been one more thing that the terrorists could have added to the list of how they disabled this country,” Vanderhoef said. “It is paramount that we not give in, that the campus remain open to provide assistance and support to each other.”

This campus family would come together to provide that support again and again during the ensuing days of fall quarter: for interfaith worship services, for rallies in support of unity and campus peace, at talks and classes and teach-ins, at memorial services for the thousands lost, including former UC Davis student Christian Adams, an exchange student in 1988–89 who died aboard the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Adams, 37, the deputy director of the German Wine Institute, was on his way to San Francisco for a trade show of Germany’s 2000 vintage.

Speakers at the gatherings repeatedly called for compassion and respect for all individuals, particularly for the 1,400 international students, including some 60 from the Middle East, attending UC Davis. Fortunately, only one ugly incident was reported: The day of the bombing, a group of young men and women who appeared Middle Eastern were verbally assaulted on campus.

As more time passed, disparate voices became more vocal, reflecting divergent views about the U.S. military actions in Afghanistan—a peace rally was notable for its lack of peace, with students shouting at each other, one using a bullhorn. And some students were so displeased by remarks made by the ASUCD president at the rally that they threatened a recall. But, in the main, the campus’s “Principles of Community” held. And while some universities reported Middle Eastern students had decided to return home, that did not occur at UC Davis.

Members of the Muslim Student Association handed out green armbands—symbols of peace—in October. A few weeks later members of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity handed out red, white and blue ribbons in support of patriotism. (Photo Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis Mediaworks)

University administrators, however, were confronted with new challenges presented by the discovery that one of the terrorists entered the country on a student visa. UC administrators and others in the higher education community met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein to voice concerns about her suggested six-month moratorium on student visas—a proposal she later dropped—but pledged to work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to speed up the implementation of a tracking system that would provide adequate information to INS about foreign students.

While the campus provided support for its own, it also reached out to help the broader community, locally and nationally. Fund-raising drives across campus raised thousands of dollars for victims of the tragedy. And faculty stepped up to do what they do so well: share their expertise to help the country understand the incomprehensible. Dozens of faculty experts were called upon by news media from coast to coast—newspapers, radio, TV, Internet publications—to comment on topics ranging from the history of the Taliban, national security and war to structural engineering, investor behavior, post-traumatic stress and how to speak about tragedy to our children. A number of faculty also revised their class curricula to address the events and our changed world. One notable example: The Integrated Studies program for honor students, originally set to probe the energy crisis, was revised to give students a chance to write and think critically about the attack and its aftermath.

When terrorism concerns broadened to include anthrax, not only were faculty called upon to comment, many were directly engaged in addressing the threat. Physician Steve Tharratt—chemical and bioterrorism expert, medical director of Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services and medical adviser to the state Office of Emergency Services—helped local and state agencies handle suspected anthrax incidents and provided training to haz-mat and medical personnel. Chemist Manuel Lagunas-Solar traveled to Washington, D.C., to advise Congress and the postal service about using ultraviolet light to sterilize mail. UC Davis microbiologists provided testing services to diagnose an outbreak of anthrax that resulted in the death of 21 cattle at a Santa Clara County ranch.

As UC Davis Magazine headed to press, each day brought new challenges to the country and the campus. But, as Chancellor Vanderhoef said regarding one more impact—the alarming economic decline accelerated by the terrorism, and the deep cuts facing the state and its universities: “I know that we will get through this, because we will approach this challenge as a community.”

Teri Bachman is the editor of UC Davis Magazine.