Coping With Disaster

The Harvard community gathered in a series of meetings and vigils over the weekend, as students, faculty and staff continued to grapple with their response to Tuesday’s tragic events.

Vigils Friday night connected the campus to the nation on a day of national remembrance, as the University joined in mourning the thousands who died in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.

As the sun set around 7 p.m., the mood became pensive and solemn at separate gatherings in front of Eliot House and University Hall. Those in attendance held hundreds of candles, which flickered in the chilly evening wind—a scene echoed around the country as the nation turned to faith.

“Some people were really shaken up, so the praying helped to calm them down,” said Lindsay Yourman ’05, who attended the University Hall vigil.

After the service opened with a few minutes for silent prayer and meditation, the crowd joined in singing “Amazing Grace,” “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” The same songs could also be heard later that evening, during another vigil outside Adams House.

At Eliot House, the crowd remained quiet as they formed a candlelit circle around the courtyard.

“May this peace stand in the world of the living and of the dead,” Eliot House Master Lino Pertile said to the meditative group.

His speech was the only one of the vigil, where silence seemed to carry with it not just reverence, but also a sense of confusion, and even some ambivalence. It was a mix of sentiments that Pertile said is hard to escape.

“[The students] have been trying to go about their business, doing their class shopping,” he said. “I think it’s very difficult for anyone to relate to this. What has happened is largely the stuff of fiction, the stuff of movies. And that can make us almost callous to the real disaster.”

Luke Stein ’02, an Adams resident, also sensed confused emotions. “I think people are having a hard time trying to decide whether they should be mourning, or whether they should be continuing with their lives,” Stein said. “It is easy to say that we should reflect, but it’s also important to try and move on.”

“Many of us have been made uncomfortable, personally or directly, because we don’t know what to make of the situation,” said Sean Palfrey, Adams Housemaster, at the opening of a discussion there last night.

After a number of faculty and students shared personal stories of discrimination, much of the dialogue centered on gaining an understanding of how backlash after Tuesday’s attacks have affected the community.

“I’ve felt a bit singled out,” said Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) president Saif I. Shah Mohammed ’02, who added that he has received one piece of hate mail since Tuesday’s attack. “In the media, the word ‘jihad,’ which typically means an internal struggle of religious devotion, has been turned into this idea of a violent holy war.”

Among almost everyone who spoke, the need to place blame was tempered by pleas for compassion and caution. Tawfiq Ali ’02, secretary of HIS, said he considered the terrorist strike an act of war, but added that anger “needs to go into a type of patriotism that isn’t about fighting a country so much as upholding and preserving our values.”

Some students also advocated sending letters to news outlets asking for more emphasis on Muslim-American hate crimes and leaving notes and flowers at local mosques. Stephen N. Smith ’02 touted a Harvard peace rally that will take place at noon on Thursday near Memorial Church, as part of a national peace movement centering on college campuses.

“The way I’ve found to funnel my rage and frustration is to advocate that another country doesn’t have to go through this, through the type of tragedy that America is preparing for someone else right now,” said Smith, a rally organizer. “There are other considerations besides revenge and retribution.”

Mark Edelman, a chaplain at Memorial Church and one-time terrorism analyst, emphasized the importance of activism.

“I know about the pressures the people in Washington are under right now. And those pressures are partly created by us. This is Harvard....If you have an opinion that you want to direct the conversation in another way, get out and get your voice heard,” he said.