The cold wind blew against a crowd of more than 200 Syracuse University community members gathered around the Wall of Remembrance for the Rose Laying Ceremony on Friday afternoon.

At 2:03 p.m., the bells inside Crouse College’s Bell Tower tolled to signify the exact time Pan Am Flight 103 exploded on Dec. 21, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing killed all 259 people aboard the plane — including 35 SU students — as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the 35 Remembrance Scholars, who represent the SU students who were killed in the bombing, walked down from Hall of Languages in two lines to stand on the sides of the Wall of Remembrance.

One by one, the scholars walked up to the microphone to speak briefly about the student they are representing: Nicole Boulanger had “unparalleled talent, fierce dedication and powerful passion” in musical theatre. Scott Cory loved SU so much that one time he dyed his hair orange. Christopher Jones was eager to combine his passion in sports and writing.

Many scholars spoke emotionally and with tears in their eyes. The somber mood spread throughout the crowd with a few audience members visibly crying and wiping away tears.

After each scholar spoke, they pledged to act forward in the student’s memory, then they placed a white rose on the Wall of Remembrance.

The two Lockerbie Scholars — Sian McLaughlin and Shona Beattie from Lockerbie who were selected to study in SU for one year — mentioned the bond developed between Syracuse and Lockerbie, saying the two communities united from past pain stand stronger than ever before now.

“I would like to stand here not only to remember the victims but who they were. Not only the destruction but those who worked together to rebuild our communities,” McLaughlin said. “And not only those lost but those who act forward despite the pain of looking back.”

Elaine Sartwell, one of the Remembrance Scholars and a senior social work major in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, said after the ceremony that the pain of victim’s family members hit her harder than what she had anticipated. As a Remembrance Scholar, Sartwell represents Gary Colasanti.

Even 28 years after the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, acts of terrorism continue to happen across the world. Twenty-five SU students were in Paris last November when a group of assailants carried out multiple suicide bombings and shootings in a concert hall, a stadium and restaurants leaving 130 people dead.

Similar acts of terrorism occurred at an airport and a metro station in Brussels, Belgium; an airport in Istanbul, Turkey; a work event at San Bernardino, California; and a gay bar in Orlando, Florida.

“(The Rose Laying Ceremony) is a stand-up to say evil happens but love conquers,” Sartwell said. “… We’ve had 28 years of love. So, that’s spectacular even though we could stay, ‘Well, it’s still happening,’ we can also say love is still conquering.”

Published on October 28, 2016 at 4:22 pm

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