Columbians Remember: 20 Years Since the September 11 Attacks

While it has been two decades since New York City and the world witnessed the horror of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 in Somerset, Pennsylvania, the memories of those events remain at the forefront for many of us.

Below, read poignant remembrances of that day and the emotions that followed from members of our Columbia community.

Editor's Note: These are recollections from a traumatic event two decades ago. There might be some factual discrepancies in the stories.

Sam Aldridge, CC'19

I was five years old and in my third day of kindergarten. Two weeks before, my family had taken me and my twin brother to the top of the Empire State Building where we marveled at the Twin Towers in the late afternoon glow.

In the classroom the news was playing on the television, teachers were frantic and crying, and as I looked on, my child's mind couldn't understand how planes vanished into flame.

James McShane, Vice President for Public Safety, Columbia University

I was an Inspector in the NYPD on 9/11. I worked in Manhattan and, as such, I was a first responder on that day. We arrived at the World Trade Center shortly after the second airplane struck the South Tower. As my driver and I approached along the West Side Highway, I could see debris falling from the towers as they burned in the distance. As we got closer, it became apparent that it wasn't debris that was falling but, rather, it was people who were jumping to their deaths to escape being burned alive.

I was there when each of the towers fell. I was very fortunate in that I was able to survive both collapses. After the second tower collapsed, there was an eerie silence that pervaded the smoking ruins and the rest of lower Manhattan. Most of the afternoon was spent leading people to the Hudson River where a flotilla of ferries and other boats took them to safety.

At some point in the afternoon, we took a ride to St. Luke's Hospital to have our eyes examined and cleaned out. We were covered from head to toe with dust and soot. As we turned onto the block, I expected to see crowds of patients and doctors overflowing onto the sidewalk. Instead, the sidewalk was empty except for a few doctors and nurses who were sitting outside enjoying the brilliant September sunshine. Sadly, there were no patients to be treated. On 9/11, you either lived or you died horribly. There was no middle ground.

Christina M. Greer, GSAS’08

September 11, 2001, happened my first week of grad school in the political science department. I remember watching a plane hit the first tower and leaving to go attend my Statistics class with Bob Shapiro. I was so afraid of falling behind in class I refused to let my brain and my heart digest what I had just witnessed. I sat through the entire class (which was packed) and by the time we finished and walked into the halls of the SIPA building, the world had changed.

There was a quiet in the uptown part of the city. On the 15th floor people gathered to see the billowing smoke. I remember going home and calling my parents, filling the bathtub with water in case we lost power, and taking a long walk in Riverside Park heading south until I realized that was not the smartest idea.

I had been on an airplane just a few days prior visiting my grandparents in Florida, and my sister was now stuck in Florida and unable to fly back to Philadelphia for medical school. I remember trying to help her figure out how she would get back north via train or car. I remember thinking about an art project I had just conducted only three months prior in one of the towers—on one of the floors that was directly hit. I wondered if the artists I had met that one time were working that day. The rest of the day was a blur. I remember trying to find something to watch on television and just giving up and going to bed ... hoping the next day would not bring the same level of death, destruction, and uncertainty.

Stephanie Harrell, GS’04, GSAS’09

This is more a personal ad of sorts, but on 9/11, I was on the 6th floor of Butler Library. A blonde-haired, female, Business School student came up to me in a panic and asked me if I had paper. She said that she was planning to meet her husband at the library as they were planning to go to lunch together. She told me he was working in the World Trade Center. She was frantic, trying to find a way to leave him a note. I gave her a couple of sheets of notebook paper and either I left or she left. I can't be sure. I can't remember how I came to learn she was a student at the Business School either. It was all a rush of words. Sometimes I think it was a figment of my imagination, but I still can feel her panic. I think about that woman every 9/11 and would really like to know if she and her husband are okay.

Lucas Higuera-Hidalgo, Instructional Support Supervisor, School of Professional Studies

I recall being about eight or nine years old. During our grade school lesson, the teacher was interrupted by the acting principal. She suddenly had a very shocked demeanor and immediately halted whatever the class was doing. All the students were sent home early due to the fear-inducing element of the attack. All we knew at the moment was that NYC was being attacked. Later, I found out that my teacher's brother lost his life in the attack. It was very confusing for me at the time. I didn't fully comprehend it but I was also fearful for what I could understand. 

My father worked in NYC and in the district by the Twin Towers. I felt my mother's anxieties as we didn't know the status of my father's whereabouts. Luckily, my father came home minutes after we turned on the television. He reluctantly didn't go into work that one day. It's amazing to think in retrospect. I'll never forget how both my parents were stuck to the television with the news on, especially during a time where that wasn't the norm. It was something that will never leave me. 

As an immigrant, I will always recount feelings and memories, before 9/11 and after. The general public's attention and focus changed almost instantly. Things were different, and attitudes toward various immigrant communities definitely felt the backlash of this event. I can even recall my father bringing me into the city sometime after the whole collapse of the towers and just seeing so much broken glass everywhere. I recall blocks full of broken glass everywhere probably months after there was major clean-up. My life changed in many aspects, for better and for worse. I think it's safe to say that 9/11 still lives in the minds and hearts of many New Yorkers, Tri-State folks, and Americans alike.

Genise Reid, TC'90, TC'12

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I arrived early at Lerner Hall, my then-workspace as a financial aid officer for CC/FFSEAS. Shortly after 9 a.m., a colleague came to my office and said, "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." I replied, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." A few minutes later I realized that it was too quiet ... my phone wasn't ringing; there were no students at the front desk. I looked down the hall: no one at the mailboxes. No one walking on the ramps, no one walking the stairs. 

I walked down the ramp and looked around, then noticed a group of people clustered around a television screen. I joined the group, and a few minutes later saw the second plane crash. I went back to my office to call my husband who was at work in Connecticut, but my call attempts would not go through. After several tries with no success in reaching him, I thought I should instead go check on my 70-plus-year-old mother, who was a short subway ride away in the Bronx.

On learning that the subways were not in service, I decided I would walk the distance. I walked from Lerner Hall to 122nd Street and Broadway, and realized there was no way I would be able to safely complete the two-hour walk in my shoes. So I turned back around and walked down to the sneaker store on 110th Street. There were a couple dozen people already on line to purchase sneakers. The cash registers were offline, so the staff were using paper forms and old-school credit card imprinters to record purchases.

Lisa Anderson, Dean Emerita, School of International and Public Affairs

I was the dean of SIPA on 9/11. For the following issue of SIPANews, I wrote a "From the Dean" that I still think captures the moment as well as anything.

Irene Finel-Honigman, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, School of International and Public Affairs

I began teaching at SIPA, at the Institute for the Study of Europe, exactly one week prior to 9/11: a large class enthused to learn about Europe, the European Union, and the new global currency, the Euro. The morning of the attack, I sat on my terrace, reviewing my notes when I suddenly saw a huge black cloud billowing over lower Manhattan.

Rushing inside, turning on the television, watching the second plane crash, and very quickly receiving news that the Pentagon had been struck, I remember the first reaction as concern for immediate family in New York and D.C., followed by shock, confusion, and outrage. Communications were limited to the telephone, basic email, radio, and news. Columbia sent out information, but the lines were quickly overloaded.

Michael Futral, GS’21

On Aug 16, 2001, my family and I took my cousin, who was visiting NY for the first time, to the observation deck at the WTC. I was 10 years old at the time, so certain parts of that day stand out more than others. I remember the elevator ride to the observation deck felt like an eternity. I remember how incredibly tiny the Statue of Liberty looked from the top of the South Tower. And I remember how, after the 9/11 attacks, there was a putrid smell that engulfed most of NYC for literally months. 

I also remember the incredible sense of solidarity among New Yorkers after 9/11. I mean, I’ve lived in N.Y. my entire life, and I swear to god, I have never seen anyone—let alone folks from New York—be so courteous to one another. The sense of collective trauma really bonded all of us together. Like, I remember in the days following the attack, a family friend who had been volunteering at ground zero showed me these disposable pictures of him with some of the other volunteers with whom he worked alongside--including Joss Whedon and Janeane Garofalo. 

There’s a lot I can say about the 9/11 attacks. But ultimately, for me, it was the thing that drove me to study political science at Columbia, attend Community Board 1 meetings in Lower Manhattan, volunteer with Congressman Nadler’s Manhattan district office, and work on projects related to 9/11 relief efforts. Specifically, trying to encourage some of the 400,000 folks who lived, went to school, or spent any amount of time whatsoever in Lower Manhattan in the months following 9/11 to register for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund and to get free health monitoring through the WTC Health Program. 

So if you were there, please visit: https://www.vcf.gov.

Stuart Gottlieb, GSAS’96, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs and Public Policy

I was on Capitol Hill the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, working as a foreign policy adviser for New York’s senior senator, Charles Schumer. We watched together in stunned silence the live TV images of men and women jumping from the top floors of the World Trade Center as the flames engulfed them; choosing one form of certain death over another.

Recent scenes of carnage and mayhem in Afghanistan, where a full U.S. military withdrawal was immediately followed by a complete Taliban takeover, will likewise be emblazoned in the world’s memory forever. Images of human beings falling from the landing gear of U.S. aircraft lifting off from Kabul airport—choosing one form of certain death over another—cannot be lost to the irony of history.

Incomprehensibly, the Taliban again control Afghanistan. And with them inevitably comes al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Haqqani. It appears that after 20 years, we're back to Sept. 10, 2001.

Thomas Hamilton, CC'60

On 9/11, I left my office at St. John's University to teach my first class of the day, and the departmental secretary came running out of her office where she always had a radio on. She announced an airplane had just hit the World Trade Center.

I stopped and briefly reminisced about the U.S. Army airplane that had hit the Empire State Building when I was six years old. During a visit to see the building, a workman had given me a piece of the airplane as a souvenir. It was very greasy, and my mother soon threw it out.

I continued to Rosati Hall and as I was about to enter, a student came running out yelling a second airplane had hit. I exclaimed "Oh, my God, it's deliberate!"

I taught my introductory astronomy class and returned to my office. Within a few minutes word came that all remaining classes for the day were cancelled and the campus would be closing. I shrugged and started to walk home. A loud boom was followed by a series of lesser booms. The first tower had fallen, and from roughly eight miles away on Grymes Hill in Staten Island we could hear it.

Kenneth Harlin, Access Manager, C.V. Starr East Asian Library

I was at work at the library that morning when one of my staff members called to say he could not get to work because a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and the subway was not running. I checked the news just as the second plane hit. We had a small black and white Panasonic television in our staff room, and I brought that out to the circulation desk where staff and patrons all gathered to watch. The phones started ringing with relatives and friends calling, including my sister, who lives in D.C., where the Pentagon had also been hit. When the North Tower collapsed, we lost reception but were able to get a clear picture on Spanish-language channel 47. We watched that station and added CBS radio for sound and reports on what was happening.

A decision was made to keep the libraries open so that people would have a place to gather, and the rest of the day was spent around the circulation desk watching scenes of the devastation, listening to reports coming in, worrying about those we knew who worked or lived in that area, and talking with friends and loved ones to share our shock and sadness over what had happened.

Crismon Lewis, GSAS’25

As a 13-year-old getting ready for school one morning, I heard my mother upstairs crying. I went upstairs and saw on television smoke rising from the one World Trade Center tower still standing. As we ate breakfast that morning, I watched the second tower fall on live television and was heart-wrenched to think that hundreds of people lost their lives at that very moment.

9/11 impacted my life as it did for other Americans, but I’ve more keenly felt its significance since moving to NYC, especially since attending the Fireman’s memorial (at 100th and Riverside) and reading the book “The Only Plane in the Sky.”

David Licata, Lead Multimedia Specialist, School of Social Work

I worked on Canal Street and West Broadway at the time. I biked to my job that day, arriving as the towers were on fire. I was told to go home after the first tower fell, which we heard and felt from the office. I left the building and once outside my eyes followed the eye lines of everyone in the crowd. Looking south and up, I could see only one tower standing, but in flames. It didn't take long before I realized that people were on the roof and jumping off. I turned away and headed for home. I walked my bike to the bike path on the West Side because the streets were too crowded to ride. On the way, I saw and heard the second tower fall. On the PATH I rode home, in shock.

I was unsure what to do when I walked into my apartment. Nothing made sense. I turned on CNN, if I was thinking anything, maybe I was thinking they could make sense of this.

Pat Lilly, Manager, Visitor Services, Office of the President/The Forum

Like many people, I was shaken by the events of 9/11. Every time I heard a loud noise or saw a plane flying above, it rattled me.

I found out later that a family friend lost her life that day.

A few days after the tragedy, I wrote this poem:

TOWERS OF STRENGTH

They’ve destroyed our buildings and so many people

We feel so incomplete, like a church without a steeple

Our hearts will mourn forever and a day

We must overcome this; there’s got to be a way

So let’s come together to grieve with each other

For the loss of our friends, our sisters and brothers

Our Twin Towers are gone, their height and their length

But people united can be Towers of Strength!

Ralf Mekle, SEAS’96, GSAS’03

I was with Biomedical Engineering at Columbia and though based on the main campus I worked most of the time at the Hatch Center of the Radiology Department of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Thus, on 9/11 I was in the shuttle to the medical campus, when the driver told us, "We are being attacked!"

After arriving at the Health Science campus, my colleagues shared the terrible news with me. Web sites and e-mail were down, and most phone lines were not working. Finally, I managed to inform my family that I was safe. From the roof of one of the hospital buildings, we could see the burning towers of the World Trade Center. Everything seemed so unreal! 

In the hospital lobby, we saw on TV how the scary events unfolded. We asked whether we could help at the hospital, but during that day it looked as if only a few injured people were taken to Columbia Presbyterian. Worries about friends that worked in the area of the two towers kicked in. Luckily, none of our friends were hurt. Later during the day, I took the shuttle back to the main campus. I met with friends in an attempt to digest the horrific tidings. We all felt sad. It was a "deafening" day.

Ali Naderzad, Staff, East Asian Institute, School of International and Public Affairs

I'd just turned my workstation on when Diane Belleville came out of her office and said: "A plane just hit the World Trade Center. I'm going down to the lobby to watch on the TVs." I threw my bag on my desk and off we went. I figured, a Cessna or some tourist plane, a chopper? A group had gathered in front of the TV screens in the SIPA building lobby. The crash site was in flames. This looked big. Or did it seem big from afar? I couldn't tell. 

We watched in disbelief as a second plane hit, the tension in the crowd changed. People started leaving, others were making phone calls, one person was crying. Someone said people were going up to the roof (the SIPA building is the tallest on campus) so I went. And wasn't the sky blue that day? This was a good vantage point. The towers appeared blurry in the distance, they were far from us but you could see a large phosphorous cloud of white above the towers.

I came back down to the lobby TVs and saw the first tower go down. That beautiful WTC lobby with the regal carpeting, those triangular arches, those gleaming towers, stabbing at the sky defiantly, a triumph of man overcoming physics and taking architecture and engineering to the next level. Those Giant Step parties on Wednesdays at Windows of the World. NYC's selfhood was in those towers. They anchored our island, the gates to something bigger than you and me, a promise to many, a mirage to some.

Nancy Collins, Chair, Defense and Security Studies

On the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, we honor the heroism of our first responders. These exceptional men and women answered the call, risking their own lives to save our fellow citizens. We will never forget their sacrifice and their amazing generosity of spirit.

Anne Nelson, Research Scholar, School of International and Public Affairs

My play, The Guys, was based on an experience I had helping a New York City fire captain write eulogies for the eight men he lost on September 11. I was the director of the international program at the Journalism School at the time. It opened in December 2001, starring Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver.

It has gone on to be produced every year since then (including as a feature film) in all 50 states and at least 15 countries. There are over 40 productions scheduled [this year], including professional productions in Australia and Japan.

Mary Purcell, Communications Manager, Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research/CTSA

I believe my memories and emotions about September 11, are similar to many New Yorkers. What I can't believe is that it's still so painful to remember! Twenty years and it feels like yesterday that "my home" was attacked—it has always felt very personal, a direct violation of my space, my family.

Zaphra Reskakis, CUCP’53 

At 8:50 a.m. on September 11, there was an announcement from command post that no buses would be going past Canal Street. We snickered, grumbled, and the consensus was that since this was the New York Mayoral Primary Day, it was probably a demonstration at City Hall. 

But, then a woman with a radio said that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. Passengers said, "Are they blind? Couldn't they see the Twin Towers."

I don't know why, but I blurted out, "I hope it isn't a terrorist attack!"

As we started heading down Broadway to our jobs, some at Wall Street, some at Battery Park and me at the Federal Plaza, where I had just started working the day before, we were mesmerized as we saw a second plane hit and the towers begin to smoke.

Ann Louie Salamante, Director for Administration, Office of Alumni and Development

At approximately 8:30 a.m. 20 years ago, my best friend and I were on our way to work commuting through the World Trade Center to take the N train to 1 New York Plaza. On this day, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also released and I was about to make a pit stop at Borders to purchase the book, but the N train was arriving. My best friend said, "Get it later on our way home instead."

During this time, I was working in the training department at Prudential Financial located in the sub-level of the building and our classes started around 8:30 a.m. Before 9 a.m., students began knocking on my office door asking if they could kindly use my phone. This caught me by surprise and I informed them that we have courtesy phones located down the hall. Their response was that there was a long line and that they needed to get a hold of their family immediately. With that, I allowed the individuals to stay in my office and I walked into one of our classrooms. As I entered, I saw CNN broadcasting a scene so devastating.

Ryan Green, SSW’03

I entered the School of Social Work as a graduate student in September 2001. During orientation week in late August, there were various activities for the incoming class, including a cruise around Manhattan. As the boat approached the World Trade Center, I specifically remember making a point to walk to the railing and look up at the Twin Towers as we passed by. At the time, I did not know that this would be the last time I would lay my eyes on these iconic buildings.

About two weeks later, on September 11, I was at my home in New Jersey when I turned on the television and found out what was happening. I was supposed to attend my social work internship that day, and I recall being fearful about making the hour-long drive to the mental health agency where I was working, but I went in nonetheless. The following day, I was scheduled to have class in the city, at the old School of Social Work building on 113th street.

It was oddly surreal taking the train into Manhattan on September 12, but I had resolved to not live in fear and to move forward with living. In hindsight, being a student in the School of Social Work at this time was quite helpful, as much of our class time was dedicated to talking about and processing the events of September 11, and its aftermath. It was an extraordinary time and I appreciate the support provided by the Columbia community.

Pamela Merrill Schwartz, TC’75

I was living in London at the time working for an architecture firm. I had spent ten days in New York visiting my mother in Westchester County and driving to Brooklyn Heights to visit my sister and her family. That Sunday, September 9, we walked down toward the Brooklyn Promenade. Early in the morning on Monday, September 10, I boarded a flight back to London, arriving home around 10 p.m.  The following morning, Tuesday, September 11, I stumbled out of bed, jet-lagged, and somehow made my way to work in the West End.  

I will never forget receiving a phone call at lunchtime from another American friend, asking me if I heard what happened in NY. In my somewhat foggy, still jet-lagged state I replied, "I just returned from NY last night. What do you mean something happened?" It was then I heard the news about the 2 planes crashing into the twin towers, and their horrific collapse. 

Louis Simons, BUS’68

I was in Rotterdam, Holland, that day visiting my mother. I went to the nearby minimarket to get my Herald Tribune, which arrives there in the afternoon. People in the store were watching TV. I asked what they were watching. They told me an office building in America was burning. I looked up, immediately realized it was a tower in the WTC, left the store (without the Tribune), and turned on the TV in the living room to CNN. My mother asked me what I was watching. I told her. A short while later, when the second building was struck, she asked me to turn the TV off.

Then I realized why she did not want to see the tragedy.

Eileen Barroso, University Photographer

My 9/11 story starts on May 19, 2001 at Columbia’s 247th Commencement Ceremony. As the university photographer, my job is to document events such as telling the story of the day. It is not unusual for me to stay closer to the front of the 40,000 plus attendees at such an event. On May 19, that’s exactly what I did. I captured these young people who were so happy and celebratory after completing a great education at this institution. I can always feel the excitement and joy at this event I try my best to get in there and capture those moments whether they be unique in nature like funny hats or costumes, to students holding their children. Anything that really stands out and captures my attention I will photograph. It also doesn’t hurt your chances to be in the first 20 rows either. This day a group of young men did stand out literally. There were I think four or five college guys over 6ft tall, and they kind of commanded my attention. They were not only very tall, but they had lit cigars in their hands. I must have taken at least 100 or more photos of them during commencement; they were that much fun posing for the camera.

I don’t make the decisions on what gets published in the various magazines but one of my photos of that group of young men with their cigars made it to the Columbia College magazine. 

Fast forward to a week after 9/11, and I get a phone call at work from Mr. Victor Ugolyn. He proceeded to tell me that I had taken photos of his son Tyler during commencement back in May and that he had seen it published. He wanted to know if he could get copies of that photo. At first he didn’t come out and say it he just made the request. Mr. Ugolyn proceeded to tell me that his son, Tyler, was killed in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. I didn’t know what to say. I started to cry, but tried to hold back from him hearing me. I couldn’t believe that now I had some sort of connection to this young life that would literally change me forever.