Sitting In Silence: Syracuse University Honors Those Lost During Remembrance Week
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Sitting in silence: Syracuse University honors those lost during remembrance week
Reporter Helaina Stovin: Thirty-five seats for 35 minutes, one for every Syracuse student lost Dec. 21, 1988. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded less than 40 minutes into their flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers on board, making it one of the most lethal acts of terrorism until 9/11.
Stovin: The university pays tribute to those lost with Remembrance Scholars, students who honor the victims of the crash, as they sit in the very seats those students sat many years ago. One of those scholars, Nico Horning, says representing his victim is something he will keep with him forever.
Remembrance Scholar Nico Horning: Rick Monetti is his name. His full name is Richard Paul Monetti, but he goes by Rick. And I think for me to be able to represent his purpose here at school for the week, and really for the rest of my life is extremely honorable.
Stovin: Horning says it is the current generation of students that not only got him involved but who maintain the sanctity of these commemorations.
Nico Horning: I know someone last year that went to Newhouse that actually had a personal tragedy, that’s why I am doing this today. She spread the word to me and it really made me think about applying. But we all have individual things in our life that make us sort of all similar in the fact that OK this is a big loss, what can we do to further the action to improve the our lives around us.
Stovin: Nearly four decades later, the memory of the attack lives not only in what we continue to say, but in the silence that follows, sometimes saying more than words ever could.
Senior Communications Manager Kelly Rodoski: I think it just causes us all to just stop and think not only about what we lost but about how we can move forward from that. Silence is so important because that’s where we find reflection and that’s where we find growth in our lives.
Stovin: Rodoski, who was a freshman here at Syracuse in 1988, says she is proud of the work she sees from the scholars every year as they continue to draw lessons from these events. Lessons that start right here on campus.
Stovin: Thirty-five Syracuse students. Classes never finished. Degrees never earned. Lives never fully lived. But through the Remembrance Scholars who sit in these same seats today, their legacy endures. These 35 chairs… now empty… serve as the loudest silence on campus. Helaina Stovin N-C-C News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — During the week of Oct. 22, Syracuse University honors and remembers the 35 Syracuse students lost in 1988 during Pan Am Flight 103. The flight, traveling from Heathrow Airport in London, was bound for New York City. Less than 40 minutes into the flight, the plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers onboard. This was one of the most lethal acts of terrorism until Sept. 11, 2001.
The 35 Syracuse students studying abroad in London would never make it home. In response to this tragedy, Syracuse University observes a Remembrance Week to pay tribute to the 35 students who lost their lives. Through this tribute, the university assigns Remembrance Scholars — seniors who honor the victims of the crash — an individual to represent for a week, and really for their lives. In addition to a candlelight vigil and other remembrance events, the university holds an event called “Sitting in Solidarity,” where all 35 Remembrance Scholars sit in white chairs that are spatially positioned to represent where each student was sitting on the airplane. Each scholar sits in their victim’s seat, silent, for 35 minutes — one minute for each student.
One of those Remembrance Scholars and a senior at Syracuse University, Nico Horning, said representing his student is an honor that resides within him for longer than just this week.
“Rick Monetti is his name,” he said. “His full name is Richard Paul Monetti, but he goes by Rick. And I think for me to be able to represent his purpose here at school for the week, and really for the rest of my life, is extremely honorable.”
Horning noted that even though the generations of students attending Syracuse University were not alive to witness this tragedy firsthand, the eagerness to continue these traditions with the utmost compassion has not wavered. He said that it was this generation of students that got him interested in the idea of understanding how to involve himself more in this week.
“I know someone last year that went to Newhouse that actually had a personal tragedy, that’s why I am doing this today,” he said. “She spread the word to me and it really made me think about applying. But we all have individual things in our life that make us sort of all similar in the fact that OK this is a big loss, what can we do to further the action to improve the our lives around us.”
While this past week is where a lot of the activity from the Remembrance Scholars is seen, their work does not stop there. Horning and the rest of the scholars participate in podcasts along with numerous other forms of advocacy within their action groups to help ensure that Remembrance Week is not the only week that current Syracuse students and the Syracuse community pay attention to what is going on.
As the university approaches nearly the four-decade mark since this attack, the lives of each student live on, not only in what we continue to say, but in the silence that follows — sometimes saying more than words ever could. Senior communications manager and Remembrance Scholar Kelly Rodoski was a first-year student at Syracuse University in 1988. She said that silence aids in our understanding of tragic events like these more than some may ever realize.
“I think it just causes us all to just stop and think not only about what we lost but about how we can move forward from that,” she said. “Silence is so important because that’s where we find reflection, and that’s where we find growth in our lives.”
Rodoski said she marvels at the work she sees from the Remembrance Scholars every year. They can draw lifelong lessons from these moments.
Thirty-five Syracuse students. Classes never finished. Degrees never earned. Lives never fully lived. But through the Remembrance Scholars who sit in these same seats today, their legacy endures. These 35 chairs remain, forever waiting for students who will never occupy them again, serving as the loudest silence on campus.