By JORDAN GREEN, Editor-in-Chief
Editor’s Note: The following is the second of two stories retelling the experiences Northwestern faculty and staff had on Sept. 11, 2001. The first stories were published in the Sept. 9 edition and are available online at the newspaper’s website.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
The Northwestern News talked to Northwestern faculty and staff about their personal experiences during 9/11. Here’s what they had to say.
Northwestern President Dr. Janet Cunningham
Q: What do you remember about Sept. 11?
A: I was the business officer at that time, in Dr. [David] Pecha’s chair. We came to work at 8.
Cellphones were not the instant new device that they are now, but I heard something. Somebody said, “Gosh, there’s something going on.” As I recall, Dr. [Steve] Lohmann had a television in his office. I went down there, and we turned it on. And it just kind of made you sick, actually. And then I went home at lunch. And for the longest period of time, it was hard to pull yourself away from the television set. It was like this horror that you just couldn’t pull away from.
At that point in time, everything kind of shut down. I had a trip scheduled in November. I can’t remember what the trip was, but it involved a flight. And by then, it was kind of back up. But I remember flying into Atlanta, and there were National Guardsmen with their AR-15s guarding the airport.
I just remember thinking, “Oh my gosh. … Are we going to be in all-out war?” I worked at a place where there are Armed Services-aged people, and also had sons and a daughter that were – I think, in 2001, our son Brad, our oldest, was graduating from high school. So, you know, that thought kind of goes through my mind, “Oh my goodness.” He’s planning for college and all of that, but you didn’t know.
There was some comfort of being in the Heartland. We’d gone through the 1995 Murrah bombing, and the Heartland wasn’t particularly safe at that particular point on domestic terrorism. But I think, there was the thought that this is going to happen, if it does, more on the coasts instead of inside the country.
Valarie Case, university relations specialist
Q: What do you remember about Sept. 11?
A: I was sitting on the edge of my bed in Alva finishing getting ready to head into work at NWOSU. I was watching the Today show when they broke in to talk about what was happening live. Could not believe it. Headed in to work where we were all gathered around the television watching the horrible events unfold. We took a few photos in the Student Center of students watching the events happening. I can’t remember if it were the day of or the days after as we all continued to watch was happening.
Dr. Kay Decker, sociology PROFESSOR
Q: What do you remember about Sept. 11?
A: I was taking roll in my Intro to Sociology class on third floor Jesse Dunn when Dr. Tatro stuck her head in my classroom door and motioned for me to come out into the hall. She said something had happened in NYC, and we needed to go to a TV in the Student Center. I got my class, and we jogged over to the Student Center just in time to see the second plane hit tower two.
I dismissed my class and told everyone to go home and turn on their televisions and radios. After that, all of us faculty stayed glued to the TV in the Student Center to find out what had happened. It was horrific – just unbelievable. About noon, I recall deciding to get on home to start calling family and friends, and I wanted to be home with my kids.
Dr. Mindi Clark, associate agriculture professor
Q: What do you remember about Sept. 11?
A: I was a freshman in college and a state FFA officer. The officer team was at the Northeast District (now area) Chapter Officer Leadership Training conference at Tulsa Community College and had just finished setting up for the arrival of a few hundred FFA members. We decided to get a snack in the convenience store on campus, and the clerk told us to look up at the television. We watched the horrific footage of what was taking place. The first tower had been hit.
We were all frightened by what had happened, and it was difficult to transition back into an upbeat, positive mood as we still had to present our leadership workshop, which probably was a bright spot in that day. The ride back to Stillwater was quiet as we listened to the news of 9/11 on the radio. Every gas station along the way was backed up with lines of cars into the streets waiting to get fuel, regardless of the gouging prices.
I couldn’t stop thinking about my sister, who was in the military at the time, and how this event would affect her. When we got back to Stillwater, I went back to my dorm room and watched TV. The news was on every channel, even cable channels that wouldn’t typically cover news. I really just wanted to go home and be with my family.
Editor’s Note: To view the rest of the personal narratives in this series, visit https://northwesternnews.rangerpulse.com/tell-people-that-we-love-them-northwestern-faculty-staff-recall-