Howard University marked its first 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative with a three-day observance and service initiative focused on honoring veterans, answering the call to service, and a pledge to never forget.
Howard students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners united to honor the 2,977 lives lost during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The tragic events left the nation devastated but also united the nation. The events inspired the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, organized annually by 9/11 Day, the nonprofit organization that created the federally recognized observance.
Howard recognizes the event as its 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative, consisting of three days of activations including an Awareness and Collection Drive, a Day of Service, and a Day of Remembrance closing it out Sept. 11 with guest remarks from alumna Col. LaJohnne A.W. Morris (B.A. ’98).
A $10,000 grant from 9/11 Day made the remembrance possible. The grant is part of 9/11 Day’s 25th expansion program that saw $3 million awarded to an estimated 200 organizations across 40 states.
Wayne A. I. Frederick (B.S. ’92, M.D. ’94, MBA ’11), Howard University’s interim president, president emeritus, and Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery, said in a statement that many current Howard students only know the events of 9/11 as a historical reference that has significantly shaped our present-day society.
“As time passes,” Frederick said, “we have an even greater responsibility to learn from that history by choosing understanding over prejudice, unity over division, and hope over the fear that can too easily lead us apart. At an institution such as Howard, remembrance must also call us to service.”
Paris L. Adon, Ed.D., director of Office of Student Services, Division of Student Affairs, oversaw the remembrance at Howard. He said he would like Remembrance Day to move Howard’s students from simply knowing about 9/11 to truly understanding its weight, especially those too young to remember it themselves.
“I want it to be a moment of unity, where we grieve together, honor the fallen and the first responders, and recommit ourselves to service," said Adon. "And I want our students to leave with a clearer sense of their own responsibility, as future leaders, to carry forward a legacy of truth and service for and towards one another."
Day 1: Awareness and Collection Drive
Marcedi Phillips, Joshua Gaither, Gabrielle Cunningham and other students, many of them in the Howard University chapter of Student Veterans of America, gathered in the center of The Yard Sept. 9 where they assembled care packages full of donated toiletries and food as the 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative got under way. The packages were being prepared for distribution Sept. 10 at Access Housing Inc’s Southeast Veterans Center in Southeast, D.C.
The Howard University Jazz Ensemble played smoothly in the background during the Care Package Drive, and student ROTC cadets in camouflage uniforms were nearby, under the command of Lt. Col. Kevin Rivers, commander, U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 130, Howard University.
Phillips, a senior double majoring in political science and English who serves as Student Veterans of America president, said though she and most other students were too young to experience 9/11 firsthand, it was important to support the 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative.
“We support those in the military and those surrounded by it. We want to make sure they’re OK,” Phillips said. She comes from a military family like many in SVA. “We also connect with 9/11 because our peers are ROTC cadets. They’re going into the military, and we have people in SVA who are currently serving.”
Phillips, whose father is an Army veteran, said she is attending Howard thanks to a GI Bill, and giving back is ingrained within her. “I need to give back because it was given to me.”
Gabrielle Cunningham, a junior English major and public relations officer for SVA, said giving back, which includes her involvement in SVA and participation in the 9/11 remembrance, comes naturally. Her parents met in the U.S. Army, and she credits the military with bringing her family together. She said what happened on 9/11 was a part of American history and events of that day must be kept at the forefront. “It’s important to keep those stories alive.”
Joshua Gaither, a junior political science major and treasurer of SVA, commends Howard for its “always never forget” approach when it comes to 9/11. He said that’s key when it comes to Black students, “especially in the times we’re in now where there is a lot of tension in our communities.”
Gaither added, “We haven’t forgotten 9/11. We see 9/11 as something that could never reoccur, but we have to make sure it never reoccurs, as history likes to repeat itself if you forget.”
Day 2: Day of Service
“Ready to roll? Let’s go,” Sgt. Michael T. Mack (USMC Retired), assistant director, Office of Military & Veteran Services in the Division of Student Affairs, said the morning of Sept. 10 as two buses left from in front of the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle, where OMVS is housed.
About 70 Howard students arrived at Access Housing Inc., Southeast Veterans Center, which provides critical services to homeless veterans. There, Howard students engaged directly with veterans and delivered care packages. Students also passed out lunch plates catered by Mission BBQ, toured the facility, and even helped with landscaping.
Gregory Crawford, Access Inc.’s executive director, said the center is always looking for partners in the community that are proven supporters of veterans. While looking for potential partners back in 1999, he came across OMVS. Conversations began, and they agreed it was a perfect fit.
“It just exploded into what we are doing today,” Crawford said. “We can’t do these kinds of things without partners in the community. And when you see groups like Howard come to the center and you’ve got these gentlemen who sacrificed so much for the country, you don’t know what that does. It shows that ‘Hey, people care, that sacrifice meant something, and we’re not forgotten.’ We want this to continue because we can’t do this by ourselves.”
He said as the buses pulled up to the center, one of the veterans turned to him and said what a beautiful sight it was to see all the young faces coming to lend a hand.
“They could have gone anywhere. They didn’t have to come here. You all chose to come here today, and that goes a long way,” said Crawford.
Herbert Calvin Harris, a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1979-1983 and who is a tenant at Access Housing Inc., said seeing Howard students on the premises tugged at a few heartstrings. “It makes me feel very proud to see the kids come and honor us and say ‘Hey, thank you.’ It gives me a lot of joy.”
Michael Speller, who served in the Navy from 1982-1986 and serves as president representation at Access Housing Inc., said the first thing he did after the students arrived was acknowledge them in his own way. “I let them know I’m proud of them coming here and proud of them being in college. That’s what we need to let our kids know. What you’re doing today is going to affect your future in the end.”
Bryanna Whitehead, a junior international affairs major, was among the Howard students at Access Housing Inc. She said she has always been committed to community service.
“I’m fortunate being in a position where I can give back to those who aren’t as fortunate. I think coming here is really important because you see so many veterans who have fought for our country. No matter how big or how small, it’s all important. It takes nothing from your time in a day to just give back,” Whitehead said. “We are the generation that’s supposed to carry on the legacy and give thanks to those who paved the way for us.”
Sydney McPherson, a first-year student studying finance, said “these are people who are very neglected. They aren’t given the proper resources they need to succeed and sustain life like everyone else. It’s heartbreaking to see it and it’s heartbreaking to not be involved. Now that I’m at Howard, I would love more opportunities to connect with the veterans.”
As the buses headed back to campus, Mack said: “A lot of the veterans had a lump in their throats because of you.”
Day 3: Day of Remembrance
Fittingly, the 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative came to a close in ceremonial fashion Sept. 11 with morning events in The Yard at the flagpole. The ceremony included a prayer from Rev. Bernard L. Richardson, Ph.D., dean of the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. It featured narration by Mack; “The Star-Spangled Banner” and taps performed by Henry Acquah, a sophomore accounting member and member of the HU Jazz Ensemble; and the George Washington University Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps Color Guard, featuring Howard students, presenting and retiring of the colors.
Among those in attendance were representatives from the Office of Students Affairs, Office of Military & Veteran Services, Howard University ROTC, and Student Veterans of America.
During impassioned remarks, Morris said she was a First Lieutenant in the 327th Signal Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Sept. 11, 2001. At the time of the first attack, she assumed, like many, that a small plane had lost control and crashed into the first tower.
“I remember standing there in disbelief looking at the smoke billowing out of the North Tower trying to figure out how that could have happened accidentally. Because you see, I’m an eternal optimist, I’ve got Bison Cheerleading in my blood and at this point, I was only three years removed from my time at Greene Stadium cheering on my beloved Bison,” she said.
Morris said 9/11 wasn’t just a story of destruction, but one of ordinary citizens demonstrating grace and valor in the face of terror, including those in the Washington, D.C., area at the Pentagon. She mentioned Howard students, staff and ROTC cadets’ efforts to assist in any way possible at the time.
She also told the story of then-CPT Clifford L. Patterson Jr. (B.S., ’91), an alumnus who lost his life that day while working in the Pentagon. He was away from his desk in another area of the building, an area that was in the direct path of American Airlines Flight 77. He was posthumously promoted to major.
“Clifford Patterson walked the pathways of this Yard as a student and stood in formation on this Yard as an Army ROTC cadet. He sat in the School of Business classrooms studying finance and like many of us forged lifelong bonds across campus,” she said.
Though Morris didn’t know Patterson personally, they shared much commonality.
“I stood in formation on this very Yard in the old camouflage battle dress uniform, in front of all my friends walking by on their way to class. And I am very proud to say that I followed in his footsteps, becoming the Cadet Battalion Commander of Howard’s Bison Battalion and like him was honored to become a Distinguished Military Graduate. Major Patterson did not just attend Howard University; he carried its highest ideals with him into the uniform of the United States Army. He lived the motto that is etched into every cornerstone of this institution: ‘Veritas et Utilitas’—Truth and Service.”
She said the name Clifford Patterson is permanently etched into the granite of the National Pentagon Memorial, and his spirit remains forever woven into the fabric of this University.”
Honoring Sacrifice Meaningfully
Frederick said the various activities of the 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative embody Howard values, and that the University’s response to disaster must be more than mere reflection.
“We honor sacrifice most meaningfully when memory inspires us to care about and for one another. Our core values of excellence, leadership, truth, and service are more than ideals; they are instruments we can use to lift up our shared humanity in times of adversity, seek understanding across our differences, and strengthen the bonds of community when they are most tested,” said Frederick.
Mack said it was important that Howard recognized 9/11 considering the across-the-board way it affected everyone.
“When we go back to World War I and World War II, the things that happened then were never attempted or completed in U.S. cities that were prominent such as New York City,” said Mack. “It had a tremendous impact across our nation. There had never been that many individuals killed in our country, on our soil.”
Adon concluded that Howard University carries a long and proud military history, and that “acknowledging 9/11 in this way honors that lived experience and the service that runs deep in our community. Howard is a national representation of excellence on a global stage, and with that standing comes a responsibility to honor those who lost their lives here in our own country. Remembrance is not just something we do, it is part of who we are and what we stand for.”
Top photo: The George Washington University Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps Color Guard, featuring Howard students, presenting and retiring of the colors near the flagpole at The Yard on Sept. 11, 2026, during the 9/11 Remembrance and Service Initiative. Photo by Lawrence Jointer/Howard University
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