Story by Wendy S. Loughlin
wsloughl@summon.syr.edu
Phone: 443-3784
Syracuse University
December 7, 1998

Events recall Pan Am 103

The Syracuse University community will observe the tenth anniversary of the Lockerbie Air Disaster-and commemorate the 35 SU students who lost their lives in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103-with "Days of Remembrance," a series of free public events taking place Dec. 11-21 on campus.

 At 3 p.m. Dec. 11, the Rev. Alan Neal, who was pastor of Lockerbie's Anglican church at the time of the Pan Am 103 bombing, will present "That Night in Lockerbie: Dec. 21, 1988" in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel. At 11 a.m. Dec. 13, Neal will serve as guest preacher at Hendricks Chapel.

 Starting Dec. 12 and running through Dec. 21, two exhibitions will commemorate the event. "Images of Lockerbie"-a photographic exhibition featuring the works of students in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications who visited Scotland and of students from the Alexia Foundation for World Peace-will be on display in the lobby of Newhouse I. "The University Remembers" will feature materials from the University's Pan Am 103 Archives and will be on display in the atrium of the Schine Student Center. "Images of Lockerbie" is open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight weekdays and 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekends; "The University Remembers" is open from 9 a.m. to midnight weekends and 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays.

 At 5 p.m. Dec. 12, students, faculty and alumni of the Drama Department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts will honor the memory of the Pan Am 103 victims with a performance at the Arthur Storch Theatre, 820 E. Genesee St.

 At 5 p.m. Dec. 13, Hillel will sponsor "Chanukah: A Time to Remember and Celebrate Life." Participants will gather on the patio of Huntington Beard Crouse Hall for the lighting of the campus menorah, followed at 5:15 p.m. by a reception in the Founders Room of Maxwell Hall.

 From 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 14, the College of Nursing will present "Finding Meaning in the Tragedy of Pan Am 103" in the college's main floor conference room. A panel of Remembrance Scholar applicants from the college will present their perspectives. The discussion will be followed by a procession to the Place of Remembrance, located in front of the Hall of Languages.

 At 7 p.m. Dec. 15, Suse and Peter Lowenstein will present in Shemin Auditorium of the Shaffer Art Building a slide show and discussion of "Dark Elegy," Suse Lowenstein's 35-piece sculpture depicting the reactions of 35 women-including herself-when they learned of the disaster. The Lowensteins' son, Alexander, was one of the students killed aboard Pan Am 103.

 At 4 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16, a video of the Jan. 18, 1989, Syracuse University Memorial Service will be shown in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel. The original service-attended by some 10,000 people-was held in the Carrier Dome.

 At 4:30 p.m. Dec. 17, the Office of Student Affairs will present "Meeting the Need After Pan Am 103: Student Affairs Reflections" at the Office of International Services, 310 Walnut Place. The panel discussion will include Pat Burak of the Office of International Services, Mary Jo Custer of the Office for Student Assistance, Nirelle Galson of the Division of International Programs Abroad (DIPA), and Stan Fornal of SU Health Services. Barry L. Wells, vice president for student affairs and dean of student relations, will moderate.

 At 2:03 p.m. Dec. 21, exactly 10 years to the minute after the Pan Am 103 explosion, a Service of Commemoration will be held at Hendricks Chapel; those attending the service are asked to be seated by 1:45 p.m. Services will take place simultaneously at the memorial cairn in Arlington National Cemetery, at Westminster Abbey in London, and at the Dryfesdale Parish Church in Lockerbie. President Clinton and Syracuse University Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw will attend the service in Arlington. SU Vice President for Undergraduate Studies Ronald Cavanagh will attend the service in Lockerbie. Michael Woolf, resident director of DIPA's London center, will attend the service at Westminster Abbey.

 Vice Chancellor Gershon Vincow will preside over the service at Hendricks Chapel, which will include performances by the Syracuse University combined choruses, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band. The names of the 35 student victims-as well as five Syracuse-area residents who died aboard Pan Am 103-will be read aloud. Douglas A. Unger, former professor of creative writing at SU, will offer "Reflections After 10 Years," as will Hendricks Chapel Dean Richard L. Phillips. The Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, interdenominational Protestant chaplain and dean-designate of Hendricks Chapel, will deliver the benediction. The service will be followed by a procession to the Place of Remembrance.

 For more information on the Days of Remembrance, contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies at 443-1899.