President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. blesses a student during the Sept. 11 Mass of the Holy Spirit.
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USF Commemorates 9/11 with Messages of Unity
As part of a commemoration of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon one year ago, the USF community discussed faith, religion, and the unity of the human family during a variety of events.
“To separate the human family, to sew discord and misunderstanding among peoples runs counter to the God who created us all equally human, equally entitled to a fair share of this world's goods,” said USF President Stephen A. Privett, S.J. in his homily during the Mass of the Holy Spirit on Sept. 11 before approximately 2,000 people.
An annual blessing at the start of the academic year, the Mass was once again an occasion for mourning and remembrance. As he did last year, Fr. Privett reminded the community to forget differences and draw strength from one another’s company, saying “we are primarily one, and only secondarily many.” During the service, Jeffrey Brand, dean of the School of Law, read a Jewish prayer; Homa Shabahang, associate dean in the College of Professional Studies, quoted both Muslim and Jewish prayers; and Jean Molesky-Poz, assistant professor of theology and religious studies, read a translated Ki’che’ Maya prayer.
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Panel Discusses Legitimacy of Proposed Invasion
Four out of five members of a USF faculty panel said the United States should not invade Iraq to further a political agenda at home or if it would mean flouting United Nations’ opposition. The panel, assembled as a teach-in on the ramifications of President George W. Bush’s proposed military campaign against Iraq, took place Oct. 1 in McLaren Center.
“I am troubled by the possibility of the (U.N.) security council not giving the Bush administration what it wants and then the administration going ahead and doing what it wants anyway,” said Michael Lehmann, professor of economics. “I think international law has to be treated with respect.”
Only one member of the panel, Associate Professor of Politics Shalendra Sharma, came out in clear support of an invasion as proposed by the Bush administration. He called Bush’s doctrine of “pre-emption”—or the right to invade countries that pose a threat to American security—a prudent strategy. “The U.S. has it right that if this time Iraq does not cooperate, there will be consequences,” he said.
Politics professors Scott McElwain, Roberta Johnson, and Cynthia Boaz cautioned that the United States would be trampling on its own foreign policy precedent and crossing democratic and ethical lines in forging false legitimacy for an invasion of Iraq. “By threatening the world with war, the Republicans may have won the Nov. 5 elections,” Johnson said, arguing that the party seized the invasion as an issue favorable for Republicans in what promises to be a close contest for both congressional houses.
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The week’s activities started on Sept. 9 with an invitation to the campus community to add their handprints to a banner titled “I Raise My Hands to Build a Better World.”  During the Mass, the banner (see right) was displayed in one of the side altars of St. Ignatius Church.
On Wednesday, about 150 people attended the School of Law’s commemoration. Several administrators and students reflected on the tragedy before and after a moment of silence. A small memorial of pictures of 9/11 and statements from law school members was also mounted on a wall in Kendrick Hall.
A panel discussion among USF professors and administrators titled “Thinking and Praying about 9/11: How is God Involved in the Human Community in the Post 9/11 World?” took place Sept. 12. Panelists Sally Vance-Trembath, John Nelson, and Vijaya Nagarajan, assistant professors of theology and religious studies; Elliot Neaman, associate professor of history and acting head of the Swig Judaic Studies Program; and Homa Shabahang, discussed their faiths’ perspectives on religious pluralism, free will, evil, and what good can come out of the tragedy.
“For pluralism to grow in this country, we have to divorce ourselves from the idea that God is playing sides and from the way we categorize other people,” Nelson said. “We have to make their pain very much a part of our pain.”
That evening, staff members from residence life and student affairs held an open mic night at Crossroads Café in University Center. Students and staff members read letters from alumni and students’ families commenting on the tragedy.
Also that week, Fr. Privett and California Superior Court Judge and USF alumnus Ming Chin ’64, JD’67, were the featured panelists in an evening forum at the Commonwealth Club of California titled “Reflections on September 11.” Fr. Privett spoke of the role of universities in times of conflict.
“It is incumbent upon universities to steer us away from the simplistic either/or dichotomies that war and crises evoke,” he said. “One can empathize with civilian casualties in Afghanistan and be an upstanding citizen of the United States…One can support our men and women in uniform and seek peace. One can love one’s own country and all of God's people. One can seek global justice and an end to terrorism.”
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