FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 6, 2002

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

DRAKE EVENTS TO COMMEMORATE SEPT. 11 ATTACKS

Several events are planned at Drake University in observance of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

Drake alumnus Robert D. Ray, former governor of Iowa and president of Drake University, will be the keynote speaker at a remembrance ceremony at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 25th Street and University Avenue.

Ray will discuss his perceptions of the events of Sept. 11 and how the country has changed since then. There also will be a panel discussion among local leaders of various religious faiths. Panelists will be Mark Finkelstein of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines; Mohamad Khan of the Muslim community; Father Jim Laurenzo of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center; the Rev. Russell May of West Des Moines United Methodist Church and the Rev. Roy Nilsen of St. John's Lutheran Church. The event is sponsored by Drake's Student Senate and the Panhellenic and Interfraternal Council.

The Drake University Law School will hold an observance at 8:46 a.m. Sept. 11 - the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center - near the sundial in Wifvat Plaza, just north of Old Main at 26th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Four faculty members and four students will read excerpts from historic speeches and documents that define the American people, including the Gettysburg Address, President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Law classes will be dismissed from 8:40 to 9:10 a.m. so that students and faculty may attend.

There also will be several religious observances at Drake and in the Drake neighborhood.

On Sunday, Sept. 8, the Iowa chapter of Soka Gakkai International - USA, a Buddhist organization, will hold a commemoration of Sept. 11 titled "Victory Over Violence for the Sake of Peace." The event, which is open to the public, will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 311 of Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue.

On Sept. 11, there will be a liturgy at 8 a.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center, 1150 28th St., followed by a discussion led by John Harrell, a chaplain at Mercy Medical Center who was a volunteer at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of the attacks. Both the liturgy and the discussion are open to the entire Drake community, said Father Jim Laurenzo.

Drake students, faculty and staff are invited to attend a commemoration service at 7:15 p.m. Sept. 11 in the sanctuary of First Christian Church, 25th Street and University Avenue. Cottage Grove Presbyterian Church and the Muslim community will be participating in the nondenominational service.