Benjamin Community Commemorates 9/11 Anniversary

The Benjamin School community marked the anniversary of September 11, 2001, with ceremonies on both campuses. The upper school gathered in Benjamin Hall in solemn reflection of a day that forever changed the world. 

Head of School Dave Faus, in remarks before the student body, also celebrated the remarkable humanity and selflessness that emerged in the aftermath. 

“Others in this room probably have a vivid memory of that day. Some may have been touched in horrific and tragic ways. All of us, in one way or another, continue to feel that day,” Faus said, reflecting on the two Benjamin School graduates, Lindsay Morehouse and Patrick Aranyos, who were killed during the attack on the World Trade Center. 

Among the immense tragedy of 9/11, Faus said, rose “the incredible ability” of strangers to ban together and support one another. 

“We take care of one another. That’s our duty as good human beings to watch out for one another,” he said, acknowledging all of those who ran into harm’s way. 

Faus said this is the key ingredient of community. 

Head of Upper School Fletcher Carr highlighted the willingness of first responders to “jump into the maelstrom and sift and search through the endless wreckage.” 

He said this value of selflessness, a value familiar to the Benjamin community, is one that we, as a nation, should seek to never forget. 

Special tribute was also paid to the search and rescue animals, some of the very first to arrive on the scene.
Middle School Students simultaneously gathered in the Barker Performing Arts Center to honor the anniversary.

“For many of you, this day may seem like a distant chapter in history, but it’s important that we remember. It is part of our story as Americans, and we choose, every year, to view it as a reminder of how we come together in times of challenge and how, even in the face of evil, we find hope, courage, and compassion,”
middle school math teacher Rudy DeVries said in opening remarks. 

“This day is personal for me in ways I wish it weren’t,” DeVries, who lost his cousin in the World Trade Center attack, told the student body.  

“His loss, like the loss of every life that day, left a hole in our family, and in the fabric of this nation, that can never truly be filled.  The truth is there are many people like me, connected by the loss of someone close to us for reasons we still don’t fully accept.  Because of this, it is our responsibility… our honor to speak about them in the hopes that generations of Americans born in the wake of this tragedy understand the true cost of that day, and why we take this time each year to gather and pay our respects,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE UPPER SCHOOL'S 9/11 ASSEMBLY