9/11: a Day of Remembrance
The University of Central Oklahoma remembered the attacks on 9/11 with a day of service in giving back to local firefighters Sept. 8 and held the remembrance ceremony Sept. 9 under the Blue Tent by Broncho Lake.
Students who signed up for the day of service cooked and served spaghetti dinners for firefighters in the Edmond and Oklahoma City communities as an appreciation for their on-going service to the communities.
Sarah Moore, event coordinator for Career Services, mentioned the students went to different firefighter departments in groups, including all five departments in Edmond and the 15 departments in Oklahoma City.
— UCO VSLC (@UCOVSLC) September 6, 2016
“I think one of the most beneficial parts is that it’s an opportunity to give back to those who serve us day in and day out, but also to have an experience you normally wouldn’t come across,” said Moore, “Mostly it’s a fun opportunity to get to know those who serve us.”
The remembrance ceremony began at 9 a.m. under the Blue Tent by Broncho Lake.
Lt. Col. Brian E. Bart, a professor at UCO for Military Science, was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.
After the speech, approximately 3,000 American flags were placed in the ground by attendees of the event around Broncho Lake.
After the flags were placed in the ground there was a moment of silence, followed by a procession of bagpipes to remember those who died in the 9/11 attacks.
Students were encouraged to bring student IDs to both the first responders’ service day and ceremony because students could receive Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR) credit for participating.
STLR is a program on campus that records and tags certain events so that students can receive credits for attending programs that adhere to The Central Six. The Central Six are the basic tenets of transformative learning that UCO uses as the basis for experiential learning and promotes students taking an active role in their education both inside and outside of the classroom.
The Central Six are Global and Cultural Competencies; Health and Wellness; Leadership; Research, Creative and Scholarly Activities; Service Learning and Civic Engagement; and Discipline Knowledge. Discipline Knowledge is the only Central Six that STLR does not cover.
STLR credits benefit students because they can show future employers that they were were involved on campus. The service day and remembrance ceremony would fall under the Service Learning and Civic Engagement tenant of the Central Six.