When terrorists attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, Georgetown students could see the destruction across the Potomac River from their dorm rooms. For the various HOYA writers and photographer who covered it, it was the story of a lifetime.

“By 10:15 a.m., the flag on Copley Lawn was at half-staff. The north tower of the World Trade Center had collapsed. The Pentagon was hit. The campus knew that America was under attack, but did not know if the attack was over. Clearer facts would only partly ease tensions. Cell phone signals were dead and phone lines were overloaded in Washington, D.C., and New York. It would be hours before many could connect with their friends and family,” one HOYA report said.

More than 100 Georgetown alumni work in the World Trade Center and about 20 worked in the Pentagon in Sept. 2001, according to Bill Reynolds (COL ’79), then associate vice president for alumni relations.

By Sept. 14, it had been confirmed that one alumna, Lisa J. Raines (L ’82) was on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. Leslie Whittington, a professor at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute was also on the flight.

On campus, classes were canceled until the subsequent Wednesday. In a broadcast e-mail, University President John J. DeGioia said, “We’ve seen the worst of humanity. We can still work together to build a better place for humanity.”

DPS and MPD implemented stringent security measures in response to the attacks.

“Increased security was visible off campus as well. Military police and their camouflaged, armored vehicles were positioned at most intersections along M Street. Armored cars drove up and down M Street while fighter jets patrolled the skies over the city. Helicopters with gun and missile turrets buzzed past campus along the Potomac River,” according to THE HOYA.

One HOYA reporter, Jean Weinberg (COL ’02) was in New York finishing a summer job when the attacks occurred. She provided THE HOYA with an on-the-scene report.

“I woke up late Tuesday morning. I was supposed to report to the NY1 newsroom at 3 p.m. for primary day and was assigned to be at Mark Green’s, a Democrat candidate for mayor, headquarters,” she wrote. “However, there would not even be a primary that day and I ended up covering one of the most heinous events in world history.”

Meanwhile, Hoya photographer Charles Nailen (SFS ’04) captured images of a burning Pentagon building from the Village A rooftop.

While the Georgetown University Hospital did not send staff to assist at the Pentagon, it did switch into external disaster mode, upgrading security and arranging for additional staff assistance. Only one victim from the Pentagon was ultimately treated there.

Georgetown’s proximity to the tragedies made the day, unforgettable for so many Americans, particularly poignant for those on the Hilltop.

“On the morning after four hijacked jetliners collapsed New York’s World Trade Center and crashed into the Pentagon, the pall of smoke cast across the Potomac River was still visible from the Village A rooftops,” read a Hoya news analysis. “A solemn, somber reminder of the destruction wrought the day before.”

http://www.thehoya.com/news/011405/news8.cfm

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http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/timeline.htm