Spring 2002

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Several Rose-Hulman activities took place to support national relief efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

A total of 462 Rose-Hulman employees and students donated blood — a record for Rose-Hulman’s quarterly blood drives. The event was sponsored by social fraternities and the Residence Hall Association.

Donations totaling $3,967.50 have also been collected on campus for the American Red Cross White Ribbon national campaign. The Office of Student Affairs coordinated that effort.

The Rose-Hulman football team donated $1,000 from homecoming gate receipts to the American Red Cross, and the team also contributed 21 sets of white athletic socks to a Salvation Army project providing clothing to emergency personnel working at the attack sites. In addition, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Chi Omega sorority raised donations for the Red Cross during homecoming football and soccer games.

An evening prayer service coordinated by the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship was conducted Sept. 11 in White Chapel on campus.

The Rose-Hulman community also came together during Homecoming to share its grief and sorrow over the tragic events of Sept. 11. A moment of silence was observed at all major events to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks and their families. Patriotic songs were sung during several Homecoming events. Four hundred flags, donated by the Terre Haute Exchange Club, were given to fans at the football game with the University of Chicago. The Rose-Hulman Army ROTC unit conducted a ceremony prior to the game lowering the American flag to half staff.

Rose-Hulman President Samuel Hulbert issued a statement saying, "These acts of terrorism were done to disrupt our lives and call attention to their cause. It tests our resolve. So, while we didn’t celebrate in the same manner as previous years, this Homecoming allowed us, alumni and current students, to come together as a community." On behalf of the entire Rose-Hulman community he expressed deepest sympathies to the victim’s families and friends.

The loyalty of Rose-Hulman alumni was exhibited by the long distances that many alumni drove to attend reunions and other events. Several alumni drove 12-18 hours from Canada and California to take part in Homecoming.

Four Alumni Escape From Pentagon Following Attack

At least four Rose-Hulman alumni were near ground zero in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. They were at the Pentagon for a college course titled Defense Policy in the 21st Century.

The course is part of an Indiana University certificate in public administration. It included a week in Washington with a day at the Pentagon.

Among the alumni present was David Reece (class of 1962) instructor and associate director for executive education at IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was accompanying the class, which included Eric Moody (class of 1993), Doug Hackman (class of 1986) and Mat Hardman (class of 1985). Those three work at Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in southern Indiana and are enrolled in the IU program through Crane.

On the morning of Sept. 11, the group was meeting in a room on the fifth floor of the Pentagon with the undersecretary of the U.S. Navy, Susan Livingstone.

"As soon as we started the class, she informed us of the World Trade Center attacks," Moody said. "It was the first we had heard of it. As her speech got under way, we heard a boom, the room moved and shook."

"Smoke started coming through the ceiling tiles almost immediately," Hackman added.

"At first there was emergency lighting, and we were scrambling to figure out which way to go," said Reece. "We started down one hall, but it was so smoky that we turned around and went toward an exit. Someone opened the door and there was no stairway; so we headed back in the original direction."

Hardman noted they could feel heat from the fire on the walls as they moved down the halls.

"At the time, we had no idea what happened," Moody said. "After we got out, we realized just how close we were."

The plane hit on the lower three floors in the section where the class took place. It was almost underneath where the alumni were. "About 30 minutes after we were out, we heard what sounded like another explosion, but by newspaper accounts, we later realized it was that corridor we walked through falling in," Reece said.

All four returned safely to Indiana.