Students organize 9/11 remembrance
Being the Change
On Sept. 11, 2005, the Madison community gathered on the Festival Lawn for a memorial service of speeches, songs, prayers from many faiths and a candlelight vigil to commemorate the national tragedy that occurred four years ago. U.S. Rep. Paul Goodlatte was the keynote speaker for the program, sponsored by JMU's Student Government Association and Muslim Student Association.
The principal organizers were JMU students Samier A. Mansur, a junior majoring in international relations and president of the Muslim Student Association, and David B. Centofante, a sophomore majoring in justice studies. Both men were among 45 students nationwide awarded undergraduate fellowships from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank that seeks to educate Americans about the terrorist threat to democracies worldwide. Their yearlong fellowships began in the summer with a two-week trip to Tel Aviv, Israel, for an intensive study of terrorist threats directed at America and allied democracies.
