Kenan-Flagler Responds to the Sept. 11 Tragedy

ollowing the terrorist attacks on America, the Kenan-Flagler community gathered on the McColl Building lawn Sept. 14 to honor the victims and embrace the heroes - through moments of silence, speeches from students and the singing of the national anthem.

A breeze rustled the international flags lining Kenan-Flagler's portico, as Dean Robert S. Sullivan recalled the words of the late Frank Hawkins Kenan: "I believe all the freedoms that we enjoy are related to free enterprise. If you neglect that, we'll lose the others."

Kenan-Flagler faculty, staff and students gathered on the McColl Building lawn in a ceremony that honored the victims of Sept. 11.

Management and business ethics professor Bob Adler called the attacks an example of "pure, raw, misguided idealism."

"We must serve as an example that sincerity and intensity of beliefs, while a great starting point, must be embraced with caution," he said. "And quoting Oscar Wilde, 'just because someone is willing to die for a cause doesn't make the cause just.'"

Others speaking at the ceremony included Ken Epps, president of the MBA Student Association; Nate Edgerly, a MAC Program student; and Jan Rivero, campus chaplain from the Wesley Foundation.

The Kenan-Flagler observance followed a University ceremony earlier that week at Polk Place led by Chancellor James Moeser and attended by 10,000 members of the UNC-Chapel Hill community.

To reach out to alumni, many of whom work in Manhattan's financial district and in the Washington, D.C., area, Kenan-Flagler created a Web page with links to community resources and a bulletin board for posting messages about friends and family.

In other efforts to reach out to the community:

• Kenan-Flagler management professor Jack Kasarda, an airlines industry expert, and Jim Smith, an economy expert and former finance professor, served on a public panel sponsored by the UNC General Alumni Association: "Understanding the Attack on America" on Sept. 13. Smith was an eyewitness to the attacks.
• Kenan-Flagler and Kenan Institute board members, trustees and faculty participated in a forum on global business issues, "Globalization in a Post 9-11 Era" on Oct. 11.
• Kenan-Flagler students, faculty and staff raised money for various charities, including the American Red Cross, the September 11th Fund (United Way), New York Firefighters, the Salvation Army and the New York State Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, to contribute to the disaster relief effort.