Indiana University of Pennsylvania will present a program September 11, at 8:30 a.m., to mark the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The program will be held next to the university's September 11 memorial in the Oak Grove, between Sutton Hall and Stapleton Library.
The memorial includes a 13-foot remnant of the World Trade Center, on long-term loan to the university from the Kovalchick family, of Indiana.
“It is a privilege for IUP to host a remnant from the World Trade Center and an honor to offer this event for our community,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
The event will include a remembrance of the three IUP alumni lost in the World Trade Center attacks: William Moskal, a 1979 graduate; Donald Jones, a 1980 graduate; and William Sugra, a 1993 graduate.
Both Jones and Sugra worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in the north tower of the World Trade Center. Jones was a bond broker from Bucks County. Sugra lived in Manhattan and worked for e-Speed, Cantor Fitzgerald's electronic trading unit.
Sugra's family, of Allentown, has established a memorial scholarship in his honor for an IUP student from Allentown majoring in finance.
Moskal, a safety sciences graduate and Johnstown native, was a risk consultant for Marsh and McLennan in Cleveland, specializing in heavy construction. He was in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, for a meeting at the World Trade Center.
In addition to remarks by President Driscoll, the program will include performances by IUP's Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band, remarks by Erika Fenstermacher, a psychology major from Butler who has been nominated to serve as the student member of the IUP Council of Trustees, and Glenn Cannon, a 1971 IUP graduate and member of the Council of Trustees.
Cannon is the former director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and a former director of disaster operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Before working for FEMA, he was chief operating officer/manager of Allegheny County, Pa. He also served in a number of other leadership roles for the City of Pittsburgh, including director of the Department of Public Safety, in which he enhanced the city's fire, law enforcement, public safety, and emergency management capabilities. He also served as director of the Division of the State Fire Marshal in Florida.
Michael Hood, dean of IUP's College of Fine Arts, will serve as master of ceremonies.
The event also will include a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane hit the World Trade Center.
During September, the IUP Libraries is offering a special exhibition about the attacks. The display, located in the first floor lobby, includes memorabilia from IUP alumni who participated in the cleanup of the World Trade Center site.
At 4:00 p.m. on September 11, the IUP Lifting Club will sponsor a 9/11 Heroes Workout in the Oak Grove.
The event is designed to honor Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. The late Lt. Murphy favored this workout, called “body armor,” and it was renamed in his honor as the “Murph” following his death.
The student group will do this workout in the Oak Grove as a remembrance and tribute to those who died in battle and in the 9/11 attacks. The workout includes runs around campus starting and finishing in the Oak Grove, 50 lunges, 100 push-ups, and 150 squats.
There will also be a signup in the Oak Grove after the September 11 ceremony for a blood drive, sponsored by the IUP chapter of POIZ, Habitat for Humanity, the Diversity Student Council, and the HAVOC Step Team. The blood drive will take place September 16 from noon to 5:00 p.m. in the Hadley Union Building Ohio Room.
In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in Gorell Recital Hall.