Furman's reaction to national tragedy

The American flag hangs at half-staff, and two students pray beneath it as sunrise approaches. Not a typical campus scene, but one recently observed as students, faculty and staff go on after the terrorist attacks of September 11. What does it all mean for Furman?

During the best-attended Fall Convocation in recent memory, President David Shi told the university community that Furman would do everything possible to help our nation, "even at long distance."

Since that day students, faculty and staff have become involved in aiding relief efforts for those affected and injured through such means as a candlelight vigil, blood donations and charity events. For a week following the attacks, hours at Daniel Chapel were extended to 11 p.m., and a memorial candle burned in the sanctuary.

Professors have incorporated recent events into their lectures. On September 18, the political science department hosted a brown bag lunch to discuss "The Day of Terror: Implications for World Politics." Faculty leading the discussion were Michael Bressler, Cleveland Fraser, Don Gordon and Brent Nelsen.

"Discussions ranged from how America will change, to understanding what causes terrorism," said Gordon. "Furman students are very bright. They have enough political science background to know that blame cannot be placed on individual religions or ethnic groups. Terrorism is a mindset, not out of Islam, and not from being Arabic."

In accord with Muslims throughout the world, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) issued a declaration after September 11, stating that it condemned the acts and shared in the grief felt "by Muslims worldwide and the seven million Muslims, and three million Arab-Americans, who call the United States of America home."

The MSA president issued a separate letter praising the support received from the Furman community. According to Alfons Teipen, MSA faculty representative and assistant professor of religion, there have been no attacks on Muslim students on campus.

Teipen says that he has spoken with a number of the students and they emphasized the support they have received.

"I hope, and believe, that Americans will be able to differentiate between the radical fringes and the orthodox mainstream Islam," says Teipen.

Jim Pitts, Furman's chaplain, says that initially a few students were more socially aware and sensitive to the gravity of the situation than others. The majority, he says, often don't read the daily paper but "live in what we call 'the Furman bubble' . . . their concerns and focus are much more personal and closed, and so their world is here."

However, according to Pitts, he is observing changes. "I have seen a gradual coming to terms and awareness that something really big has happened, that none of us have comprehension as to how this is going to impact our life, and life together.

"One of the things that I think helps Furman," he adds, "is that with our various travel/study experiences, we have a lot of folks who have been, in a sense, taken out of their kind of suburban, affluent ghetto. They've begun to understand that this is a very complex world."

Vic Greene, associate chaplain, points out that the effects of stress have been high. "Even though our immediate sense of high anxiety and stress since September 11 may have gone down, there are still both psychological, physical and spiritual dimensions which have not gone away," he says. "When you add what has happened to the other life events that are going on for the first-year college student - like 'my first test,' or 'my date for the dance stood me up' - then this has just raised the whole level of stress. When other things that would seem smaller occur, then they have a lot more impact in people's live right now."

Individuals with relatives and spouses in the military are also becoming more concerned.

"It affects me personally in my family," says Shelly Hornung, a communication studies student from Ohio. "I have two cousins that fly F-16s and F-15s, so I am waiting to get the call from my family about their deployment. It is a different kind of unsettling feeling now."

- Aynoka Bender