High Point University students planted 2,977 American flags at Patriots Plaza on campus on Sept. 10 in remembrance of the lives lost during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Pictured is Cameron Rejonis, a sophomore exercise science major from Smithsburg, Maryland, who planted an American flag at Patriots Plaza.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Sept. 11, 2024 – High Point University students planted nearly 3,000 American flags at Patriots Plaza on campus in remembrance of the lives lost during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Students gathered on Sept. 10 to take part in HPU’s annual tradition of planting flags to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. They planted 2,977 flags, one for each victim who died 23 years ago. The memorial served as a reminder to faculty, staff and students to “never forget.”
Students will continue their Sept. 11 tribute with a stair run fundraiser at the Cottrell Amphitheater from 6-8 p.m. today. HPU’s Student Government Association will donate $20 to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation for every student who completes 110 flights of stairs, which represents the height of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. The SGA will donate at least $5,000 to the foundation.
“In 2001, 2,977 citizens and first responders lost their lives due to a senseless act of terror,” said SGA President Benjamin Niehaus, an honors scholar and finance major from Chattanooga, Tennessee. “I am so thankful to attend a university where we have pride in our country. We host the stair run every year to honor the men and women who ran into danger to save their fellow countrymen and women. Over 340 first responders paid the ultimate sacrifice on 9/11, and we hold this event each year in their memory and as a reminder of the men and women who put their lives on the line each day to protect us and our freedom.”
The official death toll of the Sept. 11 attacks, not including the 19 terrorists, was set at 2,977 people. At the World Trade Center, 2,753 people died, including 343 firefighters. The death toll was 184 at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and 40 individuals died outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
“As a God, family, country school, we believe it is important to give students the opportunity to honor those that lost their lives on that tragic day,” said SGA Vice President Adriana Myers. “We encourage students to come together as a campus community and participate in our annual stair run, raising money for veterans. This event allows students to support one another while also supporting those that serve our country.”
HPU honors the lives lost during Sept. 11 every day on campus. Directly below the U.S. flag display in the concourse of the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center, approximately 3,000 pounds of steel originally used to construct the Twin Towers in New York were installed in 2022 in High Point University letters, along with the letters of “God. Family. Country.” David Griffin, CEO of D.H. Griffin Company, provided the steel from the Twin Towers site after his company conducted the site restoration work.