At a candlelight vigil in the evening of September 11, more than 300 members of the Hamilton community mourned those who died in the terrorist attacks. Hamilton President Eugene Tobin addressed the gathering with words of remembrance but also of hope and promise for the future.
President Tobin said, "This is a time for reflection and remembrance; it is also an opportunity to clarify what we at Hamilton hold most dear, our deepest convictions. As a nation and as a college community, we have come together to maintain the vital connections that give meaning to life. During the last year, many of us have come to treasure our connections with one another. We value friendship and community in more meaningful and less abstract terms. Last fall we came together to console each other, to express our fears and apprehensions, and to reach out beyond the College to inform, comfort and assist alumni, family and friends. Tonight we come together for a similar purpose.
"I think it is important as we begin this new academic year that we remember those who gave their lives in the cause of the freedom we enjoy, and in particular to honor the memory of the three Hamilton alumni -- Art Jones '86, Adam Lewis '87, and Sylvia San Pio Resta '95 -- who perished a year ago today, all much too young and in the prime of their lives. As we take this moment, let us also keep their families and all the victims' loved ones in our thoughts and prayers knowing that their bereavement and grief will never end."
Following Tobin's remarks, the 64 members of the College Choir, led by Professor of Music G. Roberts Kolb, sang "How Can I Keep from Singing," a Quaker folk hymn. Excerpt:
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
When tyrants tremble in their fear
and hear their death knell ringing,
when friends rejoice both far and near
how can I keep from singing?
