Students and Faculty, we have been witness this morning to tragic scenes in the United States which are unprecedented in world history, and in our own collective life experience. As students of contemporary events, we have all seen the human misery brought about by natural disasters such as famine, earthquake, and flood. As students of world history, we have contemplated, usually with the inoculating distance of time and geography, the horror of war and the random brutality of acts of terrorism. Most of us, however, have not experienced, until now, the immediacy of the human tragedy which is unfolding today just south of the Canadian border in the United States.

Some of you may have stood, as I have done, at the top of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, or taken a plane out of Boston to New York or San Francisco. You may have walked through the tree lined avenues of Washington D.C. and seen the Pentagon and the stately buildings of the American capital. Most of you, by now, have witnessed the scenes of devastation in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania today.

This is first a human tragedy – for the victims who have lost their lives and their families and friends who are left behind to mourn their loved ones. It is also a tragedy for humanity. In John Donne’s words written three centuries ago: "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main….Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

The bell does indeed toll for all humanity today. The bell calls us all here to grieve and to support our American friends and neighbours and all citizens of all nations who are victims of this senseless violence. Please stand for a minute of silent prayer and reflection for all who have lost their lives and their loved ones.

The Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien, in extending the heartfelt sympathy of all Canadians to our American neighbours said this morning that no cause, no ideology, nothing could ever justify such barbaric acts of violence. The President of the United States, George Bush, stated in an address to his people that freedom itself had been attacked this morning by a faceless coward. I would ask you all to pray for the leaders of each nation, particularly the President of the United States, to act with wisdom, courage and faith in the times of trial ahead.

How do we here respond? I can tell you, unashamedly, that I cried this morning: tears of grief, tears of anger, tears of helplessness. But then I washed my face and came to work.. No doubt I will cry again, and feel angry again, and feel helpless again, even frightened. These are real feelings, they are human feelings. Do not be afraid or ashamed of them. Seek out your friends and your families, your teachers and your nurses, your house-parents and your staff, to talk and be comforted by one another. We are all here to support you.

But I ask you also to be courageous, to be resolute, and to be strong. Above all, I ask you to be calm and compassionate, to support one another, and especially to reach out the hand of friendship to our American students and to anyone who has been personally affected by this human tragedy.

What can we do? We can continue to learn – about history, and government, and global issues, and biology and chemistry and poetry and art. We can continue to become healthier and more complete human beings, by taking care of our bodies and our minds, our spirits, and our souls. You can continue your journey and your education and become nurses and doctors and teachers and ever finer human beings. You can make a difference and make your world, our world, our circle of influence here at Mill Bay and across the oceans and continents as we connect to our families and friends, you can make the world a kinder, gentler, more humane and more compassionate place.

Andrea M. Pennells
  
Head of School
Brentwood College
September 11, 2001 

On September 11, Black Tuesday (as referred to by People Magazine), a great atrocity occurred; commercial airlines were used to bomb both World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. Hundreds if not thousands were killed, tens of thousands were injured, and an entire nation still grieves. How does one react to such an injustice of this magnitude? How does one cope with the sorrow of this situation? Many believe that the answer is to retaliate — in the words of the President we must, "hunt down and punish who ever is responsible." Though I believe reprimand is justified and retaliation is deserved, I do not, however, believe that violence is the answer, nor do I believe that any actions should be taken until we are certain of the perpetrators.

As we have all heard from those whose brought us up, two wrongs do not make a right. An act of violence against innocent people does not justify an act of violence against other innocent people. We as a nation, no — as a global community — must not rush to conclusions that war and violence is the answer. All avenues must be explored before we decide on what actions we are going to take.

Already fingers are pointed at the Middle East. The media and the politicians have seemingly already decided who is at fault, and because they have jumped to conclusions, many Americans are suffering. Americans with Middle-Eastern backgrounds are being blamed for what has happened. Middle-Eastern groups all over America are receiving threatening calls, blaming them for an atrocity that they obviously did not commit. This situation reminds me too much of World War II, when Jews in Germany were blamed for the depression, and Japanese Americans were blamed for the war.

In the aftermath of such horror, it is natural for Americans to want to retreat from the rest of the world. It is normal and right to draw close to loved ones and to stay at home, denying entry to the strange, the dangerous, the frightening. Our anger will be profound.

Our love and hope must be equally profound. May we, the living, find the wisdom and courage to bring about a world of greater justice for the disenfranchised while ensuring safety for all. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, Americans must join the world in seeking common solutions so that such tragedies, born of hatred and fear, do not occur again.

We must not be swept back into the past, we must instead look forward to a future of peace. But how can we achieve peace in times of such turmoil? How can we ensure that the innocent are not inured or blamed in our own country and around the world? Legislative action? Non-violent direct action? Education? Though I do not know how best to achieve this necessary peace, I know that we, as youth, must be the leaders, now more than ever. We must choose whether we want to live in a world of peace or a world of war, a world of acceptance or a world of prejudice, a world of love or a world of hate. We must make our voices louder than ever and say together: "I will choose peace."

How do I even begin to speak about the events of last Tuesday? What the world witnessed on live television seven days ago, was quite simply indescribable. Some say the demolition of the twin towers, symbolises the very breakdown of capitalism and democracy itself; but malicious intentions have not broken us. The video clip that has haunted us all for the last week, will likely linger in the back our minds for years to come; if not the remainder of our lives. In the past many had realised that such an attack was indeed quite possible and, ultimately, inevitable. Nobody knew how, when, or where, an attack would occur.

On Monday we had innocence, freedom, and a sense of security. On Tuesday, we felt violated, vulnerable, and anxious. What was taken from us can never be returned, but we can fight back by going on with our daily lives, by showing that we can be strong even in the worst of times.

Every human in this room has the good fortune of living in a virtual nirvana. We have no war, no ethnic cleansing, minimal crime, low pollution, and a stable economy. Although the Pacific Northwest and indeed the entire West Coast itself was left unharmed, we all feel as though we too have been hurt; in fact we have.

Aren’t we lucky that we don’t feel the wrath of terrorism and battle on a regular basis? Teenagers around the world, in the West Bank, in Sierra Leone, in Ireland, in Kosovo, and in Chechnya, are brought up in the scars and wounds of heinous bloodshed. These regions are just a handful of examples off the top of my head. Aren’t we lucky that this hasn’t been a part of our daily lives until now?

For the vast majority of the school, this is the first time that we have felt the threat of terrorism. For myself, too, this is the first time I have experienced anything of this nature. I can tell you that the news hit me hard, and on Tuesday morning there were tears in my eyes.

Despite the fact that we are sheltered in quiet Mill Bay, this does affect us all; some directly, most indirectly. Due to the sheer enormity and magnitude of New York as a financial centre, and Washington D.C. as a leading centre for diplomacy, families from all corners of the globe have ties to the Mid-Atlantic region. Whether you were brought up in New York, or lived there for a while, or your parents were in the city at the time or knew colleagues in the buildings and on the planes as my father did, or if you had friends in the area, or even knew nobody at all, you all now feel the same anguish.

For better or for worse, we don’t know who is responsible. Human nature begs the question who- and why. Although we are all angry, this is not a time to point fingers. If and when we do find the party responsible for these actions, we have a responsibility to ourselves. We have a moral duty to make sure that we do not paint people of the same nationality, race or religion, with the same prejudiced bristles.

Now that the shock and disbelief have slowly melted away into acceptance and reality, we must move on with our lives. This has been a learning experience for the States, for North America, and for the entire western world. We have to accept and expect certain sacrifices in the future for the benefit of our safety and peace of mind. If I can offer any advice out of this incident, it is this: in life there are certain things that you can control, and there are certain things that you cannot control. We have to block the factors that are out of are hands so that we don’t live in fear, but more importantly we must focus on the aspects of life which we can control. To show the perpetrators that they have not ultimately succeeded, we must take charge of our lives, enjoy and grow during our precious teenage years, and learn not to take the simple things for granted. And when you phone home, tell your parents you love them.

About 5000 people…..5000. Multiply the number of people in this room by about 12 and that’s how many people that lost their lives a week ago in New York and Washington DC. Out of those that lost their lives, about 500 were Canadians. But you know…to me that doesn’t even matter, because we lost 5000 members of our human society. Just to give you an idea on how this has affected and will affect just the members in this school alone…..I have spoken to multiple students of the school that knew family or friends involved in this horrific incident. I, myself, knew around 10 people that were in one of the world trade buildings when a plane hit. I’m thankful that they made it.

This cowardly act was said to be the responsibility of Muslim radicals, and let me emphasize the word "radicals". Newscasts on TV have had a tendency to drop the word "radical" and have simply stated that the Muslims did it. People have been stereotyping Muslims as being violent killers and terrorists. I have heard some things on TV and even from members of the student body that I did not wish to hear. A lot of these comments I consider to be racist, and that is not the way we have been brought up. 99.99999% of Muslims are more peaceful than you can even imagine. How do I know this? Well, I’m Muslim myself, so I think I have an idea. Many people were also stereotyping Germans the same way in the 40s during the Nazi movement as being violent racist killers. I’ve never met a German I haven’t liked. I think that if there is anything remotely good that will come out of this situation, I think it is that our community of North America as well as the rest of the world will be closer, no matter what race, religion or skin colour. The people that did this weren’t just a bunch of crazy Muslims, or so people have said…it was the job of some seriously sick human beings.

This event has really opened my eyes about the issues happening on the other side of the world. Sometimes on the news, we hear a newscaster say, "In world news today, Blank country was bombed again." And then they will go on talking about something else, making it seen like it was no big deal. What we’ve failed to realize is that many innocent lives have been lost, not only in the US recently, but in various bombings in the Middle East and now that we have seen these terrible deeds happen first hand, maybe we can put a stop to all violence.