“Doing something is better than doing nothing,” said Kim Litto Rex.
The 2003 graduate of Wagner College, recalled the simple gestures that classmates and even strangers offered after learning her father, Vincent, died on 9/11 — from clasping her hand in class to smothering her in a hug to holding an umbrella over her in the rain.
Rex — whose words adorn Wagner’s newly dedicated 9/11 memorial — was the keynote speaker Monday in a ceremony on the campus to dedicate that memorial to the 10 Wagner alumni who lost their lives in the terrorist attack.
New college President Jeffrey Doggett greeted campus attendees and guests, including victim’s relatives and Assembly Members Sam Pirozzolo and Michael Reilly. Representatives of Tunnels to Towers placed flags on the memorial and the College Choir sang “We Remember Them.” A prayer was offered by the Rev. Stephanie Jaeger of Trinity Lutheran Church, and campus public safety placed a wreath on the memorial before Professor Lori Weintrob read out the names.
Doggett, noting that most college students were born after the events of 9/11, said the memorial serves an educational purpose.
“For those who have come after that day — including the vast majority of our students today — we have a responsibility to ensure that the story of that day and the stories of the people ‘we will never forget’ are told so they may live beyond us,” he said.
