The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Jia Yun Chen

John Sweeney, a Syracuse University alumnus, laid a red rose on the Wall of Remembrance Friday to honor 35 of his fallen peers.

Sweeney studied in London in the fall of 1988, sharing experiences and developing bonds with the other students overseas. But 35 of those students boarded Pan Am 103 and never made it home.

"Some of us came home, and some of us didn't," Sweeney said during the Rose Laying Ceremony Friday to honor those who died in the Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing.

"The world has changed a great deal, but one thing will not change - the bond we all share," he said. "The bond we share lies deep in our souls. Their light shines through us, and we will carry this forever."

The Rose Laying Ceremony brought close to 300 people together Friday to culminate Remembrance Week, a celebration that remembers the Dec. 21, 1988 tragedy. On that day, Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, including 35 SU students. British officials later convicted a Libyan for the terrorist attack, who was released from prison in August.

Each year, 35 SU seniors and two students from Lockerbie Academy in Scotland are chosen to represent those who died in the Pan Am 103 explosion as Remembrance Scholars.

The Remembrance Scholars lined the sidewalks on both sides of the Wall of Remembrance in front of the Hall of Languages. The wall was covered in white carnations, each with an attached description of one of the victims. Each scholar came forward, one at a time, to speak and lay a rose on the wall in honor of the victim they represented. Some scholars fought back tears as they highlighted the lives of their chosen victims.

Laura Borgwardt, a senior drama major, spoke in honor of Miriam Wolfe - a lover of dance, literature, acting and art history, all of which Wolfe studied while abroad.

"She honestly cared about people, and in the words of a friend, she reminded us that idealism still has a place in this chaotic world," Borgwardt said.

Gregory Sides, a senior advertising and women and gender studies major, spoke about Nicole Boulanger, who was a musical theater major. He highlighted her passion for performance. She choreographed and performed her own dance while studying abroad in London.

"Even though I never got the honor to meet her, I can imagine that her final dance was like the rest of her life - flawless," Sides said.

Continued...

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