The ones who remember
K-State faculty and administrators reflect on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
It’s been 25 years since America stood still, watching in horror as a second explosion turned an accident into intention, as black smoke poured from seemingly indestructible buildings and as two of those buildings, 110-story pillars of trade, came crumbling down in seconds, leaving a gaping hole in one of the most iconic skylines on planet Earth and in the hearts of millions of Americans.
Though most college students weren’t alive to witness Sept. 11, 2001, its memory lives on at K-State 25 years later through faculty and administrators — the ones who remember exactly where they were when that fateful day unfolded.
Richard Linton, president of K-State
President Richard Linton, a faculty member at Purdue University in 2001, began his Sept. 11, like many other mornings: in a faculty meeting.
“One of the faculty members, just sitting across from me, was on his phone and he's like, ‘Whoa,’” Linton said. “He said, ‘Stop,’ and he said, ‘You guys need to know what's going on.’ And I think he recognized it pretty quickly that he thought that this was not just a plane accident. … And then he looked at everybody, and he said, ‘We need to stop the meeting. America has changed today.’”
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