Thursday, September 13, 2001

Canceled classes gave students time to reflect, console one another
By Jacque Petersell
Staff Reporter

Classes resumed Wednesday for students at TCU, but Chancellor Michael Ferrari said canceling classes after the attacks in New York City and Washington was the best thing for the students, faculty and staff.

“I don’t go back and reflect on what I did,” Ferrari said. “I just did it.”

Ferrari said after talking with the deans, representatives from Campus Life and R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University, he decided it was best to cancel classes so students could have time to talk with others and to heal.

“Students wanted to have time with each other to reflect on what this day meant,” Ferrari said.

Other schools, such as SMU, Baylor and the University of Texas at Arlington, did not cancel classes following the attacks. Ferrari said when he decided to cancel classes, he looked at past experiences and student input, not at what other universities were doing.

“Frankly, what other schools do is irrelevant to what we did in this situation,” Ferrari said.

Turner was out of the office at SMU and unavailable for a comment.

Steven Woodworth, an assistant professor of history, said he would have to reschedule a test for one of his classes, but he was sure his students wouldn’t be too upset about it. Woodworth said that whatever Ferrari chose to do, he would go along with.

Ken Morgan, a geology professor, said all labs were canceled until next week because some labs were missed Tuesday.

Christina Sordini, a junior studio art major, said she agreed with the reasons why Ferrari canceled class, but she had her own reasons for reflecting.

“It just shows respect and honor to the killed and to the survivors,” she said.

Jeronme Loughridge, chief of staff to the president at Baylor, said classes remained in session Tuesday for students to help keep a sense of community.

“We are a residential campus,” he said. “It is our belief for the vast majority of Baylor is (the student’s) community. Classes are a part of that community.”

Loughridge said to supplement time spent in class, the university offered time for prayer services and counseling later in the day.

Stacy Stansell, a graduate student at Baylor, said televisions were on in most of her classes so she was able to stay updated on the events, but she wished she didn’t have class so she could console her friends.

“It was difficult to concentrate because of the horrible incidents that had happened that day,” she said. “We just wanted to console each other.”

Not all students who had to go to class wished to be in other places. Daniela Abete, a sophomore business major at SMU, said it was better for her to be in class than spending the day in front of the television.

“It was good because we were able to go to class and talk about (the attacks) with our professors,” she said.

Ferrari said that since he decided to cancel classes, he has received 60 to 70 e-mails from students that said they appreciated the chance to meet with friends to reflect rather than going to class.

Jacque Petersell
j.s.petersell@student.tcu.edu