Note from the Editors: The following articles have been adapted from Volume 50, Issue 1 of The Panel, published on October 1st, 2001. Written by Mike Darman ’02.
Tuesday, September 11th, began like every other day for the Belmont Hill community. Students attended homeroom in the morning, and the first two class periods ran smoothly. Boys congregated in the snack bar in small groups, and the mail
sat in the office waiting to be sorted.
It was just before the end of C Block when students began noticing irregularities. Teachers were called out of their classrooms by other faculty members, and signs were posted reading “Stand-Up faculty meeting–9:45, School Meeting – 9:55.”
As students left their classrooms and began to head toward the chapel, they speculated about what news could be so pressing that sudden faculty and school meetings were called for. Many thought that a disciplinary case of great magnitude had occurred. Others believed that an accident directly affecting a member of the community had happened. By the time boys had taken their seats in the chapel, the real news had spread: two planes had been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center
towers, and a third was thought to have hit the Pentagon. Senate president and vice president Ben Nauman and Kent Harrington kept order in the chapel as the faculty was briefed on the situation in the MacPherson Room. When Mr. Melvoin entered and climbed the stairs to the dais, the room went silent. A full house sat anxiously waiting to hear what the headmaster had to say, wondering if he would confirm the rumors about the World Trade Center. Sure enough, Mr. Melvoin informed the students about the morning’s tragic events, and needless to say, everyone was stunned.
Mr. Melvoin proceeded to encourage students to speak with faculty members about the events, and to see Mrs. David if they were overwhelmed by the news. He also made it clear that if anyone needed to leave school early to go home, that would be acceptable.
Following the meeting, classes resumed, although most teachers allowed students to watch the story unfold on television. Shortly after the collapse of the twin towers, Mr. Melvoin made anannouncement over the rarely used P.A. system. He explained that it was safer and more sensible not to dismiss the school early that day, so that, amidst the uncertainty, individual boys, faculty, and staff could be accounted for. Athletic practices in the Middle and Upper School went on as scheduled, although the mood was far from upbeat.
The following morning, on September 12th, a second school meeting was held in which everyone participated in moments of silence for the victims, their families, and the heroic workers at the crash sites. Mr. Hejduk led the school in the singing of “America the Beautiful” and “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” in an effort to support patriotic feeling and to boost the energy of the somber group. Later that day, a large contingent of juniors and seniors made their way to Payson Park Church in Belmont to assist Red Cross staff in setting up an emergency blood donation station and then to become donors, many for the first time.
In classes and homerooms, at lunch tables and on Belmont Hill email conferences, reflection on the crisis continued as the week went on. September 14th’s school meeting, a Forum, was also set aside for this purpose, and several boys and faculty, including Mr. Melvoin again, rose to speak. A half-hour voluntary interfaith service was offered in the Chapel before noon
that day by Mr. Prenatt, with music by Mr. Hejduk, and a number of students, faculty, and staff participated.
In addition to responding dramatically to relief fundraising efforts, hundreds of people in the school community later inscribed their names on a poster offering solidarity to the Belmont Fire Department as it remembered brother firemen of the F.D.N.Y. lost at the Trade Center. Ben Nauman presented it on September 20th to department officers, who declared they would hang it in their station house.
In the days following the attacks, the Belmont Hill students, faculty, and staff have endured a number of hard ships. Some have learned of friends and relatives who lost loved ones. At least one student was the victim of a hate crime because of his ethnic background, and others worried about their daily safety. Through it all, the community has stayed strong and self-supportive. As Mr. Melvoin said on September 12th, “This is not yesterday’s news.” These tragic events will leave their mark on everyone. It will not be easy, but the inherent strength of the Belmont Hill community will likely help all its members in the uncertain days ahead.
