“Turn on the TV. New York is on fire.” These are the words that greeted sophomore Zach Lynn eight years ago as he received a call from a friend at breakfast. Last Friday, Guilford students came together to remember Sept. 11, 2001.

The atmosphere in front of Founders before the meeting was calm, yet tinged with expectancy. People gathered in twos and threes as the last traces of sunlight faded from the sky.

Campus Ministry Coordinator Max Carter spoke of how a former student of his barely escaped from one of the towers. While racing down the stairwell minutes before the building’s collapse, the man found himself singing the hymn, “How Can I Keep From Singing?,” replacing “singing” with “dying,” unconsciously calming his fear with faith.

Junior Caiden Hogan related how his great-uncle was on his way to work in the towers and then, on an unexplainable impulse, turned around and went home.

Sophomore Heather Von Bodungen, a member of the Guilford Council of Religious Organizations (GCRO) delivered the opening address for the vigil. Then followed a moment of silence in memory of the Sept. 11 casualties and the innumerable others who have been affected by those events in the time since the attacks.

The silence was deep, broken only by the brassy hum of cicadas and the notes of a piano emanating from inside Founders.

Carter then prayed for Andrew Russoli, a casualty of the war in Iraq, and others held in the light other soldiers serving abroad. Sophomore Sarah Bentley prayed for her grandfather who has suffered psychologically from having known many victims in the towers.

They lit candles, small beads of orange light that stood in contrast to the violet-white of the lamps in the quad.

They walked in slow procession around the quad from Founders to Hege-Cox to Duke and King, then back to Founders, in a manner reminiscent of pilgrims.

Senior Brittany Varner sang “Amazing Grace,” the words ringing through the night air.

Heather Von Bodungen closed with the opening lines from the prayer of Saint Francis as a benediction, exhorting those present to go forth and be instruments of peace in the world.