When Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988, 270 people, including 35 students returning from Syracuse University’s study abroad programs, were killed. The campus was devastated and then Chancellor Melvin Eggers declared, “some of our best and brightest” had been lost.

In the aftermath of the Pan Am 103 bombing, Syracuse University, as an institution, promised that we would not forget our students. We vowed to hold their memories in our hearts in the best way we knew how – through learning and teaching so that tragedies like Pan Am 103 would not be repeated. As an institution of higher education, we examine the causes of terrorism. With the knowledge gained by this examination and research, we can work to prevent future terrorist acts.