Remembrance Begins with 35 Empty Chairs Display

Syracuse University’s 2020-21 Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars are currently hosting the first Remembrance activity of this academic year.

Thirty-five empty chairs have been placed in the area stretching from the Place of Remembrance to the Hall of Languages. The seats are arranged in the formation of the seats on Pan Am Flight 103 that the 35 Syracuse University students they represent were sitting in for 38 minutes, up until the exact time the Pan Am 103 bombing occurred on Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the need to limit in-person gatherings, Remembrance will look different during 2020-21 academic year. The annual Rose-Laying ceremony and Remembrance Convocation have been postponed. It is the scholars’ hope and intention to hold these two events during the Spring 2021 semester, as health and safety circumstances allow.

Read more about this week’s displays and changes to Remembrance programming for the 2020-21 academic year in this recent article from Syracuse University News.