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Images of the Stanford campus taken the week of Sept. 11, 2001

Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Stanford community gathered and mourned.

By Melissa De Witte

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the world came to standstill following the hijacking of four commercial airplanes that struck the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Life on the Stanford campus also halted. Classes were canceled. The campus community was stunned and in shock. The Stanford Law School closed, as did the bookstore. More than 1,000 people gathered to collectively grieve at a vigil in Memorial Church, according to Stanford News reports from the time.

At a memorial service on the Main Quad on Sept. 14, a day which President George W. Bush had named a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance, the community came together again to mourn the tragic loss of life. Over the months that followed, it became known that nearly 3,000 people, including five Stanford alums, were killed and some 6,000 others were injured as a result of the coordinated terrorist attacks.

The Sept. 11 attacks marked a profound and permanent change in the world, observed John Hennessy, who served as president of Stanford University from September 2000 until August 2016, in his remarks at the gathering. “In the space of less than an hour, our country and all our lives were forever changed. Today, it is appropriate that we focus our thoughts on those in our country whose existence has been permanently altered by this tragedy,” he said.

Rev. Scotty McLennan, dean for religious life at the time, also spoke at the gathering and community members representing various religious and spiritual traditions offered prayers and songs.

In the wake of the sadness and shock following the attacks on the East Coast, the Stanford campus was threatened with danger closer to home. Bomb threats were made on two Stanford landmarks: first, on the Hoover Library and three days later, on the Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. No explosives were discovered, but the community was left shaken.

Here are some of the photos taken on campus during that solemn week.