University to hold memorial on Saturday

Adam Jadhav
Wire editor

While Memorial Stadium might be filled with people this Saturday, they won't be there to see any football team play.

The University postponed the game, opting instead to hold a memorial and unity event in response to Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.

"The chancellor put great store in the unity event," said Bill Murphy, University spokesman. "The spirit that surrounds the celebration of the game was not going to work with a somber memorial."

Wednesday, the University announced that the game would still be held, with a special pre-game and half-time show dedicated to remembering the victims of the attacks. However, Chancellor Nancy Cantor changed her mind after long deliberation, because she thought the memorial was more important, Murphy said.

The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday in Memorial Stadium — the same time and place as the football game. Murphy said there will be no admission or parking costs. Anyone interested in attending can park in the University's E-14 lot across from Assembly Hall.

The decision came after a day of discussions, Murphy said. Cantor was present at the Board of Trustees meeting in Chicago Thursday and did have discussions with board chairman Gerald Shea, University President James Stukel and other trustees, including Tom Lamont. Lamont is a member of the University Athletics Board. Murphy said he did not know the contents of the conversations, but the decision to postpone Saturday's game was ultimately Cantor's.

There was no formal discussion by the board.

"There was no live action, was no discussion, no decision, no vote, there was nothing relative to the game at the board of trustees meeting," Lex Tate, University spokeswoman said.

Murphy said the details of the memorial are not clear yet because the decision was made so close to game-time. The event will probably feature special music and speakers from the University and community.

"The idea is to make it a more broad-based community event — to include students, to include trustees, to include alumni and to include members of the community," he said. "But time is short and people are working on how we can do it."

While Murphy said he doesn't know how many people will attend, the University will be prepared to fill Memorial Stadium.

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