About 800 students, faculty and staff along with Charleston community members gathered Wednesday night in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union to memorialize the people who tragically lost their lives in last year’s terrorist attacks.

The service, entitled “Eastern Remembers 9-11,” was sponsored by the university and coordinated by the counseling center.

As the ceremony began, Eastern’s Brass Quintet played a prelude, and the Reserve Officer Training Corps performed a presentation of colors.

As the EIU Concert Choir sang the “One Hundredth Psalm,” the crowd stood and sang along.

The service included a multi-media presentation with images of the twin towers and the crash sites.

Some memorable pictures from the presentation were of an American flag hanging over Old Main and students holding hands last Sept. 11.

Following the video, Lou Hencken, interim president, spoke about that day and how it changed our lives and our country forever.

“It was one of the darkest and most violent days in our nation’s history,” Hencken said.

Herbert Lasky, professor in the honors program, and Mahmood Butt, professor of secondary education and foundation, also spoke at the service.

Lasky talked about how he grew up in Lower Manhattan, and recalled gazing up at the World Trade Center when he was a young boy.

He said he can’t imagine how unreal it must be to look up at the twin towers’ site now and see nothing but sky.

Butt spoke about the sacred honor of being an American, and then the Rev. Chris Brey of the Newman Catholic Center discussed how everyone remembers what they were doing on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

After he heard about the terrorist attacks, Brey said he felt he had to be with his family.

“It doesn’t matter what religion you are or where you’re from, ” Brey said. “We are not just one nation under God, we are one family under God.”

Laura Carlton, junior early childhood education major, said Brey’s comments stirred her emotions, and she recalled how the attacks affected her.

“It made me closer to my family and not take things for granted. My brother had just gotten out of the Navy and I had lots of friends in the military,” she said. “It made me do a lot of thinking.”

The ceremony focused not only on the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., but also on the impact they had in Charleston.

“The pain and grief reverberated throughout the university and our community,” Hencken said.

Hencken also reflected on the way the campus and the community mobilized after the events last year by standing in long lines to give blood at the union and raising thousands of dollars for the cause.

“Someone said that when it gets dark enough, you can see the stars,” Hencken said. “Sept. 11, 2001 will remain a day of unforgettable tragedy, yet, when it got dark enough, you really could see the stars.”