Hobart and William Smith Colleges

7 September 2026 HWS to Mark 25th Anniversary of 9/11 with Campus Observance

Professor Matthew Crow to reflect on the enduring challenge of responding to tragedy without fear. 

On the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Hobart and William Smith community will pause to remember the lives lost that day, honor the courage of first responders and reflect on the lessons of a moment that changed the nation.

HWS will host “A Space for Remembrance and Hope: A 9/11 Observance” at 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, in St. John’s Chapel. The observance is open to all members of the HWS community.

The Rev. Nita C. Byrd, Chaplain and Dean for Spiritual Engagement, will lead the observance. Provost and Dean of Faculty Sarah Kirk will introduce Professor of History Matthew Crow, chair of the Law and Society Program, who will offer reflections titled “Something Else Besides Fear.”

Crow, who began college the week of the September 11 attacks, has spent his career studying American democracy and the challenges facing the nation. His remarks will consider the ways communities respond to tragedy and uncertainty.

“We continue to struggle with finding another response to tragedy and uncertainty than fear,” Crow says. “But we owe it to ourselves and the people who lost their lives that day to keep trying.”

President Mark D. Gearan will reflect on the three HWS alumni who were among those killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center: Andrew H. Golkin ’93, Scott W. Rohner ’01 and Michael J. Simon ’83, P’11, P’13. All three worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.

Golkin, an economics major, was a member of the football team, Kappa Sigma, the Inter-fraternity Council and the International Business Club. Rohner majored in economics and played basketball and football. Simon majored in economics, was a member of Theta Delta Chi and competed in ice hockey, lacrosse, tennis and golf. A memorial plaque dedicated to Golkin, Rohner and Simon is located at the Abbe Center for Jewish Life.

The morning observance will also include a longstanding tradition of the Kappa Alpha Society. Members of the fraternity will place 2,977 flags on the Quad, one for each person who lost their life in the September 11 attacks.

Remembering Together in Geneva

HWS students, faculty and staff also are invited to join the City of Geneva for its annual remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m. at the 9/11 Memorial and Long Pier Pavilion at Lakefront Park, 47 Lakefront Drive. The ceremony, marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11, is presented in partnership with the Geneva Fire and Police Departments and local emergency medical services.

About the Participants

The Rev. Nita C. Byrd is Chaplain and Dean for Spiritual Engagement at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, a position she has held since 2019. She came to HWS from Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., where she served as Chaplain and Religious Studies Program director. Byrd earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master of Divinity degree and Certificate of Anglican Episcopal Studies from Duke Divinity School.

Sarah R. Kirk is Provost and Dean of Faculty at Hobart and William Smith, a position she has held since 2021. Previously, she served as Associate Provost and Professor of Chemistry at Willamette University, where she also held several faculty leadership positions. Kirk earned her Ph.D. and master’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Whitman College.

Matthew Crow is Professor of History and chair of the Law and Society Program at Hobart and William Smith. He joined the HWS faculty in 2012. His scholarship focuses on the intersections of intellectual, constitutional and environmental histories of the United States, with particular interests in law, political thought and American history. He is the author of Thomas Jefferson, Legal History, and the Art of Recollection and holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego.

Mark D. Gearan is president of Hobart and William Smith. He previously served as HWS president from 1999 to 2017 before returning to HWS in 2022. Gearan served as Director of the Peace Corps and held senior positions in the Clinton administration, including White House Communications Director and Deputy Chief of Staff. He later served as President in Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and as Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center.