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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 9/11
Love and Honor: Remembering Miami’s 9/11 victims On Sept. 11, 2001 the world lost nearly 3,000 people to acts of terrorism. Four of the victims were graduates of Miami University. The Miami Student is honored to remember the lives of these four people whose smiles, charity, dedication and love for life will not be forgotten.
Myra Joy Aronson By Amanda Seitz
Special Reports Editor
Family members describe Myra Joy Aronson as a firecracker — she wasn’t afraid to be a rebel when she needed to be. One of her proudest moments, sister-in-law Nancy Aronson said, was in protest of the Vietnam War during her collegiate years at Miami University. “They got arrested, they were rounded up and held with other student protestors,” Nancy Aronson said. “She talked about that for years.” During her time at Miami, Myra, a 1971 graduate, studied abroad in France. After the trip, Nancy said Myra turned into somewhat of a Francophone. Myra spoke such fluent French, she called up the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. one day and landed an invite to the embassy’s Bastille Day celebration — an exclusively
French affair. Before her life ended on American Airlines Flight 11, Myra loved feasting on red wine and cheese. Family members would poke fun of her for being a “gym rat.” She was happy working for Compuware Corporation as a public relations manager. She eagerly anticipated meeting the latest addition to her family — Nancy’s granddaughter, Sophie, who was born in Honolulu weeks before. Then, suddenly, on Sept. 11, 2001 everything stopped. “It was just shocking,” Nancy Aronson said. “I think one of the most shocking things was to go into her apartment. Jules [Myra’s brother] and I went up after she died. It was like she had just been there. Her gym bag was on the bed, with her gym clothes still damp, there was a coffee cup in the sink, she was growing all kinds of herbs and tomatoes and all these flowers were
Alicia Nicole titus overflowing; the end of summer bounty that she was never going to harvest.” For Nancy and Jules, the loss of their sister has inspired them to become active in 9/11 advocacy groups. Just days after the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, they will travel to Paris to act as delegates for the 7th International Congress on Victims of Terrorism. Nancy also serves as the treasurer for the non-profit, Families of September 11. Myra’s unexpected death has also led Nancy to realize the fragility of life. “I never felt before, this concept, everybody knows you’re going to die one day, [but] that it could be so sudden,” Nancy said. “I never talk to my family without ending, I say, ‘I love you.’” To find out more about the non-profit organization Nancy Aronson serves on please visit: familiesofseptember11.org
Kelly Ann Booms By Amanda Seitz
Special Reports Editor
Since her tragic passing nearly 10 years ago, the family of Kelly Ann Booms is remembering her in the very way in which she lived her life. Booms, a 1999 Miami University graduate, was an avid volunteer for various charity organizations before her life unexpectedly ended on Sept. 11, 2001. She was just 24 years old when she boarded the fateful American Airlines Flight 11. Years later, her parents, Rick and Nancy Booms, have established a Memorial Fundraiser in honor of their daughter, whose smile lit up any room she walked into. The Kelly A. Booms Fundraiser, which features an annual golf outing every
By Noëlle Bernard
Editorial Editor
On Sept. 11, 2001, John Titus’s world stopped. It was his oldest son’s birthday and the day his oldest daughter was killed. Alicia Nicole Titus was a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane that crashed into the World Trade Center. She graduated from Miami University in 1995 earning her Bachelor’s degree in international marketing. After working at several marketing firms, she left to pursue her passion for traveling by becoming a flight attendant. But her career was cut short on Sept. 11. She was 28 and hoped to return to school to advance her degree and teach journalism. She was the oldest of four children and her absence has left a permanent hole that her family will never fill. “Growing up, she was
always very astutely aware of things, very inquisitive, adventurous, courageous and bold in how she approached life,” Titus said. Through his immeasurable grief, Titus said both his family and his faith have been strengthened. “Grief has the power to destroy and it also has the power to recreate,” Titus said. Alicia was heavily invested in her family. She would fly home every chance she had to spend time with her then 18-month-old nephew Logan and her best friend and mother, Bev. “They had this mutual admiration thing going on, where Alicia looked up to Bev and Bev looked up to Alicia,” Titus said. Titus recalls the moment he learned Alicia’s plane crashed into the second tower. “I remember just wailing,” Titus said. “My whole body just shaking and the pain and the an-
guish were just completely overwhelming.” Titus was concerned about where his daughter was on the plane after learning that one flight attendant was shot and the remaining passengers were pushed to the back of the plane with Mace and sharp objects. Through all this, Titus still felt solace from Alicia. Titus said he had a vision where he saw Alicia with a “luminescent white light” around her, stroking the hair of a young boy. “His head was on her lap and she was caressing his head,” Titus said. “I could see this sense of this countenance of peace around her that was almost like she already made the transition. I looked on the website for the passengers a couple months later and I saw this exact same little boy.” Titus published a book about his emotional quest to find answers titled, Losing Alicia: A Father’s Journey After 9/11.
Todd Christopher weaver
September, has raised over $55,000 for the Make-AWish Foundation of Southern Ohio and the Saint Vincent De Paul Society of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Rick Booms said. The fundraiser is living proof of what a big mark Booms was able to make before her death. Even years after the 9/11 attacks, friends and family fly in from all corners of the country to remember the charitable woman they lost that day. “Her friends come from all over the country,” Rick Booms said. “She was a person that everyone loved.” Her father said Kelly’s appetite to give back to the community was never fully fed. “She was really big into working for charities,” Rick Booms said. “She spent a lot of times on the weekend doing a lot of various
charity work.” From Habitat for Humanity to serving at food pantries during the holiday season, Kelly even found time for charity after she moved to Boston for her first full-time job with the accounting firm Price Waterhouse. Kelly’s charitable life will forever be immortalized on Miami’s campus. After her passing, Kelly’s friends collected money to place a bench on Miami’s campus. It sits facing the Recreation Center, with her name engraved on the seat. For Kelly’s family, her smile will be the legacy that lives on in their memories. “She had the most — the most — beautiful smile,” Rick Booms said. “You just knew she was there.” To make a donation in honor of Kelly A. Booms, please visit: www.KellyABooms.com
By Thomasina Johnson Editorial Editor
On Sept. 11, 2001, Miami University alum Todd Weaver (’93) seemed to have it all: a loving wife, supportive parents and his dream job as vice president and product manager for Fiduciary Trust Co. International. Todd was 30 years old and loved his new job and life in New York, according to his mother, Marilyn. He worked on the 94th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. Weaver was born in 1979 in Ann Arbor, Mich, and grew up in North Canton, Ohio. He graduated in 1989 from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Weaver met his future wife, Amy Lawson, at
Miami and the two moved around the world together, first to Japan, where he taught English. Weaver and his wife followed jobs and schools as they moved to Atlanta, Chicago and New York. He was the youngest senior consultant J.H. Ellwood & Associates ever hired. While working at the Chicago investment firm from 1998 to 2000, he dealt with more than $15 billion in assets. Weaver earned his M.B.A from the University of Chicago in August 2000 and was quickly offered a job in New York. Weaver enjoyed skiing, spending time with his family and working at his office. According to his mother, he had a lot of ambition and dedication to his job. Weaver worked
hard to become the best he could possibly be. The Todd Weaver Memorial Tree and Plaque
Weaver enjoyed skiing, spending time with his family and working at his office. According to his mother, he had a lot of ambition and dedication to his job. is located in North Canton. To honor the best male and female prefect at Western Reserve Academy, the Todd C. Weaver Memorial Scholarship Fund helps pay for their college expenses.
CONTRIBUTED BY FAMILIES OF VICTIMS
THE MIAMI STUDENT
From left: Myra Aronson, Alicia Titus, Kelly Booms and Tood Weaver lost their lives on September 11, 2001. All four were Miami alumni.
9/11,
FROM PAGE 1 day of the attacks or subsequent days, hoping instead for classrooms to serve as another setting for students and faculty to come together and talk through their thoughts and feelings. The Miami Student reported Sept. 18, 2001 that more than 600 students signed up to donate blood on Sept. 17, overwhelming the mobile blood bank, which had brought 450 blood bags to the drive. The Political Science department held forums for students to learn about a rapidly changing world. Dawisha spoke at several of the forums. “I talked about the difference between a radical Islamist and Islam in general,” Dawisha said. “Identity gets obfuscated in moments of great
passion, and that was our concern.” On the Friday after 9/11, thousands of students, staff and faculty gathered in Millett Hall for a telecast of the prayer service being held at the National Cathedral. “It was amazing,” Dawisha said. “The entire hall was absolutely packed, the choirs did a selection of somber music, then we sat and watched the memorial. People were crying, it was a moving experience.”
‘What does this mean?’ Dr. Kip Alishio, head of student counseling, said there was a marked increase of students requesting counseling services in the months following 9/11. “In those weeks and even months afterwards, there was a tremendous amount of anxiety and stress,”
Alishio said. “People were wondering, ‘what does this mean? What’s going to happen next? Am I safe?’” The general anxiety felt by the student body was especially hard on international students, according to Alishio. “International students felt marginalized,” Alishio said. “There immediately started to be talk about ‘those people,’ soon we realized it was Muslim extremists, but for some people all Muslims became a point of fear. There was a lot of paranoia that grew up, and that tends to happen in the face of uncertainty.” It took quite some time for any sense of normalcy to return to campus. Several days after 9/11, a suspicious truck was stopped on Route 27, according to Little. “It turned out to be no big deal, but the world had changed,” Little said. “You had to be suspicious
about everything.” Dudley remembers the strange absence of the sound of airplanes in the days after the attacks. Maggie Malone Swearingen, then a senior and Editor in Chief of The Miami Student, recalled a subdued feeling on campus that lasted for weeks. “I think everybody really matured for awhile,” Swearingen said. “Things eventually degraded and we eventually got back to our college debauchery, but there was a very mature feeling on campus that isn’t usually there … nobody really knew what to think, nobody knew how we were supposed to act or react, so it was really hard.” Snyder said adjusting to a new world took some time. “There was a fear of [another attack,]” Snyder said. “It took most of the semester to get that feeling of whatever normal was going to
be, and your definition of normal changes. Over time, you adapt to a new normalcy.” After the shock and mourning wore off, a twinge of anxiety at football games or other large gatherings marked a fundamental difference in life at the university. The events of that day continue to reverberate across the years, as evidenced by the cracked voices and wet eyes of many of the individuals quoted in this article. Dudley’s remarks to the crowd gathered at the vigil the evening of the attacks portended such an outcome. “You will remember this day for the rest of your life,” Dudley said. “You were robbed today of some of your innocence, you were robbed today of some of your sense of personal security, and, perhaps, today you were reminded of your own mortality.”
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