Upcoming events: SU hosts 37th annual Remembrance Week
SU will host its 37th annual Remembrance Week from Oct. 19–25 to honor the lives lost in the 1988 Pan Am 103 flight bombing, including 35 SU students. Events will reflect the theme “Look Back, Act Forward.” Collin Snyder | Staff Photographer
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
Syracuse University’s Remembrance Week began Sunday in honor of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988. The 37th annual event is from Oct. 19-25, commemorating victims of the attack.
The 1988 terrorist attack killed 270 people, including 35 SU students who were returning from a semester of study abroad in London and Florence. Every year, SU chooses 35 students to receive The Remembrance Scholarship in memory of the students and others lost.
The Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars design the events, and this year, the 2025-26 scholars are embracing the program’s “Look Back, Act Forward” motto, according to a release. Their goal is to raise awareness of terrorism and encourage SU’s campus to remember the victims.
Student Government Association President and Remembrance Scholar German Novilos invited all SU students to join the events by remembering, reflecting and honoring the victims as a united student body, in a Sunday campus-wide email.
“Next week, we come together to honor 270 lives lost in the Pan Am Flight 103 tragedy, a moment that forever shaped our university’s history and our shared commitment to peace and understanding,” Novilos said.
All week
A remembrance quilt is on display at Hendricks Chapel throughout the week. Created by the 1998-99 Remembrance Scholars, the quilt tells stories of the lost students, with each element holding symbolic significance.
On the Shaw Quandrangle, 35 empty seats will be set out in visual representation of those killed in the bombing, serving as a reminder that loss can inspire future positive actions.
Two hundred seventy blue and white flags will be placed between the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Schine Student Center, in honor of each victim. Additionally, the Hall of Languages, Hendricks Chapel and the JMA Wireless Dome will showcase blue lights all week.
Sunday
On Sunday, Setnor School of Music students came together for the Malmgren Concert Series. Titled “Remembrance and Resilience,” the livestreamed event honored victims of violence and terrorism.
Scholars officially began Remembrance Week with a candlelight vigil, held on the steps of Hendricks Chapel at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
For 35 minutes, Remembrance Scholars will sit in the 35 empty chairs on the Quad at 2 p.m. for the “Sitting in Solidarity” event.
Remembrance Scholars will screen “Return to Lockerbie with Lorraine Kelly” at 7 p.m. in Kittredge Auditorium in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. The documentary follows Kelly’s return to Lockerbie and explores how residents coped following the attack.
Thursday
Both Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars present their plans to benefit the community through outreach, research, education and projects, sharing their personal experiences, according to a release.
Remembrance Scholars will present at the “Act Forward Symposium,” hosted in the Allyn Innovation Center at 6 p.m. The Lockerbie Scholars Presentation will follow, held in Link Hall, Room 160, at 7 p.m.
Friday
This year’s Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars will lay roses and stones at the memorial wall in front of the Hall of Languages. The ceremony is from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. to honor the Pan Am Flight 103 victims.
The “Remembrance Scholar Convocation,” hosted at Hendricks Chapel, will honor Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars. The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m., displaying drawings of the SU victims in the chapel.
All activities are free and open to all SU students, faculty and staff.
