Listen Here
Column By Matthew Stolick, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy
I was early in my third year at UF, a 31-year-old assistant professor of philosophy. It was the morning and I watched Jerry Springer from my third-floor apartment above George Coffee House before heading over to campus.
The show was interrupted with pictures of a plane crashing into a building, then a second plane and another crash. Something serious was happening.
I went over to the Student Union building and into the Cave. There I found several students, staff, and faculty, sitting and standing, numb, quiet and aghast staring at the images on the big tv on the wall. It was a somber, quiet, eerie mood and atmosphere there.
I remember the incredible quiet on campus in the immediate aftermath of these 9/11 attacks, before we made any meaning of them or had any information about them.
9/11 became a focus of our shared discussions on campus and in our classes for the days, weeks, and years to come.
