"Let There Be Light"
Letter to Campus, Friends and SupportersSeptember 24, 2001
Dear Cal Alumni and Friends:
In the past ten days we have become a changed country and a changed people. Like other communities across the United States, Cal is a diminished community today, for we have suddenly lost from our midst beloved alumni and friends. We have been scarred by these tragic events, and we have been forever changed.
But I know you will join us in the pride we have felt about how our campus community has responded to these events. Throughout the past week, both spontaneous student-organized events and campus-sponsored memorials have brought us together in an extraordinary way, as you will see from the enclosed joint edition of the Daily Cal and Berkeleyan
The culmination of the week was a service in Memorial Glade attended by more than 12,000 students, faculty, and staff. The largest campus gathering for a non-athletic event since the 1960s, this event was marked by reflection, poetry, music, and a call to stay focused on our purpose. The Memorial Glade setting had special meaning; it was dedicated in 1998 to honor those who served or lost their lives in World War II.
As an academic community, our responsibility is to provide a safe haven for all who come here to learn and to preserve the principles of a free university. If we preserve our commitment to genuine intellectual discourse and the determination to understand fully the world in which we now live, we need not fear what lies ahead, for truth and understanding will ultimately prevail.
As W.H. Auden wrote in his poem "September 1, 1939," when the world stood on the brink of World War II,
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages.
In the uncertain days to come, as our nation faces difficult decisions, let those of us who hold the candle of learning in our hands lead the way. Let us not allow ourselves and our community to be changed. Let there be light. Fiat lux.
The entire campus community joins me in sending best wishes to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor