Seniors decide on memorial as '05 gift

The Class of 2005 voted Tuesday to leave a 9/11 memorial garden as its legacy to UNC.

The gift was chosen by 787 students out of the 1,373 who voted on Student Central, said Walker Rutherfurd, Board of Elections chairman.

Senior Class President Jovian Irvin said she thinks the garden will be a wonderful gift to honor the six UNC alumni killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Irvin said the space will provide an area for personal reflection and will be a place where students can observe the anniversary of the attacks. Benches in the garden also will create an outdoor teaching area for classes, she said.

"It's something that can be used for years," Irvin said, adding that the memorial will be a landmark for current seniors when they return to campus long after graduation.

"I think a lot of people want a tangible gift," she said.

David Ruskey, chief marshal for the senior class, noted that the terrorist attacks were defining moments for many seniors during their first few weeks at UNC.

"It's something that allowed us to congeal as a class," he said.

Irvin echoed Ruskey's perspective. "It's hard to deny the impact of the event on our class," she said.

Ruskey also said he is pleased with the number of seniors that voted - roughly one-third of the class.

He credited the efforts of the senior class marshals to spread the news to students about the gift options and to encourage seniors to vote.

Now that a gift has been selected, campaigning can begin to help raise funds for the memorial, Irvin said.

Specific plans have yet to be formulated, she said, but a slogan will be selected, and seniors will hear about opportunities to donate during the rest of the academic year.

Ruskey said the votes corresponded with the word-of-mouth selection of seniors with whom he had discussed the gift choices.

"It's how I predicted it would turn out," he said.

Another proposed gift, an annual travel and service scholarship, received the second highest number of votes - 303.

The scholarship would have provided $1,000 for summer study through the Campus Y for students to pursue public service projects.

The N.C. Arts Program, another possible gift, received 181 seniors' votes. It would have created a fund for the annual purchase of N.C. artwork to showcase on campus.

The final and least popular option was the creation of a student television station on campus.

The channel, which received 102 votes, would have aired 30- to 60-second advertisements to publicize student organizations' events.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.