Along with the concern for safety and defensive preparedness, I think I was among those who wanted to look deeply and see if and how the United States might have contributed to the climate that lead to terrorism.

It has made me value the cross-cultural opportunities and connections that I have and the new opportunities that arise. As mayor, I had several opportunities to reach across the perceived (and real) boundaries that exist between groups and among individuals in our community. I tried to use some of those opportunities to have a healing influence; to articulate the reality that we are all connected in spite of those perceived boundaries; to affirm the value of any effort to learn and develop an appreciation of other cultures. I think I am much more serious about recognizing and valuing those opportunities and more serious about trying to make a difference.

Sue Hack, Lawrence mayor

What struck my about the day was the parallels that I felt to the day President Kennedy was shot. As most people who were alive at that time, I can tell you exactly where I was when I heard the news. I vividly remember coming home from school that afternoon and seeing the expression on my mother’s face that indicated that she was scared. I had never seen that before  my mother was always in control  this was different and that probably scared me most of all.

I wanted to make sure that for my children and my students that we did not portray that sense of a loss of control. I wanted them to be able to talk about their fears and concerns and at the same time be reassured that they were going to be OK Â even when we were not sure that we all would.

Marty Kennedy, city commissioner

We sat in disbelief, watching CNN and Fox. We heard the report of more planes thought to be unaccounted for and saw the footage of the plane hitting the second tower.

Patty had plans for lunch with friends in Kansas City. Mid-morning she said, “I’m not going to Kansas City. Do you think I’m over-reacting? I just want to stay close to home.” I told her I would take her to lunch instead.

Shortly after 11 we went downtown to O’Dell’s for lunch. I remarked at how few cars were parked or traveling on Massachusetts Street, and at the lack of activity. We sat with Monty Shanks, the owner of O’Dell’s, watching CNN. There were only six of us there. As we watched, none of us said much of anything. I do remember each of us saying more than once, “I just can’t believe this is happening.”

Jim Henry, city commissioner

I was chairing a meeting of the Tax Abatement Task Force when I was informed about the attack. We quickly adjourned. My wife had just received a telephone call from our daughter that she was fine. Our daughter had flown into LaGuardia and directly over the twin towers about midnight on Sept. 10 and had thought to herself how beautiful they are.

My reaction upon seeing the airliners crash into the towers and their collapse was one of shock and realization that the world as we knew it was suddenly changed.

I do believe that we need to continue moving forward, more vigilantly certainly, but also with the knowledge that we have the ability and strength to overcome adversity, the willingness to strengthen our nation’s defenses, and the dedication to make this a better world.

Robert Hemenway, KU chancellor

I was in Kansas City for a KU Med hospital authority meeting. As I walked in the door, a television set was on, and the first tower had just been hit. I talked with my staff in Lawrence and with Don Hagen at the KU Medical Center. Dr. Hagen is a Navy admiral and had already begun preparing the Medical Center for response in case Kansas City was attacked.

I thought about the fact that KU had 20,000 students, l,000 faculty, and 7,000 full and part time staff in Lawrence, and knew that I belonged there. I hit the road and was in Lawrence in half an hour.

I think the main way that my life has been changed by Sept. ll is that I have a much greater appreciation for the fragility of the lives we lead and the strength of our bonds as a nation.

David Shulenburger, KU provost

I was at the American Association of Universities annual provosts meeting in Irvine, Calif. My AAU colleagues agreed that our meeting would not continue and began efforts to get back to our universities. I was unable to return to Lawrence until Saturday, but spent a great deal of the intervening time on calls to KU, discussing the situation on campus and what our responses to events should be.

Instead of building on the sympathy for the U.S. that the attacks engendered across the world, we have become more isolated and inward-looking. The restrictions on international students, for example, will hurt the cause of higher education around the world. We as a country need to re-evaluate our reaction and make our response measured and constructive.

Kim Wilcox, KU dean of Liberal Arts

I was at work in Topeka when a colleague informed me that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. I remember that most of that day I felt very uninformed about the situation in the United States and the world. It wasn’t until later that evening that I was able to get a feel for the magnitude of the attack from the television.

Since Sept. 11, I’ve tried to do just as President Bush has asked us to do  conduct business as usual. At the same time, we are facing some fundamental questions as a nation. Our founding fathers created a government premised on individual rights. The events of 9-11 have forced a re-examination of those rights and their importance relative to our need for national security and personal safety.

Ann Evans, Arts Center director

My 23-year-old daughter Whitney called me from Kansas City right after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I turned on the TV, and we watched the second plane together. Looking back, it was special for a mom to know that my child was fine at this awful time.

Like everyone else, I curtailed by activities last fall, including not going to Paris to see Elizabeth Layton’s exhibit. And at the arts center, we struggled with fewer people enrolling in classes and participating in programs. We were right in the middle of enrollment for our fall classes and experienced a drop in enrollment like others. And I watched much more TV than I usually do. I had to know what the current information was.

Kent Glasscock, House speaker

Like everyone, I went through a period of shock and dismay. It has changed my life in the sense that I am reminded of how mortal we all are and how tenuous is societal stability. We can be rocked at a moment’s notice, and before we really didn’t understand that.

It underscored to me that we are all intertwined in the cloth of our country and if a string is pulled on one side, there is a rent on the other.

Pat Kehde, owner of Raven Bookstore

It was awful; I was sick to my stomach. And then when the buildings fell down, that was the worst. It was so overwhelmingly violent that you couldn’t quite believe it.

A lot of people have talked about how we have to examine who we are and how we’ve engendered such hate. It’s made me aware of how little we penetrate the cultures of other countries, especially non-Western countries.

Pat Roach Smith, Bert Nash director

KANU was just sorting out the details, but both towers and the Pentagon had been hit. I had a strong need to speak to someone I trusted. I then called my husband, who was at a business meeting in the tallest building west of the Mississippi, the Library Towers in Los Angeles. He was in the process of an evacuation when I reached him.

Over time, I think three things have changed or intensified for me. One is my desire for my daughter to understand what my husband and I value. Secondly, I have been impressed with how resilient we are. Thirdly, I have been shocked at how provincial I have been. How much I did not know about the Taliban, al-Qaida and the religions of the world. I have learned, as we all have over this past year.

Bruce Passman, special ed director

I was in Topeka. We were just about to start our September special education advisory council meeting. Just as I was going over to start this meeting, we saw the second plane. What gave it even more meaning to us … is one of the women on the advisory council had a daughter who worked at the trade center and she was scared to death. She ended up being OK.

It just causes you to reflect a little differently on your life and your family and all of the positive things that we should appreciate about life.

It reiterated some of the same fears we had after another watershed incident in public education, and that was Columbine. To a certain extent, 9-11 made you focus on the same kinds of issues.

Dave Kerr, Senate president

I think it has clearly changed life both professionally and personally, in that to some extent it has confirmed the all-out hatred that some people have for this country, and that there are those people who spend all their time trying to kill Americans. That is a very disconcerting prospect. It does now and will affect us all for years into the future. It affects our feelings of innocence and security.

Bruce Martin, Pelathe Center director

I was driving to work and heard about it on the radio. It didn’t seem real at first. When I got to work, they had the TV on, and then I got to see it.

I try not to let it change much. I am not too confident in flying, but I have flown twice and will again this week. But I am not too excited about it.

Jim McCrary, poet

I was at the Bourgeois Pig having coffee.

You know, I thought it would change my life, but honestly it hasn’t, although in the long run … due to government intrusion it might.

Jere McElhaney, county commissioner

I was driving north on Highway 59, north of 24 Highway, going to a job site and I got a call from my mother, and she says, “Do you have the radio on?”

And she says, “There’s a plane that has crashed into the World Trade Center towers.”

So I turned on the radio. They said, “Oh my god, another plane hit the second tower.” And I said that this was the work of terrorists.

Being a county commissioner, you start thinking about security aspects. It made me more aware that government’s essential role  the main role, primary focus  is the protection of our citizens.

And I say, “Are you kidding me?” And she says, “I don’t know if air traffic controllers just got mixed up or mixed up the signals or what.”

Craig Weinaug, county administrator

I was in my office. The first I heard about it was over the Internet. I remember seeing pictures of it, the World Trade Center with a plane going into it. It wasn’t possible to work. I didn’t earn my salary that day. I made up for it later, but not that day.

As county administrator, we’re obviously a lot more security conscious than we were before. The procedures for locking up the building are different. We have a sheriff’s deputy here on nights that we have evening meetings. We have somebody checking the building all the way through before we close up the building.

I don’t know that that much has changed for me, personally. To a certain extent, the terrorists win if you change your lifestyle or are afraid to do things that you did before.

The Rev. Peter Luckey, Plymouth Congregational Church

I was looking forward to a day of quiet reflection. The phone rang at 9 a.m. It was a friend of my wife’s. She said the World Trade Center has been attacked. To be honest, my reaction was ‘How dare my day be ruined by someone telling me this awful news?’ Then I turned on the TV, and my wife came home from work, and we just stood transfixed watching CNN. We tried to grapple with the enormity of what had happened.

I think 9-11 for me has intensified my feeling that every day is just an amazing gift from God. And it’s intensified in me the sense that we can take nothing for granted, and that every day is a struggle for good over evil, it’s a struggle for life over death. And 9-11 brought that struggle to the forefront of my consciousness.

Toni-Marie Montgomery, KU dean of Fine Arts

I was driving to Topeka to give a presentation to the Board of Education on the need for an arts requirement for graduation from high school. I was driving and called my assistant just to check in. She asked if I had heard the news, and I told her I hadn’t turned on my radio that morning. I was in total disbelief and drove for about five minutes toward Kansas City rather than to Topeka.

By the way, the Board of Education did meet, and I gave my presentation!

I consider every day a gift. I also appreciate even more that I am a musician and the beauty that the arts contribute to all humankind.

Donald Hagen, KU Medical Center executive vice chancellor

We were with our medical center leadership at a planning meeting when it happened. At first, disbelief. It was unreal. To me, personally it was a great shock as the plane that hit the Pentagon struck exactly where my office was in the 1980s.

We were immediately concerned about the whereabouts of our faculty, staff and students, since they often travel across the country, and particularly to Washington, D.C., because of our working relationships with the National Institutes of Health and other governmental agencies.

Over the ensuing months it became clear that although we have made great progress in the areas of diversity, we now are much more clearly focused on the true meanings of diversity. Now every moment seems richer.

The Rev. Marcus McFaul, First Baptist Church

I was at the church preparing for a Bible study, and we were just gathering for the first meeting. It’s a 32-week study, and this was session one. When I went into the copier room, the TV was on, and there was only (news of) the first crash of the one tower. Two hours later, of course, we all learned of the second plane and the Pentagon (attack). I mean, the terror of that moment was very real.

My own appreciation for daily life has been raised exponentially. I look at each day differently. And because I’m a parent, I pray for a world of peace and justice for my two boys and for all the children of the world.

Tim Van Leer, Lied Center director

When I arrived at the Lied Center that morning, the television was already on, and I was caught up in what was thought to be an unfortunate accident. Of course, that was not the case, and I was shaken by the tragic events that unfolded. Each hour brought new images and emotions. As I look back on that day, I realize that we went through a period of disbelief.

In the weeks after the attacks, I came to realize that artists and arts organizations would play a critical role in helping to heal the country and move us forward.

The importance of the arts in society can be seen on many levels, but during the last year the arts have helped as we struggle for relevance and try to comprehend what has happened.