September 16, 2026

by Lauren Ferguson

Hardly any of the undergraduate students now studying at Ramapo College of New Jersey have direct memories of the tragedies of 9/11.

But the terrorist attacks – that felled the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan less than 40 miles from the College’s Mahwah, NJ campus – have shaped and impacted their lives.

In recognition of this reality, and in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Ramapo College President Cindy Jebb, PhD, invited a panel of experts to campus to share their insights and discuss the generational impacts of 9/11.

“For those of us alive then, we all knew where we were when we saw or learned of awful events of that day. Especially for our community—right here in New Jersey, there were members of our community who lost loved ones; every day the skyline reminded us of that terrible day. There were lives lost at the Pentagon and in the fields of Pennsylvania,” Jebb said, before introducing the panel to a packed room of students, staff, professors and community members. “All of us, whether or not you were alive then, have been living with that day’s lasting impacts for both America and the broader world.”

Jebb, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who previously served as the first woman dean of the Academic Board at the United States Military Academy at West Point, said the events of 9/11 impacted people “from how we think about the balance of security and liberty to how we think about jurisdictions across our government to the wider modern world and America’s place in it.”

The panel discussion kicked off the College’s Presidential Speaker Series for the 2026-2027 academic year. The distinguished platform brings influential leaders and thinkers to campus, fostering intellectual engagement and dialogue within the community, and aiming to enrich the academic and cultural experiences of students, faculty, staff, and alumni by featuring speakers from diverse fields. The participants included those Jebb had known throughout her 39-year military career.

Expert on Islamic studies and jihadist groups Nelly Lahoud, PhD, a professor of security studies and the General Dwight D. Eisenhower Chair of National Security at the U.S. Army War College, gave a presentation entitled “Who was Osama Bin Laden, What was Al Qaeda, and What is It Today?”

Retired British diplomat Raymond James Raymond, PhD, visiting professor of government at Masaryk University, Czech Republic, and adjunct professor of comparative politics and international relations at the U.S. Military Academy presented “9/11 as a Global Event.”

Military law expert Col. Winston Williams, JD, professor and head of the Department of Law and Philosophy at the U.S. Military Academy presented “The Global War on Terrorism.”

And Ramapo College Professor of Law and Society Mihaela Serban, PhD, who previously worked for the Ford Foundation and the New York Community Trust on initiatives establishing the September 11th Fund and combatting anti-Muslim bias presented “9/11’s Role in Shaping Modern American Life.”

For Roadrunners such as Elena Gergis ’28 who did not have a personal connection to 9/11, the program was eye-opening.

“I wanted to hear from other people’s perspectives what it was like, and I just find it so interesting to see how much the world has changed,” said Gergis, a biology major with an osteopathy concentration.

Gergis, from Rutherford in Bergen County, NJ, said she had previously heard personal stories about “lives lost or the fear that the event put in them, but it was really unique to hear about the legal perspectives, military perspectives, and to hear about how this had a global impact.”

The panelists encouraged students to listen and learn.

“To the students and other young people here … I ask you very respectfully to please learn about this attack on the United States and indeed on the West generally,” said Raymond. He  spent about 19 days at Ground Zero and organized an interfaith memorial service for British families in Manhattan following the attacks. “You’ll be astonished to learn of, obviously, the horror and the anger, but also the courage, the kindness, the extraordinary selflessness that was on display that day,” he said.

Likewise, Serban emphasized the “resilience of the American people” and their “extraordinary response.”

“Millions of people sprung into action, just like that. Whether it was on Pier 94, which was one of the main response sites, whether it was in grant making, whether it was government. It doesn’t matter what it was, everybody, everybody went into action,” Serban said.

When Serban started teaching at Ramapo, her students personally remembered 9/11. Now most of her students were not yet born when the tragic events occurred.

“We have been moving from direct memory, communicative memory, we tell each other the stories, remember where we were and what we were doing, to really a different kind of memory, the collective memory, the cultural memory, the post memory,” she explained. “Gen Z, our students here, are the post memory generation.”

Young people learn about 9/11 through events like the panel at Ramapo, as well as through school curriculum, and the 9/11 Memorial, Serban said. But it is also important for them to connect to the feelings of coming together after the attacks, she said.

“Part of it is, 9/11 has become a day of national remembrance, but also service … It’s not just about watching a documentary, it is really embodying that spirit of unity, of resilience, of moving forward, of getting the work done that needs to get done, and bringing it home to a generation that perhaps doesn’t remember,” Serban said.

To embody the spirit of giving back, in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 a group of  Roadrunners volunteered at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ to lead teams of volunteers in packing thousands of meals to be distributed by the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

“Working alongside so many other volunteers of different ages, organizations, and stories for something so impactful was an experience I will never forget,” said Emily Beck ’28, a double major in psychology and social science with a concentration in education studies, from Franklin in Sussex County, NJ. “It was an excellent way to spend this meaningful week and to give back to those in need while remembering those who we lost and were impacted by 9/11.”