Dear Spartan Community,
Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, 2001, our nation and our communities were forever changed. As we approach the 25th anniversary, we remember the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives, and the families, colleagues, and communities who have carried that profound loss for a quarter century.
The legacy of that day has a unique intersection with San José State University in the air, at Ground Zero, and through our native son Norman Y. Mineta, a leader in the national response and namesake of our acclaimed Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI).
I do not speak for the university on every national event or anniversary. I am writing today because September 11 has a direct and deeply personal connection to San José State. That connection is reflected in the lives of Spartans who responded to tragedy through courage and service, and in Secretary Mineta’s extraordinary example of leadership during one of our nation’s most consequential moments.
For those who lived through that morning, the memories can still feel immediate. For most of our current students, September 11 is part of history, yet they have grown up in a world profoundly shaped by its consequences. We have a responsibility to help our students understand not only what happened that day, but also the many ways its consequences shaped our nation and our communities.
We must also remember that the consequences of September 11 reached far beyond that day. In the aftermath, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian and other communities experienced discrimination, suspicion, harassment, hate and violence. As documented by the Pew Research Center’s "Portrait of Muslim Americans" report, anti-Muslim hate crimes spiked dramatically in 2001, and they remain well above pre-2001 levels. The report released last week also reminds us that Muslim Americans have experienced solidarity and support alongside enduring discrimination and unfair portrayals. We acknowledge that history, including the pain that remains with many families and communities today.
As we honor those whose lives were taken on September 11, we also acknowledge those whose lives and communities were changed by the hatred and discrimination that followed. Holding these experiences together encourages us to remember with humanity and care.
We remember first and foremost those whose lives were taken, including the passengers and crew of United Flight 93.
Among them was fellow Spartan Captain Jason Dahl, ’80 Aeronautics Operations, who piloted Flight 93. After learning what had happened elsewhere that morning, passengers and crew made the collective decision to fight back and attempt to retake the aircraft. Their courage prevented Flight 93 from reaching its intended destination. On campus, Captain Dahl remains an enduring example of courage, service, and selflessness.
We also honor the extraordinary first responders, firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency personnel, and the countless people who answered tragedy with courage, compassion, and service.
Each year, our own University Police Department honors that service through its annual September 11 tribute, recognizing first responders and others whose actions demonstrated remarkable courage. This includes retired SJSU UPD Captain Frank Belcastro, who was a New York Police Department captain and first responder at the World Trade Center. We recognize Spartans who went to New York to help, including Meta Mereday, ’84 Advertising, who went to Ground Zero to assist victims and those they left behind. And Karen Philbrick, executive director of our Mineta Transportation Institute, who volunteered with the Red Cross in New York to provide therapeutic support.
Their stories remind us that courage and service take many forms. And at a moment when our nation faced extraordinary uncertainty, another San José story became part of our national history through the leadership of Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.
Secretary Mineta was a San José native, a mayor of our city, a member of Congress, the founder of the Mineta Transportation Institute, and the first Asian American member of a presidential Cabinet. As a child, his family was incarcerated at Heart Mountain during World War II. Decades later, as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, he helped lead the nation’s transportation response on September 11, 2001, including the historic grounding of U.S. civilian aviation.
His life offers a powerful lesson in public service. A government that had once denied his family its freedom ultimately entrusted him with extraordinary responsibility during a consequential moment in our nation’s history. He met that responsibility with disciplined leadership and a commitment to public service.
That legacy was showcased this week in Washington, D.C., where San José State and MTI convened the Mineta Forum on Transportation Policy and Leadership to commemorate the 25th anniversary of September 11 and consider the past, present, and future of transportation policy. National transportation policymakers and industry leaders examined transportation security, aviation safety, and risk management alongside members of the Mineta family and former senior advisers who shared firsthand reflections from that extraordinary period and lessons that remain relevant today.
Twenty-five years gives us perspective and allows us not only to remember, but to reflect on what we have learned. We can hold several truths at once: We remember those whose lives were taken. We honor those who served. We recognize the communities that endured discrimination, hate, and violence in the aftermath. And we reflect on the leadership and courage required in moments of profound uncertainty.
At San José State, remembrance asks something of us. The Spartan stories we remember today, and Secretary Mineta's lifetime of public service, remind us that courage extends beyond extraordinary moments, into how we treat and care for one another, including rejecting hate and violence, and protecting the dignity of every member of our community.
Twenty-five years later, I invite all Spartans to remember those we lost, honor those who served, and extend care to members of our community for whom this anniversary carries particular meaning.
