Just as they have changed communities in every corner of America, the horrendous events of Sept. 11, 2001 have left an indelible impact on the Wittenberg community.

As soon as we learned of the attacks that morning, we decided to cancel classes for the rest of the day and gather in Weaver Chapel.

Our pastors, Rachel and Andy Tune, read scripture and led prayers; I spoke briefly and asked six faculty members to offer their reflections: Gerry Hudson from political science, Jeff Ankrom from economics and the director of Common Learning, Bob Welker from education and former director of Common Learning, Lori Askeland from English, Alan McEvoy from sociology, and Paul Nelson from religion.

The chapel was full and full of emotion. Anger, anxiety, frustration, and grief welled up in our minds and hearts. In subsequent weeks students and members of the faculty and staff have attended candlelight services, prayed in private, discussed the attacks in class and had countless late-night discussions in the residence halls.

About 700 students and staff attended a chapel service on Sept. 14 in response to President Bush’s call for a day of prayer and remembrance. As I write, U.S. and British retaliation has just begun, and we know little about the form it will take or how long it will last.

We must remind ourselves that this generation of students had not reached its teen-age years by the time of the Gulf War; for the vast majority, this is the first interruption of “normalcy” they have experienced.

Debbie Heida, our vice president for student development and dean of students, tells me that most students are only just beginning to move from heart to head, to get beyond purely emotional reactions in order to confront the complicated range of issues that these attacks raise.

In this respect, I suspect they are little different from most of the rest of us. But the Wittenberg community, and especially the members of its faculty, is marshalling its resources to identify these issues and explore them.

Religion, philosophy, history, psychology, sociology and anthropology, literature, economics, political science — these and the other disciplines of the liberal arts can provide important insights into the conditions that gave rise to the present conflict and the range of possible outcomes.

We will be providing many opportunities in the coming months for everyone in our community — and students in particular — to gain insight from resident experts and outside speakers.

We will also offer guidance to students in interpreting the information they gain on their own — from news media, friends at home, and the Internet.

During my first year at Wittenberg, I convened a group of faculty members, administrators, and members of the board of directors to construct a strategic plan. One of our first tasks was to decide what a Wittenberg graduate should be able to do.

First on our list was the following: “Respond with understanding (and I have since added ‘and compassion’) to the depth and complexity of human experience.”

In the past weeks we have tasted that “depth and complexity;” the actions of the terrorists and the New York rescue workers provide examples of the best and the worst of human conduct.

I would like to think that a broad general education in the liberal arts has given our graduates tools not only to understand but also to respond to the experiences of recent weeks — tools that many of their peers are lacking.

Our leaders have explained that our nation’s response to terrorism will be complex, of long duration, and only occasionally public. There will be no silver bullet. We will do our best here to give our students and the other members of our community the tools they need to be responsible citizens in these extraordinary times.

— Baird Tipson, president