I wanted to take a few minutes tonight to sit down and get my thoughts across to you. This has been an incredibly hard day for all of us.

First and foremost, my prayers are with you all. I think most of us are struggling to even understand why or how this has happened in a country we always think of as so untouchable. To those of you who had friends or family involved in the tragedy, my heart goes out to you especially. So many lives were lost today, its almost impossible to even fathom how many loved ones have died.

If you know of someone who was injured or lost today, please send me their name and any details you feel like sharing. I would like to compile that information for the list members, so that we can keep them all in our thoughts and prayers.

My day began today with a funeral for my grandpa, and since then has been filled with news of more loss than I could ever imagine. This is such a sad, overwhelming moment in history. But i think the important thing is that we have to all pull together as a country and recognize what happened and how we can prevent things like this in the future.

I also want to encourage you ALL to help out in any way possible. PLEASE go donate blood if you havnt already. And also take this moment to remember and give thanks to all of the wonderful people and blessings you have in your life. They could be taken away at anytime without warning.

I want to end with a little message that was sent to me today.

We wake up tomorrow in a different world.
But though our hearts are broken, we will not break down.
Though our tears are falling, we will not fall.
Though the fires have burned, our fire will not burn out.
Though we have lost, we are not lost.
We wake up tomorrow in a different world. . .
But we wake up. . .
And for that, we are thankful.

God bless everyone across the country tonight. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Much love,

Jen~

On Tuesday, September 11, our nation was the target of violence so appalling and monumental that it is almost unbearable to recall and certainly impossible to consider without revulsion and horror.

These unconscionable acts will ring discordantly down the whole of human history. Far into the future, men and women of all races and creeds will regard the events of September 11 with loathing, searching through them for a way to speak rationally about the unspeakable.

Not to be overcome by the enormity of this calamity in our own time, we must begin to help, support and comfort each other now, in a demonstration of our solidarity and compassion.

At noon Thursday, September 13, we will hold a vigil on Gullen Mall to remember and honor the victims of this senseless terrorism and their families. This will be an ecumenical, nonsectarian event, providing the entire Wayne State University community an opportunity to come together with one voice. I hope you will join me in lighting a candle against the terrible darkness that came over our nation this week.

A great university must always, even in times of disaster, provide leadership in learning and understanding. On Monday, September 17, under the auspices of the Division of Student Development and Campus Life, we will hold an open forum for the Wayne State University community, in an attempt to begin to put the dreadful events of September 11 into perspective and begin the process of healing. Details of this forum will be announced soon.

I am confident that I speak for the entire university in expressing my outrage at what our nation has been through this week, and in stating our heartfelt sympathy for the families of those killed and injured. I am equally confident that together we have the courage, determination and insight to emerge from these experiences stronger individually and institutionally, united in a common purpose and understanding.

Thank you.

Irvin D. Reid
President

Every U down in Uville liked the U.S. a lot.
But the Binch, who lived far east of Uville, did not.
The Binch hated the U. S! The whole U.S. way!
Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say.

It could be his turban was screwed on too tight.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

But, whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch.
"They're raising their families! They're going to church!

They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving,
I MUST keep the S's and U's from surviving!"
Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
Would put on their pants and shirts and their dresses,

They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules,
And then they'd do something he liked least of all--
Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small,

Would stand together, united, each U and each S,
And sing Uville's anthem, "God Bless Us! God Bless!"
All around their Twin Towers of Uville they'd stand,
And their voices would drown every sound in the land.

"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea--an idea that might work!
He stole some U airplanes in the wee morning hours,
And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers.

"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"
The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleep,
All set to enjoy hearing them U-wail and weep.

Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow --
And then the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing...
He couldn't believe it--they started to sing!

He stared down at Uville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small,
Was singing...without any towers at all!

He HADN'T stopped Uville from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers stood, called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.

So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.

For America means more than just two tall towers,
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!