Remembering 9/11/2001 on 9/11/2026
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was 25 years old and less than four weeks into my 1L year in the part-time evening program at IU Indianapolis (now IU McKinney). During the day, I worked at Butler University in a small office suite that housed the Learning Resource Center, Student Disability Services, and Pre Professional Studies. As the news began to spread that terrorists had hijacked airplanes, we turned on a television in the office and watched the unbelievable nightmare unfold in real time before our eyes.
I imagine everyone alive that day who had access to television, radio, or the internet has their own story of learning about the attacks and then wondering what to do next. I remember spending the whole day checking in to see if that evening's class was canceled. As the day went on and no news of cancellation came, I started to think, "Seriously, the people who run that school think I should just go to civ pro tonight?" I was irritated and considered several times going home instead.
The good girl in me decided to attend class.
I will always be glad that I did.
It was quiet as my classmates and I took our seats in one of the horseshoe-shaped lecture halls. As starting time approached, Professor Grove came in, set his book and notes on the lectern, bowed his head, slowly inhaled in, exhaled out, looked up at us, and began.
He told us that studying the rules and cases of civil procedure didn't seem like something we really should be doing right then, but he'd thought about it most of the day and decided he should hold class that night. It was something normal that we could choose to do, which felt to him like an act of defiance in response to the terror that was inflicted on all of us that day.
He then told a story about one of the Nuremberg prosecutors whose physical health made him unfit for duty as a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine during the war. He lamented that he couldn't fight for his country. Later, he served his country by using his legal training and skills to prosecute war criminals. His work, along with the work of his colleagues, established a core legal principle: individuals, not just states, can be held accountable for violations of international law.
Professor Grove ended by saying that the world will always need lawyers. And after a moment of silence, we began that evening's lesson.
On September 11, 2026, I am 50 years old and almost 21 years into my career as a lawyer. It hasn't always gone as I'd hoped or dreamed. The journey has been circuitous, and it's still unfolding as I continue to explore how my training and skills can best serve, in the midst of this.
One thing has remained constant in these 25 years:
The world will always need lawyers, and I am grateful to be one.
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