To remember the heroic act of first responders 25 years ago during the 9/11 attacks, Doane Athletics partnered with Daniel Dibbern, a Veteran and Military Services Specialist and Coast Guard specialist, to walk up 68 flights of stairs at Papik Field at 9 a.m. Though coaches in the past have invited students to participate in this act, this was the first year that it was organized with Veterans and Military Services.
This event remembers the 343 brave firefighters who sacrificed their lives to climb the Towers, fighting to rescue as many people as they could. There were approximately 2,200 steps they had to climb with 40-70 pounds of gear,
During the walk, the live CNN broadcast of when the attacks happened was shown on the scoreboard.
Students encouraged each other to keep going up the flight of stairs, and the first 100 students got shirts and breakfast pizza.
President Roger Hughes and Laura Hughes also came and encouraged students, giving water bottles as students walked to the top songs of 2001.
“I didn’t really do anything for 9/11 before college… it was a really nice sentiment, not just reposting something but actually having action through it,” senior Myridean Lehman said. “It’s really important to do something like this; I hope they do it annually.”
“When you feel like your foundations are being shaken and your safety is being jeopardized, there’s a time where you have to stand up and fight for your rights,” Dibbern said.
Dibbern joined the military because of what happened that day.
Dibbern was also encouraged by the students who participated in the event and hopes to make this event for the whole student population in the following years.
