Students, community members discuss how tragedy affects religious groups 
Last night, Capstone House’s Carolina Room was home to the latest installment of a series of dialogues on diversity hosted by EMPOWER, a social justice and diversity program at USC focused on diversity education.
The event, entitled “Navigating the Future in Light of the Past: Attitudes Post 9/11,” saw a number of students, faculty and staff share their thoughts and feelings on the changes that the events of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks brought upon the U.S.
Attendees sat in groups and discussed questions that urged them to recall and reflect on 9/11, asking them where they were when the attacks took place and how their lives — and those of their friends — were affected.
Their discussions were followed by a panel that included Ajit Randhawa, a Sikh and a retired professor who was moved to write a book about religion and faith after the attacks.
“I was sitting in a doctor’s office with my wife when I saw two planes going into the towers,” Randhawa said. “That cannot be explained in any rational way to this day. At that time, it triggered some thoughts in my mind.”
As the discussion moved to that of citizenship and national identity, Randhawa spoke of the conflicts that arose for him as American attitudes began, he said, to feel more xenophobic.
“There were instances when many Sikhs were attacked because of 9/11, thinking they are Muslims, without first asking, ‘What is the reason?’” he said. “I have been here long enough that I first consider myself an American and then an Indian. Being from India is fine, but I think that if I said I was from the Middle East, it could be a problem.”
The discussion saw a great deal of participation from those in attendance, including Dominick Donaldson, a fourth-year political science student, who said the youngest generation should lead the way in creating an accepting society.
“By virtue of the composition of our generation, we should be at the forefront of tolerance,” Donaldson said. “The important thing is that there are people our age who realize that we have to take an active stance about these things, because it doesn’t just come.”
That interaction and discussion is important to EMPOWER’s events, said Taylor Jones, a fourth-year applied mathematics and Spanish student, who served as the group’s team leader, so that they’re fun and interesting to the students who come.
“We try to make these as interactive as possible,” Jones said. “We know students go to lecture every day. We don’t want to be another one.”