While she did not graduate from SU or have personal connections to the bombing, Hanson said she admires the community that has evolved from the tragedy.

“It’s a real testament of our capacity to come together and create something powerful that transforms a single tragic event into a long-lasting force for all that is good and positive in the world,” she said.

After St. Oegger-Menn completed her master’s degree in library and information science at SU, the university hired her to assist managing the Pan Am Flight 103 archives in January 2015. Last year, O’Rourke asked her to help with Remembrance Week, whether it was planning the use of any archives for the scholars or picking up the slack wherever she could.

When O’Rourke was getting ready to retire, she asked St. Oegger-Menn to take on a more significant role. Not only does she handle the archives, but St. Oegger-Menn also tackles delegating tasks to the scholars.

Although it is only St.Oegger-Menn’s second time organizing Remembrance Week, she has enjoyed the experience because archivists have a behind-the-scenes job and do not typically spend time with people. Getting to know the victims’ families and the scholars and see the inspiration work that they do has been meaningful, she added.

“When this started, I was sensitive to what it meant but I didn’t anticipate that it was going to have the effect on me that it has,” she said. “I think it’s really changed how I feel about what we’re all doing here on campus and the importance of our work, what this really means and how closely you connect with everyone that is involved.”

O’Rourke was not surprised to see how Rodoski, Hanson and St.Oegger-Menn gradually became more involved with the program.

“You don’t take this job, but you start becoming exposed to this program and it sucks you in,” O’Rourke said.

Even though she is no longer in charge of the Remembrance program, O’Rourke still helps out, whether it is directing them to someone that could help with a specific task or remembering how a previous class of scholars came up with a certain event.

“I don’t think anyone can ever fill Judy’s shoes,” Hanson said.

Hanson considers O’Rourke a valued mentor and said she hopes the work that she, Rodoski, St. Oegger-Menn and the scholars put into will be a testament to their respect and admiration for O’Rourke.

“If we are the advisers to the scholars, then Judy is the adviser to all of us,” St. Oegger-Menn said.

Rodoski said they now understand how much time and energy O’Rourke had put into the program.

“There’s been many times where I sit at my desk and think, ‘How did she do this? What would Judy do?’” Rodoski said.

Having each other has also been comforting as Rodoski, Hanson and St. Oegger-Menn navigate through the logistics. St. Oegger-Menn said she has tried to be mindful that O’Rourke is retired and should let her enjoy her time off.

“We shouldn’t call her at midnight,” she said, laughing. “But I can call Kate and Kelly at any time of the day or night, ‘cause they’re still here.”

Knowing that O’Rourke trusted the three of them with the program also gave St. Oegger-Menn confidence to handle her new role, she said.

Katherine Frega, a 2015-16 Remembrance Scholar, worked with O’Rourke on Remembrance Week events and Rodoski and Hanson on the selection committee for this year’s Remembrance Scholars. Although Frega was upset when she found out that O’Rourke was retiring last year, she said she believes Rodoski, Hanson and St. Oegger-Menn will do a great job.

“Still having Judy as a resource is going to be a key to them moving forward, but I think that they are all capable and committed,” Frega said.

One challenge the three women face is how to ensure the community remembers Pan Am Flight 103 as they move further and further away from the event. Seven years ago, the program started to have scholars that were not born when the terrorist attack happened, Rodoski said.

“How do make those events relatable for people who have no point of reference?” she said.

Even now, they are at the point where students were only six or seven years old when 9/11 happened, she added.

Frega said it is going to be important to keep the Remembrance program and the memory of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims a focus and priority on a university level.

“It’s the essence and being of Syracuse,” Frega said. “Part of that is having this event happen to us and it brings the community together.”

When Rodoski was a freshman, she said she did not fully understand what the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing meant. It was not until she returned to SU as a full-time staff member and became a mother that she realized the magnitude the event had on not just the SU community, but for the rest of the world.

“I always have a little bit of guilt,” she said. “You know, I lived and they didn’t.”

Now, Rodoski said she feels like she knows the upperclassmen that were on that plane 28 years ago.

“I didn’t know any of them back in 1988,” Rodoski said. “But going through this process every year and knowing families, I feel like I know them and I hope that I am making the most out of what I’ve been given.”

Banner photo by Marisa Frigoletto | Contributing Photographer