Seating display humanizes Pan Am Flight 103 victims

The bell atop Crouse College rang 35 times between 1:28 p.m. and 2:03 p.m. Remembrance Scholars sat in chairs on the Quad arranged to represent the seats of the 35 students studying through Syracuse University who died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

Though the chair display has been a part of SU’s Remembrance Week for years, this is the first time the scholars have sat in them. 

Tyler Youngman, a senior in the School of Information Studies, represents Jason Coker. Youngman, who conceptualized the display, said the goal of it is to humanize the impact Pan Am Flight 103 had on the Syracuse community.

“It really puts a face to the name and provides students with an opportunity to visually see who was sitting in those chairs,” Youngman said. “The 35 that passed could have been any 35.” 

Erin Gavle, representing Alexia Tsairis, said the display was meant to catch people’s attention. The display took place during a class changeover. She added that having the scholars sitting in the seats was supposed to bring the tragedy to the present and make it seem more personal. 

“It’s hard, even for me as a scholar sometimes, to remember that (the victims) were our age, 20-somethings,” Gavle said.  

A student holds a candle during the chair display, which was created by the 2012 Remembrance Scholars. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Newhouse senior Joann Li represents Gary Colasanti. The Remembrance Scholars tried to do something different with this year’s Remembrance Week to continue to push the week’s narrative forward, Li said. The scholars changed the flags displayed on the grassy knoll between Schine Student Center and Newhouse to read “103” rather than depict a plane. 

“Something that we really tried to stress with our initiatives and all of our displays this year is that, just because it’s the 31st year doesn’t make it any less important,” Li said. “We felt there was nothing wrong with changing something to make it more intuitive for more people to gain perspective on the tragedy.” 

Changing the displays was meant to encourage people to ask them about Remembrance Week. And many parents, students and alumni did ask about the displays during Parents’ Weekend, Li said. 

Molly Murphy, a senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, represents Stephen Boland. She was both nervous and excited to sit in solidarity and think deeply about the victims of Pan Am Flight 103. 

The 2019 Remembrance Scholars each represent an SU student who died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

The display is a way to ensure the victims of the flight are not forgotten, Murphy said. 

“They’re not just empty, there’s people there signifying that there was once life in those seats, and they can’t be forgotten,” she said. 

Allison Westbrook, a senior in the Setnor School of Music, represents Nicholas Vrenios. Seeing the seats on the Quad during her freshman year has stuck with her. She remembers walking by the display and thinking of the people represented by the plane seats, she said. 

“I don’t know how you could ever fill those shoes, especially with Remembrance,” she said. “There are 35 students a year that get chosen, but how do you fill a life that isn’t yours?” 

DISCLAIMER: Tyler Youngman is an archivist for The Daily Orange. He does not work for or interact with the News section, nor does he influence its editorial content as archivist.