I turned 13 on Sept. 11, 2001. Sunday evening, eight years to the day
after George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech, I ran home to
Susie Hopkins after learning that the man chiefly responsible for that
event had been killed in a firefight.
We live, it is said, in a purple bubble here at Williams, isolated by
mountains in every cardinal direction. Our lives are enabled and
assisted through the efforts of hundreds of staff who provide us with
security and services while we pursue our education. While the Internet
has made true isolation less possible, we are sheltered here from hunger
and the worst sort of injustices that have provoked the current Arab
Spring.
Nate Krisoff ’03 departed from this shelter and entered the United
States Marine Corps. The plaque commemorating his life and death on Dec.
9, 2006, sits alone above one of the back doors of Thompson Chapel,
dwarfed by the long lists of names from other wars in which Ephs took
greater part. He was a co-captain of the swim team, known for his
one-liners and the blue and white Adidas tracksuit top that he wore
everywhere.
After his death, his father, a surgeon, enlisted in the Naval Medical
Corps to honor his son’s memory, serving a seven-month deployment at
Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, among other places. I know of no other Ephs who
followed Bill Krissoff’s example; Williams students are rarely found in
today’s armed forces.
We serve in the government, yes, and I have no doubt that many ’11s,
’12s, ’13s and ’14s will leave this valley to accomplish great feats,
but many of us will remain within the security and comfort that the
privilege of a Williams degree will help to provide. We will not be able
to claim the words of Professor of Rhetoric Carroll Lewis Maxcy’s 1926
eulogy:
“And some, in answer to the call of country, have gone out to battle for
the common rights of men against the enemy. Some of them will not
return to me, for they have given all they had, and now they rest at the
foot of a simple cross or lie deep below the waves. But even as they
passed, the music of the chimes was in their ears and before their eyes
were visions of the quiet walks beneath the elms.”
I am not suggesting that Ephs commemorate Osama bin Laden’s death by
enlisting in the armed forces; my own plans do not include military
service, though I respect and honor my friends from home who made that
choice. But I do suggest that we carry an extra obligation alongside our
privilege: to serve not just the causes of wealth, power or fame, but
to hold ourselves to a higher standard than that expected by society,
the market or our peers.
Loyalty, kindness, helpfulness and their peer traits won’t buy season
tickets at a Yankees game, but they are the lynchpins of a successful
society: One of the great hallmarks of Williams is that I can leave my
laptop out and alone in a common room without fear (though there are
notable exemptions: take care!) or that we can toss our jackets on the
stairs during First Fridays without requiring a coat check system to
ensure that we get our outerwear back. In dedicating ourselves to
building the better America that Nate Krisoff sought to protect (or for
international students, the causes of freedom and justice that he sought
to defend), we can honor his memory and those of the many others that
perished on my birthday. We can turn the celebration at this death into a
more timely and long-lasting benevolence that will pay dividends down
the road.
Is this overly optimistic? Probably. I have no doubt that even on this
campus, problems and struggles will continue for years to come. A Muslim
chaplain will not solve all of the issues that Muslim students face,
just as Campus Safety and Security can hardly prevent all thefts or
sexual assaults from occurring. The United States will soon come down
from its post-kill euphoria, just as the good-natured feelings of
September 11 only persisted for about a month. Our task is to maintain
those convictions, even when they are under the threat of convenience or
malfeasance; there will often be no reward for doing the right thing,
or even heavy costs like what Krissoff paid.
But regardless, let this not be a week about fireworks, politics or the
celebration of a terrorist’s death. Let this be the week that we can be
reminded which causes are worth dying and sacrificing for. We will not
always uphold these values perfectly, but there are angels to guide us
on our way.
