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Lindsey Wilson University Students Plant Flags to Remember Victims of 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

Memorial has been installed annually on campus since 2002.

by Duane Bonifer

COLUMBIA, Ky. (09/11/2025) — Cody Shepherd '27 was born more than three years after 2,977 people died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Shepherd joined nearly a dozen of his Lindsey Wilson University classmates on Sept. 10 to make sure that no one on campus forgets that tragedy on Sept. 11, 2025.

The LWU students -- all of whom were born after 2001 -- spent about an hour Wednesday evening planting nearly 2,000 American flags around the center of the Lindsey Wilson A.P. White Campus in memory of those killed in the four terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaida on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

The project, which was started on the one-year anniversary of the attacks by the 2002-03 Lindsey Wilson student government leaders, has been renewed annually for nearly a quarter-century.

"I grew up in a very patriotic family," said Shepherd, a business administration major from Nashville, Tennessee. "This is my country, and nobody should touch it. I'll put out flags all day for it."

Shepherd, who planted U.S. flags at LWU for the first time, said he first learned about 9/11 while in the first grade in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

"Then, as I grew older, the conversation developed, and I learned more about the day," he said.

Sabrina Ruiz '26 also learned about 9/11 through school when her teachers in Louisville, Kentucky, annually set aside part of the Sept. 11 school day to discuss the day and its consequences.

"I started to think about it in school because a lot of my teachers would take the time to teach us about it and why it's important that we remember the day," said Ruiz, a theatre and arts administration double major who helped plant the flags for the second time.

Ruiz said the annual memorial is important to maintain because "it shows respect to the memory of those who died that day, and reminds people on campus what happened."

Shepherd said he hopes that Lindsey Wilson's annual display of U.S. flags will cause people to "think of unity and having an undivided country."

Whitley Gibson '27, who also helped plant flags for the first time this year on Wednesday evening, said the memorial is a reminder that "in a time of crisis, we can come together."

"I hope that people who see it remember those who died that day -- who woke up, got ready for work and thought they were going to have just a regular day," said Gibson, a communication and human services and counseling double major from Edmonton, Kentucky.

Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.

Media Attachments

Lindsey Wilson University students Trevor Huff ’29 of Bowling Green, Kentucky, left, and Cody Shepherd ’27 of Nashville, Tennessee, plant American flags along the sidewalk leading to the university’s L.R. McDonald Administration Building on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The university’s Student Government Association has installed American flags on campus since 2002 to remember those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Lindsey Wilson University student Niah Thompson ’27 of Bardstown, Kentucky, plants American flags along the Alumni & Friends Walkway on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The university’s Student Government Association has installed American flags on campus since 2002 to remember those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Lindsey Wilson University students Braxton Crook ’28 of Lebanon, Tennessee, and Sabrina Ruiz ’26 of Louisville, Kentucky, discuss plans to plant American flags on the university’s campus on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The university’s Student Government Association has installed American flags on campus since 2002 to remember those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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