A crowd of about 100 students gathered at the steps of the Arnold Bernhard Library on Saturday to honor the victims of Sept. 11.

“We were faced with great devastation and loss, but tonight we will remember each fallen hero,” QU Student Republicans member Caitlin Faford said. “We will continue to stand strong as Americans and as a Quinnipiac community.”

The solemn assembly observed a moment of silence with bowed heads. QU Republicans President Janelle Armentano broke the silence, tolling a bell nine times for each year since the attacks.

Melissa Blackfield opened the ceremony with a moving rendition of “God Bless America,” and Professor Greg Garvey performed a self-written musical piece on the piano entitled “Rememberance.”

Campus chaplain Father Hugh Vincent Dyer also led a prayer.

“Give rest to those whose lives were taken on that morning which we here remember,” Dyer said. “Comfort their loved ones [and] dispel hatred from the hearts of all who seek it.”

Senior Lawrence Bremer read Jack Foshee Jr.’s poem, “Nation of Survivors,” famously written the day after September 11. Meanwhile, Hillel president and Class of 2011 Representative Ben Wald read the “Gates of Awe: Holy Day Prayers for Very Young Children,” in reference to the Jewish period of atonement between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

“To an unjust world may we stand firm as we pray for peace, for our families and for our country,” Wald said.

Volunteers placed 2,977 flags on the Quad, one for every life lost on Sept. 11.