CIDR originally developed this page as a resource for UW instructors following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

In the wake of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, UW President Richard McCormick has reminded us that "Our University community is international in its scope. At this painful time, we need to make extra efforts to respect each other and to reach out to ensure that every member of our community feels welcome." (Statement in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks, September 11, 2001). Members of the UW community are also saddened by the loss of many UW alumni and friends in a plane crash that took place in Mexico on September 12.

At CIDR we have developed these guidelines to help you think through how these events might affect you as an instructor, how they might affect your students, and how you might talk about these events with students in your class.

• Practical Considerations
• Concerns about Your Students
• Concerns about Yourself as the Instructor
• Related Links

Here are practical considerations that you may need to plan ahead for as the quarter gets underway. It may not be clear how to respond in each case, but planning ahead will help you be prepared:

• It is difficult to predict how long it might take for air traffic to return to normal schedules, and it's possible that some students will have a hard time arriving in Seattle in time for the first day of class on October 1.
• Students who are here may still be unsettled because travel plans were unexpectedly delayed, affecting their amount of time to find housing, settle into jobs, and prepare for classes to begin. As a result, it may be difficult for some students to gear up for the new academic year as quickly as you might typically expect.
• Shipments of books or equipment that you are depending on for your class might be delayed. Out-of-class events and resources that you draw on for learning experiences in class (such as performances, conferences, or periodicals) might not be following their previously established schedules.
• Some students may be experiencing considerable disruption in their lives because family members are serving in the military, facing possible job changes, or putting other plans on hold. Disruptions like these may not directly affect students' experiences in your class, but it would be unrealistic to expect that your students are unaffected by these events.

• It may be helpful to begin class with an acknowledgement of the events, and an offer of accommodations for students if after-effects of the events might affect their performance in class. For example,

  "We have all been shocked and saddened by the events in September, and these events have affected people in many ways. For example, if you were not able to get to Seattle as early as you had been planning, and you're still unpacking and settling in for the new school year, let me know if that will affect your assignments or your ability to participate in class."

• It is difficult to know how students may be thinking and feeling about the events of September 11 by the time classes begin on October 1. Some students may have personal ties to these events because friends or relatives were directly affected by what happened. Certainly even those who do not have personal ties to the events may still be strongly affected by them.
  

  For general suggestions to help you think about understanding students' perceptions coming into your course, see CIDR guidelines for Getting to Know the Students in Your Course.

• Since September 11, some members of Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and other minority communities have been targets of attack in Seattle and around the U.S. Be prepared to make an explicit statement that all students are welcome in your class, and that you expect students to treat one another with respect.

  For suggestions to help you think about establishing a welcoming classroom climate, see CIDR guidelines for Honoring Student Diversity, including, Setting the stage for potentially sensitive material.

• You may be concerned about how to respond if students bring these events up in class, or how to bring up the topic yourself in class. Think ahead about the goals for a discussion like this, students' possible responses (both spoken and unspoken), and your roles in this discussion. Think ahead also about ways that you can prepare students for this discussion.

  For suggestions to help you think about leading class discussions, see CIDR guidelines for Fostering Equitable Class Participation.

• You may notice signs that students are experiencing emotional distress. As an instructor, it is not necessarily your role to help students in this situation, and in fact it may be counter-productive for the students if you bring up emotionally difficult issues without providing appropriate support and assistance. For more information about ways to talk with students about these issues, contact UW CareLink at 1-866-598-3978.

  For suggestions to help you think about ways of responding to distressed students, see CIDR's collection of resources on Responding to Difficult Situations with Students, especially:

• Dealing with Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom, by Kathleen McKinney, Illinois State University
• Helping Different Types of Distressed Students, from the University of California at Santa Barbara

Remind students that the Student Counseling Center is available for students who are experiencing grief, stress, or uncertainty about the future.

• Whether or not you have personal or professional ties to the New York and Washington D.C. areas, you may still be strongly affected by these events and their aftermath. Faculty and Staff who would like to talk with a counselor, meet with a support group, or learn about resources for emotional and mental health can contact UW CareLink.
• If you have a background which some students might somehow associate with the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks, you may want to think about how you meet your students on the first day of class. On the one hand, it should not be necessary for anyone to defend themselves against another person's presumptions -- but on the other hand, it may be easy to quickly disarm these presumptions by the way you introduce yourself to the class. Here are some examples of ways you might approach this challenge:

  "People I've talked with in my home country were shocked to hear about these tragic events, and they expressed their sorrow in a candlelight vigil ..."

  "Everyone in my community has expressed great sympathy for the families of the innocent people who were killed in these attacks .."

  "In my country we have been fighting terrorism for many years, and I know how it is when people cannot even feel safe in their own home. We feel very bad that people in this country have had to experience this ..."

• If you have additional concerns about issues that might come up in your class, we recommend that you contact CIDR, or meet with colleagues who may be able to help you think through your questions.

• President McCormick's Letter of Welcome to the Campus Community
• September 11 Statement by UW President Richard McCormick
• Statement by the Vice President for Student Affairs, Ernest Morris
• UW Reflects and Responds

• Faculty Expertise related to the current conflict
• Resources for Responding to the September 11 Tragedy, UW Climate and Community Project
• Student Counseling Center
• UW CareLink: Confidential Counseling for Faculty and Staff
• What is a Critical Incident Response? from UW CareLink

• After September 11 is designed to provide teachers and students a starting point in their discussions, research, and writing about these unfolding events.
• Guidelines for Instructors Leading Class Discussions from the University of Michigan
• Teaching Tolerance, from the Southern Poverty Law Center