Pepperdine’s vast Alumni Park lawn will once again this year feature a display of nearly 3,000 flags in honor of those who died on 9/11, a yearly tradition that began in 2008.
The full display includes 2,887 American flags and 90 various international flags representing the home countries of those who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Waves of Flags is a great opportunity for the Pepperdine community to reflect on what happened on 9/11,” Pepperdine Student Activities and Campus Recreation Director Doug Hurley said in a statement released by the university. “It’s beautiful to see so many pieces of the University come together in unity to paint Alumni Park with the red, white and blue.”
The yearly installation, which was first introduced by Pepperdine’s College Republicans, has grown to become a “significant service project for the Pepperdine community,” according to the university. This year, a team of over 250 volunteer students, staff and Malibu community members will erect the flags together on Sept. 10. The flags will fly through Sept. 24.
The flags are the largest but not the only 9/11 tribute on Pepperdine’s Malibu campus.
The Heroes Garden is a permanent public space Pepperdine created for visitors and Pepperdine community members to “reflect and honor those who sacrificed their lives on 9/11,” including Pepperdine alumnus Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. Burnett was a passenger on United Flight 93.
A plaque at the garden reads, “”Dedicated to freedom’s heroes of September 11, 2001, and the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, among them Pepperdine alumnus Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., who sacrificed their lives to overcome terrorists’ intent on destroying American lives and landmarks in our nation’s capital. We shall never forget.”