In tribute: UW-Green Bay stair climb honors fallen, heroes of 9/11

The UW-Green Bay community honored the fallen and remembered the heroes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Thursday, commemorating the anniversary of the infamous date with the second annual 9/11 stair climb.

Nearly 120 students, faculty and staff members traversed floors two through eight of the Cofrin Library — some multiple times — as part of the remembrance event presented by UW-Green Bay’s Vets 4 Vets student organization and university Wellness Committee. Along the way, they contemplated signs that gave added meaning to the distance they covered.

“For each step taken,” one sign read, “2 people died in one of the 9/11 airplane crashes. For each step taken: 20 people who were killed in New York.”

Another sign pointed out the good that was done in the wake of the tragedy.

“For each step taken,” it read, “10 million was donated to 9/11 charities. For each step taken: 265 units of blood was donated to the NY Blood Center.”

Green Bay firefighter Logan Simkowski and Freedom volunteer firefighter Jesse Brody, an admissions advisor in UW-Green Bay’s Adult Degree Program, got to know those signs pretty well during Thursday’s event. The pair climbed the stairs, in full gear, 12 times to equal the number of stairs climbed by firefighters in the Twin Towers.

Prior to the climb, Brody reflected on the tribute. It was nothing, he said, compared to the sacrifice made that day — by firefighters, he noted, who rushed into the building knowing they weren’t coming back.

You can hear more from Brody and Simkowski in this Green Bay Press-Gazette video story about Thursday’s event.

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Photos by Kelly Moore, Marketing and University Communication