Thank you all for coming.

President Bush has proclaimed this to be a "national day of prayer" in memory of the victims of this week's terrorist attacks on the United States.

All across America, gatherings such as this are being held to mark a sad and horrible chapter in the history of this country, and, indeed, in the annals of civilization.

Here in Santa Barbara, we wanted to offer our campus family as well as the local community an opportunity to come together to acknowledge the profound impact that this terrible tragedy has had on us all, to remember those who have perished, and, to reflect.

I know that all of you share with me great sadness and shock at these events. Some of you no doubt have experienced personal losses. In a tragedy of this magnitude, there are fewer than what some refer to as "six degrees of separation." It seems as if almost everyone knows someone who has a relative who is linked to someone who worked at the World Trade Center in New York. Or at the Pentagon. Or who was on board one of those four planes - those doomed aircraft whose destiny was so stunningly cruel.

UCSB has lost an outstanding young woman who was on her way to take up her duties as our new women's gymnastics coach. Mari-Rae Sopper was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 from Washington to Los Angeles - the plane that was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon. Although most of our student athletes had not yet had an opportunity to meet her, they were extremely excited about her impending arrival. The team had planned a "Welcome to UCSB" barbecue for Mari-Rae this weekend. Instead, they are planning a memorial.

A prominent scholar on his way to speak at a conference now taking place on this campus, the Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, was on board United Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center. Robert LeBlanc was a professor emeritus of geography at the University of New Hampshire. His colleagues in the worlds of teaching, research, and exploration mourn the loss of a man known for his exciting mind and adventurous spirit.

One survivor of the attack on the New York buildings was quoted in a newspaper account as saying: "It felt like the end of the world." All of us saw the images on television, and the pictures in the newspapers - we must admit, it even looked like it might be the end of the world.

But, it was not. If this tragic episode marks the end of anything, perhaps, as some commentators have suggested, it marks the end of American innocence. I cannot say. But I will say what our response to this tragedy signifies, and that is a re-affirmation of America's resolve - to be free, to be tolerant, and to be a leader among nations.

At a time like this it is difficult, if not impossible, to find words that are adequate to convey even a small fraction of the sadness and grief that we feel. But we are here to share those emotions, even as we struggle to express them.

What makes this occasion special is that it shows us as the community that we are. I tell our new students that when they come to UCSB, they not only enroll in a university - they become part of a community. And it is at times such as this that our community comes together to begin the healing, and to remind ourselves how much we depend on each other.

I can assure you that the knowledge that we are part of a community will help guide us, and comfort us, in the days to come.

Soon - tomorrow, in fact - our new students will begin to arrive and move in to their residence halls. Within a week, our entire student body will be back with us. I think that we will need to be particularly supportive and sensitive to our students as this quarter begins. This tragedy has taken a toll on everyone.

I would again like to thank you so very much for joining us for this Memorial Observance - a program being held in remembrance of the many lives that were lost in this week's tragedy. And in acknowledgment of all the lives that have been forever changed by it.

Thank you.