Six students from Barrett, the Honors College spent two and a half days learning about terrorism in the U.S. by taking a class trip to Oklahoma City to visit the site of the famous 1995 bombing.
The honors college funded the trip as an extension of a special topics class, “Terrorism and the Press,” taught by journalism professor Bill Silcock.
“I went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial (and Museum) last summer to do a workshop … and I was so moved by my experience,” Silcock said. “I knew when we were studying terrorism in class we would talk about the Oklahoma City bombing, and there’s nothing like going to the site of a horrific event to gain that experience. It’s more than just emotionally impacting — it’s educational, and brings into the course material something I just can’t bring.”
The April 19, 1995 bombing was planned and carried out by four Americans upset with the federal government. A truck filled with explosives was detonated in the parking lot of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children under the age of six, and injuring hundreds more.
At the time, it was considered the most destructive act of terrorism to occur on U.S. soil.
Silcock and his students arrived in Oklahoma City Thursday night, toured the memorial on Saturday and returned to Arizona that evening.
On Friday, the students spoke with and interviewed several famous journalists known for their terrorism coverage worldwide, including Mike Boettcher, who started CNN’s terrorism unit.
“My favorite part of the trip was talking with … Boettcher,” journalism freshman Justin Beatty said. “He was really insightful on giving us a reporter’s perspective and an inside look at how terrorism affects not only people in the U.S., but also overseas. He’s spent a lot of time in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that was really interesting.”
Journalism freshman Nesima Aberra said the best part of the trip for her was the tour of the memorial.
“The museum is not just focused on the Oklahoma City bombing; it’s … very much contemporary and very dedicated to understanding and solving the problem of terrorism crimes,” she said. “It was an absolutely amazing experience for me.”
The four other students were economics sophomore Danielle Back, computer information systems senior Aaron Steichen, journalism sophomore Janessa Hilliard and economics senior Sean Golhz.
As a requirement for selection for the trip, all six students were required to blog about their experience and speak to the “Terrorism and the Press” class this week, Silcock said.
About 40 students applied to attend the trip, so Silcock said he hopes the students will be able to give back to their classmates through the presentation.
“It was an amazing experience for a teacher to be able to take students to the memorial,” he said. “It’s like a field trip you take in third grade, but far more impacting.”
Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu
