Syracuse University has announced it won’t hold its yearly week in 2020, but instead remembrance events will take place virtually, starting in October until the end of the year.
The programme will look different to other years, but Lockerbie scholar Mary-Ann Mcvey said she is still looking forward to hosting the virtual events and educating students about the 1998 bombings.
Mary-Ann said: “This year the cohort will be spacing events out over the whole year rather than just focussing their efforts on the Remembrance Week alone.
“We hope to hold some of our traditional events like the candlelight vigil but will be adapting them to suit our current climate.
“There are also many other exciting projects that will be online that are currently in development within various subcommittees that will be unique to this year’s programme.”
Although Mary-Ann says it’s disappointing she won’t be experiencing a traditional remembrance experience like previous scholars, she hopes moving to an online platform can help make content more widely available.
She said: “I applaud the university for taking precautions to keep everyone safe during these times. By moving things online this year, the scholars will also be able create content that is more widely available. We hope to include the community in Lockerbie in our work this year.”
Mary-Ann and fellow scholar Aidan Kevans left for Syracuse University last month and both have settled in well.
She said: “We absolutely love it here. Syracuse University is such a beautiful campus with such a wide range of interesting classes.
“I can’t express how grateful I am for this opportunity and I’m excited for the next part of my adventure.”
Aidan added: “I am looking forward to seeing how this year unfolds and how we can work with remembrance scholars to represent aptly.
“It is something that hasn’t been done before which allows us as scholars to get creative and find new ways to represent our town. “Additionally, virtual events allow people from Lockerbie to get involved too which we haven’t had in recent years.”
