Welles Crowther of Nyack became a hero on the tragic morning of September 11, 2001, when he rescued more than a dozen people while ultimately sacrificing his own life with the collapse of the World Trade Center’s South Tower during the terrorist attacks. Crowther’s bravery and the pursuit of justice toward the perpetrators will be the focus of a September 25 discussion by Crowther’s mother, Alison Crowther, at Rockland Community College. The event is free and open to the public.
The presentation, “The Man in the Red Bandanna: What can be learned from Nyack’s own hero, Welles Crowther,” is set for 1:30 pm -2:45 pm in the Ellipse of RCC’s Technology Center. Crowther, a graduate of Nyack High School and Boston College, was working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower when the attacks occurred. He used his volunteer firefighter training from Nyack’s Empire Hook & Ladder Company to usher as many as 18 people to safety, donning his trademark red bandanna to protect against the smoke and haze.
Alison Crowther will begin her presentation with the brief ESPN video “Man in the Red Bandanna,” narrated by Edward Burns. She will then speak about her son and also about her attendance at the July 2016 pre-trial hearings of the attacks’ mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four alleged co-conspirators, held at the Guantanamo Bay Navy Base in Cuba.
“While the 9/11 attack is fresh in the minds of adults that day, some of our college students were toddlers,” said Dr. Kevin Barrett, Associate Professor and Chair of Criminal Justice at RCC, who extended the invitation to Mrs. Crowther. “Hearing a firsthand account from Alison Crowther might spur our students on to learn more and not forget the lesson of Welles’ selfless heroism.”
Alison Crowther and her husband, Jefferson, are founders of the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust, which awards scholarships in their son’s memory, and partnered in developing the Red Bandanna Project, a curriculum based on Welles’ story that teaches about character, leadership and “the power of one.”
For more information on the September 25 presentation, contact Dr. Kevin Barrett at 845-574-4320 or kbarret4@sunyrockland.edu.
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