2000s: Technology and Terror
Unity in Diversity Month, November 2002
After escaping the much touted but ultimately anti-climactic Y2K disaster, the new century started out much like it had ended. Students on campus tended to their studies, did volunteer work in the community, and celebrated the multiculturalism of the campus. Unfortunately, life for our students, for Chicagoans, and for the rest of the world would be forever changed by the events of September 11, 2001. After the terrorist attack, students took on many of the challenges that faced the rest of the country. They protested the "War on Terror," grappled with prejudices against students of Middle Eastern dissent, and tried to make sense of what this meant for their futures. Life, however, moved on, and in the years following, great changes occurred. One event which had major pop culture and societal effects was the massive rise of social media, which seemed innocuous enough at the time, but has permanently changed communication around the world. Another was in 2008 when one of the most politically influential events in history occurred: our country elected Barack Obama as the first black President of the United States.
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