Beneath Spanish Oak trees in the Gumenick Quadrangle on campus, there are four stone benches, each etched with the name of a University of Richmond graduate who died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Each year, the University honors their memory by laying flowers on the benches and lowering the flag to fly at half-staff.

Shortly after the attacks on 9/11, University of Richmond Magazine dedicated the next issue to the tragedy and reported how those events affected the campus community. Below are excerpts about the alumni who were lost that day.

David B. Brady, R'82

Friends described him as "an amazing and unique individual -- outgoing, positive, and someone who lived life to the fullest." David Brian Brady, 41, was survived by his wife, Jennifer Elsman Brady, W'84, and their four children. Brady had met an associate for breakfast on the 106^th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center that day. He was able to phone his wife and father before the building collapsed. Prior to his death, he worked at Merrill Lynch for 16 years. At the University, Brady was an English major and a member of the Catholic students, economics, and ski clubs. A member of the College Republicans, he was a senator in the Richmond College Student Government Association.

Donald T. Jones II, R'84

Donald T. Jones, 39, was an executive vice president in the municipal bond department of Cantor Fitzgerald. He was working on the 104^th floor of the North Tower on Sept. 11. Newspapers termed him a hero in 1993 for calmly leading many people, including a woman in labor, down 100 floors following the World Trade Center bombing. "I'm sure he tried to do the same for his co-workers this time," said his brother, William B. Jones II, R'90. "That was the kind of man he was." Jones was also survived by his wife Michele and two children. A history major, Jones was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was in the ski club and Young Republicans; played intramurals; and served on the Marsh Hall council.

Thomas R. 'T.C.' Clark, R'86

A lover of history, T.C. Clark not only majored in the subject, but also became his family's historian. He was "the keeper of funny stories about everyone," said his brother, after Clark, 37, died in the collapse of the World Trade Center's South Tower. He was survived by his wife Lisa and two children. A vice president at Sandler O'Neill & Partners on the tower's 104^th floor, he lived in Summit, N.J. At the University, he was a member of the economics and pre-law clubs and the interfraternity council, and played intramurals. He joined Phi Delta Theta fraternity and continued to see his fraternity brothers regularly, including a meeting about a month before his death.

Michael B. Finnegan, R'86

A currency broker with Cantor Fitzgerald, Michael B. Finnegan, 37, was survived by his wife Erin McDonnell Finnegan and their three children. He enjoyed teaching his children to swim and play golf, the latter a sport in which he competed for four years while at Richmond. On Sept. 11, Finnegan was working on the 106^th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. Speaking to a friend and customer on the phone, he said he had to leave because of smoke in the building. Family and friends heard no more from him. Finnegan's sister described him as someone who had an incredible passion for people and life. "His unfettered enthusiasm for life was contagious." An economics major, Finnegan was a member of the dean¿s advisory council, the economics and Phi Alpha clubs, the honor council, and the marketing society. A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Young Republicans, he also served as vice president of the interfraternity council.