MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Edwin “Ed” Kaup, assistant vice president and University Police chief, will be the guest speaker for the 10th annual 9/11 Remembrance at Middle Tennessee State University.
The public and MTSU community are invited to attend the ceremony, which is free and will be held at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the second-floor atrium in Miller Education Center, 503 E. Bell St., in Murfreesboro. It also will be shown on www.mtsu.edu/live.
Parking will be available adjacent to Miller Education Center and in a nearby lot at Bell Street and North Highland Avenue.
The 9/11 Remembrance, coordinated by the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center, will commemorate the 23rd anniversary of a series of four coordinated terrorist suicide attacks by the extremist group al-Qaida on U.S. landmarks, which occurred Sept. 11, 2001.
Usually held at the MTSU Veterans Memorial site outside the Tom H. Jackson Building, organizers moved this year’s ceremony because of campus construction.
Along with Kaup, an Illinois native hired by MTSU in 2022, the program will include welcome remarks from retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives; the singing of the national anthem by country music performer Rachel Lipsky; a moment of silence; the reading of the 9/11 timeline by MTSU (Army) and Tennessee State University (Air Force) ROTC cadets; and the playing of taps by Michael Swaenepoel.
“The terrorist attack of 9/11 changed our world,” Huber said. “It changed my life as I continued my life of military service in defense of our democracy, in protection of our freedoms and focused on the safety of our precious families.
“From my foxhole it is essential that we never forget the harsh brutality of this attack as well as the resulting acts of demonstrated courage and sacrifice. … I deeply appreciate the superlative support of our community and university leadership.”
Kaup, who will share where he was on 9/11 during the ceremony, has spent a lifetime in law enforcement. It began as an adult probation officer in the Cook County, Illinois, Adult Probation Department’s Home Confinement Unit in 1993. He moved to the Chicago Police Department in July 1995, working numerous leadership positions and ranks, retiring in 2022 as captain-executive officer.
University Police is an internationally accredited full-service law enforcement agency, with budgeting for 45 sworn positions, seven dispatch positions, five civilian positions including an emergency manager, Kaup said.
— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)
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