KU Dole Institute to host Sept. 11 'Day of Reflection,' naturalization ceremony

LAWRENCE -- As part of its "Day of Reflection" marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Dole Institute of Politics invites the public to visit the institute between 8 a.m and noon Thursday to view its memorial to those lost in the attacks -- two ten-foot steel columns retrieved from the World Trade Center that are now encased under a 29-foot stained glass American flag.

The public also is invited to sign a book of remembrance that Sen. Bob Dole will send to New York City Mayor Bloomberg and the people of New York.

A ceremonial flag-raising by a contingent of several Lawrence Boy Scout troops will begin the day at 8 a.m. outside the institute. The day will culminiate at 2 p.m. when approximately 150 people from 59 nations will take an oath to become American citizens in a ceremony inside the institute on the University of Kansas campus.

The naturalization event, the first of its kind to be held on the KU campus, is open to invited guests and media only due to limited seating capacity at the institute.

The new Americans range in age from 29 to 75 years and hail from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St. Vincent-Grenadines, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Poland.

The 90-minute ceremony will begin with music by the Kansas Brass Quintet, presentation of colors by the Kansas Wing of the Civil Air Force Patrol, and the singing of the national anthem by Sarah L. Young, a lecturer in the KU English department. Two KU seniors from Lawrence, Julia Hardin and Evan Grosshans, will sing "America the Beautiful" at the conclusion.

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway and U.S. District Court Judge John W. Lungstrum, a 1970 KU graduate, will preside over the ceremony. Deanell Reece Tacha, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Judicial Circuit, will deliver the address. Tacha, a Scandia, Kan. native who now lives in Lawrence, is a 1968 KU graduate and former KU School of Law faculty member.

The ceremony is sponsored by the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, KU, the Dole Institute, Daughters of the American Revolution (Betty Washington, Mission Hills, Quivira Crossing, Shawnee Mission, Tomahawk and Wyandot chapters), League of Women Voters of Johnson County, American Legion posts #14 and #370, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #852.

The Oath of Allegiance given to all new citizens:

I,________________________________________, Hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

The Dole Institute was dedicated this summer in a four-day gala celebration attended by hundreds of veterans plus special guests including former President Jimmy Carter, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

With limestone walls, soaring stained-glass windows and a large reflecting pool reminiscent of Washington's Tidal Basin, the institute already is a KU landmark. The $11 million, 28,000-square-foot facility houses state-of-the-art exhibits and the world's largest Congressional archive as well as meeting spaces and KU's first satellite uplink. A 14-foot replica of the Kansas state seal is one of several distinctive architectural features. Others include a 19-foot stone map of Kansas and a 12-foot replica of the Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., accompanied by a multi-screen video "tour" of the legislative process, narrated by Dole.

The institute is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Admission is free. For more information, call (785) 864-4900 or visit www.doleinstitute.org