Blocking out the rising sun, Yager Stadium stretches out on the edge of Miami University’s campus. The bleachers and handrails, still slick from the morning dew and rain, glisten softly in the light as people slowly start the trek to the top of the stadium.
On Wednesday, Sept. 11 the bleacher stairs that spectators have used to watch Miami football games will represent the stairs that the first responders climbed in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Service Plus, a Miami volunteer organization and branch of AmeriCorps, the federal organization for volunteerism, first established the Yager Stadium Memorial Climb in 2023.
Tiffany Block, the director of Service Plus, said she was proud of how they commemorated the tragic event.
“The program recognizes important American events, holidays, and memorial days,” Block said, “and we researched that climbing the amount of stairs that the first responders would have needed to climb on 9/11 was a great way to commemorate it.”
Block also expressed pride in the turnout compared to the previous year.
“I’m really excited by the big turnout,” Block said. “Last year we had about twenty-five sign-ups and this year we quadrupled that number.”
The event consists of climbing up and down each staircase of the stadium to one end, then repeating the same back to the start. A completion of the entire 2,200 steps takes roughly two hours.
This is the second annual Yager Stadium Memorial Climb put on by a Miami volunteer organization and branch of AmeriCorps.
Alex Sargent, a fifth-year critical race theory major and Service Plus member, said he went through the challenge to honor those who died.
“I did this event last year and wanted to show respect for all those who passed away,” Sargent said. “And as a member of AmeriCorps and Service Plus I wanted to help the organization.”
Other students that turned out wanted to display their patriotism as well, and get a good workout while they were doing so. Will Rank, a senior leadership and entrepreneurship co-major, described both his desire to moralize the day and his appreciation for the difficulty of the event.
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“I came out here to support the fallen victims and firefighters and to get exercise in the morning,” Rank said. “The first half was hard, and I’m down to walking the second part after running the first part.”
Gabbi Hugentobler, a senior entrepreneurship major, said even though she didn’t have personal or familial connections to 9/11, she still wanted to come.
“I think it’s a way to both challenge yourself and give back to the community,” said Hugentobler. “It was hard but revitalizing [and] in the end, I was glad to do it.”
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