In the wake of 9/11, Syracuse University students and faculty came together to support one another emotionally as a community. Fifteen years later, we’ve seen the university make steps in the right direction academically when it comes to the issues that relate to the tragic events of that day.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks, SU expanded its curriculum. The then-dean of the College of Law and a law professor opened the Institute of National Security and Counterterrorism. Current political science department chair Mehrzad Boroujerdi jumpstarted the Middle Eastern studies program with Judaic studies chair Ken Frieden, after having asked the school to create a program for years. In 2005, Arabic was offered as a minor to complement Middle Eastern studies.

While some may see these efforts as militaristic in nature, that characterization is too harsh. The community was simply stepping up to the plate to combat terrorism in the most effective way it could have: by teaching. And the more an institution can do to make its students more literate about cultures other than their own, the better equipped students will be to bring about lasting and thorough change.

Fifteen years after the attacks, the most important reflection that can be made on SU’s response to 9/11 is how proactive the university was. It heard the demand for Middle East-focused academia and acted accordingly, and continues to act accordingly by adding cyberterrorism and cybersecurity to the conversation. SU would have been justified in just offering emotional support, but the university went the extra mile to let knowledgeable faculty members put their passion to good use.

Many peer institutions, including Northeastern University and Northwestern University, have their own incarnations of interdisciplinary Middle Eastern studies. Looking at Boston University, for example, SU is up to standard with its opportunities to study Persian and Turkish along with Arabic and Hebrew. With language training, graduates of SU’s Middle Eastern program will be more likely to overcome any language barriers in their line of work.

BU does stand apart in that it offers a minor in Muslim cultures or Muslim societies entirely separate from the Middle Eastern program. If SU were to add a Muslim studies minor or major, students interested in the Middle East could both address veins of religious extremism and unlearn Islamophobic attitudes.

The problem of identities and nations in conflict will still be relevant 15 years down the road because the conversation is happening in real time. As each class of college student becomes further removed in age from 9/11, it is critical that SU keeps up its legacy of bridging that gap in cultural understanding.