MALIBU—Pepperdine University’s Alumni Park will present its annual Waves of Flags installation that honors and adorns the victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The university began the Waves of Flags tradition in 2008. Alumni Park will be decorated in 2,887 American flags to represent each American life lost on 9/11. Along with the 2,887 flags, an additional 90 international flags will rise to pay homage to the home countries of those from abroad.
Pepperdine University is also home to The Heroes Garden, a public space for visitors to reflect and honor the heroes who lost their lives fighting for others. Pepperdine alumnus, Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. (MBA 1995), is honored at the garden for being a passenger on United Flight 93.
The garden’s plaque reads: “Dedicated to freedom’s heroes of September 11, 2001, and the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, among them Pepperdine alumnus Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., who sacrificed their lives to overcome terrorists’ intent on destroying American lives and landmarks in our nation’s capital. We shall never forget.”
More than 200 Pepperdine faculty, staff, students, and residents of Malibu placed flags around Alumni Park on September 7 to face the Pacific Ocean. The display will remain intact until Wednesday, September 25 at the corner of Malibu Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway.
