ELMIRA, NY (WENY) -- Leading up to the 21st anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Elmira College is continuing its tradition of honoring those who lost their lives that day.

Friday morning, students, staff and members of the Elmira Police and Fire departments placed 2,996 American flags on campus along Park Place. Each flag represents a victim of 9/11, from the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The event has special meaning for Elmira College, which lost a former student in the collapse of the World Trade Center.

"It's a tribute to the people that we lost on this day. And it's also very special to the college," explained Ellen Himmelreich, Director of Alumni Engagement. "We lost an alum, Daryl McKinney, class of 97, who was in one of the towers and he passed, and this is a way for us to reflect on that day, bring awareness to the community and to our students about that day and what it meant to America."

Assistant Director of Campus Engagement, Ytzel Flores Cristiansen said about 50 to 60 people helped place the flags Friday morning, beginning at 8:46AM; the time the first plane crashed into the North Tower at the World Trade Center. She explained it's important that the students recognize the significance of this date, and its impact on Elmira College.

"I think my main focus is the fact that most of our students probably weren’t alive when it happened, to have it be fresh in their minds, they know the impact it has on the world, even 21 years later now," she said.

"As a community we need to come together, on a day like this, at least reflect on the tragedies that happened, but also that good that can come of this," said Himmelreich.