Lessons of Lockerbie
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ALUMNI GAZETTE Lessons of Lockerbie This December marks the 25th anniversary of a terrorist act that cost two Rochester students their lives and sent an alumnus on an international legal mission. By Scott Hauser versary of the Lockerbie bombing, an act of terrorism that until Sept. 11, 2001, was the Mark Zaid ’89 had already turned his deadliest single attack involving American attention to his upcoming spring gradua- civilians. A total of 270 people died, includ- tion when he heard about the explosion of ing 189 Americans as well as 11 people in Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Lockerbie. Suspicion for the attack ulti- in December 1988. The news caught him up mately turned to Libya, setting off an inter- short as the details emerged: the transatlan- national legal battle that in 2001 resulted in tic flight from London’s Heathrow Airport the conviction of one of two suspected Lib- to New York was carrying 243 passengers, yan intelligence officers. The Libyan died in including 35 American students returning 2012 after being released by Scotland on the from a London study abroad program spon- grounds that he was terminally ill. sored by Syracuse University. During the past 25 years, Zaid has been at Two of the passengers—Eric Coker and the forefront of efforts to represent the in- Katharine Hollister—were Rochester stu- terests of families whose loved ones died in dents, both from the Class of 1990. the attack. In 1993, he helped set up a two- mark both the 10th and 20th anniversaries. Zaid, who had been in London during the person law office whose clients included He was on campus for a Meliora Weekend spring 1988 semester as part of a British Par- a widower of a Pan Am victim, at the time ceremony and again in November to mark liament program, remembered making a the sole Pan Am family member interested the 25th anniversary. similar flight just months earlier. He had met in pursuing a lawsuit against Libya. Zaid “I want Eric and Kate to be remembered,” Hollister on a few occasions when the paths of helped draft federal legislation that made says Zaid, who started a scholarship to rec- Rochester schoolmates crossed. Long inter- it easier for United States nationals to sue ognize Coker and Hollister and to support ested in history, politics, and the law, he found countries that had been designated terror- a current student who is interested in the he couldn’t let go of the notion that someone ist states. Zaid, who now heads his own law should be held accountable for what was soon firm in Washington, D.C., eventually repre- u: CEREMONY Eric Coker ’90 (above, left) demonstrated to be an act of terrorism. sented about 30 families of Pan Am victims. and Katharine Hollister ’90 (above, right) “When I started law school in August Frequently asked to talk about the bomb- are memorialized on a plaque near Morey 1989, I went in specifically to study how ing, the lawsuits, and the changes to nation- Hall, where Jaclyn Reinhart ’14 placed a we could go after the terrorists,” says Zaid. al and international law that have come wreath during a Meliora Weekend ceremony “I’ve been working on this since day one of about since Lockerbie, he makes a point of attended by Eric’s father, Tom, and law school.” speaking to alumni audiences whenever he stepmother, Dorothy (couple on the path at This December 21 marks the 25th anni- can, including University presentations to left), and led by Mark Zaid ’89 (podium). 46 ROCHESTER REVIEW November–December 2013 UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/DEPARTMENT OF RARE BOOKS, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, AND PRESERVATION 5_RochRev_Nov2013_Gazette.indd 46 10/25/13 4:10 PM ALUMNI GAZETTE study of history and international affairs. are very much concerned with what’s going that Coker might have channeled his inter- “I wanted to make sure I gave back to the on elsewhere and how their actions affect ests into a career as a scholar focused on po- University because that’s where it all start- other countries,” she says. litical or global affairs. ed with me, with Eric and Kate.” Having a global perspective was impor- But he knows that Coker would have Jaclyn Reinhart ’14, a political science tant to Coker, says John Iovieno ’90 who wanted his tight group of friends to stay major from Williamsville, N.Y., who is the met Coker during orientation activities in close, something Iovieno has taken the ini- current recipient of the scholarship, says 1986. Outgoing and energetic, known for tiative to do, and that he would have liked that although the Lockerbie bombing took his love of practical jokes, Coker quickly be- to know that other Rochester students con- place well before she was born, she under- came the center of a small group of friends. tinue to have opportunities similar to the stands the emotional, cultural, and political “He was very much the glue of the group,” ones he had. impact that such incidents can have. says Iovieno. “He was always the leader in “Perhaps they had an impact in ways that She appreciates that Zaid wants to help keeping us close together and making sure they never knew,” Iovieno says of those who students with an interest in global history. we got together.” died 25 years ago, particularly those who Her own experience studying in Austra- Well versed in history and politics, Coker were just starting out in their lives. “Maybe lia has convinced her that most Americans had traveled to the then Soviet Union on a things happened as a result of our know- should pay more attention to international high school program and paid close atten- ing them that eventually turned out to be news and events. “Other parts of the world tion to international news. Iovieno imagines good.”r KEITH WALTERS FOR ROCHESTER REVIEW November–December 2013 ROCHESTER REVIEW 47 5_RochRev_Nov2013_Gazette.indd 47 10/25/13 2:09 PM.