At 5 a.m., a time when the most prominent noise was that of crickets chirping and many students were just turning in for the night, University law students were out planting 3,025 American flags, Sunday.

Six law students and volunteers gathered on Cribbet Field located at the intersection of Fourth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue for the planting to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

This marked the second time that various organizations from the College of Law coordinated their efforts to construct a temporary memorial.

“We had 13 groups sponsoring it last year, and we have six groups this year,” said Travis Menk, a University graduate student who was helping with the display.

Menk said the event was not approved until very recently, and as a result, fewer groups had time to offer to sponsor it.

The planting of the flags brought together various organizations based out of the College of Law included the Federalist Society, the American Constitution Society, the ACLU, the College of Law Republicans and the Native American Law Students Association.

Young America’s Foundation, a national organization, also sponsored the event as a part of their “9/11: Never Forget Project.” The project encourages high school and college students to plant about 3,000 American flags on school grounds, to hand out Never Forget buttons and to distribute posters to commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11, according to the foundation’s Web site.

“The Federalist Society laid a lot of the groundwork,” said John Dodd, the president of the College of Law chapter of the ACLU. “For us to cosponsor means we help.”

Timothy Bell, the president of the University chapter of the Federalist Society, said the anniversary brought many people from different organizations together.

“Getting people up at 5:00 on Sunday says a lot about their commitment,” he said. “This is not a Democrat or Republican thing. It says we will never forget.”

Jason Barickman, a University alumnus who is now the chairman of the Champaign County Young Republicans, agreed with that sentiment.

“It’s a totally eclectic group of organizations,” Barickman said. “It really brings everyone together and shows the unity of the campus, the unity of the country and the unity of the world.”

Menk stressed that though the students came from many different groups, they were not there representing those groups.

“We’re all out here as members of the College of Law,” he said.

Ben Meador, senior in LAS who saw the display, said it made the number of deaths more real.

“It’s got some impact,” he said. “You hear the number 3,000 – it’s almost too big to picture. You see all these flags. It’s a lot of people.”

Lauren Henderson, freshman in LAS, said she thought the display was unifying.

“I think it’s really powerful,” she said. “It’s a symbol of patriotism.”

Henderson also connected the display and the anniversary to more recent events.

“When this happened, the support for 9/11 was humongous,” Henderson said. “With the hurricane, there’s not as much support from the government, it’s more delayed.”

Nikhil Kamat, a University visitor from Downers Grove, Ill., also connected the display to other events.

“It’s kind of ironic that the number of flags is similar to the number of servicemen killed in Iraq,” Kamat said. “It kind of makes you wonder, that four years after the attacks of 9/11, have we done something to promote world peace? It’s like the graveyard of American policy mistakes.”

The event’s volunteers, such as Jennifer Liebman, president of the University chapter of the American Constitution Society, said she thought the early morning memorial was worth the sacrifice.

“We definitely want it up by … 8:47 a.m. (Eastern Time),” Liebman said, which was approximately the time at which the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

The display was set up in the shape of a square with tiny American flags spaced every 15 inches and was on display until 6 p.m. on Sunday. The flags were saved from last year’s display.

Money was donated from the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 5520 in Urbana, the same group that donated $300 last year, Bell said.

The flags cost $550 in total last year, and the rest of the money came from the Student Bar Association, Bell said.

Many of the people there agreed the importance of Sept. 11 could not be allowed to fade with time.

“It’s important to keep it in mind,” said Matt Hoffman, a member of the College of Law ACLU. “In time, it doesn’t hold the same importance in their mind. This is a good symbol to help remember what happened that day.”