The Day our World Changed
September 14, 2026
"No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
— Virgil, The Aeneid
This quote appears at the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s Memorial Hall and is formed from steel recovered from the World Trade Center.
Dear BW Community,
25 years ago this past Friday, our world changed in an instant. It was one of the saddest, darkest, most horrific days in history.
Most of our students were not yet born, but their lives were changed by September 11, 2001 as much as those of us who lived through every moment of that day. It is a day that is impossible to forget. 2,977 people were killed in the deadliest terrorist attack in American history.
However we experienced September 11, it is part of our shared history. Its impact reaches across generations and continues to shape families, communities, and our country.
Here at Baldwin Wallace, that shared history has a name: Donald Delapenha '85.
Don worked as a senior vice president for Keefe, Bruyette and Woods on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower, and was killed on September 11, 2001.
He was a BW accounting graduate, a Yellow Jacket football player, a fraternity leader, a successful financial services professional, a husband and a father of three.
Don loved his family, and his favorite time of day was 6:05 p.m., when he'd arrive home from work and meet his three children - Samantha, age 8, Robert, age 5, and Madison, age 2 – they would be standing outside the house waiting for him to take them on their daily ride around the neighborhood.
Don served as president of BW's Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and helped build the BW chapter into an active and respected part of campus life. His BW football teammates knew him as "Donny" and remember a hardworking offensive lineman and long snapper who never missed a workout or practice.
"Donny had a great personality," said the late and former head coach Bob Packard in 2001 when he received word of his death. "He was a real team player. The type of young man who made everyone around him better because he worked so hard in practice."
In September 2011, Don was honored in Finnie Stadium before a Yellow Jackets football game. His wife Lorraine and two of their three children were on hand. Also on the field were his former BW football teammates.
His teammates Ken Gabriel '85 and Rod Sprang '85 helped establish the Donald Delapenha Memorial Scholarship so that Don's impact at BW would continue. The scholarship supports students in BW's School of Business who demonstrate the qualities Don brought to our community: hard work, leadership, dedication and character.
See: Teammates Honor BW Alumnus With Scholarship on 20th Anniversary of 9/11
Ken Gabriel '85 said, "I have many fond memories of all the offensive linemen warming up in the same spot of the field before practices. We used to laugh and joke around with each other the whole time. Don had a witty sense of humor that could always make us laugh...I refuse to allow these events of 9/11 to affect the way I remember Donny. I choose to remember Donny by the smile he always wore on his face and as the gentleman he truly was."
Rod Sprang '85 recalled, "Donny was a smart, dedicated and hardworking person with a great sense of humor. He was the kind of guy that everyone wanted to spend time with. As a teammate and friend, he pushed you to be the best that you could be."
Duane Bishop '84, a BW Board member and classmate of Don's, wrote, "Donny was my teammate on the 1982 and 1983 OAC championship teams. As a fellow offensive lineman, we were friends. I particularly enjoyed his quick wit and New Jersey heritage. Often times, those that leave us are remembered as a "good" man or woman. I remember Donny #51 as a great man."
As we remember Don, the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives, and the countless families, friends and colleagues whose lives were forever changed by their loss, let’s also remember the powerful legacy that followed.
Twenty five years after an evil act intended to cause destruction and fear, Don's name continues to be associated with strength, resilience, friendship, and the promise of another generation of BW students.
May we carry those lessons forward, at BW, and wherever our lives take us.
Lee Fisher
President, Baldwin Wallace University