The UC Davis Police Department invited attendees to climb 110 flights of stairs in the UC Davis Health Stadium to honor victims
By RORY CONLON — rhconlon@ucdavis.edu
On Sept. 8, the UC Davis Police Department invited the Davis community to climb 110 flights of stairs in honor of first responders who lost their lives on 9/11. The event raised funds for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York.
Attendees were asked to arrive at 7 a.m. to climb the stairs of the UC Davis Health Stadium. Before they started, UC Davis Police Chief Joseph A. Farrow spoke to the crowd about the significance of the event.
“I was in Washington D.C. at the Pentagon on that day, and it’s something I’ll personally never forget,” Farrow said. “This [stair climb] is for us to remember and look back on the challenges those men and women [faced] on that day in New York City.”
Robert Sotelo, a member of the Community Outreach and Engagement (CORE) Officer Program, said that 9/11 still heavily impacts the world today, 23 years later. He explained that the stair climb, which the department started hosting in 2021, is meant to be a positive tribute to lives lost.
“[9/11] changed how everything is done — how law enforcement and fire respond, and how we can bring our country together [after] such a tragic event,” Sotelo said. “It’s empowering to people to mourn together. We don’t have to make mourning into a sad event.”
Chanmorokoth Tiv, a member of the 321st medical detachment in the U.S. Army Reserve, said that acknowledging the sacrifices made by first responders on that day empowered her to persevere.
“The grit and motivation they had to do their duty in such difficult conditions pushes me [to do] this stair challenge for them,” Tiv said. “If they did it and they sacrificed their lives, time and everything to save people, then I can do the same.”
Vincent Nguyen, a member of UC Davis Police Department, said that in addition to enduring the physical toll of climbing stairs in full gear, first responders would have had to block out emotional stress to stay calm in a crisis.
“As a regular civilian, your brain goes into your fight-or-flight response,” Nguyen said. “But as a first responder, we train not to have a flight response [so we can] run into danger.”
For Austin Kline, an employee at McCarthy Building Companies, the stair climb brought back vivid memories of watching that day unfold.
“My mother came into the living room crying, and I remember watching the second plane hit the tower on CNN,” Kline said. “My dad was supposed to be traveling that day, and my mother couldn’t get a hold of him. Thankfully, he was alright, but it was quite a shock.”
Other attendees of the event were too young to have lived through that day. Ahna Meyers, a Winters Police Department cadet, was not yet born when it happened, but she participated in the climb to understand what the first responders went through.
“I was trying to keep up and run, because I was thinking about firefighters and police officers trying to save people’s lives,” Meyers said. “I think it’s inspiring to get to [follow] in their footsteps.”
In addition to bringing together the past and the present, the event built a bridge between first responders and the community.
Irie Nguyen, the wife of a UC Davis police recruit, said the American public doesn’t respect the contributions of law enforcement and the military enough. She said the stair climb could combat this through raising awareness and making connections.
“Recently, a lot of law enforcement agencies have been doing a lot of community outreach, which I think is important,” Irie Nguyen said. “If you don’t interact, you get people who think [about] officers and firefighters in our military based on what they see in movies and the news.”
Robert Sotelo said the UC Davis Police Department has been making efforts to reach out and draw more of their members from Davis residents and alumni. He estimated that the amount of people registered for the stair climb event doubled from last year.
“We can’t do it without our community’s involvement,” Sotelo said. “We don’t want people to think it’s just the police department, and we’re only here to take care of ourselves. The university community is a lot more dynamic than that, and I think we can all be more inclusive of each other and work better together if there’s a little bit more understanding of that.”
Officer David Barillas, a UC Davis alum, said he came from a place where law enforcement and members of the community had a difficult relationship. Barillas said the stair climb reminded him of his new place in the Davis community.
“When you put on a badge, you’re given a privilege to serve a community — you can’t lose that vision,” Barillas said. “[Students] may be going through a hard time, whether it be financial, related to school or just feeling like [they] don’t belong here. Having a conversation and seeing their eyes light up and their smile come alive — that’s why I do this job.”
Written By: Rory Conlon — rhconlon@ucdavis.edu
