SURVIVOR OF TERRORISM TO SPEAK AT COMMENCEMENT

(Worcester, MA – April 16, 2003) Jackie Pflug will serve as the featured speaker at Worcester State College’s 127^th Commencement on Sunday, May 18, 2003. The Commencement ceremonies will take place at 1:00 p.m. at the Worcester Centrum Centre.

Pflug, an American special education teacher at Cairo American School in Cairo, Egypt, was flying home from a holiday in 1985 when her life took an unexpected turn. Her flight, Egypt Air 648, was hijacked by terrorists and forced to land in Malta. The terrorists demanded fuel and safe passage to Lybia, but the Maltese government refused to negotiate. The terrorists began executing one passenger every fifteen minutes until their demands for fuel were met. Like the four passengers before her, Pflug was shot at point blank range, execution style, thrown from the plane onto the tarmac and left for dead. For five hours, she drifted in and out of consciousness until the airport grounds crew retrieved her body and discovered she was alive.

As a result of her head injury, Pflug sees only parts of words and corners of people’s faces. She continues to struggle with her disability but has focused her life on helping people create and sustain meaningful vision for their lives through her speaking engagements nationwide. Senior officers of the graduating class of 2003 selected Jackie Pflug because her story has such relevance to today’s war against terrorism, and her victory over terrorism will serve as an inspiration to the graduates.

In addition, Nathaniel Mencow of Worcester will be awarded the College’s Community Service Award. Mencow, WSC Class of 1988 and a continuing education student who will be 85 in April, is curator of the Worcester Public School’s World War II Museum and a distinguished veteran. He received the city’s Thomas S. Green Public Service Award in 2002.

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