Given the University's large international population and global perspective, it is not surprising the London attacks affected many on the Hill.
For some students impact was more direct: the attacks occurred in their backyard. Senior Brian Potskowski studied at Oxford last year and worked in London for the summer.
The July 7 bombings were not his first brush with terrorism: he was in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001.
His first impression when he heard pieces of the news in London was that it was a terrorist attack. "I had been on the DLR [Docklands Light Rail train] on my way to work," Potskowski said. "There was a delay because of a power failure. No one knew what was going on."
Within two hours, it was clear the power failure was actually bomb explosions. When Potskowski got to his office, only three other people were there. The confusion and shock led to quiet workplaces and later, crowded streets.
Jaqueline Leverson, Tufts-in-London program director, said her ride into University College London that morning was full of anxiety. "We could see what I can only describe as an army of pedestrians marching on central London," Leverson said, "each with a cell-phone pressed to an ear."
After a few hours in a quiet office, Leverson joined the throngs of people in the streets and started a three-hour pilgrimage home. She described the roads as having "a very curious and eerie silence broken only by police and ambulance sirens and the whirring of helicopters overhead."
Once the public transportation system began running again, people tried to resume daily routines. Whereas in the past safety on public transportation had generally been taken for granted, Leverson said after the attacks, "I was relieved to arrive safely at my destination."
Leverson usually takes the subway, known in London as the Tube, to work. She took a minicab the day of the bombings. "When the Tube did start running again, it was half-empty," Leverson said. "People were quiet, even when talking to one another, and I suppose we were all a bit nervous."
Current Londoners are trying to go back to their normal lives. "In the end, I suspect that the simple need to get on with life and go to work was as important as any other emotional response," Leverson said. "Now that the summer vacation is over and almost everyone has to be back at work, the tubes are filling up again - though they are still not as crowded as before."
"We just have to get on with life and hope and pray that nothing so terrible will occur again," Leverson said.
