Thousands of steps, one shared purpose: Ohio State University will host its 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb at Ohio Stadium on Friday, with organizers expecting between roughly 1,500 and 1,600 participants for an event that has grown into one of the largest campus commemorations of its kind. This year carries extra weight, marking both the 10th anniversary of the university's own tradition and the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed thousands of people.
Check-in opens at 5:15 a.m. at the stadium's North Rotunda, with the climb beginning at 6 a.m. and free parking available in the northwest lot, according to The Ohio State University. As reported by WOSU Public Media, the event will feature guest speakers and an invocation from an Army chaplain, giving participants a formal moment to reflect before the physical portion of the morning begins. Participants are required to complete a liability waiver and pass through security checks before entering the stadium, per the university.
A Decade-Old Tradition Rooted in National Protocol
The climb is coordinated by Ohio State's Army ROTC program alongside the Department of Military Science and Leadership and the Office of Military and Veterans Services, the university notes. Ohio State hosts one of the largest ROTC cadet cohorts in the region, and the event traces back to a broader national movement: memorial stair climbs began on September 11, 2005, when five Colorado firefighters scaled 110 stories of a Denver high-rise to honor fallen FDNY members, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. That effort led to a 2010 partnership standardizing similar climbs nationwide, with participants typically repeating stairwell loops to match the 110 stories of the World Trade Center.
Major Kevin Overmeyer, a member of the Ohio State ROTC program who joined the Army after commissioning through ROTC, remembers where he was during the 2001 attacks. Per the same WOSU report, Overmeyer said the event helps the community remember what happened on 9/11 and described it as part of fulfilling his own duty to pay back those connected to the attacks. He said people can participate in any capacity, including simply attending without climbing, and that those who skip the stairs can still take part just by being present.
Participation Has Surged Since Early ROTC-Only Roots
What began as a smaller conditioning exercise mostly for ROTC cadets has ballooned into a university-wide event. The Lantern reported the climb drew more than 500 participants in 2023, a figure that climbed to roughly 1,400 in 2025 as student-athletes, medical center staff and local emergency personnel joined cadets on the stairs. Organizers now expect that number to grow again this year, with community members gathering to share an understanding of the 2001 attacks and experience, in a small way, what first responders faced that day.
Federal Roots and Regional Echoes of Patriot Day
The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 civilians and first responders across New York, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, including 343 FDNY firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers and eight emergency medical personnel in New York City, according to the Federal Register — still the deadliest single day for American first responders. The date has carried federal significance since December 2001, when Public Law 107-89 designated it Patriot Day, followed in 2009 by legislation naming it a National Day of Service and Remembrance that calls for flags at half-staff and a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's World Trade Center Health Program, eligible 9/11 responders and survivors receive medical monitoring and treatment for related health conditions.
Columbus has marked past anniversaries with a temporary display of 2,977 American flags on the Ohio Statehouse west lawn, arranged to echo the footprints of the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and Flight 93, with each flag representing one victim, per Ohio Cooperative Living. Ohio State's climb is one of several 25th-anniversary observances scheduled around Columbus this year. Nearby, Upper Arlington is holding its second annual stair climb event on September 13 at Marv Moorhead Memorial Stadium, where participants can scale 2,200 steps or complete a 3.5-mile walk benefiting the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, following the city's inaugural climb in 2025.
Other Ohio campuses are staging their own tributes this week as well. The University of Toledo's ROTC and athletics departments are hosting a 110-story climb at the Glass Bowl stadium in partnership with local police and fire departments, according to the Toledo Blade. Nationally, more than 16,000 Global War on Terror veterans have been interred in Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries since 2001, the VA said, underscoring the long military legacy that continues to shape how communities like Columbus choose to remember that day.
