Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, students from the Committee for a Better University, College Democrats and College Republicans place 3,000 American flags in the Brickyard — one for each victim of the attacks.

This is the second year the groups are sponsoring the event.

“Last year we received a really positive response from the school,” Christine DiPietro, chair of the Committee for a Better University and a sophomore in political science, said. “It’s the fifth anniversary and it’s important that we remember this day accurately and appropriately.”

Members of the group are spending the night in the grass next to the flags to ensure they aren’t vandalized or stolen, and to help spread the word.

“We’ve already had a lot of people walk by and ask what’s going on,” DiPietro said, adding that students not affiliated with the sponsoring groups stopped to help with the placement of the flags.

Tara Ilsley, a member of College Democrats and a sophomore in political science and Spanish, said it’s important for everyone to remember what happened five years ago.

“We need to come together as a community, not as partisan,” she said.

The groups will display ribbons, offer thank you notes for troops and accept donations to help send the letters and supplies to troops.

“We’re totally supporting the troops and everything they stand for,” Ilsley said.

Joe Humphries, vice chair of both the Committee for a Better University and College Republicans and a senior in political science, said he is from Fort Bragg.

“I’m from a military town and it kind of hit close to home, Sept. 11,” he said. “It’s important to me that we never forget this.”

The flags surround an oak tree planted by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and the University community on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

The organizations are also co-sponsoring a vigil tonight at 9:11 p.m. on the Court of North Carolina.

College Republicans are sponsoring a speaker tonight, Major John Krenson, at 7 p.m. at Bostian Hall.