Almost all of those in the crowd were in grade school during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks orchestrated by bin Laden. Mike Yurchak, a seventh-grader at the time, reflected on the impact of the attacks.

"We knew right away that was a life-changing moment with the U.S," said Yurchak, a junior from Willowbrook. "Something happening like this today with President Obama telling everyone what happened is life-changing for sure."

ISU and Normal police monitored the crowd to make sure the students remained peaceful and safe. The advancing crowd caused brief closures of College and Fell avenues as well as Main and Mulberry streets. Police reported no major incidents.

"We're really happy it was a peaceful gathering," said freshman Eric Ferguson, one of several students taking partial credit for initiating the parade. "Other than people walking in the street ... nobody tried to burn anything down, nobody's stealing, nobody's looting.

"I think we're really thankful that we're at a place that lets us do this. They're allowing us to speak our voices. Because they let us, it's just a peaceful demonstration that we love our country."