Virginia Tech Candlelight Vigil

Touching scenes from Wednesday night's candlelight service on the Drillfield in Blacksburg:

Remembering Virginia Tech

A day of remembrance at my alma mater:

On this day, the Virginia Tech community reflects on the vibrant lives of the 32 students and faculty who were tragically taken from us a year ago. Through light, art, and music we pay tribute to each and every person we lost. We gather to honor our friends, colleagues, and family members. We will never forget.

See my post from a year ago today and the rest of my coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting. I used to live across from the dorm where the first two shootings took place and walked by the hall where most of the shootings took place every day on my way to class. Blacksburg was my home for four of the best years of my life and it's still hard for me to believe what happened down there last year.

Please keep those who lost loved ones a year ago today in your thoughts and prayers today.

Virginia Tech has two websites in honor of today here and here.



Here is a list of the fallen Hokies we remember. It is so incredibly sad to think of all whose lives were cut so tragically short:

• Ross A. Alameddine
• Christopher James Bishop
• Brian R. Bluhm
• Ryan Christopher Clark
• Austin Michelle Cloyd
• Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
• Daniel Alejandro Perez Cueva
• Kevin P. Granata
• Matthew Gregory Gwaltney
• Caitlin Millar Hammaren
• Jeremy Michael Herbstritt
• Rachael Elizabeth Hill
• Emily Jane Hilscher
• Jarrett Lee Lane
• Matthew Joseph La Porte
• Henry J. Lee
• Liviu Librescu
• G.V. Loganathan
• Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan
• Lauren Ashley McCain
• Daniel Patrick O’Neil
• Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz
• Minal Hiralal Panchal
• Erin Nicole Peterson
• Michael Steven Pohle, Jr.
• Julia Kathleen Pryde
• Mary Karen Read
• Reema Joseph Samaha
• Waleed Mohamed Shaalan
• Leslie Geraldine Sherman
• Maxine Shelly Turner
• Nicole Regina White

What Is Forgiveness?

Allen Breed writes:

BLACKSBURG, Va. - On the edge of the Virginia Tech Drillfield stands a semicircle of stones , 33 chunks of locally quarried rust-grey "Hokie" limestone.

There is one for each of Seung-Hui Cho's victims.

And there is one for Cho.

"I'm really impressed with the maturity of Virginia Tech people," said the professor, who teaches electronics and computer engineering, and who is also faculty adviser to the Korean Student Association. With the memorial, he said, "they also treat him as a victim."

My friend, Catherine, responds to this article from a Christian perspective:

This didn't sit quite right with me. I'm all for the families and grieving friends coming to forgive Cho. After all, this is at the heart of restoration and peace. Furthermore, Scriptures command Christians to forgive. But this seems different to me. To say that Cho is a victim is to somehow diminish the willful role he played in an act that cannot be considered anything less than evil.

In the best of all worlds, true forgiveness happens when someone who has committed an evil act confesses and repents. That person not only speaks truth about the nature of the act, but also chooses to turn from it in the future. The one offering forgiveness does not forgive because the act itself is deemed inevitable or somehow rationalized. The forgiver calls the act evil along with the perpetrator. For the Christian person who forgives, he or she calls upon God's strength to forgive and live in peace once more with the repentant perpetrator. The forgiver is helped in this act by understanding his or her own forgiveness through Christ.

What do the rest of you think? What is forgiveness?

Here are some of my thoughts as both a Christian and a VT alumnus:

I think it is admirable and good for the students down at VT to seek forgiveness of Cho, but agree with Catherine that it is a disservice to conceive of Cho as a victim. I certainly feel sorry for him in many ways and think he struggled with demons I have never had to face, but others do too and they don't resort to doing what Cho did. No amount of inward demons justifies shooting down 32 others in cruel, calculating, cold blood. To try to justify his actions in light of his hardships only makes it easier for others going through similar trials to inwardly justify taking the lives of others.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and she said what happened wasn't Cho's fault, but instead insisted it was society's fault. I had to strongly disagree. Blaming this on society is the same thing as blaming it on no one. It is impossible to hold society responsible for anything and implies that society acted with intention. Where does this collective conscience come from? Was everyone in America against Cho? He may have thought so, but that is the very definition of paranoia.

Certainly some people who encountered Cho were mean to him, but who hasn't encountered mean people in their past? I'm sure some people in his life were also nice to him. Don't they count as part of society too? From the reports of one of his professors, Cho was far meaner to others than anyone ever was to him. Are those people now justified in going on a murderous rampage?

Many people in America (and around the world) suffer from mental illnesses and do not commit acts like Cho did. They face the same society Cho did but do not do what he did. The difference is not in society, the difference is in Cho. He was functional enough to get into Virginia Tech and to pass his classes without getting kicked out. He was meticulous and methodical in his plans, his acquisition of guns, his mailing his videos to NBC, and in the way he shot his victims 3 times each to make sure they were dead. You can make the argument he was haunted by paranoia, but you cannot argue that he did not know what he was doing. Unfortunately, he knew all too well.

To claim society is responsible is to claim there is no center of responsibility. It feels good to make this claim because it allows us to get away from thinking badly about Cho, but it also keeps us from placing blame where it belongs.

There were many victims from last week's rampage -- the students and faculty who were killed, those who were wounded and are still recovering, the families and loved ones of those whose lives were tragically cut short, the students and university community who now grieve and whose lives will never be the same, and also Cho's family who had nothing to do with this but have gone into hiding and have experienced nervous breakdowns. All of these people suffered because of the brutal actions and intentions of one man. No one ever intended to drive Cho to the point of committing these unspeakable acts, but there is no doubt he fully intended to inflict ultimate harm on others. Blame for this rests on him and him alone.

I once read a book by Lewis Smedes called "The Art of Forgiveness" after being deeply wounded by someone very close to me. In it, Smedes wrote that we cannot claim to truly forgive someone until we blame them for what they did. It is only at that point you can truly have said to forgiven the person. Attempts to avoid blaming Cho for what he did are not the same thing as forgiving him. In fact, they prevent true forgiveness from being able to take place.

P.S. -- I do not think that it is necessary to wait until a person repents before forgiving them. Repentance is critical for reconciliation to take place, but not forgiveness. If repentance were necessary, no one could ever forgive Cho or anyone else who does harm without acknowledging the wrongness of what they have done.

Walter Williams On Virginia Tech

Professor Walter Williams shares his thoughts on last week's tragedy.

Classes Resume at Virginia Tech

Please remember the students and faculty at Virginia Tech in your prayers. Today is the first day they've returned to classes since the shootings last Monday.

Here is a very touching video tribute on Tech's website with music by Eddie from Ohio.

Here is a webcam of the drillfiield on campus.

"We Are Virginia"

I blogged about the touching song sung by GMU junior, Laura Mays, at the VT Memorial service GMU held on Thursday night. I just found an online version and added it to my first attempt at making a MySpace page. The song should automatically start playing if you follow the link.

Here is an earlier version sung by her with some incredible scenes from all around Virginia. You can see why I love my home state so dearly.

See Laura Mays' MySpace page, which also has a video from Thursday's service. The Broadside (GMU's newspaper) also has some photos from Thursday night.

A Good Question

MICKEY KAUS:

Alert emailer S.F. asks if NBC, when it broadcast baseball games, refused to show video of fans running onto the field. Most broadcasters don't, on the grounds that it would only encourage more attention-seeking disruptions. ... If that's NBC's practice, why is it OK in order to prevent the disruption of a baseball game but not to prevent mass murder? Just asking.

I'm also bothered that many media channels showed the video without warning that it could be distrubing and were showing clips of it during commercials. My six-year-old niece is very sensitive to what she sees and I'm sure there are many children who saw this whose parents wish they had not.

(HT Instapundit)

The Diminution of Common Sense

Peggy Noonan on Virginia Tech:

There seems to me a sort of broad national diminution of common sense in our country that we don't notice in the day-to-day but that become obvious after a story like this. Common sense says a person like Cho Seung-hui, who was obviously dangerous and unstable, should have been separated from the college population. Common sense says someone should have stepped in like an adult, like a person in authority, and taken him away. It is only common sense that if a person like Cho leaves a self-aggrandizing, self-celebrating, self-pitying video diary of himself to be played by the mass media, the mass media should not play it and not publicize it, not make it famous. Common sense says that won't help.

Read the whole thing.

Hokie Hope - Hollar Edition

Mom and Dad came over to Fairfax today for lunch. All three of us were fully decked out in our Virginia Tech garb.



Even Buffy (their dog) got into the Hokie spirit!



We ate at Brion's Grill and I discovered for the first time that they have an awesome all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. I'm embarassed to say I never knew that before. (I always go there on Tuesdays when they have half-price burgers). They had a touching sign inside showing support for Virginia Tech.



Afterwards, we went over to McDonald's for ice cream cones (that's when we got Buffy out of the car). It was wonderful seeing Mom and Dad today and being able to share some thoughts about what happened down in Blacksburg with family.

I ran to my class with William Easterly after lunch and saw this sign while driving later in the day. The thoughts and prayers for the Hokies from so many has truly touched me a very deep way.

"Hokie Hope" and Support Across the Nation

Don't forget today is Hokie Hope. Please wear orange and maroon in support of Virginia Tech.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has declared today to be a statewide day of mourning. Many other states have done the same.

The sports world has also lent its support. (The Washington Nationals even wore VT hats during their game against the Braves on Tuesday.) Virginia Tech alumni continue to organize memorial services across the nation.

Colleges and Universities around the country have been showing tremendous support to the Hokies throughout this tragedy, including all of our traditional rivals. As a graduate of Virginia Tech, a University of Florida alumnus, and a current student at George Mason, these two images are especially touching to me:



This one too...

Photos of GMU's Memorial Vigil for Virginia Tech

GMU did a great job with the memorial service for Virginia Tech tonight. Everything was very appropriate and quite a few students, families, and faculty turned out for it. President Merton spoke and several people sang including Laura Mays, a junior from Manassas, who sang a beautiful song she wrote after hearing of the tragedy called: "We Are Virginia". Representatives from several campus religious faiths spoke and they lit candles through the crowd.

Most of the service was relatively subdued, but tears started flowing when they started reading the names of the victims and had a representative for each person place a rose in a vase on stage. It really brought home just how many people died on Monday.

After they finished with the main service, they carried a wreath down to the statue of George Mason (who was wearing a Virginia Tech jersey) and each person in attendance laid a flower at Mason's feet. When this processional started the sun was still up and it was dark by the time all the flowers had been laid down. After a moment of silence the crowd started yelling a familiar "Let's go!" followed by everyone responding "HOKIES!" It was just like being back in Blacksburg.

Someone then put their candle on the statue's platform and everyone else soon followed. Many tears started flowing again as people left their candles.

The service ended with a moment of silence at 9 PM to coincide with a statewide vigil starting at the same time. I commend GMU for doing a wonderful job with the service tonight.

See more of my photos here. You can also watch them as a slideshow.

GMU's Virginia Tech Memorial Service

I am now at GMU's memorial vigil for Virginia Tech. It should start in a few minutes. There are many students here with many more trickling in. I suspect I will be bawling like a baby before it's done. I will post photos later tonight.

There are many here who lost loved ones on Monday. Please remember them in your thoughts and prayers.

What's Going On In Blacksburg

The Collegiate Times and Planet Blacksburg have excellent local coverage of what's going on in Blacksburg right now.

Universities Around the Country Support VT

From Virginia Tech's website:

Colleges and universities across the country and around the world have expressed their condolences and support for Virginia Tech via their websites. Read how they're supporting us by clicking on the links listed below. We will add to the list over time.

Follow the link for a list of the schools and links to their websites.

Here is a video showing the support of many universities:



See another tribute video here.

GMU Support for Virginia Tech Today

GMU is holding a series of events today to support those affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy.  I plan on attending the Vigil Service at 7 pm tonight.  If anyone else would like to attend, please e-mail me and we can arrange to meet up beforehand.

University-Wide Vigil Service
Where: Mason's North Plaza
When: 7 p.m. (rain or shine)

Mass in Memory of the Virginia Tech Victims
Catholic Campus Ministry
When: 5 p.m.
Where: Bellarmine Chapel

"Where is God in the Midst of Tragedy?"
Worship and prayer hosted by the Campus Crusade for Christ
When: 8:30 p.m.
Where: SUB 2, Front Ballroom

Make a Support Virginia Tech Ribbon
When: Noon - 5 p.m.
Where: Student Activities Conference Room

Also, tomorrow is Orange and Maroon Effect Day.  Please support families of Virginia Tech students by wearing orange and maroon. (Nation wide participation)

Between Shootings, Killer Sent Material to NBC

This just keeps getting more unbelievable. Cho sent a package to NBC in between the two shooting incidents:

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Between his first and second bursts of gunfire, the Virginia Tech gunman mailed a package to NBC News containing what authorities said were images of him brandishing weapons and a video of him delivering a diatribe about getting even with rich people.

NBC said that a time stamp on the package indicated the material was mailed in the two-hour window between the first burst of gunfire in a high-rise dormitory and the second fusillade, at a classroom building.

The package included digital images of him holding weapons and a manifesto that "rants against rich people and warns that he wants to get even," according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.

Read more here.

Update: See the video and photos Cho left behind. Very creepy and very disturbed...

Orange and Maroon Effect Day - This Friday

This idea was started by Viriginia Tech alumni and seems to be circulating around the country:

Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20th, an " Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. " Orange and Maroon Effect" was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community we all love so much.

How Many of Us Feel Right Now

(HT Brunch Bird)

My Last Visit to Blacksburg

Here are photos I took on my last visit to Blacksburg in January 2006.

These are two photos of an archway at Norris Hall where 30 people were killed on Monday. I used to walk through this archway every day on my way to class.





This my dorm, Pritchard Hall, which was directly across from Ambler Johnson where the first two students were shot.



Here are photos of Cassell Coliseum where the memroial service was held and Burruss Hall where the candlelight vigil was held.



I never could have fathomed sharing these photos in this context when I took them.

More on Virginia Tech Shootings

Streaming video of yesterday's convocation is available on hokiesports.com. Many students chose to wear school colors rather than black to show their unity and support of one another.

Virginia Tech continues to update their webpage with more details on the tragedy.

Cho's parents have apparently been hospitalized for shock. Please keep them in your prayers along with the rest of the families, students, faculty, university personnel, and loved ones affected by this tragedy.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails, text messages, phone calls, adn voice mails. Your prayers and concern for me are sincerely appreciated and cherished. I have shed tears and am still in shock by all of this, but am doing well. I was in fear of seeing the name of a professor I might have known among the victims, but did not know any of the names that have been released. I can't imagine what those who did know a victim are going through right now. Blacksburg was my home and I feel very connected to all of this.

Lists and photos of the victims can be seen here, here, and here.

Update: George Mason has a website set-up for Virginia Tech Outreach Efforts.

Thursday night, GMU will be holding a University-Wide Vigil Service in Mason's North Plaza at 7:00 p.m. (rain or shine).

The University of Florida will have a candlelight vigil program held at 8 p.m. tonight in the Reitz Student Union amphitheater in memory of the 32 killed.

It is touching to see so many lending their support of this tragedy. Here is a video tribute showing support from universities across the nation.

Update: Here is an incredible photo of the candle light vigil from Virginia Tech's Drillfield.

Virginia Tech Tribute

Here is a touching tribute to the victims of Monday's massacre:



So many lives cut tragically short with so much future that should have been left before them.

Virginia Tech Shootings - At Least 20 Fatalities

See continued coverage here.

Note: Several bloggers have reported me to be an on campus blogger. I am actually an alumni who is now living in Fairfax, VA.

This is just awful:

One person was killed and several were wounded in two shootings on the Virginia Tech university campus in Blacksburg on Monday, The Associated Press and the university reported.

A hospital spokeswoman told AP that 17 Virginia Tech students were being treated for gunshot wounds and other injuries.

The AP reported that one person was killed and one wounded in a shooting at a dormitory. Another shooting at Norris Hall, an engineering building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported.

I lived in Pritchard Hall for two years, not far from Ambler Johnston Hall where one of the shootings took place. Most of my mechanical engineering classes were in Randolph Hall next to Norris Hall where the other shootings took place. This is very real to me.

I am listening to CNN as I am writing this and they just announced at least 20 students were killed in a second shooting in Norris Hall. There was at least one shooter who in now deceased. Details are still coming in.

Please pray for the safety of the students, faculty, and law enforcement officials and for all the families and loved ones affected by this.

Virginia Tech has set-up a page with campus alerts and updates.

Update: Norris Hall is the Civil Engineering building and is across a large section of campus on the opposite side of the Drillfield. If the same shooter is responsible for both incidents, this is particularly bad as the Norris Hall shooting with the greatest casualties took place ~ 2 hours after the Ambler Johnston Hall shootings. If I understand the information coming in, classes had not been cancelled at this point, despite at least one fatality in Ambler Johnston Hall and a shooter on the loose. Students would have traversed a large part of campus with a killer still on the loose and no action taken to cancel classes or warn the students. I haven't seen these connections put together by the media yet, but this is the best sense I can make of what happened.

Update: Apparently the gunman was looking for his girlfriend, couldn't find her in the dorm and 2 hours later went to Norris Hall to look for her. She wasn't there so he started killing students execution-style.

Here is a map of campus. The first shooting took place is Ambler Johnston Hall (32). The second shooting took place in Norris Hall (132) ~ 2 hours later. Note how large a distance had to be traversed by the shooter.



I lived in Prichard (31) and took classes in Randolph (133).

Update: This is officially the deadliest campus shooting in US history.

Update: Fox News is now reporting at least 32 fatalaties have been confirmed. See photos from campus here.

Update: The news is now reporting the gunman chained the doors to Norris Hall so students could not escape. Hot Air reports:

According to WaPo, this is now the deadliest shooting spree of any kind, on campus or off, in American history. And if Wikipedia is right, it’s already the third worst in modern world history.

Pajamas Media, Michelle Malkin, and Instapundit have more coverage. I still can't believe this happened. Virginia Tech was my home for four years. I used to walk under the archway at Norris Hall almost on a daily basis.



Update: President Bush just issued a statement. He seemed a bit distracted and didn’t say much of relevance. He offered his condolences, prayers and support in the investigation of what happened. Somehow I was expecting a bit more... Virginia Tech is supposed to have another press conference at 4:30.

Update: How sadly ironic. Fairfax County Schools closed early today due to wind. Virginia Tech doesn't close when a known killer is on the loose.

Update: University President Charles Steger is currently speaking at a press conference on campus. Here are some highlights of what he and the police chief said:

• There are a total of 31 deaths in Norris Hall including the gunman.
  
• Another 15 students from Norris are being treated at hospitals.
  
• There are two confirmed deaths in the Ambler Johnson shooting.
  
• They are in the process of identifying victims and no names will be released until verified. A list should be released sometime tomorrow.
  
• The investigation continues if there is a connection between the first and second shootings. Strangely, no other suspects are being pursued.
  
• Recommmending parents not come to campus.
  
• No reasonable explanation for why classes weren't cancelled. Lots of questions essentially were dodged.
  
• They did not cancel classes because they thought the shooter left the campus and perhaps the state. (No explanation of why they thought this.)
  
• The gunman took his own life.
  
• Victims were shot at different locations around Norris Hall. (Not just one classroom.)

Nothing said during the press conference in any way explains why they didn't close the campus or at a minimum inform students about the danger. Virginia Tech touts itself as one of the most wired schools in the country and should have been able to at least try to e-mail the students. (E-mails were sent sometime between 8:50 and 9:26. I've heard conflicting reports on this.) There was nothing said that in any way gives me confidence in the decisions that were made earlier in the day.

Update: Instapundit shares this touching image of the Virginia Tech flag at half mast:

Update: I just got home from GMU's campus a few minutes ago. I was wearing Virginia Tech campus today and one of the students invited me to join a prayer meeting one of the campus ministries was having. It was very touching and several of the students know some of the wounded. I sincerely appreciated their including me and their concern for those in Blacksbrug. In related news, Desiring God's blog has some Christian perspectives on the Virginia Tech tragedy. (HT Every Square Inch) Please join the students I met tonight in keeping the students, faculty, and families affected by the shootings today. Many people still don't know if their loved ones are safe and there are still many students in the hospital with no news on the severity of their condition.

Update: Here is an official timeline of events released by Virginia Tech.

Update: Wikipedia has a page on the Virginia Tech massacre which should continue to be updated as more information becomes available.

Update: The Chicago Sun-Times has some leads on the identity of the shooter:

Authorities were investigating whether the gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history was a Chinese man who arrived in the United States last year on a student visa.

The 24-year-old man arrived in San Francisco on United Airlines on Aug. 7 on a visa issued in Shanghai, the source said. Investigators have not linked him to any terrorist groups, the source said.

Police believe three bomb threats on the campus last week may have been attempts by the man to test the campus’ security response, the source said.

Update: The killer has been identified as an undergraduate student from South Korea:

The individual has been identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23. Cho was enrolled as an undergraduate student in his senior year as an English major at Virginia Tech. Cho, a South Korean native, was in the U.S. as a resident alien with a residence established in Centerville, Va. Cho was living on campus in Harper Residence Hall.

A 9-milimeter handgun and 22-caliber handgun were recovered from Norris Hall. Ballistic tests on the evidence seized from the Norris Hall and the West Ambler Johnston Residence Hall scenes were conducted at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lab in Maryland. Lab results confirmed that one of the two weapons seized in Norris Hall was used in both shootings.

The names of the 32 deceased students and faculty will be released once all victims are positively identified and next-of-kin notified.

Classes are cancelled for the rest of the week and Norris Hall will be closed for the rest of the semester.

There will be a convocation ceremony in Cassell Coliseum at 2 PM today. President Bush and Laura Bush will be in attendance.

Update: Wikipedia has a page about the shooter.

President Bush has ordered all US flags to be flown at half-mast, both domestic and overseas, in honor of those killed.

Parents are demanding the firing of Virginia Tech's President and Police Chief.

Here is a photo of the shooter, Cho Seung-hui:

Update: Apparently Cho Seung-hui lived in the US since 1992. He and his family lived in Centreville, just a few miles from Fairfax. I can't imagine the horror his parents are experiencing right now.

Update: Engineering Science and Mechanics Professor Liviu Librescu was one of the heroes from yesterday:

A 76-year-old Romanian lecturer was hailed a hero after blocking his classroom door long enough for many of his students to escape the Virginia Tech gunman, before being shot dead.

Liviu Librescu pressed himself against the door of the classroom while shots were fired in the corridor and surrounding rooms. He stood firm, attempting to barricade the door, while his students clambered out of the windows.

Dr. Librescu was a Holocaust survivor.

I never took a class with Dr. Librescu, but took several in the ESM department and he would have been teaching while I was at Tech. See Dr. Librescu's webpage here.

Update: A live video stream of today's Convocation at 2 p.m. will be available at hokiesports.com.