|
|
Appalachian responds to Virginia Tech tragedy |
|
Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
 Active Image | David Mulvaney | The Appalachian
Senior psychology major Virginia C. Bates places a flower at the memorial service.
|
by NICK IANNIELLO
News Reporter
Sanford Mall became a beacon of light Wednesday as upwards of 1,000 Appalachian State Universitystudents participated in a candlelight vigil in support of the victims of Monday’s tragedy at Virginia Tech University.
“I
felt like I needed to come in remembrance of them,” Charmeen E. Mack, a
junior athletic training major who had friends injured in the attack,
said.
As
the droning of bagpipes echoed across campus, students flocked to the
front steps of Sanford Hall to mourn the loss of 33 Virginia Tech
students and faculty members and hear Student Government Association
President Forrest S. Gilliam speak.
 Active Image | The Appalachian
|
“Tonight
we have a choice, to either stay in the dark to mourn the loss of our
friends and point fingers, or make a different decision,” Gilliam said.
“We can choose to do whatever we can to keep something like this from
happening at Appalachian.”
Gilliam said this goes beyond campus safety issues.
“I’m talking about treating each other like we want to be treated,” Gilliam said.
As Gilliam spoke, the audience began lighting their candles.
“I
ask that each of you, for the remainder of tonight’s service, think of
ways you can carry your light away from here,” Gilliam said.
After Gilliam spoke, crying was heard throughout the audience as Dean of Students Susie L. Greene read the names of each victim.
Afterward, a letter from Appalachian alumnus and Assistant Director of Housing at Virginia Tech, Chris Macdonald, was read.
“Nothing can prepare someone for today and the days that follow,” Macdonald wrote.
 Active Image | Bryan Tarnowski | The Appalachian
Lauren Benoist, a sophomore psychology major (l), Susan Benoist (c) and Jean-Jacques Benoist (r) mourn the 32 victims killed at Virgina Tech Monday. The Benoist’s son, a student at Tech, was walking into Norris Hall Monday when a policeman demanded he leave immediately.
|
The
last speaker of the evening was Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock, who
compared his emotions regarding Monday’s events to those at Columbine,
Sept. 11 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy
“No, this cannot be, this is not right,” Peacock said.
Peacock
commended the students in attendance for their compassion and asked
students for their help in making Appalachian a safer place.
“By your presence tonight, you reaffirm to me that this is a caring community,” Peacock said.
The
evening closed with a performance from the men’s a capella group Higher
Ground. As participants began to disperse from Sanford Mall, Gilliam
made a parting request of the students.
“Tell someone you love them,” Gilliam said.
Though
many students have friends and loved ones at Virginia Tech, one
Appalachian State faculty member had a direct connection with one of
the victims, as she worked for two years with the RA who
was killed in West Ambler Johnston Hall.
Julie
T. Lassalle, Appalachian’s coordinator for sorority life and living,
was a graduate student at Virginia Tech University last year and was on
its campus during the shooting.
Lassalle
arrived on Virginia Tech’s campus Sunday evening, where she met and
talked with Ryan Clark, one of the first two people who were shot and
killed.
Lassalle,
who was staying at Virginia Tech Monday in graduate housing, said when
she found out about the shootings in Norris Hall, she was in a state of
“disbelief.”
When
Lassalle found out Clark was one of the victims, she said her mind
flashed back to the time she had spent with him Sunday evening.
 Active Image | David Mulvaney | Chief Photographer
Junior anthropology major Melody M. Heath holds a picture of Erin Peterson, an 18-year-old freshman who died in the shootings.
|
“[He
was a] champion in social justice,” she said. “Knowing Ryan, he was
trying to do everything he could to protect his resident.”
Sophomore elementary education major Taylor Cairns’ boyfriend attends Virginia Tech.
“It was really upsetting for me because he called me from his room on lockdown,” she said.
She
was on the phone with him at 9:45 a.m. when he told her that he had to
go because they were making people get away from the windows.
“I was basically hysterical watching the news,” she said.
Her
boyfriend, Daniel Whitmire, said he was in lockdown in his classroom
until 12:30 p.m. and had to communicate with Cairns over Facebook.com
because university phone lines produced only busy signals.
“We just wanted to get out of there,” Whitmire said. “We were just completely shocked and stunned.”
He said the majority of people who attend Virginia Tech are not nervous at all to go back.
“I
think that they are all strong kids and I think they are going to be
able to overcome this … they all love that school, and I don’t think
anything can keep them away,” Cairns said.
Click here for more personal accounts by Appalachian students.
Trackback(0)
 |
|
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
