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by Jerome L. Sherman
As classes resume, most students
categorize the massacre as a freak event and say they feel safe on
campus
Monday, April 23, 2007
Allen and Shelby Kendrick help their daughter, sophomore Terri Kendrick,
as she returns to the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va.,
yesterday. Classes resume there today, a week after the massacre by
gunman Seung-Hui Cho.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Few people have deeper Hokie roots than William
Thomas.
He graduated from Virginia Tech in
1972, the 100th anniversary of the school's founding. He received his
master's degree in mechanical engineering the next year. He then taught
at the school. His wife graduated in 1976. His daughter graduated in
2000. His son, William Thomas III, is a junior.
"We still really feel like it's one
of the safest places in the world," Mr. Thomas, 56, of Richmond, Va.,
said as he and his family yesterday strolled across Drillfield, the vast
lawn at the heart of Tech's 2,600-acre campus.
Indeed, the scene was one of
seemingly endless tranquility. Some students lounged under the warm sun,
while others played Ultimate Frisbee. A violin-guitar duo performed in
the shade.
One week after a gunman killed 32
people here in the worst shooting incident in modern American history,
the Tech community is taking a major step -- students are resuming
classes today.
The school's recovery will depend
heavily on people like Mr. Thomas, who belongs to a network of 195,000
living alumni. As students returned to Blacksburg yesterday, many were
accompanied by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends
who also once lived and studied in this southwestern corner of Virginia.
For the most part, they view last
Monday's spasm of violence as a freak occurrence, one that could have
struck any campus.
"We support the school 100 percent,"
said Mr. Thomas' wife, Dianne, who was wearing a pearl VT pin.
"Being here, I feel safe," said the
younger Mr. Thomas, who studies property management and real estate.
"This is the most relaxed place you could ever be."
Joe Ramsey, 47, of Lynchburg, Va.,
graduated in 1982 with a degree in engineering. Four sisters and three
nephews also are Tech graduates, and his 17-year-old daughter hopes to
study accounting at the school.
As an undergraduate, Mr. Ramsey
spent many hours in Norris Hall, where Seung-Hui Cho shot 30 people
before killing himself.
"It's a little sobering," Mr. Ramsey
said. "To me, this kind of incident could have happened anywhere in the
nation. It just happened that it was here."
Throughout the day, traffic was
heavy on Interstate 81 as students, their families and other visitors
streamed toward the campus. Electronic road signs along the highway
blinked: "Welcome VT. Drive safely." Many cars sported Tech decals.
In the immediate aftermath of the
shooting, school officials canceled all classes and told Tech's more
than 26,000 students to go where they would feel comfortable. Many left,
and many stayed.
"My mom kind of made me come home,"
said Monica Lee, 23, a senior from South Boston, Va. "I did want to see
her. But as soon as I got home I wanted to come back."
It was a common theme among Tech
students. Some longed to be with family members, but some felt an even
stronger need to remain at the school, a sign of solidarity with fellow
Hokies.
Ms. Lee had a particularly
compelling reason to get back quickly. One of her friends suffered three
gunshot wounds in Norris Hall and spent the week at Montgomery Regional
Hospital.
"She's doing a lot better," Ms. Lee
said of her friend, whom she declined to name out of respect for her
privacy. The shooting victim was released from the hospital yesterday
and is expected to recover fully.
A group of students under the
umbrella "Hokies United" has been organizing campuswide events all week
to help with the healing process. This morning, the group will release
1,000 orange and maroon balloons -- the school colors -- at 9:46 a.m. on
Drillfield, following a moment of silence across the campus, and a bell
in Burruss Hall will ring 32 times.
Most instructors will spend their
first sessions with students talking about last week's tragedy.
Final exams are to begin in several
weeks, but students have the option of bypassing them.
"I'm going to decide in a few days,"
said the younger Mr. Thomas, who has a 12:30 p.m. property management
class today.
"I'm ready to go back, but, at the
same time, I'm flustered with all of this."
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