Continuing Coverage by:

Kaine Gets Questions From Tech Families

July 29, 2007

By Marti Covington

When Colin Goddard returns next month for his senior year at Virginia Tech, pieces of metal from the gunshots he suffered this spring will still be in his body.

The bullet remnants are a lifelong reminder of April 16, when student Seung-Hui Cho opened fire at Tech, killing 32 students and faculty members and injuring about two dozen before killing himself.

For Goddard's father, Richmond resident Andrew Goddard, the remnants are a clear reminder that security needs to be tightened at Tech.

"I want to see changes made to legislation," Andrew Goddard said yesterday afternoon, after he and a dozen other family members of Tech shootings survivors met privately with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine at the state Capitol.

It was Kaine's first meeting with survivors and their families since visiting many of the wounded students in the hospital in April.

Comments centered on campus security and compensation for family medical costs, the governor said.

Several of the family members who attended described their student's love for Virginia Tech, but they said the students were apprehensive about returning to campus.

"People were really wanting to share on the belief of, 'Hey, you need to understand what we're feeling and the questions we have so that you can hopefully find answers,'" Kaine said.

Families voiced concerns about how the university and state have proceeded in the aftermath of the shootings.

"I want to see changes made to Virginia Tech," said Goddard, whose son did not attend the meeting. "They've got to have drills. They've got to have proper communications."

As for financial matters, Kaine said it was too early to decide how much assistance the families of the survivors will receive. It has not been determined whether they will receive state money in addition to portions of the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

"This is a crime that occurred on state property at an institution where we were paying dollars to the state for our children to attend. Shouldn't there be some more in that instance? That's the issue they raised," Kaine said. "These families in particular, some of whom are facing some pretty significant long-term medical-care costs, they raised a legitimate question. And that's something we'll talk about."

Some of the questions raised will be passed to the panel Kaine appointed to review the shootings. The group is expected to release a full report in late August that details its findings.

"I told them, 'Look, my focus in the last couple of months has been very heavily on the panel to make sure there's a report that will give us the tools to fix what needs to be fixed,'" Kaine said of his conversation with the families.

Questions and suggestions about improvements to campus security will mostly be directed to officials at Virginia Tech, Kaine said.

Jay Poole, director of the university's Office of Recovery and Support, attended the meeting but declined to comment. The creation of the office, announced Friday, is expected to help better coordinate the university's outreach to the families most affected by the shootings.

Only about five of the shooting survivors attended the meeting. The others, Kaine said, are focusing on getting back to school and want to put the shootings behind them.

"They've all made progress, but some still have quite a ways to travel," he said.

Anne Goddard, Colin's mother, said she found Kaine to be open and receptive at the meeting. She said Colin is well on the road to recovery.

"He's actually doing an internship in Madagascar right now," said Anne Goddard, president of the Henrico County-based Christian Children's Fund. "I guess he's taking after his mom."

Contact Marti Covington at (804) 649-6822 or jcovington@timesdispatch.com.