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Tech Adding Office To Help Victims’ Families

July 29, 2007

By Rex Bowman

Virginia Tech announced yesterday that it is creating an Office of Recovery and Support to coordinate the university's outreach to families most directly affected by Tech's April 16 massacre.

Jay Poole, former rector of nearby Radford University and a 1978 graduate of Tech, has been named director of the new office and will report directly to President Charles W. Steger.

Poole has been charged with assembling a team of school staffers from the offices of the president, the provost, student affairs and university relations. The group will provide a single point of contact for families of those killed or wounded by gunman Seung-Hui Cho, according to a written statement from Tech.

Cho killed 27 fellow students and five teachers before shooting himself April 16. He wounded two dozen students.

Yesterday's announcement marks another effort by Tech to work with the victims' families. Some of them have expressed displeasure with Tech's preparedness before the shooting attack, its response during the attack and its initial plans to spend more than $7 million it received in donations after the attack. Tech had originally planned to set up scholarships in the victims' names before asking Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg to formulate a disbursement plan.

Joining Poole in the new office will be case managers and two faculty members from the provost's office. Up to now, each victims' family has dealt with its own liaison at the university. In the new office, case managers will deal with a number of families to help meet their needs, whether they are emotional, financial or informational, according to Tech.

"Jay's top responsibility will be to address the needs of the April 16 victims' . . . families, injured students, or students closely connected with the event," Steger said in a written statement.

"He will report directly to me and be our person who works daily with the many ramifications of that terrible day."

Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.