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Tech Convocation Draws Tens Of Thousands

April 17, 2007

Media General News Service

BLACKSBURG, Va. — They came by the tens of thousands this afternoon, some from far corners of the Earth, to share their grief and to help the Virginia Tech community begin the healing process.

A capacity crowd of nearly 10,000 people filled Cassell Coliseum and about 20,000 more filed quietly into nearby Lane Stadium to watch on a big-screen simulcast as speaker after speaker tried to help the Virginia Tech community make sense of yesterday’s campus shootings that left 33 people dead.

It was the same day that authorities identified the gunman as as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old South Korean resident alien who had a Centerville address. He was a senior and an English major.

Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger drew a prolonged standing ovation when he went to the Cassell Coliseum lectern to speak.

Steger acknowledged the large crowds at the coliseum and stadium as well as the various political leaders in attendance.

"We are very grateful that we do not have to travel this path alone," he said. "We are extremely grateful that you in the audience today have come to help us and to help each other."

"What an amazing community this is," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said as he looked out at a crowd that featured almost everyone wearing the school colors of orange, maroon _ or both.

Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, flew some 14 hours from Tokyo to make it to Blacksburg for the convocation. Kaine recalled receiving the first news of the shootings while they were in a hotel in Tokyo.

"Our first thought was we need to get home. We need to be in Blacksburg," he said, his voice cracking briefly.

"Anne and I have unashamedly shed tears about this, and others have as well," he said.

He commended the Virginia Tech community for being strong in extremely troubling times.

"Do not lose hold of that spirit, of that special feeling of community," he implored the crowd. "There is so much you can do for these family members to help them up."

President Bush noted that yesterday’s shootings represented the worst day of violence ever on a U.S. campus, "and for many of you here today, it was the worst day of your lives."

Bush echoed Kaine’s remarks about the strength that became quickly evident in the Virginia Tech community following the shootings.

"You came together in dorm rooms and in dining halls and on blogs," Bush said.

A sorrowful but supportive nation is behind the university community, he said.

"In times like this, we can find grace and guidance in a loving God," he said.

Various faith leaders offered prayers and requests for those to offer comfort and support to anyone affected by the tragedy.

There was a brief interruption near the end of the one-hour convocation when a young man sitting directly behind the president and first lady appeared to be overcome by emotion and slump over at his seat. The young man was quickly attended to and helped from the arena floor.

Virginia Tech Provost Mark G. McNamee noted that the deliberately open atmosphere on campus had been violated by yesterday’s shootings. He urged the university community to fight those feelings of violation by honoring the victims, "and we will move forward to be an even stronger bastion of learning."

Christopher Flynn, director of Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center, told the students that to help each other, they need to take care of themselves.

"To each of our students, please be careful as you go through the next week," he said, urging anyone who thinks they might need counseling to get it. He said the center was extending its hours and that additional counselors had volunteered their services to help Virginia Tech’s students and staff.

Nikki Giovanni, a celebrated poet and a popular English professor at Virginia Tech, closed the service by urging the university community to remain strong.

"We are the Hokies," she shouted. "We will prevail. We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech."

Giovanni ran from the lectern, raised both arms and led the crowd in a rousing chant of "Let’s go Hokies. Let’s go Hokies."

Earlier in the day, Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said police recovered two handguns from Norris Hall: a .22-caliber and a 9mm.

Col. W. Steven Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said victims were found in at least four classrooms as well as a classroom at Norris Hall.

"We know that there were a number of heroic events," Flaherty said.

One of the weapons used in Norris Hall was also used in the earlier shooting deaths of two people in the Ambler Johnston West dormitory.

"It’s certainly reasonable for us to assume that Cho was the shooter in both places," Flaherty said, adding that authorities nonetheless had not yet developed concrete evidence that he was also responsible for the two deaths in the dorm.

Cho was among those found in Norris; authorities said he took his own life.