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VT Candlelight Vigil in Blacksburg

April 17, 2007

By Rex Bowman & Carlos Santos, Media General News Service

BLACKSBURG — More than 10,000 people huddled at the edge of Virginia Tech's Drillfield last night at a stirring candlelight vigil that concluded the second of two days of grief and pain.

Some of the family members of those killed Monday knelt in tears before a memorial wreath. Some in the crowd wept.

The vigil presented a stunning visual scene, with the faces of students and faculty and town folks lit by thousands of candles held in the air in a show of support for each other and the school and the 32 people killed by a gunman.

The crowd heeded a call for a moment of silence. Then came the eloquent and haunting sound of taps from a lone bugler.

"We are here to grieve. But I want America and the world to see this outpouring on the Virginia Tech Drillfield this evening. This is love. This is love and we appreciate it." So said Zenobia Hikes, vice president for student affairs at the Blacksburg school. "We are a community of strength, we are a community of pride, we are a community of scholarship, we are a community of compassion. We want the world to know we are Virginia Tech. We will recover. We will survive, with your prayers."

The size of the crowd stunned even those who were a part of it. "It's unbelievable. Just unbelievable," said Barry Ewell, a student from Virginia's Eastern Shore.

An unmistakably genuine sense of grief, tinged with shock and disbelief, pervaded the campus all day as students groped to understand the massacre.

From conversations in dorm rooms, to a massive convocation that drew President Bush to Blacksburg, and on to the night vigil, students and faculty gathered and struggled with their emotions as the names of the dead trickled through the wall of official silence and into the campus community.
Across the campus, the mood was woeful.

"We are all sad, and we can't understand why he would shoot so many innocent people," said Tao Xia, a 28-year-old graduate student from China. "Some of them could have been his friends. We want to know why. Why? We want to know what motivated him."

Xia was one of thousands of students who made their way under sunny, clear skies to the Cassell Coliseum for the memorial convocation in honor of the slain 32.

The 2,600-acre campus, home to about 26,000 students, was quiet and touched with somber signs. The American and Virginia flags flew at half-staff in front of Burruss Hall, where President Charles W. Steger has his office. Next to Burruss Hall is Norris Hall, where most of the students were slain.

The multi-story building, built of the school's trademark gray "Hokie" stone, was still marked off by yellow crime-scene tape. Two state police evidence vans were parked in front.

At Squires Student Center, the student union, a large banner hung across the entrance with a simple message: "4.16.07." Small placards on the doors read "Together We Mourn." Students had scrawled messages inside the student union on a makeshift bulletin board: "Ryan I Love U Rest Easy. Averia," and "May the Angels guide you home."

A pickup truck parked on campus had the date 4/16/07 painted upon it. The truck also boasted the VT symbol.

Will Herrin, a 19-year-old student from Johnson City, Tenn., looked a bit overwhelmed as he walked across the Drillfield "I've been praying and thinking about it," he said. "It's unreal."

His friend, Adam Bricker of Chambersburg, Pa., said, "I can't even fathom this... It's almost too much. I don't think I could personally understand. I doubt they'll ever know why completely. Just a very disturbed person."

"Even if you don't know them," Bricker said of the victims, "you're affected by it."

The mixed sentiments of sorrow and confusion seemed to have become part of the students' lives.

"It's sad, really sad," said Akira Kanesaka, a 20-year-old student from Annandale. "We're trying to figure out why he did it. There's more shock than yesterday. Seeing it with my own eyes is even more shocking. It's like a dream."

One student seemed especially caught up in grief.

"It's sad, so very, very sad," said Rosario Esposito, a 27-year-old graduate student from Italy. "I'm just so sorry for all those young people."

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

Contact staff writer Carlos Santos at csantos@timesdispatch.com or (434) 295-9542.