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Parents of Tech grads share joy, sorrow

May 12, 2007

By Holly Prestige & Olympia Meola

BLACKSBURG — Annette Ortega thanked God for her daughter's happiness this weekend.

Just weeks ago, Ortega was wondering how her daughter, Mia, would get over the loss of her friend Ryan Clark, one of the students killed in a shooting rampage on Virginia Tech's campus April 16.

"I'm just thankful to God that she's OK, because I didn't know how she'd get through this," she said.
Ortega struggled as she walked around the Drillfield on Friday.

"I just felt the horror and it broke my heart. I had to get out of there," she said, referring to the tent, in the middle of the vast, grassy space, that covers the memorials to the victims. "I could feel the pain."

Ortega let her daughter decide what to do after the shooting, and the 24-year-old chose to stick it out at school.
"Today she's so happy to be graduating, but it took all these days to get to this day," said Ortega, who lives in the Woodbridge area. "She's just so uplifted and happy."

Thousands of parents roamed the sprawling Virginia Tech campus this weekend, in town for Friday night's commencement exercises and yesterday's diploma-awarding ceremonies.

Many were paraded around like tourists by their proud graduates, who showed them the buildings they've called home for the past four years, the dining halls and the sports facilities.

They laughed as their kids told funny stories about late nights on campus, stories that mom and dad most likely heard for the first time.

They spoke quietly as they walked past Norris Hall and the memorials.

Parents Jackie and Mike Hughes of Virginia Beach sat on a bench drinking a cup of coffee yesterday morning, observing the Drillfield as they waited for a shuttle to take them to their son's graduation ceremony.

They said they've driven by the memorials. That's as close as they're going to get.

"I'd rather focus on the happiness," Jackie Hughes said.

Many did.

Family after family smiled for pictures by the Hokie mascot, the Spirit of Tech, inside Squires Student Center. They browsed the campus bookstore for one more Hokie flag or a $6 Virginia Tech T-shirt.

As they waited for their son yesterday, Chuck and Carol Teacher paused inside the student center, reading a banner sent from students at Stetson University.

Chuck Teacher said his son noted that the school felt different, and he agreed.
"The college is more sedate and subdued," he said.

Carol Teacher said her son brought them to the student center to see the banners, posters and personal tributes that have been sent to Virginia Tech.

"I just couldn't imagine being the parents of the students that aren't here," she said.

Regine and Ross Douthard helped their son Phillip pack his belongings to take home from Tech for the last time.
Regine Douthard said she still cannot bring herself to view the memorials.

"It's very hard to see them," she said as she carried a box for a printer from Phillip's room. "I'm really, really upset."

She said universities around the country don't spend enough money on campus security. She thinks Virginia and other states need stronger gun-control legislation so people like Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho don't have access to guns.

Regine Douthard echoed the thoughts of many grateful parents on this graduation weekend as they remembered the lives lost and the families left behind.

"It could have been us," she said.

Holly Prestidge and Olympia Meola are staff writers at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

VIDEO: Wounded Va. Tech Students Receive Diplomas