A vigil for Tech’s fallen

By Brian McNeill

Published: April 16, 2008

The tears streamed down Elisabeth Krebs’ cheeks as hundreds of University of Virginia students held a moment of silence to reflect on the massacre at Virginia Tech exactly one year earlier.
“I’m just thinking about their families,” said Krebs, a friend and high school soccer teammate of Reema Samaha, one of 32 killed in the shootings. “What they’re going through is pretty unimaginable.”
An estimated 300 UVa students converged at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at McIntire Amphitheater for a solemn vigil. They listened to two a capella songs and a performance by a student songwriter. They heard speeches from classmates and administrators. And they comforted each other.
For many, the pain they felt for their friends in Blacksburg has grown no less raw over time.
“There can be no moving on. There can be no closure,” wrote Samaha’s older sister, UVa student Randa Samaha, in a letter read to the crowd. “There can only be living with, living for and living memory.”
A year ago, Randa Samaha wrote, her “world was flipped upside down.” The pain, she noted, remains ever present. She wrote the letter to be read aloud because she was at Virginia Tech on Wednesday, with her family.
“Together we have watched the world lose 32 lives,” she wrote. “We have cried together.”
Patricia M. Lampkin, UVa’s vice president for student affairs, said that UVa students will remember the Tech slayings with great sadness for years to come.
“Such loss, at such a scale, at a place we call our sister institution has left an undeniable impression on our community,” she said.
In the wake of the shootings, UVa students painted Beta Bridge in orange and maroon with the words “Hoos for Hokies.” The sentiment remained on the bridge for more than 50 days. For its part, UVa implemented a long list of security upgrades, including locks on classroom doors, a siren alarm and an emergency text messaging system.
A year later, UVa is continuing to take steps to minimize the chance of more campus violence. On Saturday, the university’s Board of Visitors endorsed a policy that authorizes UVa to notify parents when their child is deemed a danger to himself or others.
At the vigil, UVa students talked about the Virginia Tech shootings like many have spoken about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “What were you doing when you heard?” they asked one another. “Did you know anyone affected?”
Matt Schrimper, president of UVa’s Student Council, said he recalled attending a packed memorial service that day in UVa’s amphitheater.
“Our bodies were in this place,” he said. “But our hearts and our minds were 120 miles away in Blacksburg.”
UVa’s Student Council and the University Programs Council organized a “Trees for Tech” project, in which each dollar donated to the Arbor Day Foundation would go to plant trees in memory of the Virginia Tech victims. Liz Costello, a fourth-year UVa student, announced at the vigil that 350 trees would be planted, including one at the memorial for the victims at Virginia Tech.
UVa students have also been expressing their thoughts about the Tech shootings on postcards. The cards will remain on display in Newcomb Hall until May 9. A sampling of the messages conveyed: “Love for VT and all my Hokie friends,” “Love is all you need. God bless VT” and “Honor the loss of 32 beautiful, brilliant souls. Tighter gun control laws now.”
At the end of the vigil, Costello told her fellow UVa students that they could stay for a prayer in the grassy middle of the amphitheater. Around 50 remained to pray. Most wandered off, looking a bit dazed. A few hugged each other.
“If you need support, look around,” Costello told them. “We’re here for you.”