Memorial service honors Va. Tech

Under a clear blue afternoon sky, students, faculty and administrators gathered around the Campanile Tuesday to commemorate those who lost their lives in the shooting at Virginia Tech Monday. Hundreds of students gathered to hear what Institute President Wayne Clough and Alison Graab, the undergraduate student body president, had to say on the issue, as well as to pay their respects to the students of a sister school in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"Our prayers go out to the families of those who lost their loved ones in the events of yesterday. Many of us have friends at Virginia Tech and have heard from them through emails and phone calls, and my family and I are very close to Virginia Tech since I was a faculty member of Virginia Tech and my family lived in Blacksburg during that time," Clough said.

Clough was dean of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. While he was there, his office was in Norris Hall, the scene of the worst of the shootings.

"My office was located on the third floor of Norris Hall, just one floor above where yesterday, unbelievably, 30 people were killed in a classroom. I remember Norris Hall as a place of learning, where talented students and faculty met to share their joy for their teachers and for learning. It's so incomprehensible how so many innocent people lost their lives doing what comes so naturally on a college campus, to fulfill a mission and purpose for which universities like Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech was created," Clough said.

Graab also had a direct connection with the Virginia Tech community.

"Having grown up in Roanoke, Virginia and watching many of my high school friends go on to Virginia Tech and having seen how important Virginia Tech is to Roanoke, Blacksburg and all the surrounding areas, I want to say on behalf of my friends that I can't imagine what they must be feeling right now," Graab said.

Graab went on to say that she knows that all of our hearts go out to those at Virginia Tech, but none of us can imagine what they must be going through at this time.

"I know that all of the students here have them in their hearts and are thinking of them constantly. When we leave here today, I think the most important thing is to remember those who lost their lives yesterday, their friends, family and loved ones and also, as we walk around campus tomorrow, not take for granted the relationships we have and things we have here," Graab said.

Clough encouraged the crowd to learn from the tragedy to embrace life. "For those who lost their lives yesterday and for their friends and family, we must know that there is no other better to be privileged to use the opportunities that we have to make life better for other people. And even with the tragedies of Virginia Tech to remind us that our lives are precious, they should also teach us that the years that we have left should be spent with a life well spent," Clough said.

The words of both Clough and Graab rang clear because they had such a close connection with those directly involved in the tragedy at Virginia Tech. They spoke of their personal relationships with those affected by the events. One example of how they were directly affected was Clough speaking about him hiring one of the professors who was killed during the shootings.

The shootings also struck a chord with Georgia Tech students because of the similarities between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Both universities have a heavy focus on engineering and with Virginia Tech's entrance into the ACC, the two schools play each other in sports every year.

Reverend Al LaCour of the Reformed University Fellowship International also spoke at the ceremony.

"I've been a minister for about 30 years, and the times that I am asked the most difficult questions are times just like this: hurricanes, 9/11, highway fatalities. What's the point? Is there a point? What is the meaning of this entire massacre? Is there any purpose in our pain?" LaCour said.

LaCour directed those present to a poem for Ecclesiastes in the Bible and emphasized that everything is not meaningless.

The Georgia Tech Chamber Choir sang "I Did Not Die" by Mary Frye to conclude the event, although a statement by Clough summarizes the reaction on campus to the horrible shoorting at Virginia Tech.

"I know that we will always be forever saddened in fact of what happened, and we need to do all we can to assist all of those who have been touched by those tragedies. The intrusion of such harsh events on a beautiful university campus shakes us to the core. It reminds us of how our own lives are precious, fragile and how each day, we should seek to help those around us," Clough said.