We are all Hokies today!

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“We Are All 'Hokies' Today"

I have always been a proud “Hokie” from Virginia Tech, class of 1975. Precious memories include:

The walk from dormitory to class crossed a drill field in the center of the campus. Many mornings the fog was so thick you couldn’t see and people eerily appeared out of nowhere.
The football stadium on a mountain where the air was so windy and cold, sitting through a late season football games was a test of endurance.
The Duck Pond surrounded by nature’s beauty where lovers met and romance bloomed.
Dormitories in boxes of four or quads. In the center, you tossed a Frisbee, while listening to sound systems blasting “Stairway to Heaven” from dorm windows.
Our rings designed each year by the graduating class. My ring even features an engraved door symbolizing the infamous “six-inch” rule for open doors whenever dates visited our room.

April 16, 2007 was supposed to be much like any other day for students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Nearing the end of the semester; most were preoccupied with upcoming papers and exams. Few knew about two students killed in what local police believed was a domestic disturbance occurring in Ambler Johnston dormitory. But news reports around the world soon reported the grim news. Before the day was through, thirty three people including the gunman lie dead and many others wounded.

In the midst of the tragedy there were heroes. Ryan Clark, the resident advisor who lost his life trying to help a fellow student. Professor Librescu, a holocaust survivor who held the door closed so his students could jump out second story windows and escape. There were wounded students who managed to block the door to their classroom and prevent the shooter from reentering the room.

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We should be especially proud of the students who kept calm while being interviewed and often harassed by national news reporters trying to create a story and point the finger of blame. Everyone talked of the importance of being in mourning and a need to pull together as a school and community.

Who can ever forget the pictures of candlelight vigils or groups of students crying and praying? Who will ever forget Nikki Giovanni’s convocation address as she emphasized over and over again: “We are Virginia Tech. We are sad today and we will be sad for quite awhile. We are moving on, we are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech. We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We will prevail.”

Now what? How should we respond? What should we do?

We mourn and grieve openly knowing we are never alone.
We pray for the victims, their families, their friends, the students, the faculty.
We pray for Cho Seung Hui and his family not because we want to but because we are Christian.
We investigate and learn from the mistakes made on that horrible day.
We are still God’s church: We pray, mourn, inspire, teach and witness God’s grace.
We stop being a silent majority and take our role as citizens seriously.
We stop being pew sitters and take our role as Christians seriously.
We continue to teach our children. Every day lives can are changed.
We seek opportunities to practice acts of kindness toward others.
We are alert for the opportunities God provides each day to practice our faith.

Times like this force us to make hard choices.

The world will say: this proves there is no God but I say this is where you find God.

The world will say: give up but I say we’re just getting started. Every one can pray.

Every one can look for someone to help.

Every one can look for someone to listen to.

Every one can look for a ministry, roll up our sleeves and do it.

Every one can hold our heads high and say to the world in the midst of this tragedy: “We belong to Jesus Christ and we will prevail.”

Jesus last words in the Gospel of Matthew 28 were, “Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.”

Surely I am with you when you are down and when you are up; when you are torn and when you are whole.

Surely I am with you when thirty-three lives are cut short senselessly.

Surely I am with you in the midst of tragedy and I will offer comfort and hope.

Surely I am with you!

Nikki Giavanni went on to say: “The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.”

And God says to each of us:

“Surely, I am with you!

Surely, I am with you!

Surely, I am with you!”

We are all "Hokies' today!

Part 2 Healing from the Tragedy at Virginia Tech: Click Here

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Last modified April 23, 2007.

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