Here’s a partial, unofficial list of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, and here is some biographical info about some of the victims. May they all rest in peace.
The Facebook group Remember Virginia Tech has a whole bunch of graphics showing the VT logo and other schools’ logos with the motto, “Today, we are all Hokies.” Patrick made one for Notre Dame, which I’ve placed in the sidebar at left.
Just a reminder that there’s a memorial mass at the Basillica tonight at 10:00 PM.
UPDATE: Inspired by Patrick’s graphic, I created one for USC and another one for both USC and ND, which is now displayed at left. Full-size versions after the jump.
UPDATE 2: by David K. Inspired by Brendan and Patrick, I added a Husky version as well, also after the jump.
|
Categories: News, Notre Dame
|
April 17th, 2007 at 3:29:49 pm
Here are brief bios of some of the victims…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18143312/
…It’s sad to think of all that talent and potential being lost because of one very unbalanced person.
April 17th, 2007 at 4:41:22 pm
Where is just the ND one?
April 17th, 2007 at 4:50:10 pm
Patrick made it. It’s on Facebook.
April 17th, 2007 at 4:56:06 pm
Okay, for those without Facebook access, I added a full-size version of Patrick’s logo after the jump. I trust he won’t mind.
April 17th, 2007 at 5:08:19 pm
Danke.
April 17th, 2007 at 5:14:30 pm
While I understand the sentiment behind the ‘we are all hokies’ bandwagon, I strongly disagree with it. I am not, nor have I ever been, a Hokie. I don’t even really know what a Hokie is.
For me, this is an abstract tragedy that took place on a college campus I’ve never been to and now, the only reason I would visit is some macabre desire to say I’ve been to that college where those people died, a ignominous disctinction that used to go to Kent State in my head.
This is a million times worse for those either at the school now or its alumni. Even the most compassionate non-hokie doesn’t really get it. I mean, you can empathize, but it’s not the same and I feel like trying to use some kind of hyperbolic flourish to include ourselves in this tragedy is kind of misguided.
I don’t feel any sense of ownership over this tragedy the way I think I would if it had happened at USC or ASU. I’m shocked and appalled by it but it’s not consuming me the way it would if I was closer to it. Does that make sense?
For some reason, when I think about this, I think about these signs that are all over the city of Buffalo. They have doves on them and they usually say something like “I leave peace prints” or something like that. It’s ironic that they usually only show up where someone has been killed or in the windows of family homes where someone has been lost to murder. It’s one response to horrific, life shattering violence.
April 17th, 2007 at 5:21:49 pm
A Hokie is a black homosexual bird. I’m not a hokie either, even after this tragedy.
Although, I’m thinking about enrolling in VT this fall, as I anticipate enrollment might be down. Looks like those 3 DUI’s won’t keep me out of Law School, thanks to Duck Il Jong’s shooting spree. Thank you South Korea! My dream is alive.
April 17th, 2007 at 5:44:03 pm
Becky- I agree with your sentiment. I wouldn’t jump on the bandwagon of becoming a hokie, although I have extreme empathy for all those involved. I was watching cnn today and they mentioned how one of the victims was the Resident Advisor for the floor of the first shooting- who was shot when he went to see what was going on. That hit me especially hard, as not only someone who works on a University campus, but also as a former RA. It comes down to the fact that people have free will, and one never knows who or what will happen at any given time. It’s awful, and I can really feel for all those students on campus and their families. It’s hard to be away from family during a crisis- I was an RA during 9/11, and several of my residents lost friends and neighbors.
I hope that this brings a serious look into identifying students in need of help prior to incidents like this.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:27:52 pm
Becky, I think the “Today, we are all Hokies” slogan is similar to the “Today, we are all Americans” rhetoric that was common overseas in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. The point isn’t to claim “ownership” of the tragedy or try to interpose oneself onto anyone else’s grief. The point is to say that, during this period of mourning, all other allegiances and rivalries and “tribes” are tossed aside, and we all mourn in solidarity with the group that feels the pain most acutely. I think it’s perversion of the rhetoric to claim that somehow the people employing it are engaging in “hyperbolic flourish to include ourselves in this tragedy.” That’s not the point at all. It would be like if something similar happened at USC and Domers said “Today, we are all Trojans” (though admittedly, I have an awfully hard time imagining that, heh). They wouldn’t be saying, “We feel the pain just as acutely as you do,” they’d simply be saying, “We mourn in solidarity with you, even if we usually hate you.” Does that make sense?
Anyway, back to watching last night’s 24. Beep, beep, beep.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:35:37 pm
Sandy, you ass. North Korea = communist = crazy leader with nuclear ambitions. South Korea = democratic home to a thriving populace that America, incidentally, went to war for the last time we had a “preventative war” (a.k.a. the cold war.)
Sandy, you ass.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:42:19 pm
I disagree Becky. Just as the French stated “We are All Americans” after 9/11, we are all Hokies in the sense that at any time or place anyone of us could meet a similar fate. It’s really much more than empathizing with the victim’s families. Even if you are on the VT campus you cannot feel the same as the victims families. I lived in Boulder, Colorado during the Columbine massacre, and though it was close and several of my friends attended Columbine, I could not comprehend the pain of the victim’s families.
However, I did have that numb, helpless feeling and cold realization that it could have been me. I clearly remember the small class rooms held in the Engineering building where I studied French. But for chance and circumstances, I never met that fate, but it was not because anything I did. Hell, even now, someone could walk into my office and I could meet the same fate. With that feeling of utter helplessness, I can relate, on a human level, with the surviving VT students/faculty/staff. In that sense, we are all Hokies.
April 17th, 2007 at 6:59:25 pm
Becky, I understand where you are coming from, but for me, this is just a small way of showing support for people who are going through a deep deep tragedy. Its not about trying to claim a piece of this tragedy for ourselves, its about showing care and concern.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:43:42 pm
Thanks for the idea, Brendan. I made a graphic here if you’d like to post it as well: http://uscroger.blogspot.com/2007/04/today-we-are-all-hokies.html
April 17th, 2007 at 9:07:56 pm
I’m with Becky; this is simply not comparable to 9/11. On 9/11, there was an ideology behind the attack — not just nihilistic hatred and lashing out. The terrorists who hit us on 9/11 purposely chose the WTC and the Pentagon to send a message to the world that not just America but the entire Western, modern way of life is up for violent debate. Keep in mind that the WTC collapse claimed dozens of lives of many nationalities and ethnicities.
The French stood by us because whatever their political disagreements with the U.S., they have a stake in the preservation of our Western way of life and the American hegemony that preserves it. We on the other hand have no common stake with the Hokies. I offer them my greatest sympathy, but my condolences are on a human level. I mean, I wouldn’t have said after Hurricane Katrina, “Today we are all Cajuns”, or after the Oklahoma City bombing, “Today we are all Oklahoma federal government workers.” Sometimes senseless tragedy is just senseless tragedy.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:32:48 pm
Andrew - you are being rational … and heartless … (grin) …
As a Rational, myself, it took me a long time to realise that, while the Emotional stuff didn’t work for me, it is essential for the Emotional folk - and they need to process things *their* way … so now I can rationally appreciate that they do it, and, intellectually, *why* they do it … and I get to do the equivalent in my own Rational/Intellectual way …
April 17th, 2007 at 11:30:35 pm
USC will be holding a memorial service to mourn and show solidarity with Virginia Tech on Thursday, April 17th, at 5:00 p.m. at United University Church on 34th St.
Best wishes,
Laura
April 17th, 2007 at 11:30:53 pm
Okay, maybe this isn’t comparable to 9/11.
Nothing ever will be, I hope.
But still, it’s clear that most of the people who visit here are either in college or have been to college. On some level, we can all relate to how it might feel to have something like this happen.
For me, it’s a Virginia thing. I wasn’t born here, but I moved here and it’s become my home and whatever happens here, even if it’s 400 miles away, affects me on some level.
April 18th, 2007 at 12:56:45 am
Leanna says:
While we know we are not safe in a McDonald’s, in a rural grade school, in a high school, in an office high up in an urban megalopolis, in a government building in America’s heartland, or in a college classroom, I wish there weren’t all the heartbreaking reminders. These were people. These were lives.
April 18th, 2007 at 12:48:30 pm
Nice idea, but there’s a slight problem with your USC/ND version… the leprechaun can only face to the right, not the left. The folks at the university branding office get their panties all in a wad over it.
April 18th, 2007 at 1:35:40 pm
Columbia will hold a candlelight vigil today from 9 to 10 p.m. at the Sundial on College Walk in tribute to those who died or were injured in the tragic events at Virginia Tech.
April 18th, 2007 at 3:29:59 pm
Today… Even Im a Hokie! Rebecca, Andrew, and Sandy - forget you! Remember the Hokies.
April 18th, 2007 at 9:51:44 pm
Don’t get me wrong — I will be a huge Virginia Tech fan come this fall.
But I’m not a Hokie, and I doubt I ever will be.
April 19th, 2007 at 4:36:01 pm
Here’s a tribute to Virginia Tech with 400-450+ (i lost count) college logos…
htpp://www.forthehokies.com
April 19th, 2007 at 4:36:56 pm
the software added a dash at the end…take it out to see the site…i’ll have to set up a redirect when i get home…
April 20th, 2007 at 1:35:48 pm
Adam, you can add to your tribute to Virginia Tech the University of South Alabama. We held a tribute last night in honor of our fellow students and teachers.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:35:32 am
Nice memorial site that a student from Old Dominion University made:
http://www.RememberVT.com