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Black Collegian News & Views HBCUs
React to Massacre with Vigils, Tighter Security
By Sakita Holley, Phillip Lucas, Cara Anthony
and Lerone Graham
Black College Wire
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The front page of the Hilltop at Howard University was devoted
to the killings. |
Christina Burton, a sophomore print journalism major at Howard
University, has yet to contact her cousin, a student at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, following the mass murder
April 16 on Virginia Tech's Blacksburg, Va., campus. Burton attempted to
call her cousin, Trisha Ford, a 20-year-old sophomore at Virginia Tech,
three times.
That afternoon, 50 faculty, students and staff members assembled on
the Howard University Yard at 4 p.m. under a gray and rainy sky to
reflect and pray for the slain members of the Virginia Tech community.
Burton was one of many at the vigil. Her cousin’s situation made it
personal and emotionally taxing.
At Tennessee State University, Thea Boatswain said she had reason to
believe that two of the 33 dead were her former high school classmates.
"I am still freaking out," said Boatswain, an agriculture science
major from Fairfax, Va.
"I am trying to call people, but they are not answering their
phones."
The shootings prompted Howard University to strictly enforce its
requirement that students show identification as they enter residence
halls, university President Patrick Swygert said.
“I want people to understand that safety is very important,” Swygert
said. He added that there would be more campus police and they will be
more visible on campus. There will also be an increase in the presence
of District of Columbia police on campus.
Norfolk State University, scene of a killing March 31 of a student
outside a dormitory, also took measures to try to prevent another
tragedy. Hours after the Virginia Tech shooting, access to points of
entry on campus was limited. Drivers without a valid decal are to be
asked for identification, and campus police are to carefully monitor
vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists and facilities. A vigil was planned
for April 17.
The dramatic and tragic events began in Blacksburg when a man wearing
a black leather jacket and a maroon hat walked into West Ambler Johnston
Hall on Virginia Tech’s campus, according to news reports. He went on to
shoot and kill two people in the building before killing 30 others and
wounding an additional 15 hours later in classrooms in Norris Hall —-
half a mile across Virginia Tech’s campus.
The shooter was later identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a South Korean
national and a Virginia Tech senior majoring in English. He killed
himself.
The incident is being called the worst mass shooting in the nation's
history. It preceded the anniversary of the Columbine shootings in
Littleton, Colo. by only four days.
At the Howard vigil, Jennifer Owens, Howard University Student
Association president, offered words of appreciation to the members of
the Howard family who were in attendance despite the weather. She said
she had been in touch with student body presidents on other campuses who
have been very supportive.
Additional speakers included the Rev. Bernard Richardson, dean of the
Andrew Rankin Chapel. Swygert stressed the importance of mental health
of parents and members of the Howard community both on and off campus.
he advised students to use the university’s resources to do whatever it
takes to vent about the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Michelle Wilson, a junior biology major said, “I feel that our campus
is united and right now all we can do is pray. We also need to pray for
the family of the killer — they are probably wondering ‘why?’”
Mike Harrison, a sports medicine major said, “This is life and we
have to deal with life as it is. We’re not exempt from what will happen
in life. This tragedy reminds us that we’re still in the real world.
People forget that stuff happens like this.”
Burton said she wanted to be in the presence of like-minded people
during the vigil.
“You realize life is a gift, you have one of those epiphanies. Things
like that can happen at Howard. It just makes me think that I’m lucky to
be alive; to be going to school. It just shows to never take life for
granted,” Burton said.
At Tennessee State, Boatswain said she received word of the shooting
around 1 p.m. Central time and was told by friends that her former
classmates attended classes in Norris Hall, where the second shooting
occurred around 9:15 a.m. Eastern time.
"I am just waiting to the list of the deceased," Boatswain said.
Sakita Holley & Phillip Lucas, students at
Howard University, write for the Hilltop. Cara Anthony, a student at
Tennessee State University, writes for the Meter. Lerone Graham, a
student at Norfolk State University, writes for the Spartan Echo. To
comment, e-mail bcwire@hotmail.com
Posted April 17, 2007 |
