UM students hold vigil in support of Va. Tech
April 19, 2007 // Coral Gables Gazette (see original)
While the massacre may have taken place more than 900 miles away, what happened at Virginia Tech April 16 hit home for many students at the University of Miami.
Many of those students attended a vigil Wednesday night to honor their fallen comrades.
“Tonight, we are Virginia Tech,” said university president Donna Shalala to the attendees. “We are their students, faculty, staff and community. We stand as their sisters and their brothers.”
Shalala brought the crowd together by leading a cheer of “Let’s Go Hokies,” something unthinkable just a few days ago.
“Tonight, we embrace the Hokie Nation,” she said.
The murders in Blacksburg hit especially hard at UM as the two schools are familiar with each other as a result of a heated athletic rivalry over the years. But now, all that seems petty, as the university has banded together to show solidarity with the Hokies.
Approximately 1,000 students, faculty, and neighbors turned out Wednesday night to the Rock for the candlelight vigil. Student government provided 500 t-shirts for attendees; they were gone within 10 minutes, more than 20 minutes before the official beginning of the proceedings.
UM has a unique opportunity to contribute to Virginia Tech’s healing process, as the baseball team will head to Blacksburg for the first sporting event held there since the murders.
The team will wear a black wristband during the weekend series, and on Friday night head coach Jim Morris will present a $10,000 check to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, dedicated to dealing with the aftermath of Monday’s events.
The baseball team will also bring with them a collection of items, including a banner signed by those who attended the vigil. The banner was completely filled by signatures, well wishes and prayers for Virginia Tech.
The student reaction was obviously shock and sadness, but also of concern, realizing that what happened there could conceivably happen at UM.
“What really got me was the thought that I could have been in the position of the student government president at Virginia Tech,” said Danny Carvajal, president of UM’s student government. “This could have been us.
Other students aren’t as worried about what could happen at UM.
“I have a few friends who go to Virginia Tech, it’s a very somber mood there,” said Will Coffin, a sophomore from Chicago. “But I think of it as an isolated incident. It doesn’t change my feelings about safety on campus.”
Perhaps the most noticeable tribute was that of Chris Black, a second-year law student who has his undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech. Black attended the vigil dressed head to toe in Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange, the colors of the Hokies.
Black carried with him a flag, displaying the school’s famous “VT” logo.
“It hasn’t even sunk in yet,” he said. “A high school I taught at lost two former students. It’s unbelievable.”
But Black offered hope for the future, knowing the town he spent four years in, and how it would cope.
“It’s going to be tough, but everyone’s going to come together,” he said. “That town is all Virginia Tech.”