MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Students, faculty and staff from Middlebury College took part in a noontime gathering on Tuesday, April 17, to reflect on the shooting rampage the previous day at Virginia Tech University, where a student shot and killed 32 people before turning his gun on himself.
At the event in Mead Memorial Chapel, members of the Middlebury community — including several students from Virginia, at least one of whom wore a “Virginia is for Lovers” T-shirt — lit candles in memory of those who died, and signed books of condolences that will be sent to Virginia Tech’s Student Government Association.
“As people across the country ponder the tragedy that took place yesterday, and mourn with the families and friends of the victims, those of us living and working in academic communities are particularly shocked and saddened,” said President Ronald D. Liebowitz in a message to the Middlebury College community. “To see so many young lives lost at their moment of greatest promise, to see a community of learning shattered by a senseless display of violence, strikes at the very core of the values we hold dear.
“It is appropriate, therefore, that we gather here today to share our sense of grief and to honor the memory of those who have died. Though nothing can mitigate the horror of these events, or our sadness at the thought of the pain now felt by those who have lost loved ones, we may take some comfort from the strength of our own community.
“All our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who were killed, and with the students, faculty and staff of Virginia Tech as they struggle to come to terms with what has happened. Thank you for coming here today to be part of this collective expression of kinship and loss.”
The chaplain’s office at Middlebury organized the Mead Chapel event.
“Some members of our community have close ties to that part of the country or friends who are students or faculty at Virginia Tech,” said Laurel Macaulay Jordan, chaplain of the College and a member of the Middlebury Class of 1979, in an e-mail invitation sent to the College community. “But even if these connections did not exist, all of us as members of an academic community and as members of the human family share a portion of the grief that has now cast its shadow over the Virginia Tech campus.”
The chaplain added, “Tragedies of this nature are very difficult to absorb and beyond human understanding. They also can at times bring to the forefront other troubling memories or anxieties. Please know that we at the chaplain’s office, as well as the counseling and human relations center, the residential life staff, all the commons deans and student affairs staff are available to talk with anyone who has concerns about this event or other issues they wish to discuss.”