Students, faculty gather to mourn tragedy

By: Brittany Whitlow
Posted: 4/26/07

"Let the environment of violence never release its horror
First we raise up silence to receive the heart of the suffering families
Face to face
Breath to breath
Chest to chest
The unintegrated loss of these possible lives
With all dreams intact a few days ago
Dreams less durable now
When our hearts align with the world heart."

Senior Jeff Briggs, a math major, read these words by St. Louis Rabbi James Stone Goodman at the beginning of a service held in remembrance of the lives lost during the April 16 Virginia Tech shooting, when a student killed 32 students and faculty before turning the gun on himself. The service was hosted by Counseling and Life Development and Campus Ministries.

About 60 people attended the service, titled "Reflections on the Tragedy at Virginia Tech," held April 20 in the Winifred Moore Auditorium.

"The tragedy has been constantly on my mind," said freshman Emily Meanes, a secondary education major. "I'm going into education, so it especially hit home for me."

Patrick Stack, director of counseling and life development, began organizing the service the day after the shooting.

"If this happened here at Webster University, I like to think that other colleges and universities across the United States would be pulling for us," he said. "There's that camaraderie among higher education."

As students and faculty entered the auditorium, they were handed stemmed flowers of various colors by Gladys Smith, assistant director of counseling and life development, as well as ribbons of maroon and orange (Virginia Tech's school colors) that they could pin on their clothing.

"I'm glad Webster can show our passion," said sophomore Alexandrea Barney, a pre-law major. "I'm glad we did something like this."

Following Briggs introduction was a reading of Psalm 23, which is about seeking comfort in God in the face of evil and death, and a reflection by Rabbi Hershey Novack of Chabad on Campus, an organization for Jewish college students.

"Our lives are precious, and we recognize that a lot more than we did on Sunday," Novack said. "Each moment is precious and of irreplaceable worth."

Paul DeMarinis and Kim Portnoy, associate professors in the music department, then played an original piece called "Becoming." DeMarinis wrote the piece for saxophone, while Portnoy provided piano accompaniment.

"When there's an event like this, one generally feels helpless, like there's nothing one can do," Portnoy said. "This was something I could do. Music is a healing art, so hopefully it helped heal a little bit."

Laurel Hayes, adjunct faculty, then held a moment of silence, after which she read the names of the deceased. As she read each name, people who received flowers at the door placed them in three vases on a table at the front of the auditorium.

"I think that we have an obligation to be there for people who need us," said senior Kristen Dattoli, a social sciences major. "Those students and teachers did not deserve what happened to them. They're just like us. What happened to them could happen to us."

Smith said she wants people to remember all of the people who died in the shooting, including the gunman.

"That young man was a victim, too," Smith said. "He was a victim to mental illness."

The flowers were later taken across campus, removed from the vases and placed under one of four trees Webster University President Richard Meyers had planted in front of the bookstore in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001. A geranium was placed under each of the three other trees. At Hayes' suggestion, the ceremony ended with the crowd forming a line to sign two friendship books, in which they could write messages to Virginia Tech students.

"It's a way to send our thoughts and prayers to Virginia Tech and all the members of the Hokie family," said Ted Hoef, associate vice president and dean of students. "There's pretty much a national effort at this point of sending things out to Virginia Tech."

The friendship books are currently circulating around campus, where they are being displayed at various locations such as the Sverdrup building, the front desk of the University Center and outside Marletto's Marketplace. They are available for people to sign until April 27, when they will be sent to Virginia Tech.