Radford reacts to Tech's tragedy
Ryan McConnell, CT Sports Editor
April 20 2007
Located a mere 15 miles from the campus of Virginia Tech, the Radford University community has felt the shockwaves of the tragedy that occurred Monday.
"At first we were in disbelief and shock like everyone else," said Norleen Pomerantz, vice president for student affairs at Radford. "On Monday afternoon we made counselors available for students and held a prayer session with several campus ministers present for support."
Campus administrators set up the support system for students and other members of the university, putting counseling centers in place for students to express their feelings about the incident. At each site a counselor, a minister and a school administrator were available for the students.
Classes weren't held on Tuesday for a variety of reasons, all related to the shooting.
"We cancelled classes out of respect for the deceased, and also because of the proximity of this incident. Our students needed time to process what had happened and take a break from their academics," Pomerantz said.
Although the university only officially cancelled classes for Tuesday, many professors made personal decisions to cancel classes for the rest of the week, according to Jaime Blair, a Radford sophomore from Manassas.
"Everyone here is still in shock; I mean it hasn't really sunk in yet. It's incomprehensible," said Blair.
Blair added that there has been a lot of maroon and orange all over Radford this past.
"It's a very somber atmosphere here. Everyone is shocked and depressed, because our roots run very deep with Virginia Tech," said Martin Mash, president of the Student Government Association at Radford, and a senior from Chilhowie.
Mash along with Pomerantz, university president Penelope Kyle, and attorney general Bob McDonnell addressed Radford students at another memorial gathering last night.
"A lot of people here have spouses that work at Tech or go to school there," Mash said before speaking at the event. "Many of our graduate students were undergraduates at Tech, and many of Tech's graduate students were Radford undergraduates, so there are evidently strong regional ties."
During the convocation that was held at Cassell Coliseum and witnessed by thousands of more from the Tech community at Lane Stadium on Tuesday, Radford held a vigil and broadcast the event in large gathering areas.
Officials had originally planned for three locations, but after an overwhelming turnout they were forced to open two additional locations to accommodate for the overflow.
"We're just trying to make sense of the senseless," Pomerantz said. "What we can do now is try and bring our students together through constructive activities and projects to help all of the students at Virginia Tech."