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The writer, EunJi Kim, is
Asian students were among mourners at Virginia Tech after the 2007 shootings on the Blacksburg campus.
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BY EUNJI KIM
FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR
BLACKSBURG--
The Drillfield at Virginia Tech has 32 engraved Hokie stones placed to mourn, to reflect in the memory of the people who lost their lives here.The morning dew on yellow rose petals was like teardrops that symbolize the tragedy of April 16, 2007.
Today is the three-year anniversary of the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech, in the peaceful town of Blacksburg.
Gunshots echoed through Norris Hall on the Virginia Tech campus. There were snow flurries early that morning while students were busy preparing for their finals. Two buildings--Norris and West Ambler Johnson Hall--turned bloody. Ambulances came; police officers surrounded the campus.
The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, was found already dead by his own gun. His toll: 32 people--27 students and five professors--were dead. It was the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history, on or off a school campus.
LOSS OF FRIENDS
"My dad lost his old friend, and my friends' friends died," said Benjamin Saunders, 21, an international affairs major at the University of Mary Washington. He is from Blacksburg.
Sixty percent of Blacksburg's population either works at Virginia Tech or attends classes there. "It was not others' story, but my neighbors, and my friends," Saunders said.
Not only was Blacksburg inconsolable, the grief spread throughout the country. It also captured international attention. Koreans were especially shocked and distressed. Indeed, the gunman Cho was Korean-American.
Koreans 'terrified'
Hyun Wook Lee, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, got a phone call from a friend warning him not to go to school because there was a big incident on campus.
"At first, I was so shocked that the gunman is a student of my school. A couple of days after, I got to know that he is a Korean-American through the newspaper, and I got terrified," Lee said.
His parents, who live in Korea, worried about a possible backlash at Koreans. They even suggested he transfer to another school.
But he decided to stay because he was close to getting his master's degree.
"Friends in my lab and other professors encouraged me to keep studying," he said.
Yong Ju Cho, a grad student in computer science, said that he attended two memorial sites set up on the Drillfield.
He said Koreans were very sad, but most of them were afraid to go to outside. "They were paranoid," he said.
But the school reaction mostly focused on all students rather than Koreans, he said. He got e-mails on a regular basis from Tech's Cook Counseling Center asking if students were having any difficulties in school, and letting them know that they were open to students in need.
The concern wasn't for Korean students only, but for all Virginia Tech students to prevent more violence.
As the faculty adviser of the Korean Student Association at Tech, Dong S. Ha, professor of electrical and computer engineering since 1986, felt he needed to reach out to all Korean students at Virginia Tech.
"I felt urged to tell Korean students how we should behave and what we should do" Ha said.
"My wife and son went to Virginia Tech. I started my career here; I am here for 21 years straight," he said. He said he had strong emotional ties to Virginia Tech.
NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE
That is why he sent this e-mail to Korean students:
"Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I stopped over the two memorial sites set up on Drill Field and left our note on a cardboard wishing the lost ones to rest in peace in heaven. Tears from my eyes [flowed] uncontrollably. As the memorial service went on, I thought any violence which makes many people to grieve could not be justified for whatever reason.
"Although the gunman is a Korean, we don't have any particular responsibility nor need to apologize for the incident. He happened to be a Korean, but it could be any nationality. All professors and people whom I talked reassured me that this is nothing to do with Koreans. Our pride in Korean heritage and being Korean has not been affected a bit due to this incident.
"We should offer our helping hand and warm heart to those who suffered from this incident. We should attend memorial sites and services; offer a flower, a sympathy card, or a comforting word to those grieving families. We should not lock ourselves and our children in an apartment for the fear of any harm."
He said showing resilience in the face of hardship makes students stronger, more mature, more courageous and one step closer to being good citizens.
HONEST TALK HELPFUL
University of Mary Washington Professor Esther L. Yook, who teaches in the English, Linguistics and Communication department, dealt with the difficulty by talking with students.
"At first I was worried how students thought of me, " she said.
At that time, she was the only Korean professor at UMW. Also, as a mother, she worried about her son and daughter.
She feared that one man's abnormal behavior would cause misunderstanding of all Koreans, and that there might be a reaction like the retaliation against Muslims after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Koreans are hard-working people, she said, and have adapted well to the U.S. society. "We created an economic miracle from the ash of the [Korean] war," she said.
Even though she did not have a sense of responsibility or a need to apologize for the attack, she felt bad.
"I decided to talk. At class students and I were sitting around in a big circle, talking openly," she said. "They said it is not my fault, nor any of their faults."
THE AFTERMATH
Virginia Tech converted classrooms 205 and 206 of Norris Hall, where the shooting took place, into the Center for Peace Studies & Violence Prevention.
This center fosters cross-disciplinary research, education and development of leadership opportunities that prevent violence, promote peace and advance human security.
Every month they hold peace cultivation and violence prevention seminars for Virginia Tech students and the Blacksburg community.
At classroom 204, a student center has been established to remember Professor Liviu Librescu, who forcibly prevented Cho from entering his classroom--resulting in his own death by gunshots through the door. Also, Virginia Tech still works with the victims' families with the Office of Recovery and Support located right in the center of the campus. They provide communication with victims' families, counseling, and fund raising.
Norris Hall, West Ambler Johnson Hall, and the 32 memorials in the Drillfield also represent places to reflect on what happened there three years ago.
EunJi Kim, 21, of South Korea is an exchange student majoring in English at the University of Mary Washington. She has been attending Sungshin Women's University in Seoul.
She visited Virginia Tech to talk with Korean students and faculty about how they were affected by the fact that the student responsible for the bloodshed was Korean-American. This story is adapted from one she wrote for Campus Herald, a Korean magazine.
Virginia Tech honored survivors of the April 16, 2007, massacre yesterday with the dedication of two sitting benches at the April 16 Memorial on the Drillfield.
The following events are scheduled for today, the third anniversary of the shootings that left 33 dead including the gunman.
A ceremonial candle was lit at the April 16 Memorial about midnight.
A 3.2-mile Run in Remembrance will start at Alumni Mall near the North Main Street entrance of campus at 8 this morning. Officials expect more than 5,000 participants.
A community picnic on the Drillfield will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Several events will be held at various locations from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. as part of the Expressions of Remembrance. Among these events are a community arts project, a memorial slide show and a display highlighting the academic achievements and interests of the 32 victims.
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., presentations will be held in the Squires Student Center to showcase student research, involvement, cultural experiences and general scholarship.
The War Memorial Chapel is available from 1 to 8 p.m. for private reflection and remembrance. Musicians will perform from 1 to 5 p.m., and candles will be available to light in memory of lost loved ones.
An open house will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on the second floor of Norris Hall. The Norris Hall Art Gallery also will be open during those times.
A panel discussion on community resilience is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Lyric Theatre.
At sunset, a commemoration and candlelight vigil will be held on the Drillfield at the April 16 Memorial.
