Staff Editorial | Virginia Tech tragedy reminds us of support

On April 16, 2007, in the halls of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the unthinkable happened. Students and professors had just woken up to begin a new day. That day would end in bloodshed, unfathomable brutality and endless tears. In the end, 29 people were injured, and 33, including the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, a Virginia Tech senior, were killed.

As with Columbine, the Oklahoma City bombing and Sept. 11, we at Vassar walk a little more uneasily after these tragic events. The Virginia Tech tragedy has jolted us into the present moment, making us take pause from our busy times and mundane worries to cry out for the lives of the people who died that day, and to cherish our privilege to exist.

As news reports detailing the killer’s tribulations continue to materialize and grip the nation, we must not forget about the 33 dead whose blood stains the Virginia Tech campus. These were people alight with hopes and dreams as we are, and who did not deserve to die. Like many others, we are often guilty of believing a grave falsity: that bad things do not happen to good people. As the Virginia Tech massacre clearly proves, to submit to this belief is a fatal miscalculation.

We should not deem ourselves invincible. Instead, we should take every opportunity to appreciate the people around us, including ourselves, while we still can. Services like Metcalf House and peer counseling can provide a supportive environment for students subsumed by grief. These, and other steps taken to create and proliferate a community of support and love at Vassar, should ensure that nobody feels that his or her life—or anyone else’s life—is dispensable. We have a duty to remember, to learn, and to do—for the wounded and dead at Virginia Tech, for ourselves, and for each other.