Campus Tragedy

I don't know what to say about the Virginia Tech tragedy. The issue hits home for me because today my husband, mother, and father--as well as many of my friends--are all at work on university campuses. I never think to question their safety in labs and classrooms.

My senior year at Penn State, there was a shooting on campus. That morning, I was annoyed because I was running late and didn't have time to grab coffee from the student union building before class. From my dorm room, I heard an unusual noise--it sounded like a car backfiring. I didn't think much of it until I found out later that morning that a sniper had shot several people on the lawn outside the student union building--within view of my dorm, and right where I would have been if I'd had time to get coffee. One person died, and others were wounded. It was devestating for the campus community, and people were in shock. I don't know how a community recovers from a tragedy of the magnitude of that at Virginia Tech.

I also gave a thought to Iraq, where I've read about insurgents targeting university students and faculty. I'm grateful to live in a place that such violence is shocking and rare. I can't imagine having that threat looming over me every day.

Reading over some of the first obituaries hurt my heart. These were either students who had great potential and should have had many years of life ahead of them--or they were faculty who had devoted their time to pursuing knowledge and teaching young people. I can't comprehend why a person--no matter how disgruntled or disturbed--would think it the best course of action to kill them.