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The students gathered for a candle light vigil, the dancing flames of remembrance flickering on bowed faces. As random candles were extinguished by a phantom wind, strangers closed ranks to share their flame and their grief.
As a lone singer began a spontaneous “Amazing Grace,” the people around her chimed in. Soon everyone sang to sooth the sorrow.
Some art students bowed down to spell out a message of solidarity: first a “VT” for Virginia Tech, then a UT.
More than 200 students converged on the flag pole outside Plant Hall to remember the students lost and injured in the deadliest massacre in U.S. history.
“It’s a way to show support and to show that we care,” Suzy Lamb said.
“I can’t really believe it happened. I’m still in shock. Nobody knows what to say,” Kim Fulton said.
“I’m not going to let this go.”
Zoe Oliver, with the help of Resident Life, sponsored the event. The sophomore from Virginia has many friends at Virginia Tech.
On the day of the shootings, Oliver sat in her first class and received approximately 30 phone calls from friends and family in the area. She left class and received the news of the massacre.
She immediately began calling her friends and family, but the phone lines were down. She didn’t get the news that all of her friends were OK until the next morning.
One of the reasons she felt moved to hold the candlelight vigil is because the event at Virginia Tech reminded her of Sept. 11, 2001. Her school was across the street from the Pentagon, and she and her friend’s watched the plane hit the building.
For the fifth anniversary of 9/11, her school did nothing to recognize the day. She learned a lesson from that oversight.
“I’m not going to let this go,” she vowed.
Oliver also held the vigil to help UT students focus their grief.
“Even if you aren’t close, it is still our country, our brothers and sisters,” she said.
Losing a friend
Another Virginia student, Samantha Bryant, was severely affected. A dear friend was shot and killed in the incident.
When watching the noon news the day of the shooting, she watched the shooting spree unfold. She could only think of one thing, her friends.
“All I could think was, ‘I hope all of my friends are ok.'” She said.
Bryant grabbed her cell phone, but she had to wait for an e-mail because that was the only means of communication that was allowed on campus.
As she awaited replies from friends and family, she watched the news and worried. She soon realized one of her friends was in one of the targeted buildings.
A mutual friend confirmed her worst fears. Her friend had been shot and killed. She was devastated and in disbelief.
Bryant’s friends described campus as pure chaos. Students were devastated.
“They don’t know how to move on.”
Matt Usher, a senior from New Jersey, had a friend Sean McQuade who was shot near his jaw and the bullet remains lodged in his skull.
As of Tuesday, he was responsive and doctors are deciding if they will operate because it is close to his spinal cord.
Usher said at first he was shocked and couldn’t understand the situation.
After finding out McQuade is responsive and doing better, Usher says he is feeling better.