April 16, 2008

On the morning of April 16, 2007, the campus of Virginia Tech experienced acts of horror so unspeakable and unimaginable that, even now, our minds cannot fully grasp them. The shooting tragedy that occurred has nonetheless irrevocably changed both our university and our nation.

Equally hard to imagine are the depths of profound and limitless sorrow felt by all members of the university community, particularly the families, friends, colleagues, and classmates of those who died here that day. They have lost sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, friends, classmates, and professors in a sudden and senseless act of horrific violence, and they must learn to live with agonizing absences that will never be filled. As a part of the larger Hokie family, we grieve alongside them, our hearts filled with sadness and sympathy.

In the aftermath of such tragedy, it is difficult to determine when it will be time to move ahead and how we will do so. Yet even as I write, I see that our campus sidewalks are crowded with those who have come to mourn and those who are here to learn. Students and faculty are back in their classrooms and their studies are important because teaching and learning are at the heart of this university and will be the foundation of its recovery.

We at Virginia Tech form a special family, one defined not by a single tragic event but by our storied past, a community not frozen in the present but poised to invent our future. The events of April 16 have changed us, to be sure, but they have not--and will not--set us back. Today, we are pressing ahead with a renewed commitment to the university, a deeper understanding of the quality and depth of its character, and a steadfast resolve to excel so that we may honor the memory of those we have lost.

We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

[Excerpted from a letter by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger '69]