It might have been 10 a.m. this morning when I first saw the link on the
News & Record's website about
Virginia Tech. My first thought was, "Thank God my sister and her fiance aren't
students there anymore." My second thought was of my friend's sister who currently IS. Still, my first call was to my twice-alum sister of the fine university and I was frustrated when I got her voicemail, but happy to know that she was in California, thousands of miles from the horror.
My second is to confirm that my friend's sister truly is at Va Tech and that I haven't confused it with
UVA. Two calls later, I find out that I'm right. I make the call, knowing that she's probably not going to be answering the phone and knowing that she probably has no idea of what's happening, but I think that if I were in the situation, I'd want someone to at least leave me a voicemail - which is what I did.
We find out later that the sister is fine; not even on campus. Praise God.
Later, when I hear from my sister, I find out she was in Virginia until late last night for a wedding, but she's now in California again. I'd had no idea - and I'm instantly grateful that I'd had no idea. Yes, she does still know people at the University.
I spend much of the day streaming the live coverage that
WDBJ TV-7 is providing, letting it play in the background. The body counts seem to be the only thing that really comes through - and I continue to be shocked at the fact that it keeps going UP. Regardless, I somehow get lots of work done - maybe more than I've been able to for sometime.
I manage to escape from the media frenzy long enough to go teach a swim lesson, but it's not five minutes into my drive home before I pull up
WVTF, the Virginia Tech-based
NPR station, completely sucked in again. I learn on the way home that there are now 33 dead, not just 31 and there are 15 more who've been wounded. I hear the commentators say that it seems like the officials are now backtracking on the theory that the two shootings were committed by the same, now dead, perpetrator.
Fear strikes again. The shock continues to assail me. I remember visiting my sister when she lived in West Ambler Johnson. I remember visiting her lab in Norris Hall. I recognize so many of the landmarks on campus in the television footage, and yet, I can feel the persistent beauty and peace that I've always felt on that campus.
Now I sit watching
Larry King Live, listening to the students who speak to the media. Their pain and persisting confusion is evident.
*********************************************************************************
On a related note, I must say that Associate Vice President for University Relations Larry Hinker, President Charles Steger, and the members of the VT faculty and staff family seem to have done what may not be the best job, but perhaps the best under the circumstances. Knowing what I do about crisis communications, Hinker's done a good job about dealing with amazing uncertainty and a media cache that's amazingly antagonistic given the enormity of the massacre.
Having also been on the administration side of an institute of higher education, I can say with certainty that the "powers that be" want to be as sure as they can before they make major decisions, even though it may not turn out to the best decision. Yes, they'll probably regret not closing campus sooner, but don't forget that they also had significant logistical challenges to overcome: communicating such a message to over 25,000 people who would have been traveling to, and already arriving at, campus.
And there's really only one way to end a post like this:
"O Divine Presence, In the trials of life that send me to my knees,
I discover anew you are with me, too."
