Tech Holds Candlelight Vigil

Many left campus yesterday to be with family, draining the school of still more students. Last night became a testimony from those who remained -- a resurrection of place.

 
 
"I plan to go on," said Thomas Connors, 22, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. "Leaving was never a thought. All my friends feel that way."

 
For some, it was the first time they'd seen their friends since Monday morning, when the campus was locked down and no one knew who remained alive. "It's good to see you," was, for a night, a powerful enough greeting to elicit tears.

 
"This is the way the community is around here," said Crystal Horning, 44, a municipal worker in nearby Christiansburg.

 
Her husband, Leslie, 43, said the size of the gathering came as no surprise.

 
"The challenge is how to recognize and accept (the shooting), and move on with our lives," he said. "You can't bury it."

 
Organizers set up six double-sided white, wooden placards -- which will stand there until Sunday -- and attached black markers. Well-wishers posted messages of defiance, solidarity and eternity.

 
The crowd began trickling onto the field nearly an hour before the scheduled 8 p.m. start. By the time the vigil began, a shimmering sea of soft orange light coated the field, the participants standing so close and in such numbers that it was difficult to tell where one person stopped and the next began.

 
"We heal. We come back," said Gade Kimsawatde, 21, a bio-technology major from Bangkok, Thailand. She wanted to leave earlier to be with family until university classes resume Monday, but as a resident assistant, she stayed an extra day to make sure people on her dormitory floor were doing all right.

 
"This is love," Zenobia Hikes, vice president of student affairs at the school, said, speaking to the crowd. "Look after each other."

 
Brief remarks from Hikes, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and student leaders lasted only about nine minutes.

 
For about a half-hour afterward, they stood silently, sang Amazing Grace and broke into a boisterous, spontaneous call-and-response:

 
"Let's go!" came the cry.

 
"Hokies!" the reply.

 
Between speakers, the massive assembly stayed hushed through a moment of silence, and remained still during a long, slow rendition of Taps played by a member of the school's Corps of Cadets.

 
And when it was over, they didn't leave.

 
They raised their candles higher.