remembering

The shootings at Virginia Tech were one year ago today. I have friends working there and former students attending grad school there.

That day has had a profound impact on me, professionally and personally. As someone who works with disruptive, threatening, and sometimes mentally ill college students, this incident has changed my actual practice at work and our approach to dealing with these situations. Personally, I have a deep love of college campuses and of college students, so I hurt on behalf of my friends and students.

As a department, we are honoring VT today, and I became the "keeper of the ribbons". That bowl on my desk has ribbons in VT colors that our staff are wearing and students can come by and get.

The book underneath it April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers is fabulous. It was written by a journalism instructor and his students who were in class as the attacks happened. It's really powerful.

So, today, if you can, just take a minute and remember those students, those instructors, and how so many people, families, communities, and an institution were so deeply affected by that tragedy.