VT aftermath continues; SU reflects with speak out
Title
VT aftermath continues; SU reflects with speak out
Description
By: A.J. Donatoni
Posted: 4/26/07
Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty in a senseless act of violence April 16. On Wednesday, 32 Syracuse University students and area residents came together in the Panasci Lounge at the Schine Student Center to participate in the Speak Out Against Violence in response to that act.
The speak out, sponsored by the Greek Council and the Student Association, was a forum designed to commemorate the victims of the shootings and give those in attendance a chance to voice their opinions on what occurred that morning.
One by one, several participants walked up to the podium located at the back of the lounge and addressed the rest of the group by either sharing a personal experience or simply giving their perspective on what transpired on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Senior Amanda Torres helped organize the Speak Out and has coordinated several events around the campus in honor of the Virginia Tech community.
"When I was in high school, 9/11 happened and I was going to school in New York City," said Torres, entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major. "That's the reason why I decided to become in involved in this."
Torres spoke of her own personal experience in New York City when the World Trade Center was attacked but said that the shootings had a similar feel to them, which motivated her to do whatever she could to help out.
"I was watching it on the big screen in Schine, and I stood there in disbelief, like I couldn't believe this was happening at a college that was comparable in size to us," said Torres of the shootings. "I can't imagine the fear that was going through the families and friends there."
Junior Jacqueline Cho said the shootings touched her personally because she is Asian American. Because she shares the same last name of the shooter - Cho - she said the events have affected her on a deeper level.
"My sister lives in London, and the day after it happened, when she went to work, she got backlash from her co-workers about being an American citizen," said Cho, television, radio and film major. She also said the workers joked to her sister about coming into work that day with guns to shoot them.
Cho said she had not received any verbal backlash personally, but she has read blogs and other postings from student groups that have been "pretty upsetting."
"As a student of color, my main concern was that when this happened, why would I have to carry the burden about how I or my (Asian Pacific American) community would be represented in the media because of one individual?" she said. "After the incident I became very self-aware."
Roy Baker, director of fraternity and sorority affairs at SU, is originally from Richmond, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia. He said he has many ties to Virginia Tech and that the news hit home hard.
"I saw the news and witnessed the things that were happening on that campus, and I started thinking about all the people that I knew that worked there," he said. "I wasn't sure if I should reach out to them or just leave them alone."
Baker said he eventually contacted those whom he knew and that they were going through something "unimaginable" and "incomprehensible."
"What if something like that could happen here?" he said. "I would hope that we as a community would appreciate what we have at this great institution, and come together and do the things that could have prevented this by supporting one another and making one another feel like we each matter."
Once the open forum portion of the event was finished, the Speak Out concluded with a moment of silence by the 32 SU community members for the 32 victims, whose names were read by the event volunteers.
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Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2007/04/26/News/Vt.Aftermath.Continues.Su.Reflects.With.Speak.Out-2881603.shtml> The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007</a>
Posted: 4/26/07
Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty in a senseless act of violence April 16. On Wednesday, 32 Syracuse University students and area residents came together in the Panasci Lounge at the Schine Student Center to participate in the Speak Out Against Violence in response to that act.
The speak out, sponsored by the Greek Council and the Student Association, was a forum designed to commemorate the victims of the shootings and give those in attendance a chance to voice their opinions on what occurred that morning.
One by one, several participants walked up to the podium located at the back of the lounge and addressed the rest of the group by either sharing a personal experience or simply giving their perspective on what transpired on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Senior Amanda Torres helped organize the Speak Out and has coordinated several events around the campus in honor of the Virginia Tech community.
"When I was in high school, 9/11 happened and I was going to school in New York City," said Torres, entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major. "That's the reason why I decided to become in involved in this."
Torres spoke of her own personal experience in New York City when the World Trade Center was attacked but said that the shootings had a similar feel to them, which motivated her to do whatever she could to help out.
"I was watching it on the big screen in Schine, and I stood there in disbelief, like I couldn't believe this was happening at a college that was comparable in size to us," said Torres of the shootings. "I can't imagine the fear that was going through the families and friends there."
Junior Jacqueline Cho said the shootings touched her personally because she is Asian American. Because she shares the same last name of the shooter - Cho - she said the events have affected her on a deeper level.
"My sister lives in London, and the day after it happened, when she went to work, she got backlash from her co-workers about being an American citizen," said Cho, television, radio and film major. She also said the workers joked to her sister about coming into work that day with guns to shoot them.
Cho said she had not received any verbal backlash personally, but she has read blogs and other postings from student groups that have been "pretty upsetting."
"As a student of color, my main concern was that when this happened, why would I have to carry the burden about how I or my (Asian Pacific American) community would be represented in the media because of one individual?" she said. "After the incident I became very self-aware."
Roy Baker, director of fraternity and sorority affairs at SU, is originally from Richmond, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia. He said he has many ties to Virginia Tech and that the news hit home hard.
"I saw the news and witnessed the things that were happening on that campus, and I started thinking about all the people that I knew that worked there," he said. "I wasn't sure if I should reach out to them or just leave them alone."
Baker said he eventually contacted those whom he knew and that they were going through something "unimaginable" and "incomprehensible."
"What if something like that could happen here?" he said. "I would hope that we as a community would appreciate what we have at this great institution, and come together and do the things that could have prevented this by supporting one another and making one another feel like we each matter."
Once the open forum portion of the event was finished, the Speak Out concluded with a moment of silence by the 32 SU community members for the 32 victims, whose names were read by the event volunteers.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2007/04/26/News/Vt.Aftermath.Continues.Su.Reflects.With.Speak.Out-2881603.shtml> The Daily Orange - April 26, 2007</a>
Creator
A.J. Donatoni
Publisher
The Daily Orange
Date
2007-08-23
Contributor
Sara Hood
Rights
Peter Waack <pwaack@dailyorange.com>
Language
eng
Citation
A.J. Donatoni, “VT aftermath continues; SU reflects with speak out,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 2, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1185.