MEADOR: Heroes arise out of tragic events at Virginia Tech
Title
MEADOR: Heroes arise out of tragic events at Virginia Tech
Description
By: Jake Meador / Freshman English major
Posted: 4/25/07
The heroes of the Protestant Reformation had an old saying that man is simultaneously both saint and sinner, and the truth of this statement is impossible to argue. In the 20th century alone there lived people as awful as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin and as wonderful as Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr.
The irony of the saying is that it's often when the sinners are at their worst that we get the clearest picture of the saints. The lives of great men and women become most beautiful when confronted with great tragedy.
Mother Teresa would be an unknown if it weren't for the horrors of poverty, the oppressive caste system and the ruins of India left behind by British imperialism. Likewise, King would be long forgotten if it weren't for the horrors of racism and segregation. We saw one more example of this truth last week in the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
By now everyone has heard the name Cho Seung-Hui, and we should call him by his name, not by some title we make up to avoid the harsh reality that a human being committed this crime. We've heard of how the 23-year-old senior English major killed 32 individuals and then himself in the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
Some have even seen the disturbing video he made prior to the massacre. We've heard about his dark, sad life that ended so violently. But few have told the story of another man involved in the tragedy.
76-year-old engineering professor Liviu Librescu was one of the 32 to be killed by Seung-Hui. But if it weren't for a courageous act of sacrifice on Librescu's part, there may have been more casualties. Librescu was teaching a class in Norris Hall when gunshots were first heard in a distant corner of the building.
Students in the classroom initially hid, but as the sound came closer and closer, Librescu instructed students to flee through the window. He then, in the ultimate act of sacrifice, braced the door with his own body, being shot through the door several times as his students escaped. When police entered the room, they found the professor dead by the door with five bullet wounds.
Additionally, 32-year-old Egyptian doctorate student Waleed Muhammad Shaalan, who had been shot once already, distracted Seung-Hui long enough to allow several other students to escape.
Seung-Hui reminds us of all that is broken in our world: the fractured relationships, the alienation so many of us feel, the violence we often witness and the self-centeredness that so often characterizes us. Librescu and Shaalan, on the other hand, are a heroic reminder of all that is good in life and all that is a cause for hope.
And Librescu didn't just become that with his act of sacrifice. His whole life was characterized by bravery, generosity and love.
Born in 1930 in Romania, he lived through the Holocaust as an adolescent. Despite such difficulties, he excelled in school, studying aerospace engineering and becoming one of the finest engineering students in Romania.
He earned his doctorate degree in the late 1950s and then taught various engineering courses for 20 years before losing his job in the 1970s due to his opposition to the ruling Communist party.
Thanks to the intercession of the Israeli government, he was allowed to leave the country, and he moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, to teach at the university there for several years.
After Tel Aviv, he moved to the United States to teach at Virginia Tech, which he had done since 1986. Throughout his career at Virginia Tech, he was known for being one of the finest researchers in the world, as well as a great man. As one colleague put it, "He was a very pleasant, jolly fellow who enjoyed joking around a little with the staff. An everyone's-friend sort of guy." One student said he treated all of his students like his own children.
So it isn't surprising that last week when the lives of his students were threatened, Librescu did what a father would do in such a situation. He sacrificed his own safety to protect the lives of his students, and for that Librescu is a hero. And it's important we remember that during these dark days following such a tragic event.
There's no shortage of darkness in our world, and consequently there's no shortage of negativity and cynicism. But Librescu's example reminds us that ultimately love triumphs over all these things.
There is something about human beings that cannot be kept down by hatred, violence or oppression, and Librescu's life is the perfect portrait of that something: narrowly escaping a young death at the hands of Hitler, resisting an oppressive Communist regime in his home country and ultimately giving up his own life in order to save others.
So as we reflect on the tragedy at Virginia Tech and have conversations about how to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again (and we need to have those conversations: We need to talk about gun control and loving the hard-to-love and additional safety measures to protect students), we also must remember Librescu's heroic sacrifice.
It is because of his selfless act that today 20-30 students are still alive and 20-30 families aren't burying their sons or daughters.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/25/Opinion/Meador.Heroes.Arise.Out.Of.Tragic.Events.At.Virginia.Tech-2878361.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 25, 2007</a>
Posted: 4/25/07
The heroes of the Protestant Reformation had an old saying that man is simultaneously both saint and sinner, and the truth of this statement is impossible to argue. In the 20th century alone there lived people as awful as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin and as wonderful as Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr.
The irony of the saying is that it's often when the sinners are at their worst that we get the clearest picture of the saints. The lives of great men and women become most beautiful when confronted with great tragedy.
Mother Teresa would be an unknown if it weren't for the horrors of poverty, the oppressive caste system and the ruins of India left behind by British imperialism. Likewise, King would be long forgotten if it weren't for the horrors of racism and segregation. We saw one more example of this truth last week in the tragedy at Virginia Tech.
By now everyone has heard the name Cho Seung-Hui, and we should call him by his name, not by some title we make up to avoid the harsh reality that a human being committed this crime. We've heard of how the 23-year-old senior English major killed 32 individuals and then himself in the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
Some have even seen the disturbing video he made prior to the massacre. We've heard about his dark, sad life that ended so violently. But few have told the story of another man involved in the tragedy.
76-year-old engineering professor Liviu Librescu was one of the 32 to be killed by Seung-Hui. But if it weren't for a courageous act of sacrifice on Librescu's part, there may have been more casualties. Librescu was teaching a class in Norris Hall when gunshots were first heard in a distant corner of the building.
Students in the classroom initially hid, but as the sound came closer and closer, Librescu instructed students to flee through the window. He then, in the ultimate act of sacrifice, braced the door with his own body, being shot through the door several times as his students escaped. When police entered the room, they found the professor dead by the door with five bullet wounds.
Additionally, 32-year-old Egyptian doctorate student Waleed Muhammad Shaalan, who had been shot once already, distracted Seung-Hui long enough to allow several other students to escape.
Seung-Hui reminds us of all that is broken in our world: the fractured relationships, the alienation so many of us feel, the violence we often witness and the self-centeredness that so often characterizes us. Librescu and Shaalan, on the other hand, are a heroic reminder of all that is good in life and all that is a cause for hope.
And Librescu didn't just become that with his act of sacrifice. His whole life was characterized by bravery, generosity and love.
Born in 1930 in Romania, he lived through the Holocaust as an adolescent. Despite such difficulties, he excelled in school, studying aerospace engineering and becoming one of the finest engineering students in Romania.
He earned his doctorate degree in the late 1950s and then taught various engineering courses for 20 years before losing his job in the 1970s due to his opposition to the ruling Communist party.
Thanks to the intercession of the Israeli government, he was allowed to leave the country, and he moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, to teach at the university there for several years.
After Tel Aviv, he moved to the United States to teach at Virginia Tech, which he had done since 1986. Throughout his career at Virginia Tech, he was known for being one of the finest researchers in the world, as well as a great man. As one colleague put it, "He was a very pleasant, jolly fellow who enjoyed joking around a little with the staff. An everyone's-friend sort of guy." One student said he treated all of his students like his own children.
So it isn't surprising that last week when the lives of his students were threatened, Librescu did what a father would do in such a situation. He sacrificed his own safety to protect the lives of his students, and for that Librescu is a hero. And it's important we remember that during these dark days following such a tragic event.
There's no shortage of darkness in our world, and consequently there's no shortage of negativity and cynicism. But Librescu's example reminds us that ultimately love triumphs over all these things.
There is something about human beings that cannot be kept down by hatred, violence or oppression, and Librescu's life is the perfect portrait of that something: narrowly escaping a young death at the hands of Hitler, resisting an oppressive Communist regime in his home country and ultimately giving up his own life in order to save others.
So as we reflect on the tragedy at Virginia Tech and have conversations about how to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again (and we need to have those conversations: We need to talk about gun control and loving the hard-to-love and additional safety measures to protect students), we also must remember Librescu's heroic sacrifice.
It is because of his selfless act that today 20-30 students are still alive and 20-30 families aren't burying their sons or daughters.
--
Original Source:<a href=http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2007/04/25/Opinion/Meador.Heroes.Arise.Out.Of.Tragic.Events.At.Virginia.Tech-2878361.shtml>Daily Nebraskan - April 25, 2007</a>
Creator
Jake Meador
Publisher
Daily Nebraskan
Date
2007-09-03
Contributor
Sara AA Hood
Rights
Josh Swartzlander <jdwriter19@yahoo.com>
Language
eng
Citation
Jake Meador, “MEADOR: Heroes arise out of tragic events at Virginia Tech,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 2, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1274.