Op-Ed Voices of reason in the massacre at Virginia Tech

Author: Viraj Assar

I write this week out of confusion and frustration, having woken up on Monday to early reports of serial violence on the campus of Virginia Tech in my hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia. In the same week as the eighth anniversary of the Columbine massacre, and after reports of bomb threats on the VT campus, news agencies reported by Monday afternoon that up to 33 were fatally shot in dorms and a classroom, including multiple faculty members, with around 30 others wounded. Specifics were tentative at best, but the event was quickly acknowledged as the worst mass shooting in this country's history. This, after an academic year whose first day in session was marred by the cancellation of classes due to a massive manhunt undertaken to apprehend William Morva, a convict who killed two security personnel in the Blacksburg area after escaping from police custody.

Such events were without precedent in Blacksburg, which is recognized regionally as a quiet suburban haven of sorts. I walked the streets at night without the slightest worry. I came of age on the campus of Virginia Tech, where my mother was a graduate student through most of the 1990s. I discovered the internet in its library, learned to play pool in its student center, worked my first job at the campus bookstore, received tutoring from members of its community, and attended my senior prom in one of its ballrooms. As an intern at the university in 2004, I lived within sight of West Ambler Johnston Hall, where the first lives were lost this Monday. Many of my friends from Blacksburg High School have attended VT, which receives a tremendous percentage of our alumni.

With this understanding of Virginia Tech, Monday afternoon was shattering. Just after noon, I heard the news from a friend who studies there. Immediately, I turned to the internet for more information.

A quick survey of news coverage of the situation in the hours following the press conference held by VT President Charles Steger yielded front-page stories at the websites of the world's top news outlets: Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, BBC News, the Times of London, the Hindustan Times, and Al-Jazeera. However, the sites maintained by the most directly involved local parties, including Virginia Tech, the Blacksburg Police Department, the Blacksburg Town Council, and the offices of US Congressman Richard Boucher and Gov. Timothy Kaine were blacked out and unable to provide information. Local police, K-9 units, snipers, and agents from the FBI and ATF flooded campus, which was locked-down. Mobile phone networks serving the area were also jammed, making it difficult for those on campus to communicate beyond its limits. From Washington, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino expressed the President's horror at hearing the news. An NPR correspondent monitored the reaction from Capitol Hill, where, as lawmakers bristled with anticipation over Tuesday's hearings on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' involvement with the US Attorney firings, Congress observed a moment of silence. This did not satisfy.

On the security front, the VT Police had failed to notify the university community after responding to the first shootings, which were reported just after 7 am. This meant that students attended classes as usual. As many as 30 were subsequently gunned down in Norris Hall. Chief Wendell Flinchum appeared unable to offer more than projected casualty numbers, including whether the shooter killed himself or was successfully targeted by police. I learned from a friend that one of the victims, an acquaintance of hers now receiving care in an ICU, had been told not to discuss his experience. Police dogs had scoured the campus, and surrounding thoroughfares were re-opened as the worst was deemed over. Hunched over my laptop in Painter, frustration about the paucity of information and government reaction set in.

I had written immediately to Senators Warner and Webb, concerned that there were too many questions and not enough visibility among political and law enforcement leadership immediately following the newsbreak. I thought immediately of 9/11, when Pres. Bush waited to comment on the day's horrors until the evening, and hoped to see a better effort in this case. I did see such an effort, but it originated from the ground--not from political heights or law enforcement.

A friend called from Baltimore to let me know she had heard that VT students holed up in classrooms were at work writing news pieces to counteract the communications failures, while ROTC cadets helped to secure the campus. BBC video coverage included reports from student witnesses, volunteers, and a representative from the university's radio station, WUVT-FM. The website of the Collegiate Times, VT's student-run newspaper, had up-to-date postings and uncompromised accessibility, despite being run from an off-campus location. Student bloggers provided video and personal accounts of the insanity, as well as expressed outrage and confusion at the delay of the initial lockdown.

Neither I nor anyone can predict at this early stage what the true fallout of this event will be, but I encourage members of the College community to ask questions and express their support for the victims, and I applaud those who, without waiting for the smoke to clear or for the political implications of this horrible day to sharpen into focus, tried their damnedest to supply information to those of us outside.

Viraj Assar is a senior Political Science and English double major who now resides in Alexandria, Va.