Va. Tech marking 5 years since campus massacre

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Students were headed to class Monday at Virginia Tech, the first year the school hasn't suspended instruction to mark the anniversary of a 2007 rampage that left 32 people and the gunman dead.

The massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

AP Photo/Don Petersen, File

In this April 15, 2008 photo, a mourner sits on a wall in front of the entrance to Norris Hall prior to a memorial ceremony for the victims of the April 16, 2007 shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va

Provost Mark McNamee, who chaired a committee that planned memorial events in the years after the shooting, said the return to classes reflects the lives of those slain.

"Their passion for education, their desire to do good in the world, their commitment to their disciplines come through so strongly that we felt being in classes was one special way of remembering them onward," McNamee said. "This is what they did, this is what we do, and it's important to us.

"My sense is that our students and our faculty are ready for it," he said.

The day will be remembered in other ways on the Blacksburg campus, in Washington, and by alumni across the country.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was scheduled to address a campus-wide candlelight vigil on the Drillfield, the heart of the campus. McDonnell has issued a proclamation recognizing April 16 as Virginia Tech Remembrance Day.

The proclamation honors the 32 lives that were "hastily taken, leaving absences that will never be filled and a profound sense of sorrow in the lives of those impacted," the proclamation reads in part.

At 9:43 a.m. Monday — the time when gunman Seung-Hui Cho began killing 30 students and professors at Norris Hall — McDonnell was calling for a moment of silence in Virginia. The Capitol Square Bell Tower in Richmond will then toll for each victim.

On campus, events will also include a community picnic on the Drillfield, a display of memorial items sent to Virginia Tech from other colleges and universities and performances. Several locations have been set aside on campus as "quiet places for reflection."

At Norris Hall, where Cho also killed himself, an open house was scheduled. The former classroom building is now home to the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention.

The center was established after the killings at Norris Hall in 2009 "to transform a place of pain, suffering and violence that can prevent future violence," director James Hawdon said. The center promotes student volunteerism and "nonviolent compassionate communication" techniques, he said.

Hawdon, a sociology professor who was on campus during the 2007 carnage, said initially some people were hesitant to visit a peace center located in a place that had seen so much death. Once people overcome that, he said, "I think it's cathartic for them."

Hawdon said April 16 anniversaries have evolved from profoundly somber days to "a strong sense of community and a desire to work towards making the world a better place. We hope we can make a difference."

McNamee said survivors and parents of students slain five years ago have been part of the planning committee on anniversaries. They were fearful the events of April 16, 2007, would dim with time, so the university has stuck to symbolic remembrances of the day such as the candlelight vigil and a 3.2-mile run over the weekend that attracted 6,800 participants.

While the vast majority of students who were on campus in 2007 are gone, many current faculty members were there. He said he has heard no complaints about the decision to hold classes Monday.

Still, he said, memories of that day "can catch you by surprise."

"It's not too deeply buried," McNamee said. "A faculty member may be teaching and remember that day."

In Washington, Virginia Tech survivor Colin Goddard and other gun control advocates would begin two days of lobbying Congress on Monday. Goddard's documentary, "Living for 32," will also be screened on college campuses and communities across the country.

Alumni groups have been sponsoring service-based events leading to and on the anniversary. In Delaware, for instance, the First State Chapter participated in a Habitat for Humanity project Saturday, while members of the Portland, Ore., chapter volunteered for a tree planting.

The Denver chapter sponsored a 3.2-mile "Remembrance Walk/Run" on Sunday, and the National Capital Region Chapter sponsored a blood drive in the Washington suburbs.

In Blacksburg, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets was to conclude the day by standing guard for 32 minutes prior to the 11:59 p.m. snuffing of a ceremonial candle.

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