blacksburg, virginia – On April 16, 2007, 32 people were murdered on the Virginia Tech campus.
“It's a part of this university forever, and we don't want to lose those 32 lives,” said Mark Ouchalski, a Virginia Tech university spokesman.
Each year, the school places a wreath at the memorial and lights a 24-hour ceremonial candle in memory of the victims.
Seventeen years later, the days don't get any easier for today's Virginia Tech family.
“Certainly, this is an indescribable tragedy, and it's a very difficult thing to do,” Owcharski said. “Today we mark the Day of Remembrance because we have a responsibility to do that and to remember their lives.”
I spoke with one of the cadets who has been directly involved in the Remembrance Day planning process and she said she was proud to be a part of this.
“I feel like it’s really close to my heart and trying to get people to sign up.” [volunteer] When I thought about the slots, I could really see how much this meant to my family. Because I've had contact with them and I know it means a lot to the family,” Virginia Tech cadet Ashley Sarno said.
Although she was 4 years old at the time and many people on campus were her age, she said she was still a big part of the community.
“We remember, not just because I didn't know these people, but just because I might just walk by and ignore the monument and think nothing of it,” Sarno said. said. “We're doing this because we're remembering them. We're remembering with them.”
Over the weekend, the school also held its annual “3.2 for 32 Run in Remembrance.” This run broke previous attendance records with over 18,000 people in attendance.
An earlier article from April 16, 2007 can be found here.
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