Post by FIUBlue82 on Apr 18, 2007 20:26:18 GMT -5
Nice tribute by our university.
www.miamiherald.com/416/story/78869.html
FIU memorializes Virginia Tech massacre victims
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
To the mournful wail of a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace, students at Florida International University stepped from the crowd to set small candles on the floor in two flickering designs: a ''VT'' logo and the number 33.
Behind them, the smiling faces of people who did not expect to die violently flashed on the wall: Reema Samaha . . .Henry Lee . . .Daniel Perez Cueva. And so on.
Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of FIU's University Park campus gathered Wednesday at the Graham Student Center for a memorial ceremony honoring the victims of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va.
It was just one of the many memorial ceremonies held Wednesday at colleges in South Florida, from Broward Community College to the University of Miami.
Students held one another, some wiping tears from their eyes, others staring into their candles.
Robert Coatie, FIU's senior director of multicultural programs, led the group in a prayer.
''In this time of national tragedy and sadness we ask for [God's] guidance,'' he said. ``We feel the pain of all those who have suffered and died. Those of us who remain are challenged to make sense out of the nonsense.''
Following Coatie's prayer, members of the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps marched in and stood at attention as a bugler played Taps.
On the floor, arrangements of orange and red flowers, one shaped like the word ''we'' and another shaped like a heart, were placed above the glowing VT logo.
Students scrawled notes of condolence on heart-shaped pieces of construction paper, affixing them to a wall around the screen where the victims' faces were flashed.
''May the peace that only God gives be with your family,'' wrote student Anezka Rios. ``You are in our hearts forever.''
Jennifer Torres wrote: ``College students everywhere unite and pray that such a tragedy will never happen again.''
FIU will send all the notes to Virginia Tech.
Computer engineering major Chris Mur, 22, and English major Kristina Sanchez, 22, wrapped their arms around each other.
Mur described how it feels to lose, even momentarily, the sense of security on campus.
''I was in my circuits class and someone walked in abruptly,'' Mur said. ``Everyone tensed up for a moment. The professor kept one of the doors locked.''
Sanchez echoed his sentiments: ''You feel that, in a school, you should be safe. I feel like there's nowhere where we can be totally protected,'' she said.
www.miamiherald.com/416/story/78869.html
FIU memorializes Virginia Tech massacre victims
BY LAURA MORALES
llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
To the mournful wail of a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace, students at Florida International University stepped from the crowd to set small candles on the floor in two flickering designs: a ''VT'' logo and the number 33.
Behind them, the smiling faces of people who did not expect to die violently flashed on the wall: Reema Samaha . . .Henry Lee . . .Daniel Perez Cueva. And so on.
Hundreds of students, faculty and staff of FIU's University Park campus gathered Wednesday at the Graham Student Center for a memorial ceremony honoring the victims of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va.
It was just one of the many memorial ceremonies held Wednesday at colleges in South Florida, from Broward Community College to the University of Miami.
Students held one another, some wiping tears from their eyes, others staring into their candles.
Robert Coatie, FIU's senior director of multicultural programs, led the group in a prayer.
''In this time of national tragedy and sadness we ask for [God's] guidance,'' he said. ``We feel the pain of all those who have suffered and died. Those of us who remain are challenged to make sense out of the nonsense.''
Following Coatie's prayer, members of the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps marched in and stood at attention as a bugler played Taps.
On the floor, arrangements of orange and red flowers, one shaped like the word ''we'' and another shaped like a heart, were placed above the glowing VT logo.
Students scrawled notes of condolence on heart-shaped pieces of construction paper, affixing them to a wall around the screen where the victims' faces were flashed.
''May the peace that only God gives be with your family,'' wrote student Anezka Rios. ``You are in our hearts forever.''
Jennifer Torres wrote: ``College students everywhere unite and pray that such a tragedy will never happen again.''
FIU will send all the notes to Virginia Tech.
Computer engineering major Chris Mur, 22, and English major Kristina Sanchez, 22, wrapped their arms around each other.
Mur described how it feels to lose, even momentarily, the sense of security on campus.
''I was in my circuits class and someone walked in abruptly,'' Mur said. ``Everyone tensed up for a moment. The professor kept one of the doors locked.''
Sanchez echoed his sentiments: ''You feel that, in a school, you should be safe. I feel like there's nowhere where we can be totally protected,'' she said.
