March 11, 2008
Virginia Tech Officials Share Stories of Tragedy and Recovery
Boston — More than 500 staff members from colleges around the country gave a panel of Virginia Tech officials two long standing ovations here today at the Naspa conference.
“Y’all should work for FEMA,” one misty-eyed audience member told the panel, praising its commitment to serving students.
It was the first time the group of five student-affairs officers had spoken publicly about dealing with the tragedy on their campus almost a year ago. “On the morning of April 16, higher education as we knew it was rocked to the core,” said Zenobia Lawrence Hikes, Tech’s vice president for student affairs.
All of the speakers shared details of their own experiences. Edward Spencer, associate vice president for student affairs, remembered alerting the housekeeping staff not to empty trash from West Ambler Johnston Hall, the dormitory where two students were killed. Richard Ferraro, an assistant vice president for student affairs, recalled escorting a reporter who had posed as a parent out of a special briefing for the families of the victims. Tom Brown, dean of students, talked about negotiating bereavement airfares for relatives and tracking 32 funerals to make sure the university sent a representative to each one.
Virginia Tech assigned one staff member to each family of a deceased student, a decision Ms. Hikes questioned. “Really a full-time social-worker position is what it was,” she said. “To put that responsibility on top of them given the magnitude … that’s something in hindsight we would probably re-evaluate.”
The liaisons talked with relatives at all hours of the day and night, they said. They packed up belongings in apartments and negotiated difficult relationships between divorced and separated parents. One family asked Mr. Ferraro to help get their son off a waiting list at the college he wanted to attend, so he wouldn’t have to be where his sister died or near her killer’s hometown.
“I had been very composed, you know, because you have to be,” Mr. Ferraro said. But when he heard that the college had admitted the student, he choked up on the telephone with the family. “I couldn’t get the words out,” he said. “I finally croaked out, ‘He’s in.’”
The student-affairs officers here talked about coordinating deliveries by police officers of the items survivors had left in Norris Hall, the site of the main massacre. The administrators also set up tours of Norris, led by police officers and counselors, for students who felt it would be helpful to go back into the building.
Crisis mode lasted a long time, the speakers said.
“I think all of us here wondered, When will it end? And it doesn’t,” said Donna Ratcliffe, director of career services. “You build endurance, you build wisdom, and you do what you can to do what’s right.”
Ms. Ratcliffe and others thanked the countless colleagues at other institutions who had supported Virginia Tech. One staff member passed out Hokie-colored maroon-and-orange candy in the audience.
With help from the Library of Congress, Virginia Tech is now cataloging more than 90,000 items well-wishers sent in sympathy, including a 100-pound rock from the Mississippi River and a signed life preserver from the U.S. Coast Guard. The archive will help researchers understand how people grieve, said Guy Sims, an assistant vice president for student affairs at Tech. An art gallery at the university will open an exhibition of some of the items next month.
Sara Lipka | Posted on Tuesday March 11, 2008 | PermalinkComments
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VA Tech officials clearly did things right. Perhaps more important, they worked hard to do things right. I have little doubt that there will be some who will say they didn’t do enuf – but they clearly did their best.
The audience member was right: they should work for FEMA! – or better yet, give lessons to FEMA!
— TDD Mar 12, 03:49 PM #
Being in that room for this session was a special occasion. Thank you to the Hokies for sharing their expertise. It is amazing how much they did right and they deserve to be praised!
— Todd Mar 12, 04:51 PM #
I strongly believe that most of the credit for VT’s recovery should go to President Steger. He was, and remains, a strong, yet claming influence on our campus.
— Gerald W. Berkley-Coats Mar 13, 09:10 AM #
I am deeply grateful for the faculty and administration at VT! They demonstrated great wisdom with their immediate decisions and actions last spring. They clearly demonstrated a priority of genuine love and service to those hurting families and individuals and still do in this new year. May they be blessed for their sacrifice! They are heroes!!
— Mary Ann Lash Mar 19, 02:07 PM #