August 9, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Return visit to Blacksburg
For the first time since December 2005, Jacqueline and I paid a visit to Blacksburg on Tuesday. It was mostly to touch base with family and friends, but we also wanted to see the memorials to the victims of the massacre that took place on April 16 last year. It is extremely painful to think about what all of those young people would have accomplished if their lives had not been brutally cut short. Say what you will about gun control, for or against, but the real problem is the persistence of evil in our world, and our society's unwillingness to recognize it and to deal with it. Every time we make excuses for bad behavior, or look the other way, we encourage some sociopath to vent his rage upon the world.
For each of the 32 victims, a stone engraved with the name has been placed in a memorial garden across the street from Burruss Hall.
The plaque memorializing the students and faculty members who were killed; it is barely visible in the above photo.
This arch, spanning the landscaped Alumni Mall, connects Torgersen Hall (on the left) with Newman Library.
Compare these to the photos of Blacksburg I took in 2001.