There is so much out there already about the shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday. News reports, blogs, facebook and myspace memory pages. The way the story has unfolded now is even so much different than the last time the nation shook its head in dismay about a mass shooting, when two high school boys decided to take their own lives as well as their classmates in a quiet, suburban Colorado town.
I was a senior at Northwestern, watching the news with its security tape footage of the incidents at Columbine. I remember sitting in the living room of my house, dismayed, but wondering what we’d do if two disgruntled NU students decided to take out their anger and pain on Mark Witte’s Intro to Macroeconomics class, a very, very large class in a very, very large lecture hall. Or worse, what if they decided to make their way across campus, going in and out of classrooms and study lounges with relative ease.
There was so much talk in the aftermath about what high schools and elementary schools were doing to prepare for and avoid a Columbine repeat. But I don’t recall much chatter from the administrators at NU. I only hope they were talking about it, planning for it. I’m sure if they didn’t before, the grim reality is now on the next meeting agenda.
I know I feel more sadness than I would otherwise because so many of my friends are Virginia Tech alums. And they are really, really proud of it. I know NU alums are pretty proud, but they’re nothing compared to the spirit of those who graduated from VT. My friends Katie and Robby even played the Hokey Pokey at their wedding, and invited all their VT alum friends to join in. It’s difficult living in DC-ish and not feeling a bond with those around you who have their own memories of sitting in a French class or listening to an engineering professor. Those who are right now thinking, “That could’ve been me.”
When I was working at a college previously, the thoughts of what-if-a-student-did-something-really-bad after came into my mind. A few times I told higher ups that we needed to plan for this. What would we do? I was, of course, thinking of it in more of crisis communications sense. But because we had so many other things to deal with — increasing enrollment, starting new programs, etc. — the idea of crisis planning was always tabled.
I don’t know all the details of what happened and when regarding the administration’s response. I’m reserving judgment (unlike TV and blog pundits). I’m doing the same with blaming guns, video games or Prozac — I won’t do it. Unfortunately though, the shooter fits a profile that we’ve heard and read about way too much — a reported loner who expressed anger and violence. And his family — I’m sure they’ll be blamed too. But it’s so much more complicated to fault parents who no longer live with their grown-up child, who can’t watch their every move, mood and purchase.
I don’t really know what to say or what conclusions to draw. It’s an awful, terrible, horrible thing that happened. And as sad as it is, I’m sure we’ll hear the news reports again, alluding to the day in April 2007 when a college student shot and killed dozens.
