The Review

Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Mike DeVoll Hundreds of students attended the vigil in front of Memorial Hall Tuesday night. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Mike DeVoll University Religious leaders, members of the student body and community gathered Tuesday for a vigil in remberance of those affected at Virginia Tech. [Click to enlarge]

While thousands of students gathered outside Virginia Tech's Drillfield for a candlelit vigil last night, more than 500 university community members attended a vigil in Newark, despite cold winds, on the North Green in honor of the tragic massacre that occurred Monday.

At 8 p.m., students gathered in front of Memorial Hall fell silent as they lit candles and hovered over them so their light could shine in honor of those affected by the tragedy that stuck the Tech university campus.

Freshman Katie Baldwin said she wanted to attend the vigil because she had friends at Tech.

"My friend made a Facebook profile for Mary Read because he didn't know what happened to her," Baldwin said. "We all found out through news reports later. It's so sad."

Kim Zitzner, the religious and spiritual life liaison, opened the ceremony by offering the Tech community the university's thoughts and prayers.

"As we are here and feel the wind and chill, we also feel the light and the warmth of the candles and the prayers and support that unify us, and unify this entire nation," Zitzner said.

Following Zitzner's speech, religious leaders representative of the university's student body addressed those present and provided comforting words from their respective religious backgrounds to distraught students. Those who spoke included leaders from Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i and Protestant faiths.

Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman of the Chabad House, a Jewish student group on campus, highlighted one Tech victim - engineering professor Liviu Librescu - a 76-year-old Israeli Holocaust survivor.

"Unarmed, he blocked the door to his classroom absorbing the bullets with his body while students escaped from the second story window," Sneiderman said. "He demonstrated the ultimate self-sacrifice of courage in the face of evil."

He urged students to do a good deed, in hopes that another tragedy could be prevented in the future.

The Golden Blues, a university a capella group on campus, performed twice for those in attendance. Approximately half-way through the vigil they sang "Change" by Billy Strauss. At the close of the ceremony they performed "Meaning," by Gavin DeGraw.

Sophomore Annie Norton also spoke at the vigil, reliving the emotions she felt Monday upon hearing about the tragedy at Tech.

"It's no wonder the students of today have reason to feel insecure and vulnerable," Norton said. "I can only hope we will not forget this day and the faces of those lost, but instead keep them in our heads and in our hearts as we continue in our journey of life."

Freshman Lisa Maloney lost one of her closest friends, Emily Hilscher, in the first shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall.

Maloney said she had known Hilscher since eighth grade and they only lived approximately five miles away from each other. She was shocked to find out the news that one of her best friends was a victim.

"I actually got three phone calls all at the same time," she said. "They were my friends and my sister. I had heard she was involved, but had no other information at the time. Word got around that she didn't make it, and then finally I found out she was one of the first victims."

Maloney said it helps to see so many students attend the vigil and support Tech during such hard times.

"I don't know if anyone else was personally affected, but it was nice to see so many people come out tonight," she said.

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