| May 7, 2007 | Volume 82, Number 14 | |
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A time for healingGov. Tim Kaine deserves credit for supporting Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech, who has been criticized for Tech’s delaying notification of students and faculty of the first two killings on campus April 16. As we all know, a mentally deranged student went on a rampage two hours after he earlier had killed two people. Many questioned why Dr. Steger did not immediately order a lockdown on the campus, asserting that the action would have prevented the later killings in Norris Hall. In fact, some critics, largely from the media, immediately cried for Dr. Steger’s dismissal. But those actively involved at Virginia Tech, including alumni, overwhelmingly want Dr. Steger — a man who has served as its president since 2000 — to stay. Gov. Kaine, who made his remarks on his monthly radio show April 26, pointed out that Seung-Hui Cho might have killed more people if the university had ordered a lockdown in light of the first shootings. “If the campus had been locked down — because the shooter lived on campus — I mean he could have gone into his dorm with 900 people,” Gov. Kaine said. “He could have shot people there.” There is often a rush to judgment by people who feel that firing someone or putting them in jail is the answer to a harmful act. There is a natural tendency for some to blame another for mistakes as if to say the deed – in this case, a mass murder of innocent people — would not have happened if he or she had done their job properly. Let us resist the tendency to be micromanagers. Those in charge of any enterprise are always subject to judgment by outsiders who think they can do better. Virginia Tech students, faculty members and the administration have been dealt a terrible blow and then had to endure the world spotlight on them while they struggled with their grief. The students cannot forget or minimize what happened on April 16, but they need to get on with their lives as all of us must do. With the withdrawal of the media and the natural progression of other news events, the media spotlight will shift from Virginia Tech and those on the Blacksburg campus can work to regain their normal routine. It certainly won’t be easy. Those who were witnesses to the shootings and the families and friends of those killed will need time to heal. Catholic Charities agencies throughout the diocese stand willing to help in offering free counseling to those who request it. Kudos to the clergy, campus ministers, diocesan seminarians and just ordinary caring people who offered their presence at a time it was so badly needed.
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