image from last night’s vigil on the Drillfield)
Pardon me for the sentimental-nature of this post; perhaps it’s part of the grieving process, the opportunity to share how events make us feel. I expected the events here at Virginia Tech on Monday and Tuesday to have a profound effect on me personally, but it’s been surprising how it’s opened up wounds from a personal loss I had many years ago. That being said, there’s a different feeling around Blacksburg today and it’s been nice to see – everyone seems to have just a little more energy, a little more hope. I can’t say thank you enough to the law enforcement, the administrators, the ministers and volunteers that have embraced the community, and likewise been embraced. In the midst of unspeakable tragedy, it has really been something special to watch.
I hope you had the chance to see the convocation ceremony at Cassell Coliseum yesterday, but if not I’ve got some links below for you I wanted to share. The whole thing was really powerful, and I was truly proud of the standing ovation everyone gave President Steger when he stood to spoke. Now is the time when EVERYONE in the Hokie Nation needs to be embraced, and I hope he felt that yesterday. The ceremony seemed like the perfect opportunity to start the process of moving forward and I really appreciated Nikki Giovanni’s speech – the energy she brought back into that ceremony was just the spark that assembly needed. Her speech is below; if you haven’t seen the whole thing, watch the conclusion of the speech and how the crowd responded.
The entire convocation is here as well , if you’d like to take it all in. Thanks for listening … we’ll get back to real estate in the next few days, I promise. Don’t forget to join Hokies everywhere on Friday for Hokie Hope – Download hokie_hope.jpg for details.
Thanks Jeremy…nice blog entry. Nikki is the BEST!
Thanks Jeremy…nice blog entry. Nikki is the BEST!