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Sent: 04/16/2007 04:47 PM
Subject: LETTER FROM PRESIDENT RUNTE
April 16, 2007
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
It is with great sadness that we all have learned today of
the tragic incidents at Virginia Tech. I know that for some
of you, this will represent a very personal sorrow as your
friends, classmates, sisters, brothers, cousins may have
been involved. For the rest of us, we grieve the loss of
fellow students.
In the moments after a violent act such as the one we have
read about today, we all wonder about the nature of
humankind. We are, however, given a special opportunity to
demonstrate strength, caring, compassion and goodness.
I would ask each student to reach out to someone else
tonight. If it is appropriate, please call your family and
reassure them that you are well. Please call a friend and
tell him or her that you are thinking about them. Please do
talk with your Residence Assistants and your friends and
colleagues to try to find ways we can try to understand the
causes of violence. Please join us tomorrow at the vigil
when we can all pay our respects to the students at Virginia
Tech.
This morning a yellow orchid came into bloom in the window
of my office. It was beautiful in the rays of the early sun.
Yellow is also the color of remembrance. Let us not forget
this tragedy. Let us remember the students who lost their
lives and their families and friends who are suffering. Let
us also recall the beauty of their lives and the sadness of
lost possibilities. Let us all try to realize some of their
dreams and contribute to the world, personally and together
as a community, to make up for some of the potential they
represent. Let us each think of the delicate orchid blossom
and attempt to show not only our support and caring for
others but our determination to do our part to make this
world a better, less violent place for future generations.
Sincerely yours,
Roseann Runte
President
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