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AAC&U expresses its shock,
horror, and deep sadness over the
tragic shootings at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State
University. Our hearts go out to our
member colleagues in Blacksburg as
they cope with their losses. We
offer our deepest condolences to all
the families, friends, and
colleagues of the many innocent
victims and extend our thoughts and
prayers to those recovering from
serious injuries. And we grieve with
all the Virginia Tech students as
they work to comprehend and recover
from this horrifying tragedy and
intrusion into their pursuit of
learning.
Educational leaders across the
country work tirelessly every day to
provide the safest and most
nurturing environments for learning
they can. American universities are
known and valued the world over for
providing challenging, but also open
environments that, at their best,
encourage free exchange of people
and ideas and allow students,
professors and staff members to
forge strong and meaningful ties on
campus and in their surrounding
communities. As this sad day reminds
us, our open college campuses are
not immune from the violence that
plagues too many communities in this
country and around the world.
We know that these campus and
community ties will prove invaluable
as the Virginia Tech community
grieves together in the days ahead.
The president, faculty members,
staff and students at Virginia Tech
have inspired us with their strength
and compassionate responses at this
difficult time. We honor their
efforts and offer our best wishes
and support as they lead their
campus in healing and recovery.
Christopher C. Dahl, Chair of
AAC&U Board of Directors and
President, SUNY at Geneseo
Carol Geary Schneider, President |
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April 18, 2007
Dr. Charles W. Steger
President
Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0002
Dear President Steger:
On behalf of the trustees, students, faculty, staff and
alumni of Whittier College, I express our heartfelt
sympathy for all members of the Virginia Tech community
touched by this week’s tragedy. Our prayers and best wishes
join those from others all over the world as we seek to
support your community. Seeing the images of the Hokies
gathering for vigils and memorials - both impromptu and
planned - gives hope that you will garner the strength and
unity needed to heal.
As institutions of higher
education, it is our shared mission to seek meaning in even
the most unthinkable events. We are grateful for the
openness of our colleagues at Virginia Tech as you cope with
the shootings’ aftermath, and we pledge to learn from your
experience. Together, we will work to ensure that our
campuses provide safe environments that foster “learning,
discovery, and engagement.”
These senseless murders
will leave an indelible mark on your institution, higher
education, and indeed, our country. At Whittier College, we
hope that your shock and grief evolve into renewed
commitment to institutional values, a deeper awareness of
our many blessings, and an abiding pride in the resilience
and compassion of your university.
With sincere condolences,
Sharon D. Herzberger
President
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April 18, 2007
To
Our POD Colleagues
and Friends,
We are all struggling
to understand what happened at Virginia Tech and how to
support our friends, families and colleagues there. While
this terrible event happened in Blacksburg, Virginia, it
affects us all and could just as easily have happened on our
own campuses. To our colleagues at Virginia Tech, we hope
that there is solace in knowing that we are thinking of you
now and that we are ready to lend support as the many
challenges from your deep heartache emerge.
We understand that the
most pressing need now is ameliorating the immediate
aftermath of this misfortune. Already some of our POD
members have reached out with resources offering practical
suggestions on how to talk with students about an event like
this. Further resources are now available on the homepage of
the POD website (www.podnetwork.org).
Please avail yourselves of these helpful documents and add
to them as new ones emerge from your own institutions.
Ultimately, we live in
an increasingly small world and in academia we are even more
closely connected than we realize. Personal relationships
and communication across campus, with colleagues at other
institutions and internationally are so important right now.
In the months ahead, we will look for opportunities to think
and talk together about how faculty developers can help
frame and guide our collective response to the massacre at
Virginia Tech and other tragedies that may affect us. As
Nikki Giovanni said so eloquently in her remarks at the
Virginia Tech vigil on Tuesday, April 17, 2007, no one
deserves tragedy – not here, not anywhere. POD members
around the world understand the importance of stronger and
deeper communities as the right answer to preventing such
violence.
On behalf of the
members of the Professional and Organizational Development
Network in Higher Education (POD), I extend deepest
sympathies to the students, faculty, staff and parents of
Virginia Tech, and the greater Blacksburg community.
Dr. Mathew L. Ouellett,
President
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