As many of you recall, Virginia Tech experienced a great tragedy not too long ago. Seung-Hui Cho took the lives of 32 people and himself. The victims included students and faculty and staff members.
The main sight of the devastation was the engineering building known as Norris Hall. Since the horrific occurrences at Virginia Tech, faculty members, students, alumni, and other concerned citizens have called the campus with suggestions on what to do with the building where the killings took place. Suggestions have ranged from tearing down the building to reopening it and using it for classrooms as it was before the shootings happened.
The campus building will be left in tact. Norris Hall will reopen on June 18. However, it will only be used for office space and laboratory set-up. The building will not be considered for classroom usage.
The second floor where the shootings took place will not be reopened. On Tuesday, there will be security guards placed at the building in order to keep sightseers and other curious visitors to a minimum.
One professor of accounting at the college had a personal stake in the incident. His daughter, who was a freshman at Virginia Tech, was killed in the massacre. He said that he feels his daughter would want the building reopened. Seeing the building on a daily basis will remind students and faculty members of those who lost their lives.
If the building were to be torn down, the reminder might not be quite as vivid. The building will serve as a sort of memorial to those who lost their lives inside of it.
On Tuesday, let us all remember those that were gunned down inside of Norris Hall. Let us also remember the students that served as witnesses and the families that lost loved ones. I am sure that the reopening of Norris Hall will also be a reopening of wounds.
Group Apologies and Ethnic Shame?–No Thanks