Campus responds to Virginia Tech shooting

by Michael Grillo | 04/24/2007

"Peace, salaam, shalom": These three words echoed repeatedly throughout the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium Tuesday as several members of the Brandeis community sang and prayed in memory of the 32 people slain by a gunman at Virginia Polytechnic Institute just the day before.The campus shooting, the worst massacre by a single gunman in United States history, has generated an outpouring of support from across the country, and campus members contributed to the effort in several ways this week.The Brandeis Chaplains held the Tuesday night vigil in Shapiro; the Student Union created a memorial consisting of a sheet of paper with encouraging messages from the community, and sent it to Virginia Tech this weekend; University President Jehuda Reinharz urged the campus to participate in a moment of silence Friday as the rest of the country mourned the deceased; and the Brandeis chapter of Zeta Beta Tau raised money which the fraternity will give to those affected by the tragedy.Reinharz said on Tuesday, "Unfortunately this is not the first time that we have come to mourn and grieve as a community," recalling the 2001 campus gathering following the World Trade Center attacks."This is not a time to lay blame, to point fingers: That will come soon enough," he said.He said after the event that he felt "very proud" of the Brandeis community for its response to the tragedy, adding that the gesture of showing up to the vigil was wonderful despite its short notice.Reinharz said that many students and others on campus think to themselves, "I could have been there," and that this kind of incident could happen anywhere."I think the people at Virginia Tech.