<p>and proudly wear my maroon and orange. Go Hokies! May God bless all of them.</p>
<p>Just reading about all the events taking place tomorrow brings tears to my eyes.</p>
<p>Beautiful, sad images from the candle lighting ceremony are on Virginia Tech’s website.</p>
<p>… It’s my birthday 
(I suppose it’s good I’m not going here then!)</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, go hokies, and god bless you all!</p>
<p>Holding all the Hokies in my heart - I hope it’s a beautiful day in Blacksburg.</p>
<p>Nikki Giovanni’s inspirational poem “We are Virginia Tech” is worth a relisten/rewatch today.</p>
<p>A simple message of sympathy to the families and VT community. So, so sad in so many ways…</p>
<p>Good suggestion Tiredofsnow. </p>
<p>We will always remember and neVer forgeT:</p>
<ol>
<li>Ryan Clark (22) Martinez, Georgia
senior in Psych/Biology/English</li>
<li>Emily Hilscher (19) Woodville, Virginia
freshman in Animal Sciences</li>
<li>Liviu Librescu (76) Ploieşti, Romania
professor of Engineering</li>
<li>Minal Panchal (26) Mumbai, India
masters student in Architecture</li>
<li>G. V. Loganathan (53) Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
professor of Engineering</li>
<li>Jarrett Lane (22) Narrows, Virginia
senior in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Brian Bluhm (25) Louisville, Kentucky
masters student in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Matthew Gwaltney (24) Chesterfield County, Virginia
masters student in Environmental Engineering</li>
<li>Jeremy Herbstritt (27) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
masters student in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Partahi Lumbantoruan (34) Medan, Indonesia
PhD student in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Daniel O’Neil (22) Lincoln, Rhode Island
masters student in Environmental Engineering</li>
<li>Juan Ortiz (26) Bayamon, Puerto Rico[21]
masters student in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Julia Pryde (23) Middletown, New Jersey
masters student in Biological Systems Engineering</li>
<li>Waleed Shaalan (32) Zagazig, Egypt
PhD student in Civil Engineering</li>
<li>Jamie Bishop (35) Pine Mountain, Georgia
German instructor</li>
<li>Lauren McCain (20) Hampton, Virginia
freshman in International Studies</li>
<li>Michael Pohle Jr. (23) Flemington, New Jersey
senior in Biological Sciences</li>
<li>Maxine Turner (22) Vienna, Virginia
senior in Chemical Engineering</li>
<li>Nicole White (20) Smithfield, Virginia
? junior in International Studies</li>
<li>Jocelyne Couture-Nowak (49) Truro, Nova Scotia
professor of French</li>
<li>Ross Alameddine (20) Saugus, Massachusetts
sophomore in English/Business</li>
<li>Austin Cloyd (18) Champaign, Illinois
freshman in Int’l Studies/French</li>
<li>Daniel Perez Cueva (21) Woodbridge, Virginia
junior in International Studies</li>
<li>Caitlin Hammaren (19) Westtown, New York
sophomore in Int’l Studies/French</li>
<li>Rachael Hill (18) Richmond County, Virginia
freshman in Biological Sciences</li>
<li>Matthew La Porte (20) Dumont, New Jersey
sophomore in Political Science</li>
<li>Henry Lee (20) Roanoke, Virginia/Vietnam
freshman in Computer Engineering</li>
<li>Erin Peterson (18) Centreville, Virginia
freshman in International Studies</li>
<li>Mary Karen Read (19) Annandale, Virginia
freshman in Interdisciplinary Studies</li>
<li>Reema Samaha (18) Centreville, Virginia
freshman in Urban Planning</li>
<li>Leslie Sherman (20) Springfield, Virginia
junior in History/Int’l Studies</li>
<li>Kevin Granata (45) Toledo, Ohio
professor of Engineering </li>
</ol>
<p>The transcript of Nikki Giovanni’s address, delivered on April 17, 2007</p>
<p>We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.</p>
<p>We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.</p>
<p>We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.</p>
<p>We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.</p>
<p>We are the Hokies.</p>
<p>We will prevail.</p>
<p>We will prevail.</p>
<p>We will prevail.</p>
<p>We are Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>The word Hero gets overused, but one of the most deserving people that I know of of the title is Professor Librescu.</p>
<p>Chuy, You are so right. Professor Librescu was so much a Hero. So sad to see so many promising lives cut short but so glad to have all 32 continue to be remembered.</p>
<p>For those not familiar with professor Librescu:</p>
<p>[Liviu</a> Librescu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liviu_Librescu]Liviu”>Liviu Librescu - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>An amazing story. I left town yesterday morning for the weekend after the run; looking at all of the pictures really drives home the impact this tragedy had on the community. Seems like it was a really nice celebration and it makes us all proud to be Hokies.</p>
<p>Copied/pasted from this morning’s VT Daily email:</p>
<p>"Bucharest </p>
<p>The street in front of the new U.S. Embassy compound in Bucharest, Romania, will be named after Virginia Tech Professor Liviu Librescu, who sacrificed his own life to save his students on April 16, 2007."</p>
<p>[News</a> Story | Virginia Tech News | Virginia Tech](<a href=“http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2010&itemno=322]News”>http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2010&itemno=322)</p>
<p>A hero? In a word…yes.</p>