BLACKSBURG, Va. – On April 16, 2007, 32 people were killed on Virginia Tech’s campus.
“It’s something that will forever be a part of this university and we do not want to those 32 lives,” said Mark Owczarski, university spokesperson for Virginia Tech.
Every year, the school lays wreaths upon the memorial and lights a ceremonial candle for 24 hours to remember those killed.
For today’s Virginia Tech family, even 17 years later, the day does not get easier.
“Yes, it is an unspeakable tragedy and yes, it’s very hard to do,” said Owczarski. “We take that responsibility and we do our Day of Remembrance today because of the responsibility to remember those lives.”
I talked to one cadet who has been directly involved in the planning process for the Day of Remembrance, and she said this is something she is proud to be a part of.
“I feel like it’s just grown so close to my heart and trying to get people to sign up for [volunteer] slots, I was truly able to be like this means a lot to the families because I know that it does because I have had contact with them,” said Ashley Sarno, a cadet sergeant at Virginia Tech.
She said even though she was four years old at the time, and many people here on campus are around the same age, it is still a major part of this community.
“Just because I didn’t know these people, and just because some people just might walk by and ignore the memorial and not even give it a second thought, we do remember,” said Sarno. “We are doing this because we are remembering them. We are remembering with them.”
Over the weekend, the school also hosted its annual 3.2 for 32 Run in Remembrance. The run broke previous attendance records with over 18,000 people.
For previous stories on April 16, 2007, you can find them here.