Anniversary Reactions to a Traumatic Event
description: Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:00:00 -0400 From: Unirel@vt.edu To: Multiple recipients <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.VT.EDU> Subject: Anniversary Reactions to a Traumatic Event Here is some information from the university's Cook Counseling Center and the university Employee Relations Office. Source: National Mental Health Information Center of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Anniversary Reactions to a Traumatic Event: The Recovery Process Continues As the anniversary of a disaster or traumatic event approaches, many survivors report a return of restlessness and fear. Psychological literature calls it the anniversary reaction and defines it as an individual's response to unresolved grief resulting from significant losses. The anniversary reaction can involve several days or even weeks of anxiety, anger, nightmares, flashbacks, depression, or fear. On a more positive note, the anniversary of a disaster or traumatic event also can provide an opportunity for emotional healing. Individuals can make significant progress in working through the natural grieving process by recognizing, acknowledging, and paying attention to the feelings and issues that surface during their anniversary reaction. These feelings and issues can help individuals develop perspective on the event and figure out where it fits in their hearts, minds, and lives. It is important to note that not all survivors of a disaster or traumatic event experience an anniversary reaction. Those who do, however, may be troubled because they did not expect and do not understand their reaction. For these individuals, knowing what to expect in advance may be helpful. Common anniversary reactions among survivors of a disaster or traumatic event include: Memories, Dreams, Thoughts, and Feelings: Individuals may replay memories, thoughts, and feelings about the event, which they can't turn off. They may see repeated images and scenes associated with the trauma or relive the event over and over. They may have recurring dreams…
creator: University Relations (unirel@vt.edu)
date: 2008-04-14
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

Hokie Spirit defines Virginia Tech a year later...
description: Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:15:25 -0400 From: Virginia Tech Alumni Association <vatechalumni@vt.edu> To: All Alumni 4-10-08 <vatechalumni@vt.edu> Subject: Hokie Spirit defines Virginia Tech a year later... Hokie Spirit defines Virginia Tech a year later... Last April, the world's attention focused on a campus community ripped to its very core with the grief and pain of a tragedy unparalleled in the history of American higher education. And what they observed was more powerful than they ever expected... they saw a campus filled with energetic students and talented faculty that displayed grace, poise and fortitude beyond all imagination -- a community fueled by something we know as Hokie spirit. That spirit reaches deep and spreads beyond the campus throughout our 200,000 alumni, and indeed across the entire globe. Yes, Hokie spirit emerged from tragedy and impressed a world that was brought closer by the media to witness the strength and resilience of the entire Hokie Nation. On this anniversary our attention turns respectfully to the families who lost their loved ones last April 16th and to the students injured that day who are successfully putting their lives back together. It is a day of remembrance. The victims will be honored at a ceremony that will take place Wednesday on the Drillfield at 10:30 A.M. EDT. It will be televised by various media and streamed through the university's website www.vt.edu. President Steger and Virginia's Governor Kaine will make remarks. Other participatory events are being held throughout the day, and a candlelight vigil at dusk will signal the end of the day's observances. The university is grateful for the expressions of support that have flowed from loyal alumni and friends around the world since last April. These expressions have come in the form of almost every artifact imaginable. To date, 87,000 different items (some displayed in our Alumni Center Museum on April 16th only). In excess of $9.5 million in memorial gifts. Special a…
creator: Tom Tillar / Virginia Tech Alumni Association
date: 2008-04-15
contributor: Brent Jesiek
language: eng

Places We Come From
description: They say you never forget where you are when you hear life altering news. On April 16, 2007, I was in my car driving back to work from lunch. It was a beautiful spring day in Cincinnati. My window was down and The Frey was playing in the CD player. All of a sudden, my Nextel went off. It was the Sales Manager from work. He told me that there were reports coming in that there was a shooting at Virginia Tech. At least 22 had been confirmed dead...I just remember thinking to myself that this had to be some kind of mistake...Some kind of joke... I was born and raised in Blacksburg. I attended Tech and graduated with a degree in Soc in 1998. My memories of the community, of the University? They are simply untouchable. The sweet smell after a spring or summer rain. The Dogwood trees. The limestone buildings. The Drillfield. The community that, eventhough I had moved away from, was still so much a part of me. For the next week I watched with the rest of the world as Blacksburg and Virginia Tech took over every major station in America. However, I watched with a broken and heavy heart. What I felt, no one else around me could understand. I grieved with the Hokie Nation as if I were a part of it. Then I realized I still was. Now, almost a full year later, my heart is still just as heavy as it was. I think of my beloved home and cringe at the thought of someone destroying its innocent sidewalks, buildings...The dorm where I had lived my freshman year. Still, I know I will never forget where my home is. I will never forget where I came from. Most importantly, I will never forget where I was when I heard that so many of my Hokie family members had been taken from me far too soon. My only hope is that one day we will all be able to think about Virginia Tech and not forget. I hope too, one day we will be able to remember our happier times that the University gave us, as it helped make us into the strong adults that we are today.
creator: Eryn Hunt
date: 2008-04-13
contributor: Eryn Hunt
language: eng

Yankee Day at Virginia Tech: The Healing Power of Empathy and Entertainment
description: It was quite a day. The New York Yankees came to town and whipped my Virginia Tech Hokies, 11-0. I have never been so happy to lose. Since the tragedy on our campus last April, emotions have often been close to the surface, but on this day there was joy in Hokieville, and gratitude that the Yankees cared enough to come. Our university has been gradually healing. Events like the Yankee game have helped - even though we remembered why we were there. Life on campus is returning to normal, though normal may never be quite the same. In some ways it is better. The Virginia Tech community was relatively tight knit before, but this past year has brought us even closer. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff seem ever more willing to listen to a friend, to help a neighbor, to give back - perhaps due to a greater sense of empathy, or a need to rebalance our world with good. From my office window in Hutcheson Hall, I can see the memorial that sits across the Drillfield. Much of the time when I look out, someone is there, as they are right now. But just before noon on March 18, when more people had gathered than normal, I knew the Yankees were about to arrive. They had not announced a specific time they would visit the site, but I was sure they would. My friend Jeff and I hurried over, just as the buses pulled up. The players walked around the 32 engraved stones, and stood silently as President Steger told them how a student group called Hokies United had placed the original stones, right after the shootings. The site had quickly become a focal point for remembering and for healing. A student near me said that she was a big Yankee fan and that one of the victims had been her fiancé. As the players filed around the semi-circle in front of the stones, she asked Alex Rodriguez to sign the back of her shirt, which bore a picture of the person she deeply missed. He did. She said it was one of the greatest moments of her life. Rodriguez later said he was never prouder to be a Yankee. …
creator: George Norton
date: 2008-04-12
contributor: George Norton
language: eng

The Moon-After, Virginia Tech Memorial
description: The Moon-After, Virginia Tech Memorial (2007) 40"x30" oil on canvas It is the first time the full moon is observed after the massacre of Virginia Tech. For many, the moon will never look the same again. This is a quest to extract the feelings for the souls that will be missed in the lives of many, and for the souls among us that were touched in different ways. A trans-mix of materialistic and spiritual elements is represented by colorless buildings, lilies to convey an overwhelming feeling of surprise, shock, grieve and hope. Thirty-two different types of lilies in white and orange emerge from the gray-shaded mix of figures, symbolizing the spirits of the 32 victims. With the absence of the victims from sight, they become like images, or like seasonal plants, that are soon gone. Lilies were chosen to represent the diversity of the victims, as lilies grow all over the world in different types. The work on this memorial started with the first full moon after the massacre, and was concluded early June 2007. Original Source: http://www.tonysky.net/tony/pntg12.htm
creator: Antoine Faddoul
date: 2008-04-16
contributor: Antoine Faddoul
language: eng

VT Candlelight Vigil 4/16/08
description: Candlelight vigil held on one year anniversary of 4/16. On the drillfield with Burruss Hall in background. Photo by Roger Gupta. -- Original Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spector1/2419674035/
creator: Roger Gupta
date: 2008-04-18
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: Roger Gupta <ragupta@vt.edu>
language: eng

NIU to Va. Tech: 'We understand what you're going through'
description: By Chris Green RRSTAR.COM Posted Apr 16, 2008 @ 11:00 PM Last update Apr 17, 2008 @ 07:38 AM DEKALB — Northern Illinois University senior Sonia Salazar said Virginia Tech students put their feelings of sorrow on hold to help the students at NIU heal. And on Wednesday, Salazar was joined by nearly a thousand other NIU students and staff who wanted to return the support for the students at Virginia Tech. NIU students and University President John Peters recognized the one-year anniversary of the shooting deaths at the Virginia Tech campus with a candlelight vigil in the Martin Luther King Commons, an outdoor venue in the center of the campus near the student center. One year ago Wednesday, a gunman took the lives of 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty before taking his own. It was the largest such campus massacre in the history of the country. Peters recalled the initial hours and days following the Feb. 14 slayings at NIU, when five students were shot and killed by Steven Kazmierczak, who also took his own life. He said the entire campus felt "isolated." "We simply couldn't imagine that anyone else could understand what we are going through." Then the phone calls and e-mails came in. "We understand what you are going through. You are not alone." Peters said a "collective hand of support" was extended from Blacksburg, Va., to DeKalb. "They shared openly and lovingly." The two universities are linked not only in their empathy for one another, but also by an unnerving coincidence. Green Bay gun dealer Eric Thompson told authorities his Web site, topglock.com, sold two empty 9 mm Glock magazines and a Glock holster to Kazmierczak on Feb. 4, just 10 days before the 27-year-old opened fire in a campus classroom. Another Web site run by Thompson's company, www.thegunstore.com, also sold a Walther .22-caliber handgun to Seung-Hui Cho, who shot down 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus before killing himself. Peters added, "One day, two Virginia Tech students came by my …
creator: Chris Green
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

On-campus mental illness issues unique
description: By Dick Durbin RRSTAR.COM Posted Apr 17, 2008 @ 10:59 PM This week, our nation marked the anniversary of the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech that took 32 lives and wounded 17 other people. Just two months ago, our state was stunned to witness a similar tragic shooting at Northern Illinois University in which 5 students were killed and 17 were wounded. I cannot imagine the magnitude of heartbreak and pain for friends and families of those killed or the trauma borne by those who survived these tragedies. As we mourn the loss of so many promising young lives, it is important also to learn from these tragedies. So what are those lessons? The first is to consider the tortured mind of the shooter. Mental illness is an illness, not a curse. It can and should be treated. Many who receive appropriate counseling and medication lead normal, stable and happy lives. But our laws ignore this reality. We have created legal and financial obstacles to appropriate care. This year, for the first time in a decade, the U.S. Senate has passed a bill to give mental health parity with physical health under the law. The House of Representatives also has passed legislation, and we are negotiating a compromise to fulfill the promise of health parity for millions facing mental health problems. But the challenge of mental health on our college campuses is unique. Many mental illnesses manifest themselves in this period when young people leave the security of home and regular medical care. The responsibility for the students' well-being shifts many times to colleges and universities struggling with limited resources. The situation is growing worse. Studies show that 10 percent of college students have contemplated suicide and 45 percent have felt so depressed that it was difficult to function. Colleges also are encountering students who 10 to 20 years ago would not have been able to attend school because of mental illness, but who can do so today because of advances in treatment of such illnes…
creator: Dick Durbin
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

Tragedy sparks memories and change
description: By Jeff Gilbride/Daily News staff Daily News Tribune Posted Apr 15, 2008 @ 12:43 AM WALTHAM — A year ago Wednesday, Kalynn Cook's childhood friend was killed when Seung-Hui Cho opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus. To mark the first anniversary and to remember her friend, Erin Peterson, the Brandeis freshman from Sterling, Va., planned a candlelight vigil for tomorrow night. "I'm from northern Virginia and I came up here for school. When it got to be April I knew that the one-year anniversary would be coming up. I looked at the Brandeis calendar of events and I noticed there wasn't anything scheduled," she said. "I decided to talk to some of my friends who happen to be involved in student activism. They suggested I host an event myself." Cook said she contacted the student organization Democracy for America, which helped organize the event. Starting at 7 p.m. tomorrow, students will read a biography of each person killed in the massacre, hold a prayer service and conduct an open forum to discuss the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. Cho cut down his victims in two attacks two hours apart before the university could grasp what was happening and warn students. The bloodbath ended with the gunman committing suicide. Thirty-two individual flames will be lit, one for each of the victims. "(Democracy for America) handles activism. I went to one of their meetings and they decided to sponsor me. I got some materials from them and I got some advice," she said. "I spoke to Father Walter Cuenin (a Brandeis chaplain) and he's going to be speaking at the vigil ... it doesn't just affect the Virginia Tech community, but college communities all over the nation." Since the killings, Brandeis University officials adopted a number of precautionary measures to ensure the safety of students. "Certainly Virginia Tech marked a very significant turning point for us wanting to look for as many measures to help best inform people on campus on what to do in the event of an eme…
creator: Jeff Gilbride
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

Local colleges reflect on Va. Tech shootings
description: By Peter Reuell/Daily News staff The MetroWest Daily News Posted Apr 16, 2008 @ 12:35 AM ASHLAND — A year after the shooting massacre that left 33 people dead at Virginia Tech, security remains a concern on local college campuses. On campuses from Framingham to Franklin, officials said, the aftershocks of the shooting - and a more recent incident at Northern Illinois University, which left five others dead - are still being felt. After the April 16, 2007, killings at Virginia Tech, many schools quickly re-evaluated their security plans, particularly their ability to communicate with faculty and staff in a crisis. At many, including Framingham State College, the solution was to install a system that allows administrators to send emergency messages by phone and computer to the entire campus at the touch of a button. "You learn from the incident, and it allows you to, perhaps, make changes in your own systems," said Framingham State spokesman Peter Chisholm. The school later this month plans to finish installing a siren that will alert students, faculty and staff to campuswide emergencies. "At every college or university campus in the country, I'm sure, the president and public safety administrators sat down and reviewed what they had in place, and what improvements they could make," Chisholm said. The incident that sparked those meetings happened a year ago today in Blacksburg, Va. Just after 7 a.m., disturbed Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed two students in a dormitory, then went on a shooting rampage in a classroom building, eventually killing 32 people and himself. At Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley, administrators are close to installing a campuswide notification system similar to Framingham State's. They have held numerous meetings to review the school's crisis policies. "There's a method or protocol for just about every situation that could arise on campus," said Lisa Cascio, the school's director of communications and public affairs…
creator: Peter Reuell
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

On Virginia Tech anniversary, Saugus mom lobbies for changes
description: By Mike Gaffney GateHouse News Service Posted Apr 16, 2008 @ 01:37 PM SAUGUS — A year after she lost her son Ross in the Virginia Tech shootings, Lynnette Alameddine is fighting for legislation that would require universities to issue campus emergency notifications in 30 minutes or less. Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the massacre at Virginia Tech. One of the 33 victims of the deadliest school shooting in this country's history was Ross Alameddine, 20, a Saugus resident and college sophomore known for his sharp wit and uncanny ability to make people laugh. In a recent interview, Lynnette Alameddine declined to reflect upon Ross's death and its affect on her family for personal reasons. But she found the courage during an emotionally draining week to talk about the causes she is championing so other parents do not have to experience the same heartbreak. Over the last few months Alameddine has been working closely with Security on Campus Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to improving student safety at institutions of higher learning. Security on Campus wants to strengthen the Jeanne Clery Act that requires colleges to warn their campuses about crimes that present ongoing threats in a "timely" manner. The problem with the federal legislation, Alameddine explained, is the act fails to define what "timely" means. As a result, warnings are sometimes issued many hours after a university becomes aware of an emergency, or even the next day. History shows that colleges do not always follow the guidelines of the Clery Act. Alameddine mentioned one particularly troublesome case at Eastern Michigan University when a coed was found raped and murdered in a residence hall, but officials issued a statement that no foul play was suspected in her death. Alameddine and Security on Campus hope Congress revises the Clery Act so universities must initiate a warning process within 30 minutes of an emergency being confirmed. Thus far Alameddine said a bill has been intro…
creator: Mike Gaffney
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

The intangible bond between two broken hearts
description: The post title isn't an exact quote (because it would've been damn hard taking notes while trying to hold a lit candle (and, more importantly, given the windy conditions this evening, keeping it lit) from the remarks of NIU President John G. Peters at tonight's candlelight vigil at Northern Illinois University to honor the memory of the Hokies who lost their lives a year ago today. But they're a close approximation: I know he used both phrases in his speech, though I can't swear that they were that closely connected. Nevertheless, it's a good description for the relationship that will forevermore exist between our two campuses, our two communities. We're both members of a club that nobody wants to join--and would to God that NIU and Virginia Tech were the last two ever given the opportunity to join it. We speak each other's language: a language that neither of us was looking to learn, and one that both of us would rather we hadn't had the opportunity to learn at all. But we have learned it, and having learnt it, we cannot--and should not--forget it. The image is the design of the T-shirts that were handed out to the first 900 people who came to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commons. I'm happy to report that there weren't any shirts left that I could see, meaning we had at least that many people at the event. Among them, God love them both, were two Virginia Tech students. They gave up the opportunity to be with their compatriots in Blacksburg at their own vigil today so they could come and support us--even as we tried to show our support for them and their fellow Hokies. Their presence is just the latest in a long line of expressions of support that Virginia Tech and its campus community have offered to us in the wake of our own tragedy two months ago--support for which we are eternally and profoundly grateful, and which we can never truly repay. Somehow, though, I don't think my Hokie brethren and sistren will mind. Tonight's vigil was a concrete and physical reminde…
creator: Michael Spires
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

On One Year Anniversary of VT, Many Move On But Remember
description: By Can Tran April 16, 2008 April 16, 2008, marks the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre as Korean student Cho Seung-hui in a fit of madness and depression went on a shooting rampage as he took the lives of thirty-two students and teachers on the Virginia Tech campus, before turning the gun on himself. This day would forever be engraved as a moment of darkness in the history of twenty-first century American let alone for Virginia Tech. While a year has pasted with many working hard to move away from the dark incident, there are those that are still coping. Many have lost friends and family members in the Virginia Tech shooting. Bryan Cloyd lost his daughter Austin, in the VT shooting. "I won't be able to walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding. I won't be able to bounce her children on my knee," Bryan Cloyd said. He added: "And I don't think it's helpful to dwell on that, because where that leads is just more sadness. I think what's helpful to do is to dwell on what can be. What can we do with what we have?" In the case of Cho, the one responsible for the shooting; there are no public memorials planned. In related news, eight months after the Virginia Tech shooting, 21-year-old Korean student Daniel Kim had taken his own life. His father, William Kim, said that the school was not taking the warning signs of suicide that serious. In the case of Daniel Kim, he fell into state of depression out of fear that he could be mistaken for Cho Seung-hui. The scars of the Virginia Tech shooting could extend towards South Korea, whose government had issued an apology for Cho's actions. On an interesting note, the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting comes on the same day as the Democratic debate in Pennsylvania between Democratic frontrunners Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. On that note, the hot button topic could be gun ownership rights. In Pennsylvania, there are almost one-million licensed hunters. …
creator: Can Tran
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

Virginia Tech Remembrance
description: Artist's Comments I am a Virginia Tech student. I was affected by the tragedy in ways that I hope no one else experiences. In honor of the victims and as a way to express myself, I created this remembrance image in 3D Studio Max and Photoshop. Thank you. Image by Nick Bowman. Licensed under Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License -- Original Source: http://inuxmedia.deviantart.com/art/A-Virginia-Tech-Remembrance-83019165
creator: Nick Bowman
date: 2008-04-19
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
language: eng

Reflections as a Director
description: Reflections as a Director of a Psychology Training Clinic on the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech (Written for the Association of Directors of Psychology Training Clinics) On the morning of April 16, 2007, a male student shot to death 32 students and faculty, wounded 17 more, and then killed himself on the campus of Virginia Tech. In the midst of unspeakable grief, the Virginia Tech and Blacksburg community, with tremendous support from many people, did an incredible job of responding as best as it could to meet the needs of those most deeply affected. My purpose of this article is to briefly describe my experiences and reflections on the role of the psychology training clinic and my role as the Director in the days following this particularly tragic event. To better understand our response, a brief description of the type and structure of clinical services at Virginia Tech. Like any major higher-learning institution, Virginia Tech has an on-campus, university-based counseling center, the Cook Counseling Center, which has a staff of 10-12 full-time counselors, 3-5 interns, 3-5 externship students, and 1-2 psychiatrists. The Psychological Services Center of Virginia, of which I am the Director, is an off-campus, community-based training facility for the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program in the Department of Psychology. At any one time, we typically have 20-25 graduate students in various stages of their training enrolled in clinical practicum and seeing clients. Additionally, the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program also has an off-campus training center for their graduate students. The Cook Counseling Center and the Psychological Services Center (and the MFT clinic) are separate facilities and organizations. Over the years, our relationship with the counseling center has been good especially in terms of reciprocal referral and training opportunities. In response to the shootings, the primary "clinical" responder to the university community was the Cook Counsel…
creator: Lee Cooper
date: 2008-04-07
contributor: Lee Cooper
language: eng

Opening Ceremony
description: Teams line up at the opening ceremony before the balloons are released. Photo by Tarish Smith. -- Original Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarish/2344459376/
creator: tarish.rm
date: 2008-03-27
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: "Tarish Smith" <tarish@rocketmail.com>
language: eng

Ticket
description: Ticket for the Yankees vs. Hokies exhibition game at Virginia Tech on March 18, 2008. Photo by Tarish Smith. -- Original Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarish/2342818995/
creator: tarish.rm
date: 2008-03-27
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: "Tarish Smith" <tarish@rocketmail.com>
language: eng

Good Game
description: Hokies and Yankees shake hands after game on March 18, 2008. Photo by Tarish Smith. -- Original Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarish/2343778443/
creator: tarish.rm
date: 2008-03-27
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: "Tarish Smith" <tarish@rocketmail.com>
language: eng

Final Score
description: Final scoreboard at English field on March 18, 2008. -- Original Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarish/2344605982/
creator: tarish.rm
date: 2008-03-27
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: "Tarish Smith" <tarish@rocketmail.com>
language: eng

Jose Veras pitches
description: Yankee pitcher Jose Veras with Lane Stadium in the background. Photo By Tarish Smith. -- Original source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarish/2344599776/
creator: tarish.rm
date: 2008-03-27
contributor: Kacey Beddoes
rights: "Tarish Smith" <tarish@rocketmail.com>
language: eng