Support was shown for the Hokies in the form of gifts from across the nation.
Support in sports
Kennelly said that while sifting through all of the items that waited to be archived, she found herself really affected by some of the items coming from Tech's old sports rivals.
"One of the things that fascinated me at the beginning was our rivals sending things. When we got things from UVa, it kind of just broke me up. And I still think about it," Kennelly said.
Jim Weaver, director of athletics, can recall being affected by the respect and support given to Tech by sports rivals as well.
In the game against East Carolina University that opened the 2007 football season, ECU presented $100,000 to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund and were "very, very considerate to the Hokie nation," Weaver said.
Although the Hokies Respect campaign for sporting events started four years ago, the athletic department was especially concerned with respecting ECU in the first football game following April 16.
"I was so pleased that our fans were receptive and understood the respect issue that we tried to have permeate the environment that day," Weaver said.
The ECU game opened with activities that reflected on the shooting and remembered the victims, including a video of remembrance projected on the Jumbotron. Weaver said all of the opening activities were discussed with the central administration to make sure nothing was left out, and nothing went too far.
ECU wasn't the only school that offered support through sporting events. The baseball game against the University of Miami on April 20 was the first athletic contest to be played after the shootings, and Miami presented a check for $15,000 to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund from its baseball boosters group.
Penn State sold Tech T-shirts to its students and created an orange and maroon section at their annual spring football game the Saturday after the tragedy. Weaver also remembered Ohio State and Kentucky both wearing VT logos on their helmets during their spring football games.
"UVa contributed a lot of money to help the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, as well as offering to assist in counseling services," Weaver said. "In addition to that they sent a banner signed by most all of the student-athletes and the athletic staff."
One of the most significant gestures of support that Weaver remembered was the New York Yankees involvement with Tech after April 16.
On May 23, the Yankees presented President Steger with a check for $1 million at Yankee Stadium. On March 18, the Yankees came to Tech's English Field to play an exhibition game against the Hokie baseball team.
"I must say that, to me, it was a very special day in the sense that all of the Yankee players, coaches and administrators were very gracious and genuine with their time and it was a day that everyone who was there will remember forever," Weaver said.
The Atlantic Coast Conference also gave the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund $300,000 and all of the athletic teams at the member institutions in the ACC conference wore a commemorative black rectangle in all sports this year.
"To me this was very significant of the outreach of our conference sister institutions,' Weaver said.
Weaver said that the memories of these sporting events will allow the Tech community to always remember the victims of April 16, but to also move forward.
"I think an event like the ECU first football game or the concert that was held in Lane Stadium or the Yankee exhibition, I think all of those will be memories that will help us remember," Weaver said, "They will not allow us to forget those individuals but will encourage us to move forward in a manner and a way that brings the Hokie people closer together, and more resilient and stronger than we've ever been."
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