In response to various feedback from the Virginia Tech public and the University Steering Committee for the April 16, 2009 Day of Remembrance, Tech will not hold classes on Thursday, April 16, 2009. The Steering Committee presented the recommendation to President Charles Steger. The motion was agreed upon with the help of Senior Vice President and Provost Mark McNamee.
"McNamee communicated (the need to) look at the issues that relate to what April 16 should look like," said Mark Owczarski, university spokesman. "That committee had a whole bunch of people, faculty, staff, alumni, as well as those affected directly, and after a lot of discussion it was thought to be the right thing to do."
The university also committed to the cancellation of class on Friday, April 16, 2010. April 16, 2011 falls on a Saturday, and classes will be held on Monday, April 16, 2012.
"The committee felt is was very important to set a message that ultimately ... teaching and learning is at the very core of what we do," Owczarski said. "And not being in the classroom is counter to who we are."
McNamee said that setting a date when classes will resume "makes a statement about what's most important and that the act of violence won't interfere with the university."
The University Steering Committee for the April 16, 2009 Day of Remembrance was formed to decide whether to cancel classes and what kind of events would take place depending on whether classes were or were not in session. The committee includes representatives of graduate students, the Student Government Association, alumni and family members of those killed or wounded during the April 16, 2007 shootings.
Part of the decision-making process for the committee members was to collect feedback from the Tech community.
"We didn't go through a normal process; we had pretty good representation from the campus," McNamee said.
SGA President Emily Mashack gave McNamee feedback from the student body and the committee "talked to the counseling center and how students might respond, (and) got a lot of input from the families who were affected by the tragedy."
"There was a tremendous amount of feedback from the broader community," Owczarski said.
Some community feedback reflected the opinion that classes should resume for April 16, but ultimately student representatives weren't sure how their friends would feel and wanted to give them the opportunity to handle the day as they saw fit.
"I think the counter argument is that it's still emotional, the situation comes back vividly in people's minds," McNamee said. "We decided that their feelings were probably something we should take into account."
Since April 16, 2010 falls on a Friday, a "lighter day" in terms of classes, according to McNamee, there are plans to instigate teach-ins and other educational opportunities to transition the campus from a full day-off to a regular day of classes for 2012.
Today the committee will further discuss event and activity options for April 16, 2009, and work to create a more concrete event line-up by Friday, Feb. 20.
McNamee visited Northern Illinois University on its one-year shooting anniversary and came back with ideas.
"Many of the things we did last year, we really liked," McNamee said. "We'll probably start with that framework. It might be simpler but some of the activities will be structured in a similar way."
The Steering Committee only deals with the day's framework, and then a different committee will assemble to carry out the plans.
"I feel very good about this," McNamee said. By 2012 "we'll be ready to get back to class and back to business and the teaching process. We can still honor and respect those we lost."