norrisReopening
The view from the second floor is still the same, but the view inside was vastly different on Friday, as Virginia Tech opened the front wing of Norris Hall.
Nearly two years after Seung-Hui Cho took 32 lives in the building, Norris Hall reopened, a product of the ideas of Jerzy Nowak and numerous other April 16 families.
President Charles Steger was the first to speak at a ceremony in the new version of Room 209 in Norris Hall.
"We believe that the reopening of this facility will help move the university forward while reflecting and always remembering the tragedy that occurred on the fateful day of April 16," Steger said.
Steger said Norris Hall would always be tied to the events on April 16.
"The day's activities and those that will follow for many decades to come will serve and respect the memories of those lost in the terrible tragedy," Steger said.
It will house the Center for Peace Studies and the department of engineering science and mechanics.
Nowak, whose wife Jocelyn Couture-Nowak was killed in Norris Hall, has left the horticulture department and will now serve as the head of the Center for Peace Studies.
"Securing a safe school environment should be among the most fundamental obligations of any society," Nowak said. "Its socio-economic well-being relies on the knowledge, skills and creativity from the next generation we raise."
The Center for Peace Studies will also be working with a newly formed club, Students for Non-Violence. Student officers were in attendance.
Head of the department of engineering science and mechanics Ishwar Puri will also operate out of the new wing. He said the new wing was a product of a collective effort.
"It is a story about community, because we came together through an open process," Puri said. "We agreed, we disagreed, and then we came together so that we could move forward."
Provost Mark McNamee held meetings with victims, their families, faculty and staff to create a vision for the building.
"The openness with which we invited ideas demonstrated how universities work at their finest," McNamee said.
Steger said the school wanted to see all ideas for the space.
"We sought and received proposals for future uses from the entire university community, including the families, friends of the victims of the tragedy," Steger said. "Many people across the university and from the extended Virginia Tech community shared their thoughts today."
Many ideas were proposed, but Steger said the building needed to be utilized.
"Because of the tragedy of April 16 and because we knew that it would be used differently from that day forward, we knew that it could never be used again for the general purpose classrooms that were employed at the time," Steger said.
Puri said he looks forward to the new life of Norris Hall.
"So it is with great pride that I stand in front of you today," Puri said. "It's been a somber two years. But you know what? Every day, it gets less somber. And every day, the pride and joy of working and serving becomes deeper and deeper. Because the ultimate thing to remember was that we lost colleagues on April 16, 2007. We lost them as they were serving. They were serving our students. We lost students, who died as they were learning to serve society."
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Let's see how long it is before the mission of the "Center for Peace Studies" gets altered to "far left, anti-American propaganda mill". Non-violence sure didn't work on April 16, 2007, did it? Negotiation with a madman, whether it be Seung-Hui Cho, box cutter wielding terrorists on a plane or pirates in the Indian Ocean is *not* the solution. Use of force to protect innocent life and liberty is, however.
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Well, it didn't take long for the hero-complex-nut-jobs to add their two cents. Thanks for your perspective Fred. I didn't know they had internet access in caves, or are you on Ruby Ridge, or maybe your Timothy McVeigh speaking from beyond the grave? Better run along to the store now and stock up on plastic sheeting and duct tape. They're comin' ta git ya.
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Please explain to me how the Virginia Tech administration hemmed, hawed, took no decisive action on Seung-Hui Cho and yet after 32 people lost their lives NOT ONE person in the Virginia Tech administration has lost their job. NOT ONE. If Frank Beamer lost 32 games in short order, he'd be out of a job. If I lost 32 files at work, I'd be out of a job. But in the university, I guess losing 32 lives was shrugged off as a "learning on the job mistake". No one paid for it, except Virginia taxpayers through the settlement. The Cook counseling center dropped the ball, yet they are all still on the team. Sad.
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To really. What Fred said has zero to do with any "hero complex" or Ruby Ridge. The simple fact of life that some folks miss for whatever reason is that some individuals in society commit serious crimes and do physical harm to others. All we are saying is that sometimes you have to protect yourself. Society would be a lot different if most of us stood united together against the bad elements. But some would rather ignore the problem. So a the store owner in gang or mob infested territory is extorted, innocent people are caught in drive by shootings, etc, etc. Costing tens or hundreds of billions in losses for society, not to mention the emotional and physical toll on the victims. Good people outnumber the bad probably by 99 to 1, but this isn't enough. Gangs are strong for a reason, they are a tough unit that back each other up. That is exactly what the good people need to do. Back each other up and tell the criminal elements that we have had enough.
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To Fred, The Cook Counciling Center did not drop the ball. They can't force someone into counciling. After April 16th, they made their services known. Also, since when is Virginia Tech's administration responsible for preventing crime? I was under the impression that the police force took care of that.
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Marc: There was no followup or inter-departmental communication about Cho's tenuous mental status. The dots were there, but they were not connected. Why was Cho allowed to stay in school? He wasn't talking in class, he wasn't doing his work, he was acting in a bizarre manner towards other students in class. The sad thing is that the school administration was probably scared of litigation if they did do anything, such as order Cho to go home for the semester. They failed to look into FERPA and HIPPA's exclusions to provide immunity on disclosure in cases where a student may harm themselves. The Cho parents said they had no idea that their son was in such dire mental straits, but would have certainly pulled him out if they had been informed. The Cook Counseling Center *did* misplace Cho's records and thus forgot about his being there. That is in the official review panel report. Still, I find it odd and offsetting that 32 lives could be lost and no one in charge of the institution suffered as much as docked pay for the collective damage.
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32 lives were not lost in Norris. Two were taken in AJ and then the other 30 were killed in Norris.
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Mr. Nowak will be missed in the Hort Department, but will AMAZING at his new position! What a great and humble man
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Fred, you seem to be under the illusion that an outpatient (even one with schizophrenia) is a ward of the state. Because he was an adult, it was for him to show up for follow up treatment. If I miss a dental appointment, they don't send out a hygienist to look for me and then drag me to their office. He clearly needed outside support and that was why a high school counselor strongly recommended that he not to attend a college far from his family. His family knew very little what was going on in his life, so naturally we have to blame counselors, police, Steger, etc
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