Virginia Tech is altering the way it deals with the victims of the April 16, 2007 campus shootings and their families.
Nearly four years after shooter Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 and injured 17 students and faculty members, the university will close the office that had dealt with victims’ families and move its responsibilities to the Alumni Relations office.
President Charles Steger informed the families of the changes in writing in late February. The letter also said, after this April’s anniversary, Tech will stop paying for the families’ lodging for the April 16 ceremonies.
A U.S. Department of Justice grant funded the Office of Recovery and Support. Steger’s letter said the end of the grant and “the decreasing though still important needs of our April 16th families,” made this an appropriate time to make the changes.
Debbie Day and Kelly Griffin, two full-time employees of the Office of Recovery and Support, will continue communicating with the families in their new roles with alumni relations.
A version of this article appeared in the Mar 18 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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It is time to move on and these changes make sense.
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They should at least pay for the families lodging for god's sake. I mean it would probably be the same as one payment on Tyrod's Cadillac Escilade that he miraculously can afford.
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