Tech gathers to honor Huskies Framed beneath the archway of Torgersen Bridge, a thousand candles dotted the Alumni Mall last night for a vigil dedicated to the Northern Illinois students who died in the shooting that occurred on Valentine's Day.

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Tech, a community still overcoming the emotions from almost a year ago, gathered to offer the Huskies support and comfort.

Through icy eyes and frozen fingertips, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger reiterated his views of the compassion Tech students have conveyed toward their Northern Illinois counterparts.

"The resiliency and commitment of our student body was something that was extraordinary in April," Steger said. "And I think that their ability to convey this to the folks at Northern Illinois is also admirable."

During the ceremony, Hokies United president Scott Cheatham, Student Government President Adeel Kahn and Steger all offered their words of encouragement to those suffering from the recent events at the DeKalb campus.

A group of students chanted, "Let's go," followed by the crowd chanting, "Huskies," five times in honor of the five fallen. Several rounds of 'Amazing Grace,' at one point lead by Steger, reverberated against the Hokie Stone arch.

Freshman Catherine Christensen wasn't enrolled at Tech last April, but was inspired by the amount of spirit and vigilance displayed by the Tech community in the days and weeks that followed. Now that she's here, she expressed her desire to join her new school as a part of the gathering in order to grieve for the Huskies and the Hokies.

"I just really wanted to be a part of campus here in remembering NIU, and grieving with everyone because it's probably going to be a reciprocating process of remembering April," Christensen said. "I just wanted to be a part of it, mourn and just be with everyone. It's a really tough time for everyone."

A half black, half red painted Hokie Stone was displayed at the April 16 memorial for the past few days, and will shortly be taken up to Illinois for the NIU campus. Steger was a leading force in expressing his appreciation toward the community for meeting in honor of the Northern Illinois students.

"It reinvigorates my confidence and hope for what the next generation of men and women can do here," Steger said. "Our students are great people … and everybody has reached out to Northern Illinois and we will certainly do anything we possibly can to help, because we, more than anybody else, understand what they're going through."