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The Student Government Association at Virginia Tech, under the guidance of two of its members, has gained enough support to create April 16, 2008 as a university sanctioned day of remembrance.
Monty Korpe, a junior philosophy major and Andy Koch, a senior management major, wrote and presented the SGA's House of Representatives with the legislation.
"An extremely traumatic event happened here at Virginia Tech that affected most, if not all of us," Korpe said. "We will all be feeling it; it's going to be on all of our minds, and I think that this is the best way for the community as a whole to deal with it."
The resolution is now out of their hands, and will be placed in front of SGA President Adeel Khan. If endorsed by Khan, it will then be approved as the official voice of the student body, and be forwarded on to the university's administration for final review.
The legislation specifies that the Tech administration should label April 16, 2008, as a campus-wide day of memorial, where no classes, meetings, or organized events should meet, unless deemed directly related to the tragedy, in honor of the victims.
However, Koch said this memorial is not planned to simply give students a break from academic work.
"We hope that people will do service on that day and participate in memorials," Koch said. "It is going to bring back a lot of memories for people. To Monty and I, the vision is not a day off, but a day of remembering those lost through our service."
Korpe noted that the legislation was first drawn up last year, towards the end of the spring semester, but did not have enough to time to pass. Since its original authors are no longer members of the SGA, Korpe decided to reintroduce it after making several changes to its language. The original resolution called for an annual April 16 holiday, whereas Korpe's bill only specifically mentions April 16, 2008.
"I thought it was pretty important," Korpe said. "I realized that when we do things at the end of the semester they tend to collapse because of all the people moving through. I asked the speaker of the house earlier this year, and took it up after he said we didn't need a sponsor."
After Korpe had drawn up the idea and gained the support of Koch, a survey of approximately 1,000 students was conducted.
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I think this is a great idea as long as it is truely a day of service and rememberance! What a great way to remind the world of the love, compassion, and strength of the Hokie Nation!!
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As long as people don't use this they way they use reading day... Sound like some could make it another alcoholiday. SGA should have definite plans lined up for people both the night of the 15th and during the day on the 16th in order to keep students busy.
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All that should be done to commemorate this terrible anniversary is a campus wide minutes of silence -- with bells tolling from 9:40 to 9:48 am on April 16th, 2008. A "day off" would just be used for drinking purposes by many students.
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First off, the day is on a Wednesday. Second off, there will be various events on the day. Third off, if people drink on that Tuesday then they are horrible people. Lastly, it'll be a day to embrace fellow classmates and remember those lost on that horrific day. I think that if we did not have something to remember those lost would be nothing short of dishonorable.
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Comparing April 16th with Reading Day is absolutely unnecessary. We are all Hokies, and we are all dealing with this as best as we can. I am disappointed that you would have such a low opinion of your fellow Hokies to think that they would treat this day as another Reading Day. I am confident that no one will disregard the anniversary of the worst day in most of our lives.
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I believe it is a big improvement over the original bill to only ask for the holiday for 2008. Had it been approved as an annual holiday, there would certainly come a time where the things other posters have mentioned would become more prevalent. Just as I doubt many of us reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day or Veteran's Day, the true meaning of this holiday would fade over time. That said, on a personal note, I would be satisfied with a moment of silence, as Fred mentions. Everyone is going to deal with that day in their own way, regardless of whether school is cancelled.
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