Apr 16, 2008 10:17 pm US/Central
NIU Remembers Va. Tech Victims On Year Anniversary
Schools Are Linked By Shared Tragedy Of Deadly Shooting On Campus
DE KALB, Ill. (CBS) ―
One year ago Wednesday, 32 students lost their lives at Virginia Tech when a deranged gunman went on a rampage.
The trauma that those students faced is all too familiar to students at Northern Illinois University – one reason university officials decided to hold a Huskies for Hokies vigil Wednesday night.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports in DeKalb County, Huskies were standing up for Hokies Wednesday night as at least 1,000 students put down their books, turned off the television and stopped what they were doing to take part in a vigil. They did so out of respect, and gratitude.
Candles by the hundreds flickered; there was silence and there were remembrances.
"We will never forget the men and women whose lives were taken from them so cruelly at Virginia Tech," said vigil organizer Brittany Brzezinski.
They were doing the same at Virginia Tech Wednesday night, one year after Seung Hui Cho went on his murderous rampage.
Many in the respectful and solemn NIU crowd felt compelled to attend the vigil, still grateful for all the support Virginia Tech showed this campus after gunman Steven Kazmierczak shot and killed five students in February.
"If anybody understood what we went through on February 14, it was Virginia Tech, so to extend the same support they gave us… I'm disappointed it's not more people here," said Chante Hill, an NIU student from Chicago.
After the vigil, many students walked over to the still-closed Cole Hall -- the scene of the shooting -- now adorned with crosses honoring NIU's victims.
"We are survivors, and it is our duty, our responsibility to actively pay our respects for those who are no longer with us through our everyday lives and activities," said NIU student body president Jarvis Parnell.
Many say the campus is moving on, but NIU's president says thoughts of both universities' tragedies are never far away.
"We are here tonight to express with our physical presence an intangible bond between two broken hearts," President John Peters said.
NIU Housing and Dining Director Kelly Wesener said it's an extension of an already established relationship between the two campuses.
"Since that tragedy not only has Virginia Tech reached out to us, but we certainly are supportive of them," Wesener said. "And, depending on who it is, we are in constant contact, actually on a very regular basis, to talk a little bit what it is our situation is going through and how we can best support their institution… It's really a very reciprocal relationship and a supportive relationship."
Thirty-two students died at Virginia Tech one year ago, but students at that campus, like those in DeKalb, seem unwilling to let a senseless act of violence paralyze them with fear.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Video: CBS 2's Picks To Click
