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Hokie Spirit Fund At Issue

July 4, 2007

By Rex Bowman

Virginia Tech officials are in discussions with the former "Special Master" of the 9/11 victims fund about administering the $7 million donated to Tech after the April campus massacre.

The Blacksburg school's contact with Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg comes after some families of the 32 victims of Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho complained that they should be given more control of the money donors have sent.

Feinberg declined to discuss details of his talks with Tech officials, deferring to Tech, but said he has visited the campus and "I am willing to play a role." He said his work would be pro bono; he would not be paid.

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker confirmed that Tech is talking to Feinberg but declined to elaborate, saying the school could call a news conference as early as tomorrow to discuss the way the funds will be handled.

"I'm really working hard to bring this together," Hincker said.

Feinberg, appointed Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, spent nearly three years deciding how much each family of a victim of the terrorist attacks should receive.

When he was done, he had given out $7 billion in federal money. The average payout to families who agreed not to sue the airlines and corporations involved was $1.8 million.

In the wake of the April 16 shootings at Tech, the school has received more than $7 million in unsolicited donations from around the world. The school has used the money to establish the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which was placed under the control of the nonprofit Virginia Tech Foundation.

At the time the fund was created, it had no stated purpose, except to serve as a repository for donations.

In the past two months, Tech has used the money to create 32 $100,000 scholarship funds in the name of each of Cho's victims, as well as to pay for funerals and travel and hotel expenses of victims' families. According to an account provided to The Times-Dispatch, about $3.33 million of the $7 million has been spent or dedicated to scholarships.

How Feinberg's involvement in handling the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund would be greeted by families of Cho's victims is unknown. Thomas Fadoul Jr., a Vienna lawyer who represents as many as 20 of the families, could not be reached for comment despite repeated efforts.

Fadoul was rebuffed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in his attempt to have one of the family members placed on the panel that Kaine established to review the shootings and Tech's response.

The families argued that they need a representative on the panel to keep it objective. Kaine disagreed and instead appointed one of the panel members as a liaison to the families.

Catherine Read of Annandale, mother of slain student Mary Karen Read, said yesterday that she and her husband knew nothing about Feinberg's potential role and declined to comment.

Hincker said some families met with Tech President Charles W. Steger last week and the meetings are continuing, but he declined to say if the fund was a topic of discussion.

Contact Rex Bowman at rbowman@timesdispatch.com or (540) 344-3612.