Continuing Coverage by:

Feinberg To Manage VT Fund

July 6, 2007

By Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos

Blacksburg, Va. — Virginia Tech yesterday appointed the former administrator of the Sept. 11 victims fund to meet with families of those killed in the campus massacre and disburse $7 million in donations by Thanksgiving.

Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, named administrator of Tech's Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, said he will recommend how to divide the money based on what he hears from the families of the 32 killed in the April 16 shooting rampage, the two dozen wounded and anyone mentally traumatized during the killings.

"Our desire is to get the monies to the families as soon as we can," Tech President Charles W. Steger said yesterday.

"Obviously, we're gratified they're coming around," said Vienna lawyer Thomas Fadoul Jr., who said he represents families of 22 victims. "We think it's a shame we had to organize the Virginia Tech Victims," he said of the relatives' group.

Fadoul suggested that Feinberg's appointment does not go far enough to appease the families because they feel Tech has infringed on their intellectual property rights by using images of the victims to solicit donations.

"Virginia Tech needs to offer us a plan to make amends for that violation," Fadoul said.

Tech has posted the names and photos of victims, which it says are approved and released by families, on its Web site but has not solicited donations.

Steger said the complaints played no role in Tech's decision to bring in Feinberg, but he acknowledged that Tech might have made decisions too hastily about the money in the frenetic days after the massacre.

For instance, the school used the money to set up 32 $100,000 scholarship funds in the victims' names. Those scholarships will be dismantled and the money spent another way if that's what the families want, Steger 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 should get. Ultimately, he gave out $7 billion in federal money, or about $1.8 million to each claimant.

Feinberg said that, though the Tech fund is much smaller than the federal fund, "in one respect they are very, very similar, and that is, both funds are designed with only compassion and sensitivity in mind to try to come to the aid of those most in need."

Feinberg also pointed out that those who accepted a payout from the Sept. 11 fund had to agree not to file suit against the airlines or any governmental agency. The money from the Hokie fund will be divided up without any such stipulation.

As he did with the Sept. 11 fund, Feinberg is working for free.

Hours after Seung-Hui Cho killed his 32 victims and himself, unsolicited donations began pouring into Tech.

Yesterday, Fadoul said he was dumbfounded Tech decided to call in Feinberg without consulting the families. "It adds insult to injury."

Steger said he met with some families last week and gave them a broad outline of what was under way, but he didn't share details. Feinberg said he began talking to Tech officials two weeks ago after he was contacted by Mary Vail Ware, director of the state's Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund.

Ware said between 50 and 100 of those deemed victimized by Cho's attack have filed claims for money under the state's program, which has already given out more than $100,000 and could give out much more. Ware said people are applying for the funds every day.

Fadoul said efforts by the families to raise money themselves have been diluted by Tech and that family members have different hopes for the Hokie fund than Tech does.

Some relatives are using the approved biographies on Tech's Web site to solicit donations in memory of their loved ones.

The first priority for the families, Fadoul said, is to get money for emergency needs; the second for families with special needs, such as those that lost breadwinners; and the third to set up a "model safety and security system" at campuses elsewhere. "That will take millions and millions of dollars," said Fadoul.

Tech has so far spent about $74,000 in donations on funerals, and an additional $52,500 to help families meet expenses after the April massacre. Yesterday, Fadoul called that a pittance.

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

Contact Carlos Santos at csantos@timesdispatch.com or (804) 339-6306.