Continuing Coverage by:

Emotional Professor Says Tragedy Doesn’t Diminish Successes

May 13, 2007

By Olympia Meola & Holly Prestidge

BLACKSBURG, Va. — At times, he had to look down. At times, he pursed his lips to hold back tears.

Between pauses to collect himself, Virginia Tech professor Edward Weisband said the empty seats of students killed April 16 "will always remain in any class I teach."

Weisband told victims' families that their loved ones were irreplaceable.

His message was emotional, his pauses to regain composure tense.

It was a genuine, personal expression of grief from a teacher to his students. "As I speak, I see each of them in my class," he said.

Weisband, along with other faculty members of the Department of Political Science and the International Studies Program, struggled to maintain composure at times yesterday afternoon.

Inside a ballroom at Squires Student Center, they awarded nine posthumous degrees to family and friends of the students who were killed April 16.

Weisband read each victim's name and rang a bell, and the sound carried as family members or friends reached the stage.

Grieving, they crossed to faculty members who met them with open arms.

At times, the faculty members broke down in tears while embracing the family members.

An overflow audience, which gathered in a small theater next to the ballroom, wiped away tears and held back sobs as they watched the scene on a large video screen.

The main room was reserved mostly for family of the graduates.

Department Chairman Ilja A. Luciak noted the strong bond forged between teachers and students, particularly since April 16, and urged students to "treasure this bond as you go out to leave your mark on the world."

Luciak, who attended the funerals of three victims, spoke of making the world a better place.

"This commitment to a better world is a legacy to our nine students, and by pursuing it, we can all honor their dreams," he said.

The tragedy imposed upon the faculty the somber duty of awarding the posthumous degrees. But the professors also praised the strength of the entire student body.

Weisband told the graduates "not to allow our solemn recognition of those fallen to cast a shadow of a doubt or shame or an ounce of hesitation on all that you are and all that you will be."

Last month, Weisband took time to greet his students one by one when they returned to class after the shootings. It was a class of 300.

Seeing students off yesterday, Weisband urged them not to let the events of this year dampen their hopes, dreams and aspirations.

"Let our silence in memory be the other side of your joy, your pride, your jubilation," Weisband said.

Contact staff writer Olympia Meola at omeola@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6812.

Contact Holly Prestidge at hprestidge@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6945.