Commentary: Reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy
The Rev. Glenn Tyndall stands in front of the Wesley Foundation Center
at Virginia Tech, where he has served as the United Methodist campus
minister for 33 years. A new school year begins Aug. 20. A UMNS photo by
Travis Church.
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By the Rev. Glenn Tyndall*
Aug. 16, 2007 | BLACKSBURG, Va. (UMNS)
"Cut it down, it grows back stronger."
Translated from the Latin phrase "succisa virescit," this mantra became a
unifying slogan this past year for the embattled lacrosse team at my
alma mater, Duke University. But before the events of April 16 at
Virginia Tech, where I have served as campus minister of the Wesley
Foundation for 33 years, I didn't realize how appropriate this message
would become for our own university and our students, our town, this
campus ministry, and even for me personally.
Thousands of candles light the night during an April 17 vigil on
the Virginia Tech drillfield for victims of the previous day's campus
shooting spree that left 33 people dead. A UMNS file photo courtesy of
Virginia Tech.
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As classes at Virginia Tech resume Aug. 20 - more than four months after
a campus tragedy that left 33 people dead - evidence of this renewed
strength is everywhere.
"Cut it down, it grows back stronger."
Hours of terror
We were cut down on a gray April Monday when a student went on a
deadly shooting rampage, forever changing my life, along with the lives
of everyone else who ever heard the word "Hokie." When news of this
awful tragedy arrived via e-mail, I locked the doors of our Wesley
center, which is adjacent to campus, since the shooter or shooters had
not yet been caught. We knew classes would be canceled; we wondered if
the rest of the semester would be canceled as well.
The first task was to account for all of our active students at
Wesley. Students I knew and some I had never met began arriving at our
building seeking safety, warmth and comfort. We hugged, cried, offered
food, shelter and counseling. We served as broker with parents and
pastors seeking news of their loved ones and members. We did our best to
keep our hundreds of Wesley alumni in the loop. The Virginia Tech Web
site was overloaded, many cell phones wouldn't work and there was a
sense of terror and disbelief as groups huddled together to watch the
local CBS affiliate and CNN. The news grew grimmer as authorities
expanded their list of fatalities.
“I am moved and honored to have been
associated with this generation of Hokie students at the Wesley
Foundation. They gave new meaning to the biblical admonition to 'bear
one another's burdens.'”
In the early evening hours, we fed all who came. We hosted a
debriefing session and prayer vigil, then continued to watch the news.
Though none of our Wesley students were killed or wounded, some were in
or near Norris Hall at the time of the shooting. By the end of the day,
as victims' names were released, many of our students realized they knew
one or more students or a professor killed. More than 20 students
stayed overnight in our center, afraid to return to their dorms.
By this time, the media had invaded our quiet, hurting town. They
tried to turn students into news stories, prodding them to blame the
university for this tragedy. Known for their Hokie pride, the students
would have none of it. The entire community pulled together as one,
buoyed by the compassion and love extended to all of us by friends,
families, colleagues and other students across the globe. You probably
saw the cartoon with all the mascots around our state crying with our
Hokie bird and saying, "Today we are all Hokies."
Tyndall and student Katie Boggs find a
quiet moment for spiritual reflection at the Wesley Foundation Center. A UMNS
photo by Travis Church.
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The outpouring of prayer that we experienced from throughout the
United States and across the United Methodist connection was
extraordinary. I cannot begin to express how much it meant to have
campus ministers or other clergy from somewhere faraway call and say:
"Tonight, we have a prayer service, and we will pray for you personally,
and for your campus ministry, and for your university." The outpouring
of support was received gratefully and became an incredible part of our
experience during those trying days, and it happened over and over
again. It was an awesome witness to the power of the United Methodist
connection and the Christian community.
God will prevail
For me personally, I am moved and honored to have been associated
with this generation of Hokie students at the Wesley Foundation. They
gave new meaning to the biblical admonition to "bear one another's
burdens." They were strong and mature, even in the face of the loss of
friends and faculty whom they knew. Together with me and my wife, they
had helped create a Christian community on campus that served as a rock
in the midst of a terrible storm. Had I been a parent back home
wondering about my United Methodist student, I would have been happy to
know that my church had a presence on this campus, just as it does on
campuses throughout the nation. It has made me grow stronger as I
prepare to help students for another school year.
"We are Virginia Tech. We WILL prevail."
This mantra now defines our community's faith and response to
tragedy. That spirit is reflected throughout Blacksburg, even as we
attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy. It is a message that we
needed to hear and to proclaim during the week of April 16. But as
people of faith, we must remind ourselves that ultimately it is not WE
who prevail, but God. God cried along with us in this horrific event and
its aftermath. And God is the One who has enabled us to be
strong, and to grow back stronger than ever.
“… We must remind ourselves that ultimately it is not WE who prevail, but God. … Where, O death, is your victory? ”
That Monday morning, it was cold - 45 degrees with snow flurries and
wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. It was a day of hurt, and despair,
and questioning. By the end of the week, spring had arrived. The sun
shone brightly on our campus, a symbol of hope, of resurrection, if you
will. Reflecting on this experience of moving from darkness into light,
II Corinthians 4:8-9 takes on new meaning. "We are afflicted in every
way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." And later, Paul says
in verse 12: "So death is at work in us, but life in you."
Looking back at the darkness that marked April 16, just a week after
Easter, we know the meaning of hope and resurrection. "We are Virginia
Tech. We will prevail." But more importantly, "We are Virginia
Tech. God will prevail."
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? But
thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ."
*Tyndall is beginning his 34th year as campus minister of the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech.
News media contact: Marta Aldrich, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech
Virginia Annual Conference
Board of Higher Education & Ministry: Campus Ministry |