Lighting candles and offering hope; Skidmore sends condolences to the Virginia Tech community
by Vanessa Weber; photos by Rae Tashman and Mike Comite

A community mourns

April 17, Saratoga Springs—Spilt wax from half-burnt candles lays hardened on the concrete Case Center patio. On the brick wall, “Students Support Students” and “For Brett, my cousin” are scribbled in yellow and gray chalk above the memorial bench for Phillip Eckstein ’07, a student who was killed by a car in October of last year. The chalk and wax are reminders of the candlelight vigil for the students and faculty killed during the Virginia Polytechnic Institute shooting on Monday, April 16, 2007.
The vigil, organized by the student government Communications Committee, began with testimonies of students who either knew people at Virginia Tech or who were affected by last Monday’s events.
Alex Frost ’10, who helped organize the vigil, was one of the students to speak.
“If education is sacred, then institutions of education are sacred,” he said. “We must attack hate with passion, we must replace passion with peace.”
Although Frost has “no personal connection to Virginia,” he said the vigil allowed him and other students to “manage the grief” they felt for those who were killed.
“I don’t know anyone down there, but I know that as college students, we’re all connected to this. [The Vigil] was one of the times when I felt most connected” to other Skidmore students.
            Derek Bagley ’10, a member of the Communications Committee, sent out a message on facebook.org inviting more than 250 students to the vigil. In the message, he said “as a fellow, American college campus, it is our duty to show respect to our contemporaries whose lives were cut short by this horrendous tragedy.”
            More than 40 students were present at a time. Accompanying them was Director of the First Year Experience Michael Arnush and College President Phillip Glotzbach.
         “I and my wife and colleague, Professor Leslie Mechem, deeply respect and find admirable our students' initiative to attempt to grapple with tragic loss and find opportunities to heal our community.” Arnush said. “I was honored, as was Professor Mechem, to be part of an initiative that valued and respected survival, and life, more than death and destruction. You, our students, deserve our deepest respect and support.”
Glotzbach echoed similar sentiments.
“I very much appreciated the fact that Molly Appel [Vice President of Communications for student government] and others from SGA organized last night’s vigil,” Glotzbach said. “It was inspiring to see many students come out to share their solidarity … It was a sad moment for our country but a proud moment for Skidmore.”
At the vigil Glotzbach referenced Virginia’s lax gun laws, and urged those present to engage in political discussions about gun control and student violence.
For Appel, the Virginia Tech shootings “is wider than just Blacksburg.” 
“This really hit me hard,” she said. “We’re all in school learning, we’re all engaged in rigorous, exposing work, the fact that a classroom can turn so quickly from a hub of learning to bodies barricading the door, that’s such a violation. It’s like the Skidmore bubble, we critique it but it protects us.”
Reverend Stephen Butler Murray, the college chaplain, lead a prayer service for all faiths on Tuesday at 8:30. According to Murray, “The next step may be for the college is to ask, why does something like this happen on a campus? How did we end up with a student feeling so disaffected?”

“It’s much more likely for people not to fall through the cracks at Skidmore … at Virginia, it’s awfully easy to do that,” Murray said.

An issue of safety

“Don’t sit on feeling worried” Julia Routbort, director of the counseling center said. “If you are feeling concerned about a person, but don’t know what to do, you can call the center. One of the advantages of a small campus is that it’s easier to have good lines of communications.”
In a letter to the community sent via e-mail earlier today, Glotzbach outlined Skidmore’s own security measures, which includes the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, the college’s response to various threats, minor or serious. 
Every Tuesdays, there is also a meeting between the administrators from the Dean of Studies, Office, Dean of Students Office, Residential Life, the counseling center, and campus safety, to discuss possible threats to the campus.
Dennis Conway, director of campus safety, said all employees have background checks as a matter of precaution. But he also said that with every safety measure taken, personal freedoms risk being ignored.
“If you identify someone as a probable threat, and you try to remove them from your campus, then you’re liable” for lawsuits, he said. As for the likelihood of an attack on Skidmore’s campus, Conway said the threat is small.
“You’re much more likely to die in a car accident than in a campus shooting. Put this into perspective, it’s a very safe environment … that’s not to say it wouldn’t happen, I’d be the last one saying that. We have to treat this like a wake-up call,” he said.
According to Murray, schools across the country are also responding to the Virginia Tech shooting in a fashion similar to Skidmore. Union College in Schenectady gathered by the hundreds for their own candlelight vigil, for example.
“This is a time for reflection not only with regard to issues of safety and security but also, and even more importantly, about questions that go to the heart of the educational mission of colleges and universities throughout our country,” Glotzbach said.

Editors tip: Hanging on the door of Case 228 is a booklet available for anyone to sign and write messages for members of the Virginia Tech community. The booklet will be mailed to the university on Monday, April 23.

Additional reporting by Andrew Bernstein ’07, Rachel Tashman ’09, and Akheil Singla ’10