16-04-2025
'Hokies Remember,' Virginia Tech continues to honor the lives lost 18 years ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WFXR) – 18 years ago, our region suffered the worst mass shooting in Virginia at Virginia Tech's campus. So we pause to remember those 32 lives lost.
Just after midnight on April 16th, a candle was lit at the memorial on Virginia Tech's campus. That candle's flame will burn for 24 hours to show that those lives we lost 18 years ago will never be forgotten.
Virginia Tech's campus was somber as many gathered around the April 16th memorial to watch the Corps of Cadets standing in watch. The cadets will be there all day to ensure the flame stays lit.
(Photo Credit: Zoe Mowery)
But it's not just Blacksburg that continues to honor the memory of those we've lost, flags across the commonwealth are at half staff as well.
And this past weekend, Tech held its annual 3.2 mile Run in Remembrance, which brought around 15,000 people to Blacksburg.
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'Hokies, remember, and remember those precious lives that were taken from us,' said Mark Owczarski, the spokesperson for the University, 'Regardless of where you are, here in Blacksburg, across the commonwealth, across the nation, nobody should ever have to experience that, sense of loss and Hokies will forever want to remember those lives, but also to remember that we must turn to each other in difficult times to help us through when life is at its most unthinkable.'
President Tim Sands and his wife, Dr. Laura Sands laid two wreaths at the memorial at exactly 9:43 a.m., the same time the first shots were fired 18 years ago. A moment of silence followed.
Then. President Sands and his wife walked the entirety of the memorial to look at all 32 names.
'Those 32 lives will never be forgotten, and so it has become that sense of tradition. It marks the fact that throughout the entire day Hokies will reflect and recall the impact that those lives could have had, and in the time they were with us, they did indeed have on our lives,' said Owczarski.
At 11:27 p.m., the Corps Cadets will stand guard for 32 minutes before extinguishing the candle, bringing it back into Burrus Hall to continue the legacy that's left.
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