BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Their lives, so filled with promise, were cut short on that April day. Their families, so filled with the hope of bright futures for their loved ones, will never know what they might have accomplished.
Karen and Harry Pryde are embraced by Virginia Tech faculty members as they accept a posthumous graduate degree for their daughter Julia Kathleen Pryde during a graduation ceremony at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Friday, May 11, 2007. (Photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster)
But at Friday's graduation ceremony, the 32 Virginia Tech students and faculty killed in the April 16 massacre seemed to have achieved so much, forever bonding a community and serving as a reminder that life is precious.
"In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, 'They entered the stage of history just a few years ago, and in the brief years that they were privileged to act on this mortal stage, they played their parts exceedingly well,'" Virginia Tech President Charles Steger told 3,600 graduating seniors and a crowd of nearly 30,000 friends and family.
They loved horseback riding and tennis. They were musicians and dancers. They were kind and compassionate, talented and unique, Steger said. They were Hokies.
Those killed were remembered throughout the ceremony in emotional speeches, their faces pictured on a huge screen at Lane Stadium. Class rings were handed out to the families of many of the slain students. Diplomas were to follow in smaller ceremonies Saturday.
Less than a month ago, gunman Seung-Hui Cho wrought devastation on this campus with a hail of bullets. While Steger acknowledged the emotional wounds may never heal, he urged the graduates to move forward and celebrate life.
"Please know that moving on — moving on is not the same as forgetting," he said. "We shall not forget. Yet, one senseless burst of violence — as horrible and hurtful as it is — will not turn us from our essence."
As images of the slain students and faculty flashed on the stadium's screen, Steger and Provost Mark McNamee handed out the rings and received hugs in return. Cho's family will receive neither a ring nor a diploma. He killed himself as police closed in.
Retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, praised the graduates for their quiet courage, dignity and poise in dealing with the tragedy. Survivors have a responsibility to realize the dreams and aspirations of the slain, he said.
"While we are saddened by the loss of those who cannot be here today, I believe that they would want this ceremony to commemorate both the tragedy of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow," he said. "I believe that they look down on this gathering with dignified pride."
Students, parents and faculty rose to their feet and cheered as Abizaid thanked Steger for "holding things together" in a time of tragedy.
In many ways, the evening ceremony seemed like most commencements. Grinning students jumped up and down and waved as their faces appeared on the stadium's screen while "Pomp and Circumstance" played.
Students chanted "Let's go, Hokies!" and the stadium's stands twinkled with constant camera flashes from the graduates' proud family members. They decorated their mortarboards with "VT" and "Hi Mom."
But the speeches, while marked by hope, were also laced with sorrow.
