There have been several posts around the blogosphere about the shootings today at Virginia Tech. I felt that perhaps we should do what little we can to show our support to those in Blacksburg.

Obviously, there is nothing that can be said that can even start to grasp at the enormity of what the students, faculty and family members of those closest to the tragedy, but we will try as we might. I’d imagine that most people reading this blog have attended college, and felt that innocence that came with it. The “coming of age” for countless people year in and year out where people try to find their paths and better themselves. That bubble of innocence was broken today in Virginia. That protective space where people went to better themselves and advance their lives only to have those same lives ended in the most pointless and terrible of ways.

The emotion and confusion of Columbine 8 years ago was resurrected in one fell swoop where the trust of security and safety was shattered in a way where it might never be able to be pieced together again. Of the many things that we worried about going to school, something like this never had, and never should have, entered our minds. It probably didn’t enter the minds of those going about their business today on the Virginia Tech campus, and rightfully so. It was unfortunately today that an unimaginable act brought them out of the world that they were living in, and into the brutal reality of a world created by a single heartless soul intent on destroying the lives and futures of those around him for reasons beyond understanding.

We stand together today, as the Unified Hokie Nation. Not a nation of separate entities, but as a single entity that will not tolerate nor condone the actions of those intent on destroying what we hold dear. An entity that will not yield nor give in to the realm of fear created by these cowards who have no recourse but to bring their own chaos to those around them.

We are all Hokies today, and we will stand true.