Through Hokie Eyes: Convocation and Vigil

First and foremost I want to thank everyone for the myriad of support that has been submitted in the comments section of my two previous posts this morning and last night. It blows me away how many people from so many different colleges have sent their best from campus. Even more people have related on a more personal level and it really does help hearing so much from you guys. I'm starting to realize how big of a deal this is for everyone in this entire country and not just our humble town.

Today marked the first day of public mourning for many at Virginia Tech and I was in attendance for both ceremonies.

The convocation turned into a terrific showing of Hokie spirit, as the 10,000-seat basketball arena was filled to capacity, including seats covering the parquet. The rest of us were directed to Lane Stadium to watch on the big screen. (See my photos.) Governor Kaine and President Bush both gave terrific speeches and were very well received, but the cap of the evening came from Nikki Giovanni, who is a professor at Virginia Tech. She ended strongly:

"We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid. We are better than we think, not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility we will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness. We are the Hokies! We will prevail, we will prevail! We are Virginia Tech!"

Watch video of Giovanni's speech:

The crowd absolutely exploded. Chants in the stands reminiscent of Saturday football games echoed back and forth. All of the other speakers allowed us to be with our personal thoughts and mourn, but she allowed us to come together and act as the strong family we always were. I think we all left with a heightened sense of community. We were all far from closure, but this was a great first step.

The vigil was just a beautiful gathering and on any other occasion I would have been thrilled to be a part of it. This was the first time I had seen a few of my friends after they had been informed of close friends' demises, so things are obviously starting to get pretty heavy. Again, no one close to me was injured. The organizers didn't speak for long, really only inviting us to stay as long as we wanted. A few minutes passed and people began singing "Amazing Grace". That song chokes me up during commercials so at this point I'm trying divert my thoughts elsewhere, which is hard to do when it's all you've heard for the past two days. The National Anthem was sung, a few more school-oriented chants, and then a communal exhale. Pretty much everyone stayed for a little while longer and then began combing through the crowd looking for friends.

I left shortly thereafter because my thoughts were really starting to bite at me and, frankly, it was the longest and most trying day of my life, although I'm sure longer ones await.

Previously on FanHouse:
Through Hokie Eyes: The Day After
The Virginia Tech Massacre Through Hokie Eyes
The Virginia Tech Tragedy and Why Sports Matter