The Hokie Horror this past spring, with the murder of so many Virginia Tech students and faculty members, may yet claim another victim -- the functionality of the building where most of the murders took place.

Norris Hall is known for its Gothic architecture, its central location on Virginia Tech's huge campus and, more than anything, its role as the primary site of the nation's deadliest individual shooting rampage.

The two-story building that witnessed so much carnage in April when a gunman killed 31 people there, including himself, will reopen in about two weeks and will be used for offices and laboratories, university officials announced yesterday.

Formerly used by several academic departments, Norris will house only two departments -- engineering science and mechanics, and civil and environmental engineering -- when it reopens June 18.

The decision comes nearly two months after student Seung Hui Cho of Fairfax County shot and killed 30 students and faculty members on Norris's second floor before shooting himself. Cho fatally shot two other students in a campus dormitory earlier that day.

Since the April 16 attack, Norris Hall has been empty, but debate has surfaced among university officials, parents, students and faculty members about what should be done with it. Some wanted to raze the building and replace with it a memorial. Others said it should be left alone.

Speaking as an outsider, I think that it is a good thing that Norris Hall is being returned to some use -- and think that it quickly needs to be returned to full use rather than limited functionality. The demands that it be torn down are nothing more than the cries of those who believe that emotion should overcome reason -- the wussification of the American spirit and the over-indulgence of grief.

Come here to Texas. Visit the University of Texas in Austin. There stands the bell tower, site of the infamous sniper attack in the 1960s. It stands unchanged, as does (for the most part) the plaza where the victims were killed and wounded. Thousands pass through that plaza daily, as they go about their lives. Thus has it been for four decades -- the greatest memorial to the dead. For you see, it is the prime example of how life goes on in the face of tragedy, and how the paroxysms of grief that follow death cannot be allowed to forever paralyze the mourners.

So should it be at Virginia Tech -- the ultimate honoring of those who have died by those who continue to live in their footsteps and in the pursuit of the same lofty academic goals. Bravo to those who have moved to reopen the building -- and may they bring the building back to full use soon.

Posted by: Greg at 03:00 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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