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Virginia Tech Signs Banner for Garissa University
By Brian MathewsJuly 14, 2015
I wish I had had more time to develop this post—but only about 24 hours to go.
Jade Womack (recent Virginia Tech alum—now entering graduate school at Cornell) put together a banner signing for Garissa University
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I wish I had had more time to develop this post—but only about 24 hours to go.
Jade Womack (recent Virginia Tech alum—now entering graduate school at Cornell) put together a banner signing for Garissa University back in April. She worked with Monena Hall (Community Engagement Librarian) -- within in three days they captured over 400 signatures.
VT President Timothy Sands with Jade Womack and Monena Hall.
The thing that fascinated me was this Facebook post from Jade: On a personal note, here is the banner I signed in eighth grade after April 16, 2007 in my middle school cafeteria. Our teachers didn’t tell us many of the details I would eventually learn about April 16th, but encouraged us to sign it telling us there was an attack on the school. At the time, many of my 13 year old peers and I had no idea how to comprehend April 16th or what implications it may have on our college experience (especially mine today). I never realized that I would eventually be tied to Hokie Nation, that has grown stronger, in part, due to the love and support shown throughout the globe.
It’s been quite a reflective experience through all of this, and I hope everyone gets a chance to look at our digital archives and the love VT received after April 16th. It’s understatedly incredible. For me, there are many parallels that I think can be drawn from this experience and applied forward. Thank you for this and spreading the word.
There is an interesting story here. Jade recalled signing a banner for VT when she was in middle school – and actually looked it up in our online archive. Then when tragedy happened elsewhere, she felt compelled to organize a banner signing herself to help others heal.
