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BLACKSBURG, Va. - Hokie supporters have filled the Virginia Tech Drillfield this week to offer spiritual counseling, pet therapy and a listening ear.
Students are finding ways to cope after the April 16 tragedy when English major Seung-Hui Cho, 23, shot two people in a residence hall around 7:15 a.m. Two hours later he opened fire in a building across campus, killing 30 other Hokie students and faculty before turning the gun on himself.
More than 200 counselors were on campus Monday to offer help, said Chris Flynn, the director of the campus Cook Counseling Center.
Dave Hildebrand, pastor of All of Grace Baptist Church in Cincinnati, sat under a red tent on the drill field in the middle of campus to offer counseling services.
"Our heart is here to help those folks who are hurting," he said. "Our heart's desire is to do whatever we can. Our hope and strength is in the Lord."
While some people found strength through their faith, others found it in the fur of dogs with the Hope Animal Assisted Crisis Response.
Students walking across the drill field stopped to pet Maggie, a yellow lab with a Virginia Tech keychain on her vest.
Junior Stephanie Myers was moved to tears when she sat down with Maggie and Ginger, a whippet mix.
"I didn't even realize I was upset anymore," she said. "It didn't even cross my mind that this would be so therapeutic."
Yvonne Eaton, a volunteer with Hope Animal Assisted Crisis Response, said the dogs provided comfort and support. Dogs increase positive chemicals in the body while lowering blood pressure and heart rates.
Myers liked the dogs because, unlike counselors, they don't ask questions.
"It's a little awkward to talk to people about what you saw, how you feel, what your religion is," she said.
Chaplain William Ammon said chaplains have been reaching out to students who look like they need someone to talk to, a hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on.
Counselors and chaplains from the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Billy Graham organization are all offering services at Virginia Tech, but their religious affiliations are not important, he said. They are only here to serve the students. Ammon declined to state who he was with for that reason.
While many are part of religious groups, they only reference God when they feel it is appropriate.
They listen to the students and let them know they are here for them, he said.
"It's a lot different than throwing a Bible in someone's face," Ammon said. "We just listen, and we love them, and they know we care."
He has seen a lot of tears, which release some of the pain, he said.
"But some don't cry, and that's OK," he said. "Grieve in your own way. Be patient with yourself."
Elizabeth Provost, a volunteer emergency medical technician, has seen a lot of students with their arms around each other hugging.
"Real ones - not the back-pat type," said Dale Cash, an intensive in-home counselor from Christiansburg. "And guys, too, not just girls."
There were other small comforts for the students, Provost said. Grandmothers passed out cookies, and a church group handed out water, but it was mostly the students who watched over one another, and that was the best way to heal.
"As long as they get their arms around one another, they'll be OK."
Ashley Gebb can be reached at agebb@theorion.com
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Read more of The Orion's on-location coverage of Virginia Tech:
- Virginia Tech tragedy
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