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April 24, 2007
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Nikki Giovanni was on a plane to return to Blacksburg the morning of April 16 when a girl behind her turned on her cell phone and said, "Oh my god. There's been a shooting at Virginia Tech!"Giovanni said she and the other passengers were shocked to hear the girl say 21 people had been killed.
"We're all Tech people one way or another, whether you work here or not," Giovanni said. "Tech is the dominant thing."
Everyone on the plane told the girl she must have made a mistake, Giovanni said. They thought the numbers had been switched. One, maybe two people, could have died, but 21? That wasn't possible.
But it was.
Giovanni, a Virginia Tech professor and renowned poet, walked up the ramp into the Roanoke Regional Airport terminal and saw CNN unfolding the story on television. Passengers stopped and jaws dropped as they watched the the final death toll rise to 33.
Around 7:15 that morning English major Seung-Hui Cho, 23, had shot two people in a campus residence hall. Two hours later, he opened fire in a building across campus, killing 30 more before turning the gun on himself.
Giovanni had taught Cho before, but declined to talk about him. She worries that others who taught him may become confused about their ideas if they hear her own, she said.
She has taught at Virginia Tech for 20 years and returned to campus the day after the tragedy. She spoke about the shootings at an assembly where University President Charles Steger, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and President George W. Bush spoke about the shootings.
At the assembly, Giovanni read one of her poems and then led the audience into chants of "Let's go, Hokies!" The university has made part of the poem into a poster that reads:
Through all our blood and tears
Through all this sadness
We are the Hokies
We will prevail
We are Virginia Tech."
Freshman Jill Evans said she loved the speech and the energy Giovanni brought to the assembly.
"It was like she didn't even need to think about what she was saying," Evans said. "It touched everyone."
Everyone is doing their part to recover from the tragedy, but Giovanni thinks students have done the best job shouldering the burden of the media, she said.
As someone who has dealt with the press for many years, she said she understands that they are seeking out aspects of the story that are still unknown.
"They stayed too long, but who doesn't?" she said.
Many students are pushing forward despite continued media attention and returning to class to finish their semesters, she said.
Giovanni only teaches one class this spring, at 5 p.m. Tuesdays. The students in her poetry writing class are making their own books that include 10 poems.
The students will probably spend their first night back in class eating donuts and reading their poetry.
"My job is to listen and I think that's what's important," Giovanni said.
She spoke with her students Monday, and they are planning on finishing the books. One student is working on poems about murderers, including Jack the Ripper, and another is writing about a search for God.
"I do not know how real violence will affect this project," Giovanni said.
She has has not done any of her own writing since the tragedy. Although the shootings and the world's reaction to them will influence her work, she said she is not sure how and it is too soon to write about it.
"School is one thing," Giovanni said. "Creativity is another."
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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