UNCW honors slain Virginia Tech students

WILMINGTON — The Virginia Tech shooting anniversary was marked at UNCW Wednesday.

Those shootings, and more recent tragedies like the shootings at Northern Illinois University, the death of UNC’s Eve Carson and the crash that killed UNCW student Annie McLeod were all part of a memorial on UNCW’s campus.

Students, faculty and the public gathered today by the clock tower at the center of campus. It was clear how much this horrific event still hurts, even one year later.

Thirty-two flags lined the grass of UNCW’s campus — one flag for each Virginia Tech victim. Mourners stood close as they remembered the tragedy a year ago; they were there to stand up against violence on college campuses.

The memorial combined musical dedications, a moment of silence and the notion this could happen to anyone.

UNCW student Katie White said, “Its so important because it really could have been anywhere, it could have been here, it could have been your home town, it really could have been anywhere. It’s just important for people to realize that we are all in this together, we all students, we are all hokies today.”

Student body president elect Robert Phillips led everyone in a short poem dedicated to those lost.

What happened at Virginia Tech was over 300 miles away, but students Wednesday said that didn’t matter, that colleges across the nation are united against violence.