Was Cornell President playing politics with VT?
I think this story is a bit "delicate" to remembering the Virginia Tech victims.
Cornell President David Skorton:
"We are one," said Cornell President David Skorton. "We are one community, one people, one planet. We are here today to affirm that oneness ... We are here to bear witness to the passing of the 33 members of our family at Virginia Tech University who have met an untimely and terrible fate."
And, he said, "We are here for all of those who are gone, for all 33. We are here for the 32 who have passed from the immediate to another place, not by their own choice. We are also here for the one who has also passed."
He added that those present were there to "join with our friends in the Korean and Korean-American communities for we are all one family, most especially today we share the same sorrow and the same need for comfort and reassurance."
Before the service, the bells of McGraw tower rang 33 times, once for each of the victims.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Was President Skorton afraid of some backlash against Korean-Americans? Cornell is way up in NY! Some sort of racial guilt? How can one person be considered a representative of an entire ethnic/racial group? Was his shout-out just to make the Korean students feel more safe? Don't worry my friends, Skorton has absolved you from the naughty actions of Cho.
Come on here, the students of Cornell are much more smarter than that. Or perhaps they are all brainwashed and think if some white or minority person is shooting up a public place, everyone of that race or grouping is more likely to commit the same thing. Ridiculous!
Cho is not part of "the family." He killed 32 people in cold blood, we cannot forget that fact. I am sure we are sympathetic to his situation, but we cannot place Cho on equal footing with his victims.
Comments
Posted by: Nicole Sharp
Posted on: April 25, 2007 11:49 AM
Diversity is one of the key tenants of Skorton's agenda here at Cornell, so I was unsurprised that particular attention was paid to the Korean-American community at Cornell and in Ithaca. In fact, one of the speakers at the memorial service was a Korean minister, if I recall correctly. It's true that many individuals from that community have expressed fear that there will be some sort of backlash against them for Cho's actions, and there is nothing wrong with reminding people that there is no separation between ethnicities and cultures when something like this happened.
I was at an international school with a large Muslim population when 9/11 happened, and one of the things our school did was organize a Cultural Awareness day in which our classmates had an opportunity to share with those of us who were not Muslim what their culture and religion is truly about. It was a wonderful way for all of us to come together and to realize that the acts of fanatical individuals do not represent the feelings of all members of that population. Sometimes people need to be reminded of that sort of thing.
As for McGraw tower's chimes tolling 33 times: there is nothing wrong in mourning Cho's death. What he did was undeniably wrong, but that doesn't mean that we should overlook his death. In some sense, we are all responsible for him because we didn't help him.
As someone who is at Cornell and has seen what the President and University have done in response to this tragedy, I do not think that Skorton or Cornell have been in any way disrespectful of Cho or his victims.
Posted by: James
Posted on: April 25, 2007 12:56 PM
Would we have remember Charles Whitman, who killed 13 people and wounded 31 others with a sniper rifle from the top of the U-Texas tower on August 1, 1966?
If people were thinking that Cho was a "role model" for Korean-Americans, that view is seriously misplaced. Yes, it was helpful for Skorton to include a Korean minister to show that the community is not blaming the Koreans for this dreadful event. It would seem pretty obvious. Why continue the spotlight on them? Earlier reports initially said it was a Chinese person. In fact, some people could not tell certain Asians apart. It would have been better for Skortor to pay tribute to the entire Asian community.
Posted by: James
Posted on: April 25, 2007 01:06 PM
Curious, what if Cho did not have a mental condition? If this was all a premeditated plan to kill as many students as possible, do we still want to "remember" him?
Posted by: Nicole
Posted on: April 25, 2007 01:26 PM
Cho and Whitman both left behind family (and presumably also some friends) who were undoubtedly distraught both over their actions and their deaths. That someone committed an inexcusable act doesn't meant that no one is going to miss their presence; to me, acknowledging their deaths is also, in some way, acknowledging the grief of those that person left behind. It would be a horrible thing to say to Cho's parents, "Your son did a something terrible. You're not allowed to mourn for him." And if others are unwilling to acknowledge or encourage mourning the one who did it, then we are not an example of the unity and oneness that Skorton spoke of because we are alienating those who have personal reasons to mourn Cho's death.
I do not deny that anyone considering Cho a "role-model" for Korean-Americans has a view that is seriously misguided. However, I don't see what Skorton said as spotlighting Koreans so much as trying to placate their legitimate fears about potential backlash. As for focusing on Asians instead of Koreans in particular, one could just as easily argue that he should have referred only to foreign students, but I'm sure that if he had, there would have been an outcry (here in Ithaca at least) about why he didn't refer specifically to the Koreans since we have a substantial Korean population at Cornell.
Posted by: Nicole
Posted on: April 25, 2007 01:50 PM
Incidentally, part of VT's vigil on Monday when they returned to classes was ringing a bell 33 times.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: April 25, 2007 02:20 PM
It would be a horrible thing to say to Cho's parents, "Your son did a something terrible. You're not allowed to mourn for him." And if others are unwilling to acknowledge or encourage mourning the one who did it, then we are not an example of the unity and oneness that Skorton spoke of because we are alienating those who have personal reasons to mourn Cho's death.
We're not talking about not allowing Cho's family to mourn; they seem to be doing just that. We're talking about whether a university uninvolved in the tragedy is showing good taste and judgement in moraly equating a mass murderer with his victims. Do we need to be "an example of...unity and oneness"by including the guy who broke the unity and oneness? I'm not Jewish, so can somebody tell me if Hitler and all the German military dead get mourned on Holocaust Remembrance Day? Weren't they "victims" too?
Posted by: James
Posted on: April 25, 2007 02:50 PM
Other would include the issue of remembering Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing. Or Columbine.
Posted by:
Posted on: April 25, 2007 02:55 PM
Also, there are 33 stones on the VT campus as a memorial of the incidents.
[url]http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070422/NEWS01/70422019[/url]
Posted by: Nicole
Posted on: April 25, 2007 03:33 PM
We're talking about whether a university uninvolved in the tragedy is showing good taste and judgement in moraly equating a mass murderer with his victims.
I would argue that Cornell is not uninvolved in the VT shootings; that is part of why the memorial service was held. As was pointed out by Cornell's Dean of Engineering (who has a son at Virginia Tech), we are "part of the same family of students and faculty and staff." Many of us at Cornell, myself included, knew people who were at Virginia Tech and who could well have been victims that day. Moreover, we all realized just how easily such a tragedy could have been here instead of in Blacksburg.
Do we need to be "an example of...unity and oneness" by including the guy who broke the unity and oneness?
Perhaps in death Cho should receive what he felt he was so lacking in life.
Posted by: James
Posted on: April 25, 2007 03:57 PM
According to NY Times:
Pieces of limestone had been placed as markers on each memorial, although at one point there was none at Mr. Cho’s, without explanation. But his site, which is marked by piles of flowers and notes like the others, has allowed people to address the killer, giving them an opportunity to question a crime they know will never be explained.
So I guess they added the limestone afterwards.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: April 26, 2007 09:52 AM
I would argue that Cornell is not uninvolved in the VT shootings; that is part of why the memorial service was held. As was pointed out by Cornell's Dean of Engineering (who has a son at Virginia Tech), we are "part of the same family of students and faculty and staff."
...and the same family of Americans, and the same family of humans. Where do you draw the line of identity? We did less at Case, but had more reason, having had a shoot-em-up ourselves (across from where I work...but I had taken a vacation day!)
Perhaps in death Cho should receive what he felt he was so lacking in life.
Necrophilia is illegal.