Tragedy at Virginia Tech
by Jeanie L. Allen, Communication Administrative Assistant
Potomac Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
4/16/2007
Many of you have been following today’s tragedy unfolding at Virginia Tech (VT), located in Blackburg, Virginia, where a gunman killed 33 people, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. At this point, we do not know of any Seventh-day Adventist student or faculty casualties.
Known Seventh-day Adventist students attending VT and accounted for include: Jason Dean (New Market, VA), Jessica McNeilus (New Market. VA), Steven Thomas (Manassas, VA), Paul Munilla (Rocky Mount, VA), and Sylvia Grove (Radford, VA). Don Wood, instructor in the Communication Department, and his wife, Lynette Wood, Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information System at Virginia Tech and members of the Radford Seventh-day Adventist Church are also safe.
Tom McNeilus, Shenandoah Valley Academy science and math instructor, is very thankful his daughter is safe. Jessica, an engineering student at VT, should have been in Norris Hall this morning but her professor cancelled class last evening, which very well may have saved her life.
On Tuesday, April 17, the Virginia Tech Adventist Christian Fellowship, a student organization officially recognized by the university, will hold a “Time of Prayer” at VT beginning at 1:00 pm at the gazebo by the duck pond. Pastor Daniel Royo (Radford church) will lead out in this prayer vigil.
Royo reports that he’s heard there are may be 200 SDA students currently attending Virginia Tech, but he knows only a small percentage. Royo hopes to meet more members tomorrow at the prayer vigil, but wishes it could be under different circumstances. Please keep the families of those struck today with tragedy and loss in your prayers.
For more information on the Virginia Tech Adventist Christian Fellowship or if you know a Seventh-day Adventist attending Virginia Tech, visit their web site at:
