Apr 17, 2007 3:33 pm US/Eastern
Students Across Pa. Mourn Virginia Tech Victims
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) ―
Students at Pennsylvania colleges attended campus vigils Tuesday to mourn the victims and pray for the survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre.
About 175 students attended a noontime memorial service inside the soaring cathedral of Muhlenberg College in Allentown. They listened to scripture and observed a long moment of silence, and a student rang a handbell 33 times -- one time for each of the dead.
"There's not much we can do for them, other than with our thoughts and prayers, and I'm sure that's why people showed up," said student body president Scott Gordon, a junior from New Jersey, who gave brief remarks at the service.
Lebanon Valley College in Lebanon County also held a prayer service Tuesday, and Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster County and the University of Scranton planned services for later Tuesday.
"Everyone knows someone who is affected by it, even here," said Jessica Liberati, a senior at Lebanon Valley, whose cousin attends Virginia Tech but was at soccer practice Monday when the shootings occurred.
"You wouldn't think people in central Pennsylvania would be as connected to it, but we are," Liberati, of Forest Hill, Md., said as she left the service.
At Muhlenberg, President Peyton Helm posted a message on the college Web site seeking to reassure students that the campus was safe. But many students said they were chilled by the thought that what happened at Virginia Tech could have happened on virtually any college campus.
"It makes you feel vulnerable," said Stephanie Siegel, 19, a sophomore from New Jersey.
"Perhaps it strikes us most closely as we, too, make our homes on a college campus, where we assume there's safety and comfort," said the Rev. Peter Bredlau, Muhlenberg's chaplain.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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