In the days following the horrific tragedy that struck Virginia Tech’s campus Monday, the nation has been left with questions and fears that are only now beginning to be addressed. While Va. Tech is hundreds of miles from the University, the death of 33 members of their campus community forces college students across the nation to imagine what would happen if a similar event occurred on their campus and what terrors would grip the student body. Amid the feelings of loss and frightened bewilderment on our own campus, students were left unaddressed by the University’s leader, Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, for two days. It was not until 1 p.m. Wednesday that O’Keefe sent a broadcast e-mail to the University community – one day after Student Government President Cassie Alsfeld wrote her thoughts on the shooting in a letter to the editor in The Daily Reveille and hours after SG announced a memorial service to honor the victims in a broadcast e-mail. O’Keefe should know better than most that in times of crisis, confusion inevitably sweeps through the public’s consciousness, and only a swift and heartfelt reaction from a leader can quell that confusion. In the tragedy that befell the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, one of the most enduring images is that of President George W. Bush standing on a pile of rubble calming the fears of New Yorkers through a lone bullhorn. O’Keefe himself took a similar approach to soothe the widespread turmoil felt by the University community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by going on KLSU to be interviewed. He did that interview while also overseeing the University’s transformation into the largest makeshift medical facility in U.S. history. But when O’Keefe seemingly had a lot less to deal with in the days after the massacre at Va. Tech, his thoughts on the situation were nowhere to be found for two days. O’Keefe’s lack of response to a shooting at a fellow university is greatly disappointing. We should be able to count on our leader to be there for us. We should never have to wonder why he hasn’t felt the need to address his public, the University community. Hopefully, O’Keefe will do better in the future than he has this week.
—–Contact the Editorial Board at [email protected]