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Tech Group Receives Condolences From Queen

May 4, 2007

By Kiran Krishnamurthy

In a subdued meeting, Queen Elizabeth II yesterday offered her condolences to a small group from Virginia Tech that included students injured in last month's shooting rampage.

"It was very generous for her to share her time," said Scott Cheatham, 21, a graduate student from Midlothian. "We were honored."

Cheatham said the queen offered her sympathies, which he said showed the depth and breadth of the outpouring of support Tech students have received since Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot 27 students and five faculty before killing himself the morning of April 16.

"It's another big show of support," he said, adding the queen asked students about their courses of studies.

The group met with her for five to 10 minutes in a meeting room inside the state Capitol after her address to the General Assembly. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine described it as a "very nice" and subdued meeting as he left the Capitol.

The group included 16 students — four of them injured in the shootings, two of them rescue-squad members and the others members of Hokies United, a student group that has rallied for causes ranging from the 2004 tsunami victims to the aftermath of the shootings.

Others at the meeting included Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger and poet Nikki Giovanni, a Tech English professor who taught Cho and whose rousing speech at a memorial last month prompted "Let's Go Hokies!" cheers from students. Also attending were Rector Jacob A. Lutz III of Richmond; board member Lori A. Wagner of Colonial Heights; Tech Provost Mark G. McNamee; and Zenobia L. Hikes, vice president for student affairs.

The group gave the queen a "VT" pin made especially for her, though the details of its design were not immediately available, as well as a signed Virginia Tech book, according to the university.

"It meant a lot," Sumeet Bagai, 21, a senior from Vienna, said of the meeting. "She didn't have to do that."

Contact staff writer Kiran Krishnamurthy at kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com or (540) 371-4792.