UT Tower To Darken For VT

In response to yesterday's killings on the campus of Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, The Univeristy of Texas will darken its tower starting tonight through Thursday, April 19. All flags on campus will also be lowered to half-staff through Sunday, April 22.

In addition, UT Student Government is currently planning a candle-light vigil to take place on Monday, April 23. Although the time is yet to be determined, plan on it starting sometime between 7:00pm and 9:00pm that evening. In conjunction with the vigil, the tower will again go dark Monday night.

Today, Virginia Tech University officials and police are facing mounting pressure from students and parents who are asking how the gunman, 23-year old VT student Cho Seung-Hui, was able to evade not only arrest but detection between killing two people in a dorm room, then thirty in a nearby classroom--incidents that were nearly two hours apart. It took officials over an hour and a half to alert the university; many students and professors were unaware of the dorm shootings and proceeded to class. In an email sent out to the UT community this morning, President William Powers Jr expressed his "profound sympathy and compassion to the members of the Virginia Tech University community." He also responded to the criticism and skepticism about preparedness as it applies to the University of Texas:

"When terrible events such as these occur, our community reflects on whether we are being vigilant and doing enough to keep our campus safe. I want to reassure and remind members of our University community that the safety of our students, faculty and staff remains our top priority.

Our police officers regularly review and practice armed subject scenarios and have the full support of our city emergency response partners. Resident advisers are proficient in "lock down" procedures and able to quickly communicate with their residents in case of emergency. Our public affairs office works closely with local media to announce campus shut downs at the earliest opportunity, and the newly installed siren system is just one of many communications tools available to use if we need to move everyone to shelter inside. In an emergency we use all of the multiple channels of communication available to us."

Photo courtesy of Matt Ewan on flickr.