Detroit — Melanie Dara's message to Virginia Tech students, "My love and prayers are with you," is even more poignant considering that she roamed the campus and halls 25 years ago.
Dara, who just started working for the engineering and science department at University of Detroit Mercy, is a 1983 graduate of Virginia Tech, having earned her Master of Business Administration there. Her message was one of many written to students on a message scroll, essentially a large piece of paper for students to leave thoughts and wishes of good will, organized by the engineering and science department.
The scroll was to be sent to the campus last week as a show of support and sympathy following the shooting deaths of 33 on campus April 16. Other area campuses made similar sympathy posters, and have had vigils and services to remember the victims and students affected by the shootings.
Many students, of various religions, backgrounds and ethnicities, wrote messages for the Virginia Tech students. "We have great kids here," Dara said.
Dara, who was wearing a maroon ribbon Friday in honor of the victims, said she'd had a few classes in Norris Hall, the location of most of the shootings. She remembers the walk from her dorm there, and can see the building in her mind.
Not only did Dara meet her future husband as a student at Virginia Tech, but her journey as a Catholic started there, too, through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. She was out of school by the time she was baptized, though.
She said she cried when she heard the news and feels sympathy for the victims — and also compassion for the shooter and his family, wondering why he could have slipped through the cracks to commit this act. "I can't imagine sending your kids off and never seeing them again," she said.
Dara attends SS. Cyril and Methodius in Sterling Heights and is a member of the Legion of Mary, and as she says her nightly rosary now, she remembers the victims, their parents and the parents of the shooter.
