Virginia Tech Criticized for Inaction

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• Judge OKs $11M Settlement for Va. Tech Families

  Jun 18, 08 7:44 AM CDT
  A Virginia judge yesterday approved an $11 million settlement with 42 families of those killed or injured in last year's Virginia Tech shootings, the Washington Post reports. The families sued after a panel concluded that lives might have been saved if the university contacted students immediately after the first shootings. Instead, 2.5 hours passed before an email warning was sent, just 10 minutes before the second rampage, which claimed 32 lives. More »

• Va. Tech Marks Grim Anniversary

  Apr 16, 08 10:16 AM CDT
  A year after the tragic shootings in which 33 people died, members of the Virginia Tech community are still doing their best to heal, reports the Washington Post. "We have struggled to equilibrium," says a writing instructor at the university, "But no matter how strong we are, how wise we are, it hurts." More »

• Scrawled Threats Shut Down Chicago College

  Apr 12, 08 8:32 AM CDT
  In the wake of campus shootings at Virginia Tech and NIU, threats in a bathroom stall at Chicago’s St. Xavier University prompted an indefinite campus shutdown last night. After graffiti appeared for the second time Thursday, this time reading “Be prepared to die 4/14,” school authorities told students to leave campus and suspended operations, the Chicago Tribune reports. More »

• Virginia Tech Families, State Reach $11M Deal

  Apr 10, 08 1:09 PM CDT
  Victims’ families in the Virginia Tech shootings have settled with the state for $11 million in a deal to prevent future lawsuits, lawyers said today. The lawyers, who represented 21 families, are mum on details pending finalization, reports the Roanoke Times. At least 20 families had earlier warned they might sue over the tragedy last April 16, when student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 and wounded more at the school before killing himself. More »

• Colleges Apply Lessons From Shootings

  Mar 29, 08 11:00 AM CDT
  In the wake of shootings on college campuses, administrators around the nation are forming threat-assessment groups and rethinking policies about sharing information on troubled students, the AP reports. "If a student is a danger to himself or others, all the privacy concerns go out the window,” said an administrator at the University of Kentucky, whose panel of administrators, police, and mental health officials meets twice a month. More »