Va. Tech Families Demand Role on Panel
The families of several of the 32 Virginia Tech shooting victims are demanding representation on a panel studying the killings, saying in a letter Monday they feel "ostracized." They are also questioning the status of a memorial fund that has generated millions of dollars.
"We are angry about being ostracized from a government-chartered panel investigating a government-sponsored university, and about how the university has used the names and images of our loved ones to raise millions of dollars without any consultation," the families said in a statement expected to be presented to the review board Monday.
The statement was written on behalf of 13 families, said Holly Sherman, the mother of slain student Leslie Sherman.
I do not believe there is a need for any of these parents to sit on the panel investigating the VT shootings. This is a panel of experts breaking down the shooting, probably second by second, in an attempt to figure out what went wrong and what can be done better. Unless these parents are certified as experts in the required fields that would make up this type of panel, they don't need to be there. All they would bring to the panel is emotion, and in an investigation, that is not needed.
In regards to the memorial, they should have some input, but they should not take over the memorial. I'm sure there is plenty of students at VT that will be able to imagine and create a terrific memorial to those students and professors that died. As terrible a tragedy as this was, and the families have my sympathy, we need to ensure they do not tread into the "moral authority" area. It will do nothing but cause hard feelings.
