Finding a Way to Forgive

Associated Press
Published: April 27, 2007

     Many people are visiting the semicircle of memorials on the Virginia Tech campus.

     Some leave 32 flowers or other items - one for each victim in last week's massacre. Some also leave flowers at the stone for gunman Seung-Hui Cho.

     A student added the stone and it was taken away, but now it's back, unmarked and slightly apart from the others.

     There has been surprisingly little outrage directed toward Cho around campus.

     Twenty-two-year-old Caroline Merrey jumped to safety out a classroom window to escape the rampage. She says she's angry at Cho, but also feels sorry for him.

     Campus leaders, experts and those touched by the tragedy say there are several reasons for the spirit of forgiveness. Many people are too overcome by grief to think about anything else. Some say the fact that Cho killed himself provided enough retribution.

     The Reverend Scott Russell, an Episcopal minister at Virginia Tech, says that some students have told him they need to acknowledge Cho's death because the family deserves compassion. But he said many more students are not able to forgive.