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UAH students ‘Charge on’ one month after tragedy

Posted on Mar 08, 2010 in News

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The city of Huntsville has been awash in a sea of blue T-shirts, ribbons and banners lately as its residents mourn the tragic loss of three UAH faculty members nearly one month ago after Dr. Amy Bishop allegedly opened fire in a faculty meeting after being denied tenure.

Pamphlets on grief and campus safety have been littered about the campus in classrooms, offices and lobby desks.
Many students and employees have been sporting a blue shirt memorializing the victims of the tragedy or a pin with the inspiring phrase for the school — “Charge On.”

“There are 7,000 students and some are obviously having harder times than others,” said Scott Walters, dean of students. “The memorial service was held in honor of the victims and as a symbol that we are moving forward.”
Walters was unaware of where the new campus motto ‘Charge On’ originated but knew it was created by a student group.

“Nobody has taken individual credit for the phrase,” said Walters, who said student reaction to the tragic events has been varied.

“The students are dealing with it their own ways,” said Walters. “Some are unaffected because they are removed from that side of campus, and others are closely affected because they were in the building or had classes with the victims.”

Walters said that UAH has taken many steps to ensure that students not only feel safe on campus, but also have access to grief counseling and other outlets to help them process their feelings about the events.

“There are more counselors on campus. The first two days back to classes counselors visited classrooms to let students know that they were there if they needed them,” said Walters.

Raymond Gilstrap, editor-in-in chief for the student newspaper, the Exponent, has been urging students to submit their thoughts, memories and feelings about the tragedy and its victims to the paper as a way of helping them to cope with the tragedy.

“The tone of campus has largely been positive with things moving along normally,” said Gilstrap, who said students are moving forward though the attitude towards Amy Bishop has been one of sadness and confusion.

“The students just can’t understand why she did what she did,” said Gilstrap.

He added that there are just as many students that liked her as there are that disliked her or the class that she taught.

The Exponent memorialized the victims in their Feb. 24 issue. Dr. Gopi Krishna Podilla, Dr. Maria Ragland Davis and Dr. Adriel Duland Johnson each had a tribute written to them on the first page of the paper.

Each story once again bore the blue ribbon for UAH adorned with the school’s new motto. Professors from various universities are temporarily finishing the professor’s classes for the semester until permanent new staff members are found.

Ray Garner, director of public affairs for UAH, was confident in the safety of the campus.

“Police arrested Bishop as she left the building less than half an hour after the shooting had started,” Garner said during a short interview after a campus luncheon in memorial of the victims.

“This shooting was different than those on other campuses because it was contained and stopped very quickly,” said Garner

UAH is taking many precautions for increased safety on campus. There is an increased police presence with officers from the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham volunteering their time on UAH campus.
For now though the student body is ready for a return to normal college life and to charge on through tragedy.

Email: editor@insideuab.edu