A Day We Will Not Forget

Sharron S. Quisenberry, Dean

April 16, 2007, was a day of unspeakable pain and grief for all of us. Among the lives lost from our university community were three students who were in our college. Two college employees also lost their spouses. My heart aches for their families as we mourn these bright individuals and the rest of the victims, whom we honor with this edition of our newsletter. At the same time, we celebrate their lives and continue their legacy. They were, are, and will always be a part of our lives as we go forward.

We also count one student among the injured, but I am comforted to know that she is recuperating well physically. We keep her in our thoughts and will provide any support she may need.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have supported each other within our university community, and an outpouring of phone calls, e-mails, and letters of sympathy and encouragement reached us from across the country and across the world. On behalf of our students, faculty, and staff, I want to thank you for your support and generosity. You have helped carry us through the darkest hours. Your notes, messages, and kind gifts have been a tremendous source of comfort and strength for all of us and remind us that our community extends far beyond Blacksburg with people who care.

The tragic events could have happened anywhere, but they happened right here in Blacksburg. Once the media started reporting on the incident, it became clear that our students are indeed our greatest pride. They were the best spokespeople for the university we could have had – bright, articulate young men and women, supportive of each other and our community. I am confident our future at Virginia Tech is bright with their compassionate and competent leadership.

I am grateful for our community here and beyond Blacksburg and, again, thank you for your support and generosity.

I am proud to be at Virginia Tech and a Hokie. We do prevail!

Sincerely and with regards,
Sharron Quisenberry
Dean

The College Pays Tribute

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences watched with the rest of the world as the tragic events of April 16 unfolded. Among those lost were Emily Jane Hilscher, a freshman in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, and Julia Kathleen Pryde, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. In addition, the college mourned the loss of Nicole White, a sophomore international studies major who transferred out of the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences in March.

Many of the college’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni had friends and family members directly affected by the tragedy. Jerzy Nowak, professor and head of the Department of Horticulture, lost his wife, French instructor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak. Linda Granata, research specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology, lost her husband, Kevin P. Granata, professor of engineering science and mechanics.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 25, the college held a remembrance picnic in honor of these community members and the rest of the victims and injured – one of them a student in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise. During the picnic, the college distributed Hershey’s Kissables, which resemble miniature Hershey’s Kisses and are coated with a hard candy shell. The Hershey Corporation donated 7,500 pounds of the chocolate treats in orange and maroon to show its solidarity with the Hokies. Hershey’s gift is one of thousands of donations and words of encouragement the Virginia Tech community has received during this time of healing.

The college has established individual endowed funds in memory of Hilscher, Pryde, and Couture-Nowak. These funds will support program areas, scholarships, or events within the college that were most important to the victims and their families. Dean Sharron Quisenberry and appropriate faculty members will work with the families to identify the focus areas of support. The endowments will help assure that the programs most meaningful to them will continue to benefit the students and Virginia Tech for many years to come.

Anyone interested in making a contribution may do so by sending a check made payable to the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc., at the following address: Development Office, Attention: R.J. McDaniel, 217 Hutcheson Hall (0402), Blacksburg, VA 24061. Please indicate whether you wish to honor Emily Hilscher, Julia Pryde, the Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Memorial Garden, or the Jocelyne Couture-Nowak Scholarship for French majors.

In addition, a trust fund has been established to provide educational support for Sylvie Couture-Nowak, Jerzy and Jocelyn Nowak’s 13-year-old daughter. Checks should be made payable to the Sylvie Couture-Nowak Educational Fund and sent to First National Bank, 601 N. Main St., Blacksburg, VA 24060.

Those wishing to donate in memory of Granata may send a check made payable to the Kevin P. Granata Memorial Trust to 1872 Pratt Drive Suite 1125, Blacksburg, VA 24060.

Additionally, Virginia Tech has created the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to remember and honor all of the 32 victims and to aid in the healing process. Mail checks made payable to the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc., and designated as a gift to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to University Development (0336), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Detailed information about the event and ways to express your condolences can be found at www.vt.edu/remember.

Emily Jane Hilscher

Emily Jane Hilscher

Emily Jane Hilscher was the beloved daughter of Eric and Elizabeth Hilscher, best friend and sister of Erica, and granddaughter of Gilman and Mary Carlson and Carl and Merle Hilscher.

Emily was a 2006 graduate of Rappahannock County High School. She was a skilled horsewoman, animal lover, enthusiastic cook, and imaginative artisan. She was wise beyond her years and insisted on fairness in everything. She wanted people to be happy and was eternally trying to save someone or something.

Emily had a passion for horses. In fall 2006, she began what would have been an eight-year journey at Virginia Tech, which would have culminated in her becoming a veterinarian and then working in an equine practice. She was a member of the university’s equestrian team and the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association and competed successfully in her first show on Feb. 12, 2007, with her second show scheduled on April 21.

According to her coach, “Emily was just entering her intercollegiate riding career. She showed great promise and had a perfect attitude that would have made her a very successful intercollegiate rider. Her strong work ethic and determination were always displayed as she spent long hours at equestrian club events, always with a smile on her face.”

Julia Kathleen Pryde

Julia Kathleen Pryde

Dedicated environmentalist Julia Kathleen Pryde of Middletown, N.J., born Sept. 7, 1983, chose biological systems engineering for her 2006 B.S. and for her master’s degree. Last summer, she conducted research in Ecuador and Peru on water purity to help create a more sustainable form of agriculture to help poor residents of the Andes.

A certified wild-land firefighter, she worked with the Student Conservation Association and was part of a firefighting team. She conducted a restoration project with the Nature Conservancy of New Jersey and performed home assessments and GPS data collection for fire evaluation at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

She had planned to become a professor, teach in college, and conduct research on creating pure water and sustainable agriculture in the Andes and Africa.

Julia was an officer of SEEDS–Seek Education, Explore, DiScover; actively supported those who resist the Appalachian mountain-top-removal coal mining; and was a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Warm, accepting, kind, generous, and brave, Julia was open to diverse people, ideas, circumstances, and challenges. She embraced academic, social, ethical, physical, economic, and spiritual challenges with enthusiasm, and she placed herself on a path of new trials, always in pursuit of a better world and a better self.