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Internet Sites Offer Support For Illinois College

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By DANIELA VELÁZQUEZ | TBO.com

Published: February 15, 2008

From all over the country, thousands of people offered messages of condolence on Facebook.com to the students and staff of Northern Illinois University, where a former graduate student shot and killed five people and then himself.

The outpouring follows a pattern set in April, when a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University before killing himself in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Facebook and other social networks sites filled with images of the school's logo superimposed on a black ribbon in memory of the victims. Colleges from around the nation added their logos and said, "Today, We Are All Hokies."

On Friday, from as far away as Florida and Oregon, nearly 100 Facebook groups proclaimed, "Today, We Are All Huskies.

A group called "Hokies For Huskies" formed "to express thoughts to the Huskies and to generate ideas for showing ongoing support and love."

Among the messages posted was a letter to students from Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger, which read in part:

"This horrific news will certainly bring to mind the hurt, pain, and trauma we experienced less than a year ago. I have sent my condolences and offer of assistance to the president of NIU. Our university community was bolstered and comforted by the outpouring of support from campuses around the nation and the world. I am sure that expressions of support from the Virginia Tech community will mean much to that now suffering campus community."

Another group, called "Pray for Northern Illinois University Students and Families," has more than 62,000 members and more than 200 images of colleges rallying their support and empathy for the fellow students.

"Florida Southern College is praying for you," wrote A.J. Maxey of Chicago at 11:28 a.m. today.
Nick Tadin, who graduated from Northern Illinois in 2006, created a tribute video that stirred comments and emotions.

"i'm a student at NIU, and even though I was all over campus picking my sorority sisters up, and i saw people that were shot," wrote Shannon Bananon Frantz, "i'm just realizing what has really happened. Thank you so much for this beautiful video. Thank you."

The Northern Illinois shooting was the fourth at a U.S. school within a week, following attacks in Baton Rouge, La.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Oxnard, Calif.

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