The last two Marches have not begun particularly well for the Longwood community. Two years ago, on March 3, 2007, a fire on First Avenue claimed the life of Longwood student Ed Cunningham and his friend Byron Jamerson. And last year on March 1, Todd Miller was seriously injured in a rugby match against VMI and succumbed to his injuries a week later on March 9, 2008.I can clearly remember where I was when I heard about both of those incidents. A little over two years ago, it was a Saturday morning and I was home for the weekend. I was browsing the Internet that morning and saw on a local news site that there had been an overnight fire near Longwood. Intrigued, I clicked on the link and up popped the picture of a burned out house that so many of us have seen, along with the news that two men had died as a result of that fire. Last year I was coming back from a conference in San Francisco when we got a call that Todd had suffered a serious injury and was in a coma at MCV.
But what I remember more than first hearing about those accidents is what happened on campus afterwards. Following the fire, many students participated in a candlelight vigil in memory of the two lives lost. Current senior Tim Cocrane emerged as a hero for saving the lives of three former or current Longwood students who were also in the First Avenue house. Cocrane was walking along First Avenue in the early morning hours of March 3 and saw the house on fire. He sustained burns on his face, hands and ears, and missed the rest of the spring 2007 semester.
Although he does not consider himself a hero, Cocrane has been honored by the Richmond Kiwanis Club for his actions, Congressman Virgil Goode presented him with a flag flown over the White House and President Cormier awarded him free tuition until he graduates.
The outpouring of support and sense of unity that came after Todd Miller's accident was unlike anything I have seen during my time at Longwood. After Todd's accident he was transferred to MCV, in a coma with severe brain swelling. That Tuesday after his injury over 1,000 students, faculty and staff gathered in Willett Hall for a vigil. Coaches, teammates and friends all spoke about Todd as the entire campus hoped for a speedy recovery. Thousands joined the Facebook group "Pray for Todd Miller," and the group still has over 2,200 members with people making wall posts every few days.
Now, with the anniversaries of those two events upon us, the Longwood community is coming together once again to remember and honor those we have lost. Yesterday, the two-year anniversary of the fire, members of AXP and several other fraternities on campus, Cunningham's fraternity, came together to dedicate a new bench located between the student union and the Cunninghams. The bench was dedicated in memory of Cunningham, Jamerson and another AXP brother who died in a car accident last year.
And last weekend a memorial at the First Avenue rugby field was dedicated was dedicated to Todd. While I didn't get the chance to attend the vigil shortly after his accident, I was at this memorial dedication. Dozens of students and faculty, along with rugby alumni and several members of the VMI rugby team attended the event. Some who attended the dedication knew Todd and some didn't, but everyone there came away with a feeling of how much Todd meant to so many people on campus.
Many people spoke at the service including Todd's friends, the man who received Todd's liver and Ellie Miller, Todd's mother. Although her son is no longer a student at Longwood, Ellie Miller continues to stay involved on campus and with students whom her son knew. At the memorial dedication she said to the students in attendance, "So many of you, even those I have never met, continue to remember Todd and remember to write me via Facebook and send me messages of comfort and love. I am honored by your friendship."
After Todd Miller's death last year, the rugby teams created a jersey patch with his number and the words "One Passion, One Family, Forever United." At a school the size of Longwood, it seems that this feeling unites the whole campus after every tragic event. And it's not just after the death of one of our own students. After the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007, the entire campus came together in a similar manner, uniting in support of the Tech campus.
But why is that feeling of unity limited to only when tragedies occur or when we are marking their anniversaries years later? This phenomenon is not limited to Longwood's campus. Remember after 9/11 when you could see American flags everywhere and everyone was wearing red, white and blue? And for the one-year anniversary there was a huge memorial service in New York where the names of all 2,602 people who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. During the initial attacks and again for the one-year anniversary networks interrupted their programming for days to cover breaking news round the clock and we talked about it in every class. But this past year, which marked the seven-year anniversary of 9/11, there was some coverage on the major news networks and small pieces in some newspapers, but it seems like the unity our country experienced after the attacks is long gone.
But how can we make sure these Longwood students aren't remembered for a year or two after their death and then forgotten? While it is nice to take time around to remember people on important days like their birthday and the day they died, our remembrance of them shouldn't be limited to just those days.
During Todd Miller's memorial dedication, both Ellie Miller and Dr. Melanie Marks, an econ professor who organized the dedication ceremony, spoke about having a place on campus to remember students, faculty and staff who die while at Longwood. Both suggested that with the renovations going on around campus and the new campus master plan altering the face of the university, some space could be put aside for a memorial garden. This would be a green space set aside somewhere on campus for everyone to remember classmates, students, professors and colleagues. It need not be something big and elaborate, but it is important to have a place to remember those we have lost year round, not just around the day they died.
While early March in the past two years has brought about tragedy at Longwood, don't forget about the togetherness and strength that followed those horrible events. Take some time this week to remember those Longwood has lost, whether you knew them well or not. And keep the unity and spirit that came along with those tragic events with you all throughout the year.
Tim Holmes, Managing Editor
