Thursday events to mark second anniversary of shootings at Virginia Tech

A lone candle lighted at midnight will begin a daylong remembrance Thursday at Virginia Tech for the 32 people who died there two years ago.

Members of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will stand guard of that candle, which will be extinguished at 11:59 p.m., for the duration of the day.

The university has scheduled events throughout Thursday as a way to honor those who died April 16, 2007, when gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty members.

Meanwhile in Arlington County yesterday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined family members of Tech massacre victims to unveil a television ad that will begin airing today. It calls on Virginia to end a practice allowing what are called “occasional sellers” at gun shows to sell weapons without conducting background checks.

“Many of the guns bought here are then resold to criminals and used in violent crimes across the country,“ Bloomberg said in Northern Virginia.

“In fact, nationally . . . gun-crime guns are more likely to come from Virginia than from all but five other states, and we know that all too well in New York City.“

In February, the General Assembly rejected legislation that would have required gun shows to conduct the same federal background checks on purchasers that licensed firearms retailers must perform before each sale.

Exhibits of service projects, including those intended in memory of April 16, will be on display at Squires Student Center at Tech. Selected memorial items presented to Virginia Tech will be shown in the Alumni Museum.

A resource tent will be set up on the Drillfield, where counselors from the Cook Counseling Center and the university community will provide on-site support services.

Classes are canceled Thursday, and administrative offices will open two hours late.

Here is a look at the remembrance events planned for Thursday on campus:

8 a.m.—Run in Remembrance, a 3.2-mile run/walk that begins at the Alumni Mall near the North Main Street campus entrance and ends on the Drillfield near the April 16 Memorial.

Noon—A universitywide commemoration event will be held on the Drillfield at the April 16 Memorial, followed by an informal picnic.

1 to 5 p.m.—Expressions of remembrance around campus.

1 to 8 p.m.—Reflection and music at the War Memorial Chapel. Musicians will perform to create a space for reflection and remembrance.

3 to 5 p.m.—At Norris Hall, an open house for the new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention and the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

3:30 p.m.—The second annual “Remembrance Through Dance Performance: In Memory of Reema Samaha.“ The 18-year-old Samaha, who loved to dance and participated in Tech’s Contemporary Dance Ensemble, was killed in Norris Hall in French class.

Sundown (about 8 p.m.)—A candlelight vigil will be held on the Drillfield at the April 16 Memorial.

11:59 p.m.—The ceremonial candle will be extinguished.