MTP Transcript for April 22, 2007

DR. STEGER: Yes, it will be.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me ask you about the whole issue of mental health in, in students and refer you to an article from The New York Times, which I’ll share with you and our viewers. “English professors and students appear to have worked harder than anyone to intervene in [Cho’s] life. Trying to balance the freedom needed to be creative against the warning” sign—“signs of psychosis, as many as eight of his teachers in the last 18 months had formed what one called a ‘task force’ to discuss how to handle him, gathering twice on the subject and frequently communicating among themselves.

“On at least two separate occasions they reached out to university officials, telling them as recently as this September that Mr. Cho was trouble. They made little headway, however, and no action was taken by school administrators in response to their concerns.”

In hindsight, looking back upon this, what could have been done differently, and what can be done differently in the future with troubled students?

DR. STEGER: Well, I think one, we, we need to examine the issue of the balance between the rights of the individual and those of collective society. I certainly hope, and I’m sure that the investigations that are under way, will give us a much more detail as to how this case was handled. But it is something that I think we should reflect upon very carefully and see what we can learn to ensure that this sort of tragic event doesn’t happen on another campus.

MR. RUSSERT: On that terrible morning at 7:15, when the gunman went to the residence hall, is there any indication or evidence that he had any connection to his two victims?

DR. STEGER: No. And as a matter of fact, I don’t believe we have established any connection to this point.

MR. RUSSERT: And when he went to Norris Hall and killed 28 more people, is there any indication as to why he chose that particular hall?

DR. STEGER: Not to my knowledge at this point. We are, of course, examining all the class roles, all of the interaction he may have had with any of these individuals, and I’m looking forward to learning more about that as we look at every detail of what happened.

MR. RUSSERT: There’s lots of conversation on your campus about what will happen to Norris Hall. Would it, in fact, be demolished and a memorial placed there or would it be renamed in honor of Professor Librescu, the extraordinary 76-year-old Holocaust survivor...

DR. STEGER: Right.

MR. RUSSERT: ...who barricaded the door and gave his life so his 21 students could escape safely? What’s your thinking?

DR. STEGER: Well, we are going to ensure that the legacy left by all who lost their lives is going to be something they can be proud of. Liviu Librescu was, was my neighbor, and I can tell you his—the loss of all these students, but the people that we know directly, causes great shock and, and disbelief in this. But we will ensure that an appropriate memorial will be established.

MR. RUSSERT: What are the families of the victims saying to you, and the students on the campus, about this past week, the way the university handled it, and what we can learn for the future?

DR. STEGER: Well, I’ve talked with many of the families, I’ve visited the hospitals of—with the students who are recovering, and I’ll just give you one example. One young man I saw two days ago, who has a steel rod in his leg, told me he was planning to be in class on Tuesday. The expressions of support I’ve received from our students is absolutely overwhelming.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you expect most of them to return to class tomorrow?

DR. STEGER: It is their option, but I think we’ll have a very large number in class tomorrow, yes. We have a special community here. It is very strong and very resilient, and we support each other.

DR. RUSSERT: Dr. Steger, to that end, I’d like to put on the screen, share with our viewers a fund that has been established. Virginia Tech Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, www.vt.edu. Or they can call 800-533-1144. That is monies that we raise to be used to help the victims and their families and establish memorials to honor those killed in this tragedy.

And Dr. Steger, before we go, I would like to say, on behalf of all of us here at NBC, let’s go, Hokies.

DR. STEGER: Thank you so much.

MR. RUSSERT: Take care and be well.

Colonel, you have been mandated by the governor of Virginia to look into this entire situation. Will you look into why there was not a shutdown of the campus immediately after the first shootings?

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