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2008 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 448
Commending Hokies United.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 29, 2008
Agreed to by the Senate, March 6, 2008

 

WHEREAS, Hokies United is a student-driven volunteer effort organized to respond to local, national, and international tragedies; and

WHEREAS, Hokies United first organized in response to the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, the catastrophe of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 brought Hokies United together again in support of the surviving victims; and

WHEREAS, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 provided another foundation for Hokies United to become involved in disaster response efforts; and

WHEREAS, Hokies United spearheaded the support provided by the Virginia Tech community to the families of Corporal Eric Evine Sutphin and Derrick Lamont McFarland following their tragic deaths in 2006; and

WHEREAS, with true resolve, Hokies United responded to the April 16, 2007, shootings on the Virginia Tech campus reaching out to their classmates, friends, and professors; and

WHEREAS, the hope and spirit of the university were strengthened by the actions of Hokies United, which tirelessly provided for the emotional needs of its Virginia Tech family in the days, weeks, and months that followed the tragedy; and

WHEREAS, the original inspiration to lay 32 Hokie Stones in an arc around the Pass and Review Stand on the Virginia Tech Drillfield was designed by Hokies United as a site of reflection to honor those students and faculty members whose lives were lost on that April morning; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Tech motto, Ut Prosim, “That I may Serve,” as well as the inspired words of Virginia Tech faculty member and honored poet Dr. Nikki Giovanni, “We are Virginia Tech ... we will prevail!” became continued mantras bolstering the determination of Hokies United to care for both the legacies of those lost and the celebration of the lives they had led; and

WHEREAS, the world became a part of the Hokie Nation in response to the leadership, service, and love of Hokies United; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with respect and admiration the exceptional leadership of Hokies United; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Hokies United as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for the organization's outstanding service to the Virginia Tech community and the citizens of the Commonwealth.