Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Liviu Librescu, Heroic Professor

A heroic moment within the Virginia Tech tragedy was the way in which Prof. Liviu Librescu held the door shut against the killer so his students could escape out the window. Librescu was killed by a shot through the door, but his class was saved.

Prof. Librescu had survived the Nazis in Romania during the Second World War, and then the communists who succeeded them. Ironically, he was killed, in effect, by the libertarians in his adopted land of the free.

Among the 30 people murdered in Norris Hall, five were professors. None abandoned their posts. At least one, Liviu Librescu, sacrificed all for his students. As a professor myself and a member of the academic community, I honor them.

4 comments:

Political Realm said...

Indeed, he and others deserve to be honored for their bravery and sacrifice.

Mark Smith said...

I can't see a bigger example of God saving someone for a future plan.

Anonymous said...

Professor Librescu's death reminded me more of Haing S. Ngor's death as much as anything else. Here was a man that survived unfathomable brutality and evil in his homeland, only to escape to the Land of the Free and be gunned down here. Librescu did what a lot of people would do if thrust into those circumstances. Thankfully very few of us will ever have to.


Sorry for the Wiki link. I don't know how you feel about using them as a resource. But that is one of the few sites I can get to through my workplace internet filter.

Gruntled said...

Wiki is cool, and thanks for the analogy. It is not one I had thought of, but I agree that it is apt.