Livui Librescu

During World War II, a young Livui Librescu found himself interned, along with his family in the Nazi labor camp at Transnistria. In 1978, he fled Communist rule in Romania and immigrated to Israel and in 1984 he and his wife moved to the U.S. A 20 year veteran researcher and lecturer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, he had repeatedly refused to quit. "He would never concede retirement. He loved his work too much. He was too passionate to quit," his son said. On April 14th, 2007, Livui Librescu fought with Cho Seung-Hui, holding shut a door while the majority of his mechanical engineering class jumped out of the windows to safety below. Though the details are hazy, what is known is that Professor Libresci was found dead on his classroom floor after being shot by Seung-Hui and that his heroism saved many. One student, in a letter to Marlena Librescu wrote, "I saw your husband still standing there. He was holding the door closed and looking over his shoulder to make sure everybody else, was safe. It was the bravest thing I have ever seen and I will always remember his courage."
Monday morning, this nation was forced to acknowledge the wickedness and depravity man is capable of. Pure evil took the form of Cho Seung-Hui that day as he ruthlessly gunned down students and professors guilty of nothing more than a desire to learn. In his actions we witnessed unimaginable loathing towards his peers. 4/16/07 will forever be remembered as a day of darkness.
Through that fog of evil however shines rays of hope, of selflessness, and of the perseverance, that makes us Americans and that makes us human. We have stories such as Professor Libresci's or Zach Petkewicz who barricaded a classroom door and most likely saved the 10 other students with him. I am certain that in the coming days and weeks, we will begin to hear more stories like these. Stories of bravery, of courage, and of self-sacrifice. These are the stories that ought to be told over and over. These are the acts that need to be broadcasted and celebrated by the nation. This is the reassurance we have that we can overcome evil; that there are good men and women out there who will not shrink back from the cowards who would do others harm.
In the coming days, there will be much debate about what could have been done to prevent this massacre and there will be plenty of discussion about what drives a person to become so detached that they resort to cold-blooded murder. These debates are necessary and they help protect against future catastrophe but they are not what I choose to focus on most. I choose to remember April 14th, 2007 as the day when a great man, having known hatred and what it means to fear for your life, choose to stand up to a man of pure cowardice and saved the lives of his students.