Virginia Tech Fund Goes to Victims, Families

U-WIRE-08/21/2007-Virginia Tech: $180,000 given to families of Virginia Tech shooting victims (C) 2007 The Collegiate Times Via U-WIRE

By Kevin Anderson, The Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech)

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- After a summer of grief and emotional turmoil the families of the victims from the April 16 shootings will be receiving compensation.

Administrators of the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund will be paying families $7.6 million that have accumulated in the fund over the summer. The division of the funds will be divided amongst the deceased, those injured, and those who are suffering from psychological trauma.

According to a press release, $180,000 in the form of a cash payment will be paid to the families who lost a loved one.

Victims hospitalized for 10 days and nights or more due to physical injuries from the shootings will receive a cash payment $90,000 in addition to tuition and mandatory fees for the remainder of the victim's time at Virginia Tech.

Students who were hospitalized for three to nine days on account of injuries will receive a $40,000 cash payment and their tuition and fees for the remainder of their studies. Those who were injured and received under three days of hospitalization or no hospitalization will be eligible for either receiving tuition and fees or a cash payment of $10,000.

Students who were not injured but were inside Norris Hall in rooms 204, 205, 206, 207, and 211 may to choose to have their tuition and fees paid for or receive a cash payment of $10,000.

Finally, students who are facing psychological trauma from the shootings may receive free counseling at the Cook Counseling Center.

The decision for how the money was to be split up came from meetings and discussions with the families of most of those affected by the shootings, said Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington D.C. lawyer appointed by Virginia Tech president Charles Steger to divide up the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Feinberg also administered funds to the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"There was a sense that a bulk of the money should to go to those who died in Norris," he said. "However, money should be given to the injured and those who feared for their lives."

Feinberg said that the division of the money came from the decisions made by the families. "The families met, and they were very courageous, extremely constructive," Feinberg said.

The fund initially raised $7,684,513. From that amount, $5,760,000 will be distributed to the deceased, and $2,120,000 will be distributed to the others. Any money donated to the fund in the future will be put toward the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund.

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