The Virginia Tech tragedy has alerted college faculty and students everywhere to the presence of mentally unstable individuals.
Cho Seung-Hui’s noted affinity for writing graphic and disturbing plays, poems, and other creative forms has prompted a response from university creative writing faculty and students.
“Honestly, if I had been there, I would have just thought he was weird. Maybe that’s his way of venting–letting out his fantasies. For a lot of people writing is their outlet, so I do think we have to take people’s writing more seriously. But if I had been in that position, I would have never dreamed that he would have actually gone to that action,” Liliana Saldaña, English major and creative writing minor, said.
Nikki Giovanni, Cho’s former creative writing professor, had him removed from her class because, as she said, he exerted a “mean streak.” Harassing and taking pictures of girls during class comprised a couple of his actions against classmates.
Dr. Suzette Bishop, creative writing professor and noted poet, said she has encountered disturbing writing before, but the material is usually suicidal and doesn’t allude to harming others.
If a student’s writing or behavior were to become potentially harmful to others, Bishop said she would notify her department chair, counselors, and the campus police if needed. She detailed the protocol most university professors follow in case of a belligerent student.
“(I would) recommend to the student that he/she seek counseling and point out the negative impact on the class as a whole. If the behavior continued and was threatening to other students and disrupting class, I would request to have the student removed from the course. Professors, however, can’t drop or remove students. That action must be taken by the administration,” she said.
Dr. Edith Ellen Barker, associate professor who teaches creative nonfiction, echoed these sentiments but attested that the counseling should be more intense.
“The teacher should talk to the student to see if he/she is willing to seek counseling, but it has to be more professional counseling than universities can offer. They shouldn’t be re-admitted until they’re either medicated or a psychologist can sign off that their behavior is (normal),” she said.
“I think it’s interesting that in elementary schools if you know a child is being abused the teacher can be in trouble for not reporting it. So here you’re trying to report and no one cares,” Barker added.
Students, however, are usually ambivalent as to whether or not to take action against deranged writing as Saldaña notes, “There are people who just write weird things. You can’t change that; it’s in their heads. But writing about it is completely different than actually doing it.”