On April 16, 2007, Austin Michelle Cloyd, an 18-year-old female, was tragically killed in a mass shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. A freshman from Blacksburg, she was a dean's list student in the honors program, double majoring in international studies and French with a minor in environmental policy. Her aspiration was to work for the United Nations to foster global peace.
Austin was known for her compassionate and caring nature. She spent four summers volunteering with the Appalachian Service Project, helping to renovate homes. Inspired by this work, she and her mother started a similar program in their former hometown of Champaign, Illinois. She was also an officer in her high school's International Relations Organization and participated in the Model U.N. program. An avid athlete, she excelled in both volleyball and basketball.
On that tragic day, a 23-year-old student named Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and faculty members in two separate attacks on the university campus before taking his own life. Austin was in her French class in Norris Hall when the gunman began his rampage. There were no arrests following the incident as the perpetrator died by suicide at the scene.
