By Travis Coltrain
Today marks the 25th anniversary since the deadly shooting rampage in Van Allen Hall and Jessup Hall.
On Nov. 1, 1991, a former University of Iowa physics graduate student named Gang Lu killed five people and critically injured another.
The victims were Christoph K. Goertz, 47, a UI professor of physics and astronomy; Dwight R. Nicholson, 44, a professor and chairman of the Physics/Astronomy Department; Linhua Shan, a research investigator in physics and astronomy; Robert Alan Smith, an associate professor of physics and astronomy; and T. Anne Cleary, 56, an associate vice president for academic affairs.
Lu started in Van Allen, then continued to Jessup Hall before putting a .38-caliber revolver to his head and killing himself.
Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, a temporary worker for the academic affairs support staff, was severely wounded and paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of her life.
Lu was apparently infuriated about not receiving the Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize after completing his Ph.D. dissertation. Shan had won the award. The other victims, except for Cleary and Rodolfo-Sioson, were involved with Lu’s studies and dissertation.
“It disrupted the feeling that it couldn’t happen here. It was shocking that such a violent act could happen in Iowa City,” said Ann Rhodes, a clinical professor of nursing, who was the vice president for University Relations at the time.
The shooting took a huge toll on the community and can still be seen today. The university changed how it responded to threats by students. It started a “threat assessment team” that evaluates and discusses students who show threatening or troubled behavior in a systematic way, Rhodes said.
Although it hurt the community, it did not break it.
Rhodes said the community came together, and the members supported each other. They were very close and forgiving, which is present in how people in Iowa City act today.
“Every one who was close to the shootings is affected to this day,” Rhodes said. “But there was grace and kindness in people’s response and everyone helped each other.”
UI freshman Quinn Dannenfeldt said he’s seen an example of it. “The community seems really close and friendly. With that event, especially something that traumatic I can see how people would come together more,” he said, adding that the camaraderie still exists to this day, he said.
A ceremony called “Day of Remembrance: 25th Anniversary” of the UI campus shootings will take place in remembrance of the shooting. The event will occur at 4:30 p.m. today on the north side of Old Capitol between Jessup and Macbride.
The ceremony will include a brief program with remarks by P. Barry Butler, executive vice president and provost, and a representative from the Physics/Astronomy Department will lead a remembrance ceremony. A permanent memorial will be placed on the north side of Old Capitol at a later date in remembrance of the shooting.
“There really was and still is a strong community sense and whenever you go through a difficult situation you do become stronger,” said Kathleen Staley, assistant director for outreach at the University Counseling Service. “We did become stronger.”
