The President of the University of Northern British Columbia is joiningwith the entire UNBC community in expressing shock and sadnessfollowing a shooting at the Blacksburg campus of Virginia PolytechnicInstitute and State University.

Dr. Don Cozzetto is a former student of Virginia Tech, graduating fromits PhD program in Public Policy and Public Administration. Although hegrew up in the BC Kootenays, Dr. Cozzetto attended Virginia Tech from1987 - 1990.

“I’ll never forget my time there; it changed my life,” says Dr.Cozzetto, who became UNBC President in July, 2006. “The program had areputation for being first-rate and it was. The campus community, thegreat relationship with the community of Blacksburg, and the energy onthat campus are all things I’ll never forget. In fact, it was myexperience there that really led me to consider a future as auniversity administrator and eventually to UNBC and Prince George. It’soutside of the really big universities and the really big cities wherethe students, faculty, and staff can make a difference in the lives ofordinary people and their communities. That’s also what makes thetragedy in Virginia so hard to understand. Those things just aren’tsupposed to happen in rural areas.”

The UNBC flags are currently flying at half-mast in memory of the people killed in Virginia.

UNBC’s core campus is located in Prince George, a community of about83,000 people. The University opened with full operations in 1994 andcurrently attracts 4200 students per year.

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622 

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Click on a thumbnail of Dr. Cozzetto below to access the high-resolution file.

The flags are half-mast at UNBC in honour of the people killed atVirginia Tech on Monday. UNBC President Don Cozzetto completed his PhDat Virginia Tech in the late 1980s.