April 25, 2007
After hearing about the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech, Iowa Baseball Coach Jack Dahm knew he wanted to do something to show support to the Hokie community.
An email from Interim University President Gary Fethke asking the University of Iowa community to wear Hokie colors of Maroon and Orange gave him the idea. After seeing that equipment manager Kevin Foor approached Dahm with the idea of putting the Virginia Tech logo on the back of the Hawkeyes’ helmets before last weekend’s series with Illinois. Foor also put stickers on the Fighting Illini helmets.
“We were in the same situation in 1991,” Dahm said. “The University of Iowa knows what a hard time it is for the Virginia Tech community and what they are going through. We just wanted to show our support in any way we could.”
Coach Dahm talked to the team about the tragedy and got a very positive response to the proposed tribute. One of the players, closer Mike Schurz, grew up 10 minutes from the Virginia Tech campus and has many friends who were on campus when the shootings occurred.
“It really got their attention,” Dahm said. “We really didn’t need to say much when we put the stickers on. Not much needed to be said.”
The Hawkeyes will keep the Virginia Tech logo on their helmets the entire season.
“This isn’t something that just goes away after a week or two,” Dahm said.