As 11 a.m. approached, somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 people stood motionless atop lines meticulously surveyed and spray-painted on the Drillfield's grass. Most participants wore maroon and orange. They waited for the pass of an imaging satellite that they hoped would capture and communicate the message outlined by their collaborative stance: "VT thanks you."

Gloria Schoenholtz and Anne Campbell occupied an edge where one top of the letter "V" merged with the letter "T." Just 45 paces away, a semicircle of 32 engraved stones memorialized the shooting victims whose lives ended April 16 at the hands of Seung-Hui Cho.

Schoenholtz and Campbell, as volunteers after April 16, helped sort and archive the thousands of letters, the gifts and tributes that poured into Virginia Tech after word spread worldwide about the university's tragedy.

"It was the most beautiful outpouring of humanity I've ever seen," said Schoenholtz.

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