BLACKSBURG, Va. – More families are reaching out to 10 News through our Help Center about Virginia Tech’s plan to relocate the remains of 61 people from the university’s columbarium.
Alison Thompson Martin says she felt alone in her frustration with the university until she saw our story.
“My parents were going to essentially rebury their child again, and I thought, ‘Nope, I’m not doing that,’” Martin said.
Martin never expected her family would have to revisit her sister’s burial — but in April, they learned her remains would be moved along with 60 others from Virginia Tech’s columbarium.
“That just kind of hit us like a ton of bricks,” Martin said.
Her sister, Kathryn Thompson Leckie, graduated from Virginia Tech in 1983 with degrees in journalism and political science.
Before she passed in 2012, she told her family she wanted her remains at the school.
“My parents made that decision knowing how much she loved Virginia Tech,” she said.
Martin’s parents were contacted by letter by the university in mid-April.
“He [Martin’s dad] opened it, he read it, and my mother said he got so upset,” she said.
Martin says the letter claimed the university had spoken with the family by phone — but she says that’s not true.
“They had not talked to us by phone. And I know that because my father doesn’t talk on the phone anymore,” she said.
Like other families, the Martins were given three options — have Kathryn’s ashes moved to the new site, retrieve them and move them themselves, or retrieve them and request a refund.
But Martin says her family didn’t feel like they had a choice.
“We basically defaulted to that. My parents are elderly; it is a big deal for them to come that way, and now my dad is hospitalized,” she said.
Last week, Virginia Tech told 10 News that approximately 92 % of families elected to make the move to the new location.
But while they agreed to move Kathryn’s remains, Martin says they are not in support of the decision.
“No, we’re not okay with that decision. We defaulted to that decision because the decision had already been made,” she said.
Meanwhile, the legal fight over the relocation heads to court on Thursday.
A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge is set to hear a request for a temporary restraining order filed by Bryan Emmerson — the man featured in our original story, who is asking the court to halt any relocation of remains until a judge can rule on the case.
Martin says she wants Virginia Tech to see how this has affected them.
“If it were 200 bodies in the ground, this wouldn’t be happening. But we’re talking about urns with ashes. I want someone to recognize how much stress they’ve caused my parents, who don’t deserve that,” she said,