Virginia Tech news release: Virginia Tech Athletics will continue to honor the memory of two local television journalists who were tragically killed in a shooting on Wednesday. The Virginia Tech football squad will wear special helmet stickers for the season opener against Ohio State on Labor Day night. There also will be a moment of silence before the game. Alison Parker and Adam Ward were doing a live broadcast for Roanoke CBS affiliate WDBJ-7, on Wednesday morning at Smith Mountain Lake, a little more than an hour from Tech’s campus, when they were killed. The players will wear a helmet sticker that features the No. 7 and teal and maroon ribbons, along with the initials of both victims. Teal was Parker’s favorite color, while the maroon ribbon represents Ward, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2011.
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The Tech athletics department already has honored the victims at this weekend’s sporting events. A moment of silence was held at the volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer matches, and teal and maroon ribbons were handed out to fans before the volleyball match this past Friday afternoon.
Scholarships have been established through both victims’ alma maters. Parker is a Martinsville High School graduate, a 2010 graduate of Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, Virginia, and a 2012 graduate James Madison University. Ward graduated from nearby Salem High School in Salem, Virginia, in 2007 before enrolling at Tech and earning his degree in communication.