Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Friday, November 01, 2024
Murder on campus. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Now is the time to make a plan. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail in person at your county auditor's office before Election Day or at your polling place on November 5th, it's important you take steps now to make your plan at voterready.iowa.gov. Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Find more information at voterready.iowa.gov. This message presented by the Iowa Secretary of State. You may find it hard to believe that it was three decades ago, on November 1st, 1991, that a disgruntled graduate student at the University of Iowa took revenge, killing four faculty members and one student, seriously wounding another student, before taking his own life. It may be hard to believe because, for many, it seems like only yesterday. That Friday afternoon was a bit chilly and there was snow in the air in Iowa City. Then, as now, Friday afternoons were often a time on campus for meetings and getting ready for the weekend. Gang Lu was a 28-year-old who came to Iowa City from China and received his doctoral degree from the University the previous spring. However, he was angry because his dissertation did not win a prestigious campus award and he blamed his lack of employment after graduation, in part, on that. He apparently planned his actions for a period of months. Finally, on that November afternoon, he attended a physics research group meeting in a conference room of Van Allen Hall. Shortly after the meeting began, Lu shot and killed three people, Professor Christoph Gertz, Professor Robert Smith, and graduate student Lynn Washan. He then went to the office of the department chair, Professor Dwight Nicholson, and killed him. Not satisfied, he then walked three blocks to Jessup Hall, killing Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs T. Ann Cleary, and seriously wounding student employee Mia Rodolfo-Seosen. Gang Lu then shot himself in the head, dying shortly after police arrived. The president of the University at the time, Hunter Rawlings, was also on Lu's hit list, but he was in Ohio for the Hawkeye football game the next day. The tragic killing that shook the campus and the state happened on this date in 1991, and that's Iowa Almanac for November 1st. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until Monday, I'm Jeff Stein.