Alleged Fort Hood gunman went to Va. Tech

A lot has been written about the Fort Hood (Texas) shootings in the last 24 hours. I can't really add much to the conversation about the horror of what occurred there.

But there is something that caught my eye. The alleged gunman is a graduate of Virginia Tech.

There have been so many tragedies connected to that university in the last three years that it's getting hard to keep track. Of course, April 16, 2007, when 32 students were gunned down, remains the darkest day in that school's history and is something that I have personal ties to.

There have been other tragic connections to Tech in recent months and years, including a murder near campus a few months prior to the April 16 massacre.

Last year, there was a beheading on campus. Yes, someone was killed right out in the open.

Recently, a student from VT disappeared after a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia. She has not been found.

And in 2008, two students from Virginia Tech were murdered while camping.

Throw in Michael Vick's (a former star football player at VT) horrendous dog-fighting conviction, and it's getting a little hard to comprehend how many high-profile crimes have been related to Virginia Tech in some way in a very short period of time. That is not to say these things are not just simply coincidences. Probably are. Still, I am unaware of any other university that is in national headlines as often as Tech has been since 2007. At least not for this type of stuff.

Blacksburg, Va., where the Virginia Tech is located, is a very small town in the middle of nowhere. The closest city of any mentionable size is Roanoke, about 30 miles away. Many of Tech's students are from Northern Virginia and the D.C. suburbs, about a four-hour drive.

Thirty years ago, Va. Tech was where state students went who didn't have the grades (or money) for the University of Virginia. But now Tech is considered an academically competitive school. It's known for its strong engineering program, powerhouse football team and its tight-knit community. In addition, Tech alumni, students and educators are fiercely protective of their school's image and loyal to a point of being a bit unsettling to "outsiders."

Unfortunately, and for whatever reason, Tech is also associated with some pretty horrific events in recent years. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the accused gunman at Fort Hood, is just the latest name in the news to be connected to the school. It's getting odd, to say the least.