COLUMBUS – Ohio State football players will join their on-field opponents Monday night in honoring two television journalists killed last month by a disgruntled former co-worker.
Players from both teams will be wearing stickers on their helmets in memory of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, a reporter and photographer from WDJB-TV, the CBS affiliate in nearby Roanoke. Ward was also a 2011 graduate of Virginia Tech.
There will also be a 30-second moment of silence prior to the nation anthem at Monday night’s game.
“Ohio State expressed a desire to show its solidarity with Virginia Tech in remembering the vibrant lives of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Coach (Frank) Beamer and I both agreed it was a wonderful gesture on the part of (OSU Athletics Director) Gene Smith, (coach) Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes,” Hokies Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said.
Parker and Ward were doing a live broadcast at Smith Mountain Lake, a little more than an hour from Virginia Tech’s campus when they were killed.
The Virginia Tech athletics department announced Sunday that the Hokie 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 VT alum Ward.
Scholarships have been established through both victims’ alma maters.
Parker is a Martinsville (Va.) High School graduate, a 2010 graduate of Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville and a 2012 graduate James Madison University.
Ward graduated from nearby Salem (Va.) High School before attending Virginia Tech.