Panel: Va. Tech Failed to Respond to Cho Warning Signs

The report also describes intervals where Cho seemed to respond well to the treatment he was receiving. A brief regimen of anti-depressants ended after it was deemed successful.

And a high school writing assignment about hobbies and interests reveals the inclinations of a typical adolescent: "I like to listen to talk shows and alternative stations, and I like action movies," Cho wrote. "My favorite movie is X-Men, favorite actor is Nicolas Cage, favorite book is Night Over Water, favorite band is U2, favorite sport is basketball, favorite team is Portland Trailblazers, favorite food is pizza, and favorite color is green."

Westfield High School in Centreville made special accommodations to help Cho succeed in class. He graduated with a grade point average of 3.52 in an honors program, and scored 540 verbal and 620 math on his SATs.

These scores were the basis of his admission to Virginia Tech. But what Tech did not know was that Cho had not been graded on class participation. In addition, Virginia Tech does not require letters of recommendation, a personal essay or personal interviews in its admissions procedures.

Cho's guidance counselor recommended that he attend a small school close to home to ease the transition, and Cho's parents agreed, but Cho insisted on attending Tech.

His high school did not check off the appropriate box on his transcript to indicate that he had received special education services, and Virginia Tech received no information about Cho's psychiatric problems or the treatment he had received over the years.

The report recommends that state and local education officials consider whether safety concerns should outweigh privacy concerns in determining whether the transmission of such information should be required.

"The panel hopes that this issue begins to be debated fully in the public realm," the report states. "Perhaps students should be required to submit records of emotional or mental disturbance and any communicable diseases after they have been admitted but before they enroll at a college or university."

During Cho's first semester, his parents visited once a week--driving there and back on Sundays, the only day they did not work at their dry cleaning business. Cho attained good grades in his first and second years. He received no counseling during that time.

Virginia Tech's Response

The report says Virginia Tech never informed Cho's parents of his mental deterioration in fall 2005, including his commitment to a psychiatric hospital and appearance in court. Cho, too, refused to tell his parents what was happening.

The report levies particularly harsh criticism at the campus counseling center, which it says "failed for lack of resources, incorrect interpretation of privacy laws, and passivity." Cho first contacted the center in the fall of 2005, after two female students complained about him. He made a third visit after a suitemate reported suicidal behavior and a judge ordered outpatient treatment. The center later received a psychiatric summary for Cho, but took no follow-up action. The panel's report said the center lost its records of the "minimal" treatment that Cho received there.

While many different officials and professors at the university were aware of Cho's problems, the report states, those people did not always share information.