Award Winning Poet Nikki Giovanni Had Virginia Tech Killer Removed from Class

Giovanni Said She Would Quit If Cho Seung-Hui's Wasn't Removed from Her Poetry Seminar

Famed poet Nikki Giovanni was so troubled by Cho Seung-Hui's behavior that she had him removed him from her poetry class.

"I've taught troubled youngsters. I've taught crazy people. It was the meanness that bothered me. It was a, really, mean streak," Giovanni told CNN. "I know we're talking about a troubled youngster and crap like that, but troubled youngsters get drunk and jump off buildings; troubled youngsters drink and drive."

In the fall of 2005 Nikki Giovanni says she had to to put the best interests of her other students ahead of those of one very troubled young man. His writings and conduct disturbed her so much that she had him removed from class. She told her boss she would leave her post at the prestigious university if the young man was not removed.

Giovanni declared, "I was willing to resign before I was going to continue with him."

Students in Giovanni's writing class were unnerved by Cho's behavior which included taking pictures of them with his cell phone and not engaging in basic conversation.

"I was trying to find out, what am I doing wrong here?" Her students eventually alerted her of the covert picture taking. "He's taking photographs of us. We don't know what he's doing."

When Giovanni asked that he stop writing what she described as "weird" poetry he told her, "You can't make me."

"It was terrible. It was not bad poetry, it was intimidating," Giovanni said.

Giovanni was not surprised by Cho's rampage

"I knew when it happened that that's probably who it was. I would have been shocked if it wasn't."

Giovanni wrote and delivered an rousing poem for the campus wide memorial service. We Are Virginia Tech declared, "We are Virginia Tech. We are strong enough to stand tall, fearlessly. We have brave enough to bend to cry and sad enough to know we must laugh again."