All across campus today, as students, faculty and staff came to grips with the news of the presumed murder of Annie Le GRD ’13, they also struggled to continue with their daily business.

History professor John Lewis Gaddis began Monday’s Cold War lecture with an image of Le on the projector screen. He said he thought about what to say or do on this day, his saddest day to open class since Sept. 12, 2001, and he considered a moment of silence.

“But what I really want is not silence,” he said. “I want you to call home and tell the folks at home that you’re okay and that you love them.”