Falco was the playwriting professor of Cho Seung-Hui, an English major who police say killed at least 30 people on the campus before committing suicide.
It was in Falco's class that Cho wrote the two plays, "Mr. Brownstone" and "Richard McBeef," each full of violence and profane rants that his classmates found disturbing.
"As you can imagine, all of us who crossed paths with Cho in any manner are wrestling with this tragedy on multiple levels," Falco, a poet and novelist, wrote to CNN.com in an e-mail.
"My students are my first priority and I spent a lot of time yesterday doing everything I could to be of help to them. I was particularly concerned about the playwriting class I had with Cho. Some of those students had contacted me and expressed a sense of guilt at not having done something or said something that might have prevented this horror."
That is why Falco sent an e-mail to the class list of 22 students telling them it was not their fault.
"Cho's behavior was disturbing to all of us -- and the English Department tried, with the best of intentions, to both get him help and to make the appropriate authorities aware of his disturbing behavior," Falco wrote to his students. "We did all that we thought it was reasonable to do.
"There was violence in Cho's writing -- but there is a huge difference between writing about violence and behaving violently. We could not have known what he would do. We treated him like a fellow student, which is what he was. I believe the English Department behaved responsibly in response to him. And please hear me when I say this: it was our responsibility, not yours. All you could have done was come to me, or some other administration or faculty member, with your concerns -- and you would have been told that we were aware of Seung Cho, we were concerned about him, and we were doing what we believed was appropriate.
"Look, all our hearts are broken. There's no need to add to the pain with guilt."
Nikki Giovanni, a well-known poet who was also one of Cho's teachers, found his writing so "weird" and "intimidating" that she had him removed from her class in the fall of 2005. But Falco tried a different approach. Asked why he thought Cho became an English major, Falco offered what he called a guess.
"The kid couldn't speak. I did everything I knew to draw him out. I tried to joke with him. I touched his shoulder while asking him a direct question. I put myself in quiet, one-on-one space with him -- and I still could not get articulate speech out of him.
"Yet, in writing he could communicate. You've seen the plays. They're not good writing. But they are at least a form of communication. And in his responses to the other students' plays, he could be quite articulate. If writing is the only way you can communicate with the wider world, then I guess being an English major makes sense."
descend upon
～に飛び付く、～に押し掛ける、～を不意｛ふい｝に訪れる、～を襲う、～の前に現れる、襲撃する、襲来する、不意打ちをかける
Each year, over 750,000 people descend upon the square to celebrate the moment.
毎年、75万人以上が新年の幕開けを祝おうとタイムズ・スクエアに押し掛けます
afflict
〔肉体的｛にくたい てき｝または精神的｛せいしん てき｝に〕苦しめる、悩ます
second-guessing
出し抜くこと、一杯食わせること
教職員
profane
俗悪｛ぞくあく｝な、冒とく的な、神聖｛しんせい｝を汚す、不敬｛ふけい｝な、宗教｛しゅうきょう｝に関係｛かんけい｝しない、世俗的｛せぞくてき｝な、異教｛いきょう｝の、下品｛げひん｝な
rant
大言壮語｛たいげん そうご｝、暴言｛ぼうげん｝を吐くこと
disturbing
心をかき乱す（ような）、動揺｛どうよう｝させる、不安｛ふあん｝にさせる（ような）、心配｛しんぱい｝させる（ような）、気掛かりな、不穏｛ふおん｝な、物騒｛ぶっそう｝な、平静｛へいせい｝を乱す、邪魔｛じゃま｝する、騒がしい
intimidating
威嚇｛いかく｝するような、脅威的｛きょうい てき｝な、おびえさせるような◆intimidating は、武器を突きつけられるような脅迫ではなく、心理的な脅威や強いプレッシャーを与える人や状況を形容する。動詞
articulate
はっきり発音｛はつおん｝された、発音｛はつおん｝の明晰｛めいせき｝な
明確｛めいかく｝な、はっきりした、歯切れの良い