WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After delivering remarks at a solemn convocation at Virginia Tech, President Bush met with over 50 family members of victims of Monday's shooting rampage and then made an unannounced stop to sign a makeshift campus memorial with the inscription "God Bless, George W. Bush."

The first lady, meanwhile, set down a bundle of orange and red roses at the memorial in honor of the school's colors and then offered the following inscription: "With Love, Laura Bush."

The president's meeting with 50 to 55 people -- representing 12 to 15 families of victims -- lasted almost 40 minutes in a small practice gym under the stands of the main area that was the setting of the convocation.

"Hang in there," the president told family members during the closed meeting, according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "Stay as strong as you can. Take comfort in one another."

Perino said the president and first lady were "teary" during the meeting, which included one victim, Derek O'Dell, who was shot in the right arm during Monday's gun violence.