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A COLLEGIATE TIMES COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE
APRIL 26, 2022 | COLLEGIATETIMES.COM
UNIVERSITY AND BLACKSBURG LEADERS REFLECT ON 150 YEARS OF INNOVATION TORI WALKER AND LEXI SOLOMON | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND MANAGING EDITOR
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A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue
collegiatetimes.com editor@collegiatetimes.com
Virginia Tech has been striving to serve and succeed since 1872 — but what can the Hokies of 2172 expect? As Virginia Tech continues to celebrate its sesquicentennial and prepares to welcome Admissions and Enrollment the spring class of 2022 into the ranks of With overenrollment concerns like the hundreds of thousands of alumni, Hokies of all 2019 controversy that saw incoming freshmen ages are reflecting on 150 years of innovation living in Blacksburg hotels fresh in the minds and service. Since its inception in 1872 as the of Hokies and Blacksburg residents, there’s Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, no question as to why enrollment and admisVirginia Tech has grown from a small agricul- sions processes remain a critical component of tural school to a multi-campus research insti- future plans for the university. As over 37,000 tution, maneuvering through tragedy and students can attest, Virginia Tech is a popular victory alike. place to be — but officials will continue to From large-scale challenges like the struggle with the delicate balancing act of COVID-19 pandemic and overenrollment encouraging as many promising students as issues, to heartbreaking losses like the 2007 shootings, to thrilling achievements like the men’s basketball team’s first ACC tournament win, Virginia Tech has seen it all over the past 150 years — but what can Hokies expect from the next 150 years to come? A s Virginia Te c h looks toward the COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS future, the lessons learned from its first 15 decades have shaped possible to join the Hokie community and university officials’ goals for crafting an insti- being able to provide a quality experience for tution that will live up to its former slogan of every student. “Invent the Future.” We spoke with leaders “If you’re a student (in) Virginia and you from the university and the town of Blacksburg wanna be a person of great influence and be about how they plan to create a Virginia Tech a person who learns leadership, you wanna that will live by “Ut Prosim” and serve Hokies’ be at Virginia Tech,” said James Bridgeforth, evolving needs well into the next century. assistant vice president for student affairs and Voice your opinion. Send letters to the Collegiate Times. All letters must include a name and phone number. Students must include year and major. Faculty and staff must include Blacksburg, VA, 24061 position and department. Other submissions must include opinionseditor@collegiatetimes.com city of residence and relationship to Virginia Tech (i.e., alumni, parent, etc.). We reserve the right to edit for any reason. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Letters, commentaries and editorial cartoons do not reflect the views of the Collegiate Times. Editorials are written by the Collegiate Times editorial board, which is composed of the opinions editors, editor in chief and managing editors. 365 Squires Student Center
ExperienceVT. underrepresented minority groups, with Virginia Tech’s status as a public university 39% of the class belonging to an underrepmakes it an enticing resented minority group destination for or an underserved popuVirginians, but as lation like first-generation the school’s 280 students, Pell-eligible degree offerings students and veterans and various — a far cry from the research opporVirginia Agricultural and tunities continue Mechanical College of to expand, 1872, which only offered prospective admission to white men student s from interested in military around the globe training. are eyeing Tech as “Virginia Tech’s landan option — a trend grant mission has evolved that officials don’t in terms of who we serve, foresee changing and how we serve,” Sands any time soon. said. “Virginia Agricultural “I hope that our and Mechanical College students, faculty, began as an excluCOURTESY OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS sively white, male military alumni and staff recognize the marked shift in our student academy with a mission to educate students demographics,” said President Tim Sands. who did not have access to the elite “We look more like Virginia, the nation and the world than we did in 2014.” According to Sands, 20% of the class of 2026 consisted of students from continued on page 3
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educational institutions of the time in ‘agriculture and the mechanic arts’ along with military tactics and the liberal arts.” It wasn’t until 1921 that things began to change. In that year, women were finally allowed to enroll, and the previous requirement that students serve four years in the Corps of Cadets was modified to two years of mandatory service for male students. In 1964, participation in the Corps became voluntary, according to Virginia Tech’s website. Virginia Tech officially became a university on June 26, 1970, when Virginia’s General Assembly approved the title of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and designated the school a university. This allowed the institution to accelerate its efforts to expand. “Virginia Tech’s transition to a comprehensive university in the 1970’s (sic) advanced the way we serve the commonwealth and our students, with a growing research focus that opened up new opportunities for entrepreneurship and economic development,” Sands said. University leaders aim to similarly bolster the diversity and performance of Virginia Tech’s student body in both the near and distant future. “Reflecting current demographics in the Commonwealth, we expect that our future enrollment to be (sic) more diverse,” said Juan Espinoza, associate vice provost for enrollment and degree management and interim director of admissions. “With continued strong demand in applications, we can also expect stronger academic cohorts with each incoming class.” Many institutions of higher education are struggling in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuously falling enrollment numbers nationwide. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, local universities are no exception, with Radford University seeing a 23% decline in enrollment over the past four years, Longwood University’s enrollment declining by 22% and Virginia Commonwealth University’s enrollment decreasing by 9% over that same period. In a year where Virginia Tech broke its own record with 45,000 applicants for admission, however, university officials don’t anticipate Tech facing similar problems — provided that university leadership maintains the formula that has led to the school’s current success. “Virginia Tech is fortunate because it is in a strong competitive position right now, but we will need to work hard to keep that competitive edge,” Espinoza said. “Any future growth will require continued investment in campus infrastructure and financial aid, support
A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue services, and in recruitment and outreach.” Sands echoed similar sentiments. “Access Tackling the COVID-19 Pandemic and affordability is the greatest concern for The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic me,” he said. “If we exclude the majority of brought challenges unlike any the university our nation’s talent pool from experiences had ever seen in its history. such as those offered at Virginia Tech, we “The pandemic was incredibly challenging are only going to exacerbate the divides that for Virginia Tech and our community,” Sands plague this country. We need more state and said. “It upended the status quo so quickly, federal investment, along with philanthropy and the stakes could not have been higher. and continuous improvement in institutional The pandemic upended the educational efficiency.” experience of our students, our research So where can Virginia Tech improve to mission, and above all else, the health and continue to well-being app eal to of our potential community. Hokies? It was espeAccording cially chalto S an ds , lenging for reasonable Virginia Tech tuition because rates will be the univercrucial. “Key sity’s unique to attracting ‘hands-on, and retaining minds-on’ student experience talent will be and close-knit access and community affordability,” are at the he said. heart of what “ We need it means to be to continue a Hokie.” to make In a time progress in of d eva s reducing tating global the financial loss, Hokies burden for worked to l ow and fulfill th e middlemission of “Ut JAMES BRIDGEFORTH, income Prosim” in a students.” multitude of ASSISTANT VP FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS & EXPERIENCEVT However, ways, most Sands added, publicly in Virginia Tech the work of prides itself professor on striving Linsey to remain an affordable option for students. Marr, whose research on the transmission “Although affordability remains a challenge, of the novel coronavirus through aerosols our tuition rates in (CPI) inflation-adjusted continues to be cited in numerous articles and dollars are about 3% lower than they were six publications. years ago,” he said. When Bridgeforth arrived at Virginia Ultimately, increased diversity and afford- Tech in the fall of 2020, he was impressed ability will be important areas of focus for by Hokies’ commitment to protecting one Virginia Tech over the next 150 years, but offi- another from the spread of the virus, an cials are proud of the progress the university attitude he feels has continued throughout has already made to welcome and serve the evolution of the pandemic. “I couldn’t find students from all backgrounds. a person not wearing a mask, and although it’s “Our current students are having an expe- difficult, they did it with a spirit of service,” he rience that better prepares them for the said. “And as Virginia Tech tried to move from broader world they are about to enter, and the masking policy to where we are now, they we have opened our doors to students who took great strides, they did a lot of research, might never have considered Virginia Tech in they talked to national scientists — we were the past,” Sands said. national scientists in that role and doing some
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“IF YOU’RE A STUDENT (IN) VIRGINIA AND YOU WANNA BE A PERSON OF GREAT INFLUENCE AND BE A PERSON WHO LEARNS LEADERSHIP, YOU WANNA BE AT VIRGINIA TECH.”
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of that, and so I don’t think there’s a campus in the country that’s handled it better.” Students, Bridgeforth added, were a critical part of this effort. “... I think we did well as a university, and our students get the credit for that, ’cause we could say it all day, but the students really operate it,” he said. From the outset, Virginia Tech officials and leaders in the town of Blacksburg have collaborated to protect the community. “The town of Blacksburg and a bunch of different entities worked together on the pandemic response, and we established a public health task force that included representatives from the town, (representatives) from Virginia Tech, (and) Anthony Wilson, who is our chief of police who kind of helped with spearheading that effort and was our main representative on that committee,” said Michael Sutphin, a Blacksburg Town Council member and former vice mayor of Blacksburg. Though the future of the pandemic remains uncertain, the courage Hokies have shown over the past two years has left its mark on the university’s long history. “I’m proud of the resilience and spirit of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni,” Sands said. “I believe we are emerging from the pandemic as a stronger university.” Community Relations Much of the widespread Hokie Nation associates its Virginia Tech experience with the main campus, located in Blacksburg, Virginia, a town incorporated in Montgomery County and the heart of the New River Valley. The 19.7-square mile town houses over 43,400 people — and the large majority of this population, at just over 34,600 residents, is made up of current Hokies. Amid our sesquicentennial celebration of Virginia Tech, we are led to acknowledge and reflect on the growth and expansion the university has seen within the small town of Blacksburg, and how it has directly impacted the region’s surrounding communities and infrastructure. With Virginia Tech standing as the most comprehensive university and leading research institution in the commonwealth, as well as a land-grant university that aims to enrich the economic well-being of citizens through innovation, education and leadership, it is bound to hold influential relationships with the town in which it resides. Sutphin explained that the relationship between Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg is essentially a codependent one, and that because the town is a hub for a large research university, more opportunities for its residents have opened up due to the continued on page 4
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university’s growth. “The two can’t exist without one another,” Sutphin said. “… The town of Blacksburg existed before Virginia Tech was here, but the presence of a large research university has changed a lot of things for the town of Blacksburg. It’s meant more people here, more housing, more jobs, more economic opportunities for people in the town of Blacksburg.” This codependent relationship has led to successes and challenges over the past several years, especially in the facets of transportation, housing and equity and inclusion. Virginia Tech is one of the major causes of social, economic and infrastructural growth in Blacksburg — and these periods of growth have created space for both dispute and alliance between the two entities. For example, in the 1970s, Blacksburg experienced one of its greatest population growths as a result of the university’s expansion and an adjustment to the town’s boundary lines. Sutphin explained that these developments generated an increase in housing, specifically housing that stretched farther from the core of campus. Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg then collaborated to create the Blacksburg Transit system to help bridge the gap between residents and campus and increase accessibility to low-cost transportation in the area. “Today, our Blacksburg Transit system is one of the largest for our locality and our size in the state of Virginia,” Sutphin said. Sutphin also touched on the 2019 overenrollment crisis, where the target number of incoming Hokie freshmen was surpassed by around 1,000 students, and how it impacted housing in Blacksburg. “When we got the news that Virginia Tech has overenrolled by a huge number of students, that caused a lot of problems and the biggest problem it caused was in the area of housing,” Sutphin said. “So, our strategy to increase the number of student beds in the town of Blacksburg was basically to build more student bedrooms where there were existing student housing, as opposed to building it in an empty field somewhere or in the middle of an established single-family neighborhood where there would be lifestyle conflicts between the students living there and the nearby neighbors.” Although student population increases have been notoriously difficult for the town to adjust to, it has also pushed representatives to initiate the expansion of affordable and workforce housing for single-family homes so that local residents are accounted for as well.
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According to Sutphin, as we look onward at the next century of this codependent relationship, another area of potential growth relates to advancements in technology and related careers in the region. “We’ve got the Corporate Research Center, where there’s a business incubator space for technology companies,” Sutphin said. “We have a lot of different organizations that are coming together to help provide resources for high-tech companies. I think this is a really good opportunity for the town of Blacksburg because … we have a lot of students who are graduating in STEM fields to establish connections in the town of Blacksburg and might want to stay here and work for companies in Blacksburg or in the New River Valley.” Sutphin explained that Virginia Tech continues to leave a positive impact on the town of Blacksburg, specifically through its services and resources for students in misrepresented or minority communities. As a result, town representatives have increased efforts to make Blacksburg a more welcoming and inclusive place for its residents. “Before I came on board (with the Blacksburg Town Council), sexual orientation was on our nondiscrimination policy, but we added gender identity and expression to our nondiscrimination policy,” Sutphin said. “One of the council members, Susan Anderson, worked to make the town code more gender-neutral.” 2020’s racial reckoning, according to Sutphin, was another catalyst for discussing community policing, zoning laws and other town policies that were potential areas of inequity. Students and locals banded together to showcase and vocalize their concerns for close-to-home and nationwide inequities through protests and community outreach, and the town established a new chapter in its comprehensive plan that focuses on removing barriers to foster an accessible community where individuals are not discriminated against based on their identity. “We recently went through a process where we updated our town comprehensive plan, which is our long-term vision for the town of Blacksburg, and we added a chapter on equity and inclusion,” Sutphin said. “… We’ve been active participants in a group called the Dialogue on Race, which is where different community members come together to talk about everything from community policing to different laws and policies within the community, to different resources that are available to different groups and communities.” While Sutphin believes the town of continued on page 5
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A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue between Virginia Tech and Blacksburg, we may question what the future of both entities will look like in another 150 years. The Virginia Tech Office of University Planning openly shares its campus master plan, or in other words, its “road map for the future of a campus,” that it hopes to achieve by 2047. Current Hokies can witness the advancements of this master plan come into fruition, slowly but surely, every year. At this point, we can only dream of what home will look like at year 300, and how Blacksburg will follow suit. According to Sands, Hokies can “expect flexible spaces that support and encourage interdisciplinary experiences, interaction and engagement. (Virginia Tech is) developing a campus that will be more accessible, and will utilize our resources in a sustainable way.”
Blacksburg has come a long way in its efforts of being a more welcoming and suitable community for its diverse residents, he hopes the town can create a stronger, more consistent and longer-term relationship with university administrators to promote further project collaboration and mutual revision. “I know that the mayor is meeting with President Sands on a regular basis to go over items of mutual interest,” he said. “And I know that there’s also a Town Gown committee. … That’s where different community groups come together to talk about different issues that intersect with our campus and town life.” Sands’ sentiment regarding Virginia Tech’s relationship with Blacksburg highlighted the cruciality of sustainable growth, meaning that both entities’ actions support the availThe Hokie Experience ability of resources in our area. “We exist to The spirit of “Ut Prosim” bleeds into the serve our communities, and Blacksburg is efforts that the university is making to enhance one of our most important communities,” he the academic, social and cultural experisaid. “The intentional pause in growth of our ences of Virginia Tech students so that the undergraduate student population starting in university is an “institution for everybody,” 2019 –– despite record student demand –– is according to Bridgeforth. The school’s sesquievidence of the care we are taking in coordi- centennial is just another opportunity for us nating growth so that it is sustainable.” to look back at the Hokie experience over We can also appreciate Virginia Tech’s the past 15 decades and propel forward with holistic growth that expands beyond even greater goals to achieve better student Blacksburg and into its other campuses during engagement. this time of sesquicentennial celebration. Better student engagement can only be “The most exciting area of growth is with accomplished if we elevate the voices of the our new Innovation Campus in (the) Greater students, themselves, in order to understand DC metro area,” Espinoza said. “The possi- their wants and needs. Bridgeforth discussed bilities are exciting with an expanding foot- how the recently established Undergraduate print. Growing partnerships with businesses and government leaders, our alumni, and the broader community will benefit all Virginia Tech students and help fuel o ur gra duate growth.” Furthermore, the university hopes to cultivate an integrated educational experience with its COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS multiple campus locations. “You can expect us to explore ways to Student Senate is one step toward more ensure that our many locations can be expe- inclusive, student-oriented governance at the rienced as one campus, both physically and university. virtually,” Sands said. “… We started a new governance model As we observe the complexities that this year (with the USS),” he said. “It’s the first come with the codependent relationship of this kind in the country, and what it aspires
to do is be inclusive of all Hokies and focuses on the idea of practicing governance in the spirit of ‘Ut Prosim.’” The university has implemented various student engagement, experience and learning innovations over the past several years, such as VT-Shaped Learning, ExperienceVT, LivingLearning Programs, InclusiveVT and Cultural and Community Centers, to make the Hokie experience more inclusive, accessible, safe and intentional. Through growing a mutual awareness of student needs, increasing accessibility to advising and community spaces and making meaningful connections easily attainable for students, their success and feeling of belonging on campus can continue to grow. According to Bridgeforth, Student Affairs measures its own success off of the success of students. Much of this progress within Virginia Tech, according to Sands, can be credited to the faculty and administrators who care deeply about students. “All of these recent accomplishments must be credited to an extremely talented and committed team of faculty, staff, and administrators — and their teams — who love Virginia Tech and who thrive on overcoming obstacles,” Sands said. “I can’t name them all here, but as a student, you should know that you and your promise inspire our faculty and staff to push back the boundaries of this institution every day.” Sands also discussed how important it will be to maintain an extensive alumni network over the next several decades. The university’s alumni support, resources, chapters and events go hand in hand with the inflating value of a Virginia Tech degree. “ ... I am confident that the strong alumni attachment to our institution will continue to increase the value of a Virginia Tech degree and the impact of our scholarship well into the future,” Sands said. Looking at the future of our university, the hope of many university leaders is that students come to Virginia Tech with aspirations of leading and creating a positive impact on the world, and in return are able to personalize and maximize their Hokie experience to guarantee undergraduate and postgraduate success. “Another important part of Virginia Tech’s evolution is the way our motto, ‘Ut Prosim’ (That I May Serve) has been embraced and integrated into all aspects of the university, making our community especially focused on making a positive difference in the human condition,” Sands said. Bridgeforth foresees Virginia Tech not only
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being “a global leader in producing top talent for high-powered careers” over the next few decades, but also a place where current and prospective Hokies can fulfill their goals, take risks and follow their dreams. “Come to Virginia Tech, don’t be afraid to fail, don’t be afraid to take risk,” Bridgeforth said. “… I think this has to be a place where students are inspired to live their dream and become whoever they are and be comfortable in that.” University leaders shared a mutual belief that students should take advantage of every opportunity presented to them at Virginia Tech, continue to use their voice to push institutional boundaries and carry a commitment to service and difference-making in all facets of life. While the Virginia Tech community has the power to “Invent the Future,” we cannot go as far as predicting it. We can only approach the next 150 years with a vision for how we want our innovations, infrastructure, identity and impact to look in the future. “One hundred and fifty years in the future is almost impossible to imagine,” Sands said. “What would Virginia Tech’s founders in 1872 have predicted for the Virginia Tech of today?” The 150th Anniversary of Virginia Tech will further accelerate its Beyond Boundaries vision, which Sands generated in 2015, that will strive for future problem-solving, knowledge expansion and diverse community creation. In other words, the university will take what it has learned in the past, continue its tried-and-true methods of success, identify problems or institutional needs and curate sustainable solutions that will further improve engagement and impact. As we make slow, yet significant progress as a university, it can be difficult to see firsthand the positive change we are making on our surrounding communities and the world until we reflect on past landmarks. “I believe the real impact on Virginia Tech and the commonwealth will only be evident when we look back on 2018 in about 20 years,” Sands said. Even though we cannot predict the future or easily visualize the impact we are making day-by-day, one certainty exists: Hokies, who leave Virginia Tech and “make their presence known to the world,” according to Espinoza, will hold the tools to endure anything that comes their way and make a difference in the lives of others. “It’s tough to predict challenges 150 years out, but what I do know is that Hokies will stand up to any challenges and succeed,” Espinoza said.
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DEAN WINISTORFER REFLECTS ON 97 YEARS OF THE CNRE Emelia Delaporte | lifestyles staff writer
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The college began in 1925 with just one forestry professor and now boasts 11 undergraduate programs.
Past “Back in 1992, we were a school in the College of Agriculture and if you keep going back, you know, we were a program,” Winistorfer said. “The first forestry professor hired … was in the College of Agriculture.” This is where the mural begins, with that first forestry hire in 1925. The first section ranges from 1925 to 1968, the other bookend being the creation of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife in the College of Agriculture in 1959. The second section of the college’s history described on the mural traverses a comparably shorter span from 1969 to 1975. In 1969, the department became the Division of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, still within the College of Agriculture. Shortly thereafter, in 1971, Cheatham Hall was built at the cost of $1.67 million to provide space for the division. “(In) ’74, still in agriculture, (the Department of) Forestry and Wildlife split into the Department of Forestry and Forest Products and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife — so two departments,” Winistorfer said. The dean went on to describe the creation of the William H. Sardo Jr. Pallet and Container Research Laboratory, located where the current Corporate Research Center (CRC) lies. He paused as we looked at the mural. “Before anything else was there, there was nothing there but a field, and so the first building was this out at the CRC, and now it’s all buildings,” Winistorfer said. It was this lab’s construction that completed the second segment of the CNRE’s history.
In 1976, the College of Agriculture and until a week before the article’s release, when Life Sciences created the School of Forestry he was relieved of his position. The univerand Wildlife Resources. In 1978, a second sity’s reasoning for not supporting the college lab at the CRC, the Thomas M. Brooks Wood on their own at the time of the proposal was Processing Laboratory was constructed. In tight budget constraints. 1979, the Department of Forestry and Forest In 1992, the College of Forestry and Products split into the Department of Forestry Wildlife Resources finally came to fruition as and the Department of Wood Science and an independent college, beginning the fourth Forest section Products, of CNRE marking the histor y. In third section 2000, the of the CNRE’s college was history. renamed The next the College important of Natural change didn’t Resources. come until In 2003, 1992. the college A lit tl e estabfurther into lish e d it s Cheatham first master’s beyond program in th e mural Washington, is a poster D.C . The of John F. following Hosner, the ye a r, the honorary Department founding of Geography dean of joined the what we college, now know as and a year the College later, so did of Natural the Virginia PAUL M. WINISTORFER, Dean of the CNRE Resources Water and Resources Environment. Research “He Center. At wa s ver y the end of well-connected and he was a strong that fourth section of history, the Department proponent of forestry,” Winistorfer said. of Forestry was renamed the Department “He went around the university president of Forest Resources and Environmental and got all of his forest industry guys to create Conservation in 2009, the same year that this college through an act of (the) Virginia Dean Winistorfer came into his position. legislature.” The fifth and final section of the CNRE’s According to a Roanoke Times article from history mural begins in 2010 with the February 1991, Hosner, a tenured professor, renaming of the college. Later that same year, was fired after a resolution supporting the the college created the Leadership Institute creation of a new college passed through the for undergraduate students. Virginia Senate Rules Committee. He had “The first thing I did was help rename the worked at the university for 30 years, first college,” Winistorfer said. “Our work was as head of the Department of Forestry and more than natural resources, our work was Wildlife in 1961 and through the 1976 tran- stewardship of the environment — and no one sition into the School of Forestry and Wildlife at Virginia Tech had that name … Going back Resources. Hosner stayed with the school to when we were just forestry … forestry has
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“FORESTRY IS NOT WHAT FORESTRY WAS IN 1925. FORESTRY IS VERY DIFFERENT TODAY, SO HOW DO WE SEE THE LOOKING GLASS IN 30 YEARS? THAT’S WHERE THE COLLEGE NEEDS TO BE.”
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In the wood-paneled lobby of Cheatham Hall, an academic building tucked between dining halls and science buildings on the residential side of campus, is a five-sectioned mural illustrating the history of the first 92 years of the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The history detailed on the mural stops at 2017, the 25th official anniversary of the College, which calls Cheatham home. Dean Paul M. Winistorfer has held his position as senior dean of the college for 12 years, the longest-serving dean at any Virginia Tech college. These 12 years have provided a passion for the college’s past, present and future, which Winistorfer spoke on in a recent interview.
gone through a tumultuous history of good and bad where people think cutting trees is a bad thing, but we can’t live without cutting trees and the products that come from trees, so we as a group decided we would be better placed to be the College of Natural Resources and Environment because so much of the work we were doing was environmental work.” Winistorfer went on to explain what the CRNE’s Leadership Institute can offer to students. “If there’s one thing that I would be really proud of, it’s the creation of the Leadership Institute,” Winistorfer said. “I think we need leadership and letting our undergraduate students get exposed to what is leadership and what does that mean and how do we do that.” The Leadership Institute is a year-long program for rising juniors and seniors in the college that includes a weeklong trip to Richmond and D.C. to meet with policymakers and leaders, including two threecredit courses and a team capstone project. Since then, the college has created three new undergraduate degrees, renamed two departments, built a Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability in Arlington, Virginia, to house graduate programs and more. The mural ends with 2017, the college’s 25th anniversary. Present Six years ago, Dean Winstorfer ran a resolution through the university council to have Hosner named as honorary founding dean. The resolution was passed, and Hosner gained the recognition that he deserved. This year marks the 30th official anniversary of the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The college in its current form has 11 undergraduate majors, more than five master’s programs, four doctorate programs and a variety of graduate certificates. These are housed under the four modern departments of the college — fish and wildlife conservation, forest resources and environmental conservation, geography, and sustainable biomaterials. The College of Natural Resources and Environment is a small college, newer than most on campus, but has a close-knit community.
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“In each department there are different kinds of student events,” Winistorfer said. “You know, in our packaging program there’s a weekend competition — it’s like 48 hours. It’s called Repack, and the packaging students compete with other packing programs from around the country and they get a prompt on a particular product and they’ve got like 48 hours to repack and develop new packaging and present it. That’s fun for them. Our forestry students participate in several regional and national competitions both fun and scholarly. We’ve got about 15 or 18 clubs and student organizations in the college, all the way from fun stuff to (a) professional-affiliated student chapter of the American Meteorological Society.” For more information on student organizations within the CNRE, see its website’s Student Organizations section. Future “I’m humbled by the opportunity to help this program move forward,” Winistorfer said. “What do I enjoy the most about it? The opportunity to help create the future.”
The future of the College of Natural Resources and Environment, like any other college at Virginia Tech or any other college like it elsewhere in the country, isn’t exactly easy to predict. The college has changed with the ecological landscape of Virginia, adapting with the forestry and wildlife industries as they have become less about just consumption and more about conservation and recreation as well. When asked where he would like to see the college in 30 years, the dean spoke about supporting students. “That’s not that long, 30 years,” Winistorfer said. “If you hire faculty today they might be here in 30 years, right? And so where would I like to see the college go — well, one, I want to make sure that the degree programs that we offer are relevant to the future of society — that we have degree programs students come to because they’re market-based, they’re of value to society and students can get jobs. That’s No. 1.” Winistorfer discussed an upcoming program that the college hopes to implement soon that would change the way students look at urbanization. “An initiative we’re working on right now is the creation of a new degree program in
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Urban Natural Resources,” Winistorfer said. natural resources.” “70% of the students in this college come The program will provide students with a from the urban zip codes of Virginia — mostly greater portfolio of places to make a contriD.C., the eastern seaboard, Richmond. Most bution and help the college diversify its of our students student body. want to go back In closing, to the urban enviWinistorfer ronment. The reiterated urbanization of how the our world is a college plans freight train that to evo l ve we can’t stop. based on Ever y count y the rapidly southwest of us changing … every county environment from here to and the way the Tennessee we look at border lost forestry. population in “Forestry the last census. is not what COURTESY OF CNRE.VT.EDU Rural America is forestry was losing population and that has impacts both in 1925,” Winistorfer said. “Forestry is very in rural America and in the really exponentially different today, so how do we see the looking growing urban environments … Everybody glass in 30 years? That’s where the college thinks, ‘Well, you guys are out in the rural needs to be.” landscape.’ No — urban forests, urban watersheds, urban wildlife … urban human health and well-being honestly is influenced by our @COLLEGIATETIMES
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CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTERS CREATE INCLUSIVE SPACES, BUILD OFF PAST MILESTONES Momiji Barlow and Colleen Henneberry | managing editors
PAGE 9 April 26, 2022
A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue
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2022 saw a record number of applications from underrepresented and underserved student populations. Anyone who has seen a map of what the Tech. The first Black student to enroll in the main campus of Virginia Tech looked like in university was Irving Linwood Peddrew III its early history can see just how drastically in 1953, and the first to graduate was Charlie the landscape of campus has changed since Yates in 1958. Both are honored and rememits founding in 1872. Lane Stadium was not bered today as pioneers who broke down where it is now, building names were unfabarriers in the South when public and private miliar and many of our beloved landmarks had segregation was still being practiced. The yet to be built. However, these changes have Peddrew-Yates residence hall on campus is affected more than just the buildings made of named after these former students, which Hokie Stone. currently houses the Ujima Living-Learning Throughout its history, our campus has changed demographically, as the popu- Community, a Black Culture LLC. The first lation of students and Black women faculty evolved over enrolled at Virginia the years to be more Tech in the fall of diverse and inclusive 1966, and included of various commuLinda Adams, nities. H owever, Jacquelyn Butler, only recently were Linda Edmonds, the Cultural and La Verne Hairston, Community Centers Marguerite Harper created at Virginia and Chiquita Tech, which now Hudson. number six in total, Peddrew studied in order to advocate at Virginia Tech for for an inclusive envithree years until he ronment and to “raise entered the workcultural awareness force in California. In an d invite th e 2020, InclusiveVT community to learn spoke to Peddrew as about and develop part of the Unfinished a n a p p re ci a ti o n Conversation on Race for cultural differseries, where he ences,” according described his path to its website. The to Virginia Tech. COURTESY OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS CCCs include the Because Peddrew had IRVING LINWOOD PEDDREW III Black Cultural Center, been prohibited from El Centro, the Asian Cultural Engagement living or eating meals on campus, he stayed Center, the American Indian and Indigenous with Janie and William Hoge, a local African Cultural Center, the LGBTQ+ Resource American couple who hosted Peddrew in Center, and the Intercultural Engagement their home from 1953, as well as several other Center, which aims to educate and unite the young men who had been denied housing on broader community. campus. “I had just learned at that time that I would Black Cultural Center – 1991 have to take my meals there, I would room The first CCC established was the Black and board with the Hoges, and I was going to Cultural Center, located in Room 126 of have to walk to class every day and walk back Squires Student Center, which opened its for lunch and then walk back for my afternoon doors in 1991 after Black students in the class classes,” Peddrew said when recalling his of 1985 proposed the creation of a cultural arrival at the Hoges’ home. center to correspond with the growing The Hoge family’s care and support of number of Black students enrolling at Virginia these students was essential in facilitating
Black enrollment at Virginia Tech at this time. As of 2020, the Hoge family now have a residence hall, Hoge Hall, named after them as well. Peddrew also recalled speaking with the director of admissions about the university’s decision to admit three more Black students after Peddrew’s freshman year. “I was called in my sophomore year, and the director of admission said he went over some of my scores, he mentioned my intellect, and said, ‘I want you to know that the only reason that we admitted the three students from Booker T. Washington High in Norfolk was the positive situations that resulted from your being here for the first year,’” Peddrew said during the conversation. The BCC is now directed by Kimberly Clark-Shaw, who works with the other CCCs to organize events and consider how Virginia Tech can improve and educate the campus community on issues related to marginalized students. Student organizations also exist to advocate and hold events for the community to come together, including the Black Organizations Council, the Black Student Alliance and the African Students Association at Virginia Tech, also known as ASA at Virginia Tech. Some of these events aimed to foster community include Taste of Africa, the Black Alumni Reunion and ASA Night. El Centro – July 2016 2016 was a big year for the CCCs, as three centers were founded in the same year: El Centro, the American Indian and Indigenous Community Center, and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. El Centro is a Hispanic and Latinx community center located in Room 309 of Squires Student Center. It is directed by Veronica Montes, who also works as an adviser in the Latino Association of Student Organizations. According to the Special Collections and University Archives, the first Latinx student was George Hopkins Townes, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who attended Virginia Tech from 1895 to 1897. The first Hispanic student was Francisco I de Telleechea from Guanabacoa, Cuba, who attended Virginia
Tech from 1899 to 1904. One of the most recent influential feats, however, was when Virginia Tech crowned the first Latinx Homecoming Queen in all of Virginia Tech history in 2019. Desiree Velez was nominated by the organization Latin Link, a club that celebrates Hispanic heritage through cultural and educational events. Velez was a senior majoring in biochemistry. “Unfortunately there is a huge difference between how diversity is portrayed and how it feels to be a part of those marginalized communities at Tech specifically,” Velez said in an interview with VTx News. “People are (enduring) microaggressions, and being treated differently because of where they are from or the color of their skin. Educate yourself on that so you can make everyone else here feel at home; not just the people around you or that you are close to.” Today, El Centro hosts a variety of events, including Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month, which is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and honors contributions made by Hispanic and Latinx Americans and celebrates their heritage. El Centro also hosted the Latinx Symposium on March 3 and March 4, which highlighted conversation among Latinx and Hispanic faculty and students, in which they discussed how the center can best support its community at Virginia Tech. According to its website, El Centro also works with The Latinx Library, which houses over 500 texts in multiple languages available to all ages. The library was started in 2015 by Diversity Scholar graduate students, who focus their studies on awareness in diversity and inclusion and developing their skills to implement change for graduate students. American Indian and Indigenous Community Center – August 2016 Another CCC founded in 2016 is the American Indian and Indigenous Community Center (AIICC), which is “dedicated to advancing the visibility of American Indians and other indigenous peoples on campus,” according to the Cultural and Community Center website. The center, directed by Melissa Faircloth, is located in Room 122 of continued on page 10
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Squires Student Center and serves as a community space and study space for students. An important aspect of Virginia Tech’s history is that, as a land-grant university, Virginia Tech occupies Native land. The Morrill Act of 1862 “granted federally-controlled land to the states to sell and raise funds for land-grant universities like Virginia Tech,” according to a University Libraries exhibit on Natives at Virginia Tech. “Virginia Tech acknowledges that we live and work on the Tutelo/Monacan People’s homeland and we recognize their continued relationships with their lands and waterways,” the land acknowledgment states. “We further acknowledge that legislation and practices like the Morrill Act (1862) enabled the commonwealth of Virginia to finance and found Virginia Tech through the forced removal of Native Nations from their lands, both locally and in western territories.” However, the land acknowledgment alone is not enough to fully commit to reversing the university’s legacies of exclusion. “Of course, land acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture,” Faircloth said in an InclusiveVT Insight. “It becomes meaningful when we couple it with authentic relationships and informed action. … For an institution like Virginia Tech, this begins with dedicating resources to support American Indian and Indigenous students and their Cultural and Community Center.” The AIICC hosts a variety of events, including events that celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. A significant step for the Indigenous community at Virginia Tech was made on Feb. 18, 2019, when the University Council approved a resolution to observe Indigenous Peoples Day. This decision was driven by Native at Virginia Tech, which was founded in 2008 and is the largest Native student organization on campus. The organization was able to successfully lobby the University Council to get the resolution passed. Now, the event is observed annually on the second Monday of October and features discussions, plays, music and more. The Spring Powwow is also an important event that Faircloth started back in 2017 with the help of Sarah Woodward and Caylin Stewart. Members of Native at Virginia Tech worked in collaboration with alumnus Rufus Elliott and the Monacan Indian Nation to ensure the event would increase visibility of Native students and educate the Virginia Tech community. The powwow returned to the Graduate Life Center Lawn on April 23 in person for the first time since 2019.
A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue to learning about marginalized communities LGBTQ+ Resource Center – August 2016 and how to support them, has been adopted The LGBTQ+ Resource Center was by many universities. Virginia Tech’s Safe founded in 2016 and used to occupy two Zone program, which was redesigned by Bing office spaces in Squires Student Center. It is in the summer of 2020, is a 15-week program now located in Squires Student Center in open to anyone to familiarize them with LGBTQ+ topics and discuss them with their Room 227. The LGBTQ+ Resource Center is directed peers. The LGBTQ+ Resource Center has multiple by Ashleigh “Bing” Bingham. They have services been the director of catered to the LGBTQ+ the queer Resource community at Center since Virginia Tech. the fall of Bing states 2 0 1 9 an d that within have a B.A. in the resource psychology center, they and a have study Master’s areas and a in social community psychology, library filled as well as a with queer doctorate literature, in higher educational education. textbooks The first and queer few initiatives memoirs that that Bing was you might asked to get not find at involved in as Newman director were Library. centered Perhaps around how the most Virginia influential Tech’s component campus can of the improve on LGBTQ+ inclusion and Resource diversity. Center, Bing however, mentioned is their th a t th ey community were able to closet. This allow people is where to input students who ASHLEIGH “BING” BINGHAM, their chosen are unable DIRECTOR OF THE LGBTQ+ RESOURCE CENTER name and to a cce s s pronouns on gender-aftheir official firming university clothing can records. go and take Later on, they were able to allow students what they want to wear to discover their style the option to put their chosen name on their and gender identity. The center also provides Hokie Passport. Bing was also able to work chest binders for students who want to bind with Virginia Tech to add four brand-new their chest in a safe way but are unable to gender neutral restrooms across campus. afford a binder. “It’s a really exciting time, and I think I fall in The LGBTQ+ Resource Center holds events love with the job a little bit more every time I year-round, including LGBTQ+ History realize how far we can expand this work and Month throughout October, Celebrate how far-reaching this work can be,” Bing said. Bisexuality Day on Sept. 23 and Pride Week Safe Zones, a training program dedicated in April. Through these events, Bing’s goal
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“VIRGINIA TECH WAS A MILITARY SCHOOL – IT WAS FOR MEN, IT WAS FOR WHITE MEN, AND THAT’S HOW THE SCHOOL HAS DEVELOPED. THAT CULTURE, WHEN SOMETHING IS INTENTIONALLY CREATED FOR A COMMUNITY, IS VERY HARD TO BREAK OUT OF AS WE GO ALONG THE YEARS, AS THINGS DEVELOP, AS PROCESSES COME INTO PLACE...”
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is always to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community’s history and diversity. “The vision statement that we came forward with was (that) the LGBTQ+ Resource Center aims to be the home you make with the family you choose,” Bing said. According to Bing, the LGBTQ+ Resource Center is different from the other CCCs in that the first queer person at Virginia Tech is unknown. Even today, gender and sexuality has never been a part of any demographic survey: It could be that some people are not out yet, or — especially earlier in history — aren’t comfortable or in a safe space to disclose that information. “I think what’s kind of interesting as we look at the sesquicentennial, is that we don’t know when the first lesbian was admitted to Virginia Tech. We don’t know when the first gay man was admitted to Virginia Tech. We don’t know when the first trans person was admitted to Virginia Tech,” Bing said. “So, there’s not going to be a day down the road that we celebrate this — there was no moment of this.” As for what the university can improve on, Bing brings up that Virginia Tech has a long way to go in regards to inclusion. Bing explains what the CCCs are hoping to do as “adjusting disruption.” According to Bing, the CCCs hope to push Virginia Tech to distance themselves from the exclusionary past and exclusionary plan that Virginia Tech originally had, so they can find ways to make the university policies more equitable and inclusive. They hope to accomplish this through working with students, planning events, training and outreach. Bing also hopes to improve the way other students see their LGBTQ+ peers. To support these marginalized students, Bing recommends learning from podcasts and books and encourages them to “expose (themselves) to voices different than (their) own.” If fellow students are able to create a safer environment for LGBTQ+ folks, then Bing believes that the overall campus environment will improve. Bing emphasizes that until Virginia Tech can adequately provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students, they will continue to experience situations where university policies fail to protect them against discrimination. “This is true to universities across the nation — just because we are enrolling those students does not mean that the campus is necessarily the most affirming, welcoming or the most secure place for them to be,” Bing said.
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Asian Cultural Engagement Center – 2017 The most recently founded Cultural and Community Center may surprise some in its novelty — after all, 2017 was a mere five years ago. The Asian Cultural Engagement Center is directed by Nina Ha and is located in Room 140 of Squires Student Center. Since the ACEC moved into the Office for Inclusion and Diversity, the center not only serves undergraduate students but also graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. Ha has worked as director since August 2019 but previously was an educator, teaching college writing, Asian American literature and ethnic literature. She aims to advocate for and highlight the Asian Pacific Islander and Desi American community and their experiences at Virginia Tech through her work. “What I always tell people is, No. 1, that the APIDA community is considered not underrepresented but underserved, and we’re still pretty much invisible on this campus despite my trying very hard to make us visible,” Ha said. “What that means is statistically, in numbers, we are 10% of the population on this campus.” The first Asian student to attend Virginia Tech was Mozaffar-ed-din Khan, according to the Asians @ VT History Project. Khan was the first international student from Asia, coming from Tehran, Persia, in 1914, nearly 40 years before the first Black student, Irving Peddrew, was enrolled. The first Asian student to graduate from Virginia Tech was Tien Liang Jiu, who earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1924. Although Ha acknowledged that there have been many steps taken to improve the APIDA community’s experiences at Virginia Tech, she believes that there is still work to be done.
A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue “I hear things from students in which they’ve been micro-aggressed — ‘Where do you come from,’ ‘Go back to where you came from,’ you know, not acknowledging that APIDAs are also part of the U.S. fabric and there’s a whole history,” Ha said. “There are fortunately now the Asian American experience class, the Asian American History class, and there’s a growing number of courses devoted to Asian and Asian American Studies, but it’s still sort of not as prominent.” Looking to the future, Ha has many goals she hopes to achieve through her position, including the creation of an APIDA LivingLearning Community, highlighting APIDAs in adoption, and recruiting and retaining APIDA students, faculty and staff. Many of these projects are already in the works. “What I’m sort of trying to get at is that everything that I’m doing is sort of building a foundation for what I hope will be a lasting legacy,” Ha said. “It’s sort of a step-by-step process to do so, I’m hoping one day I will have an advisory board to help me grow. We have, now, a much more robust APIDA Caucus, which is made up of faculty, staff and graduate students. We have a graduate student mentoring program that was started last year that had just four graduate students, and this year we have 31 graduate students, so you can see the remarkable change in that. We have, for the APIDA Heritage Month in April, we have almost an event a day throughout April.” Although Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month is celebrated nationally during the month of May, Virginia Tech celebrates in April to align with the academic calendar. The ACEC also holds a multitude of events throughout the year for students and faculty to come together as a community. One of their popular events is Learning Lunches, in which students can speak to and learn from APIDA faculty.
“Our signature events are the Learning Lunches, and I started the Learning Lunches which is featuring APIDA faculty on this campus, because students were saying that they didn’t know any APIDA faculty members,” Ha said. “It was very impactful, I think, for students to see and have role models who are APIDAs. The only two questions I ask the APIDA faculty members are, ‘Can you tell us a little bit about your journey, your personal and professional journey into higher education,’ and they have been so wonderful, it’s amazing what the faculty share and have accomplished.” Other noteworthy events include nighttime guided meditation, the InspirASIAN series, in which APIDA faculty and students share and discuss their research, an APIDA mental health support group and the Lunar New Year celebration in collaboration with Owens Dining. “Lunar New Year this past year, they served almost 2,000 boxes of Lunar New Year food, and around 600 bowls of pho, so it’s growing in popularity,” Ha said. Reflecting on her position as director of the ACEC, Ha expressed her passion for her job, noting that her “door is open” for people to come talk to her to advocate for resources. “I’m really fortunate, I have great student workers as well, so that’s really amazing,” Ha said. “What’s been incredible is meeting and interacting with so many people who are fortunately, appreciative of the work that I do, and that’s really fulfilling, when people can say, ‘I was really impacted by your program,’ or the event, or ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’ That’s always nice to hear, but also knowing that I can make a difference.” Looking at the Future of Diversity at Virginia Tech In recent years, significant gains in the application rates of underserved and underrepresented populations can be
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seen through Virginia Tech’s record-high first-year application numbers. In 2022, within a record number of 45,214 applications, Black or African American applications saw a 6% increase compared to the 2021 mark, applications from Hispanic/ Latino students saw a 9% increase and Native American applications saw an 8% increase, according to a VTx article. “Virginia Tech was a military school – it was for men, it was for white men, and that’s how the school has developed,” Bing said. “That culture, when something is intentionally created for a community, is very hard to break out of as we go along the years, as things develop, as processes come into place, (and) as policies come into place.” This increase in diversity among the student population is what all of the Cultural Community Centers at Virginia Tech hope to accomplish. According to Bing, the CCC directors are constantly in contact with administrators and faculty facilitating discussions on inclusivity and intersectionality, and how Virginia Tech can improve in their path to embracing their diverse population of students. As Bing states, “we’ve come a beautiful way.” Editor’s note: The Collegiate Times was not able to get in contact with the directors of the Black Cultural Center, American Indian and Indigenous Community Center or El Centro.
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5 GREATEST FOOTBALL SEASONS IN VT HISTORY Devin Shepard | sports editor
As we celebrate Virginia Tech’s sesquicentennial, we must recognize the past 120 years of many Hokies’ favorite tradition: college football. This year is Virginia Tech’s 150th anniversary, and along with that have come 120 years of great college football in Blacksburg. In light of that, it’s worth taking a look at some of the greatest seasons the Hokies have had over the years.
No. 5 – 2007 (11-3) Following the tragic shooting that took the lives of 32 students and faculty members in the spring, football was far from the most important thing happening in Blacksburg. With the eyes and hearts of the nation here in Blacksburg, ESPN sent its college gameday
crew to campus for the Hokies’ week one match-up with East Carolina University, and the team, playing for their classmates and teachers, won in front of a national audience. The Hokies went on to have a fantastic season, beating No. 22 Clemson and No. 16 Virginia, before winning the second ACC
championship in program history in a rematch with a Matt Ryan-led Boston College team. It was the epitome of Beamer ball, as the Hokies fielded the fifth-best unit in the country. The team went on to lose in the Orange Bowl continued on page 12
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A Collegiate Times Commemorative Issue ACC Championship against Florida State. Virginia Tech would finish the season with
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Blacksburg and the Hokies to take the next step and win their first national championship.
against Kansas, but this season still stands as one of the best and most important in program history.
hadn’t gotten injured. No. 1 – 1999 (11-1) The only National Championship appearance in Virginia Tech football history had to be the No. 1 season. The first year of the Michael Vick experience, the team and the dual-threat quarterback took the country by storm, passing for 2,065 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushing for 682 yards and nine touchdowns. Vick earned himself First-Team All American Honors and finished third in Heisman voting. The Hokies absolutely dominated their competition, beating No. 24 Virginia, 31-7, No. 19 Miami, 43-10, No. 22 Boston College, 38-14, and No. 16 Syracuse, a ridiculous 62-0. Unfortunately, the team would go on to lose in the National Championship against Florida State, but their success and average of a 26.8-point differential speaks for itself.
No. 4 – 2009 (10-3) 2009 didn’t start off in the best way possible, with the Hokies losing to No. 5 Alabama the first week of the season, but the year was highlighted by huge wins against No. 19 Nebraska and No. 9 Miami in Weeks 3 and 4. The team would lose big games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina in the middle of the season, putting them out of contention for the ACC Championship. But Virginia Tech’s stifling defense and Tyrod Taylor-led offense proved its greatness by the end of the year, beating Tennessee in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to finish the season. Running back Ryan Williams had one of the greatest rushing seasons in school history, finishing with 1,655 yards and 21 touchdowns. No. 3 – 2005 (11-2) Coming off their first ACC Championship, the Hokies were seen as a force to be reckoned with coming into 2005. Virginia Tech fielded the best defense in the country and was led on offense by Michael Vick’s younger brother and embattled quarterback, Marcus Vick. The team beat No. 15 Georgia Tech and No. 13 Boston College but failed to live up to its potential, with off-field problems being a storyline all season. The Hokies would lose their first game of the season against No. 5 Miami in November, and they would lose the
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a Gator Bowl win over Louisville.
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No. 2 – 2000 (11-1) The 2000 Virginia Tech Hokies stand as one of the biggest what-ifs in college football history. Coming off a National Championship appearance and rostering the best quarterback in the country, all eyes were on
Everything looked to be going well, as the team went undefeated through its first eight games. However, Michael Vick suffered an injury against Pittsburgh, and the next week against Miami, the team took its lone loss of the year. The team went undefeated the rest of the way and won the Gator Bowl against Clemson, but fans have to wonder what could have been if Vick
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HALL OF FAME GET THE SCOOP ON COACHES WHO SHAPED VT’S NEW SCHOOL OF HOKIE ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION claire castagno | sports editor
Leeanna duong | lifestyles contributor
“The most notable Hokie coaches have been inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame for their contributions to Virginia Tech’s athletic department. I have picked out a few coaches that young Hokie fans may not be familiar with and highlighted their careers and roles in building Virginia Tech into a victorious program.” Intrigued? Delve into the history at collegiatetimes.com.
“Virginia Tech’s reputation and name has often been associated with engineering, football and prestigious research programs. However, the School of Communication is an emerging program, bringing a new realm of study to Tech. Students of communication have a multitude of programs they can participate in, such as working with the ACC, Virginia Tech Television (VTTV) and study abroad programs.” Want to read more? Access the article at collegiatetimes.com.