Qualla: Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric T Gunther, CC BY 3.0. Addison Caldwell walked 28 miles from Craig County to register as Virginia Tech's first student on October 1, 1872. The walk is now an annual tradition - first-year cadets retrace half of it in the fall, the other half in the spring, with a bronze statue of Add Caldwell on the Upper Quad marking the destination. The university Caldwell enrolled in was called Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College then, a small land-grant institution carved out of a Methodist boys' school under the Morrill Act of 1862. Today, more than 38,000 students attend Virginia Tech across nine colleges. The motto - Ut Prosim, That I May Serve - is the same one Caldwell signed up under.

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Image: Eric T Gunther | CC BY 3.0

Virginia Tech: From Land-Grant to R1 Research University

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Virginia Tech began on 250 acres of the Solitude Farm, bought from Robert Taylor Preston in 1872 for $21,250. The school's first five presidents had all served the Confederacy in some capacity, and the early college's culture reflected that southern heritage - the Confederate bat...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Virginia Tech: The Corps of Cadets and Ut Prosim

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit EpicV27, CC BY-SA 4.0. Virginia Tech is one of only three U.S. public universities that retain an active corps of cadets alongside regular civilian students - Texas A&M and the University of North Georgia are the other two. Until 1923, every able-bodied male undergraduate was required to participate in...

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Image: EpicV27 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Virginia Tech: April 16, 2007

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vineet Doshi, CC BY-SA 3.0. On April 16, 2007, a Virginia Tech undergraduate named Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty in two locations on campus - West Ambler Johnston Hall first, then Norris Hall about two hours later - before killing himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American col...

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Image: Vineet Doshi | CC BY-SA 3.0

Virginia Tech: Hokies, Lane Stadium, and Frank Beamer

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0. Athletics arrived at Virginia Tech almost as soon as students did, but football has become the school's most public face. The Hokies compete in the ACC after a long Big East run. Frank Beamer coached the team for 29 seasons - 1987 to 2015 - winning 238 games and guiding the Hokie...

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Image: User:B | CC BY-SA 4.0

Virginia Tech: Hokie Stone, Quad to Quad

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CBGator87, CC BY-SA 3.0. Virginia Tech is, almost everywhere on campus, the color of Hokie Stone - a soft grey limestone quarried just west of town. The university owns the quarry. Most major buildings since the 1950s have been clad in it, including the recent Pearson Hall and the New Cadet Dorm replacin...

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Image: CBGator87 | CC BY-SA 3.0