Ted Talk
There are many beautiful colors on the spectrum and one of your very favorites just happens to be orange. Burnt orange, in fact, and, like a fine wine paired with just the right meal, you like your burnt orange when it’s paired with Chicago maroon. You’re a true HOKIE when you know your official school colors. You also know the word “hokie” comes from a spirit chant written by a student in 1896.
OM Stull wrote the spirit yell for a competition and his prize was five dollars! The original school mascot was the fighting gobbler which dates back to the early decades of the 1900s. A live turkey, which was trained to gobble on command, was paired with a costumed mascot in the 1920s. In the late 1970s, the football coach started to promote the word hokie and the transition away from gobbler began. The hokie bird as we know him today made his first appearance in 1987. I knew the hokie bird personally who helped design the mascot as we know him now. I can even say that they hokie bird was in my wedding! My husband’s roommate proudly strutted around campus for several years. He even wore the bright orange bird feet to his graduation ceremony. The iconic building on campus, a true symbol of Virginia Tech, is Burruss Hall. Burruss is constructed of hokie stone and named after Virginia Tech’s eighth president Julian Ashby
Burruss. The building material is actually limestone and you’re a true hokie if you know that Tech has its own quarry. Stone masons at the quarry produce about 50 tons of Hokie stone each week. Burruss Hall is located on the east side of the drill field, which is the centerpiece of Tech’s campus. This field is home to the criss- crossings of students trekking across the 2600 acre campus and the daily drills of the Corps of Cadets. You’re a true hokie if you have tromped across the drill field on your way to class through several inches of snow. At one end of the drill field, you will find War Memorial Chapel. The pylons above the chapel honor those students and alumni that have sacrificed themselves during times of war. The eight pylons stand for the virtues of brotherhood, honor, leadership, sacrifice, service, loyalty, duty, and Ut Prosim (That I may Serve). Here, Tech also memorializes our seven Medal of Honor recipients. My father was a member of
Tech’s corps and graduated in 1948. Dad shared many stories about drills in the snow and marching straight through dinner until you got it right. You’re a true hokie if you know that Tech, which was founded in 1872, is one of only two land- grant schools in the nation to maintain both a cadet corps and a general civilian student population. (The other is Texas A & M.) Both land grant universities are rich in history and have deep roots in the world of college football. You’re a true hokie if you know that at Virginia Tech, a Beemer is not a luxury car, but a stellar head coach. Frank Beamer has coached for the Hokies for 27 years and currently holds the title for the most wins (266) of any active FBS coach. While watching
Coach Beamer in Blacksburg, you’d be in Lane Stadium, another distinctly recognizable structure on campus. Land stadium seats 66,233 spectators and you’re a true hokie if you know the tradition that’s held during every home game between the third and fourth quarters, the “hokie pokie.” The hokie pokie’s origins are still debated with versions of the song dating back to London in 1942 and Pennsylvania in 1946. While watching a home game in Lane Stadium you will no doubt be decked from head to toe in appropriate hokie gear that includes the athletic logo. The “VT” was introduced in 1984 and is a combination of two student submissions to an art department contest. The University has its own logo which includes an image of the war memorial, the year Tech was founded and the new tagline “Invent the Future.” Virginia Tech’s motto is from the Latin
Ut Prosim meaning “That I may serve.” When Tech scores during a home football game, you’ll hear the boom from the cannon just outside the stadium. You’re a true hokie if you know that the cannon is nicknamed Skipper, in honor of
President John F. Kennedy. The cannon was actually constructed by two cadets in
1964. Butch Harper and Homer Hickam (of October Sky fame) built the cannon to respond to the chant and taunting from VMI cadets “Where’s your cannon?”
When Skipper was first fired, it was packed with three times the ammunition needed and shook the glass in the press box windows. Whether you’re old alum like me or a recent graduate, you know there’s no better place to be than
Blacksburg, Virginia. And, by the way, back to those original colors again… you’re a true hokie when your favorite season of the year is autumn. It only takes a short drive anywhere around our beautiful state to see that Mother Nature is indeed a Hokie. She’s painted the trees just the right shades of orange and maroon.