Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, often called Virginia Tech, is a state-supported institution of higher learning that has its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is the largest university in Virginia. In addition to the school’s main campus, Virginia Tech has branch campuses at Abingdon, Richmond, Roanoke, and Virginia Beach. Virginia Tech also operates a branch campus with several locations near Washington, D.C. The university has international programs, including the Caribbean Center for Education and Research in the Dominican Republic and the Center for European Studies and Architecture in Ticino, Switzerland.
The state of Virginia founded Virginia Tech in 1872 as a land-grant institution. A land-grant institution is partly funded by the United States government under the Morrill Act of 1862. The school’s original name was the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. The college adopted its present name in 1970. Originally, only men attended Virginia Tech, which offered military training and courses in agriculture, business, and engineering. Women began to be admitted as students in 1921.
In 2007, the Virginia Tech campus was the site of the deadliest shooting incident in U.S. history up to that time. A student gunman killed 32 people, including 27 fellow students and 5 teachers, and wounded many more before taking his own life.
Virginia Tech’s athletic teams are nicknamed the Hokies. Oscar M. Stull, a member of the class of 1896, invented the word. That year, Virginia Tech held a contest to write a new cheer for fans of its teams. Stull won with a cheer called ”Old Hokie.” The university’s website at https://www.vt.edu/ offers additional information about Virginia Tech.
