Luke Weir 540-566-8917
In Blacksburg and beyond, Virginia Tech is poised to expand its history another 150 years, according to university plans and the leadership behind that vision.
A yearlong celebration of Virginia Tech’s sesquicentennial anniversary ended last week, with diplomas bestowed to the almost 3,000-person graduating class of fall 2022.
Since 1872, almost 400,000 people have graduated from Virginia Tech, it was announced during a time capsule dedication ceremony on campus this month.
“As we turn our attention to the future, we recognize that the 150th year is a unique time for Virginia Tech,” school President Tim Sands said. “The things we have accomplished as of today will become the storied history that is celebrated 50 years from now.”
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Now with those many years of school history in the past, Sands said the future will remember that Virginia Tech in 2022 set its sights toward becoming a top global research university, made and achieved goals for inclusion and diversity, and committed to protect the future climate with a sustainable campus environment.
“They will remember that we established the Beyond Boundaries vision for the university’s future, and worked to reimagine higher education and the Virginia Tech experience,” Sands said. “We launched a new era for Virginia Tech in Roanoke, and the greater [Washington] DC region.”
Envisioning for Beyond Boundaries started in 2015, soon after Sands became president. It is intended as a framework for Virginia Tech’s development moving toward 2047, according to documents online.
Some goals identified for the 2047 vision, as mentioned by Sands, are already well underway:
Research expenditures at Virginia Tech increased to almost $600 million in 2022, up by 25% in the five years since 2017. And the future includes an $80 million research grant from the US Department of Agriculture to help make climate-smart farming practices more affordable.
On another side of the state, construction continued this year at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria, ahead of opening in 2024. That expansion in Northern Virginia is part of what attracted e-commerce behemoth Amazon to locate its second headquarters in Virginia’s DC metro area.
Work groups convened by Sands, meanwhile, are tasked with initiatives to improve college access and affordability for Virginia students; to prevent and ultimately usher an end to sexual violence on campus; and to examine the state of freedom of speech at Virginia Tech.
“The university has impacted the lives of so many over the past 150 years, but as we stand here today, I feel like we’re only beginning to touch our full potential,” Sands said. “Just imagine what achievements lay ahead as our aspirations become reality, and as the next generation continues to write the Virginia Tech story.”
For Rosemary Blieszner, who was co-chair of the sesquicentennial steering committee, planning a celebration of Virginia Tech’s 150-year history was itself an undertaking that started in late 2018.
Sesquicentennial banners and flags draped campus and downtown Blacksburg. Commemorative trees were planted, departments held special programs, politicians passed commendatory resolutions, and a large interactive timeline went on display in Newman Library.
“There were just countless kinds of activities,” Blieszner said. “All of it was done in the spirit of thinking what we have accomplished, and where we should go next, into the future.”
During homecoming, historic images were projected onto Torgersen Bridge, one of the gateways to campus. With all those and other celebrations now etched into history, a university refocuses towards the future.
“We encouraged people to think about honoring the past, celebrating the present, and then, most importantly, looking forward to the future,” Blieszner said. “This is really setting the stage for where we’re going next, and continuing the president’s Beyond Boundaries initiative that we launched a couple of years ago.”
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