Developments at Virginia Tech
The official Tumblr of Virginia Tech's Office of University Development, located at the Gateway Center on the corner of University City Blvd., and Prices Fork Rd., in Blacksburg, Va.
This website is maintained by the Development Communications team headed by Albert Raboteau, Gary Cope, and Chuck George.
We’re at the 2013 CASE III conference in Atlanta. Here is one of our award-winning project entries. We’re very proud of the work we do for Virginia Tech and we’re especially proud to be representing Hokies everywhere!
im they happiest girl in the world !!!!! <3
Congratulations and welcome to the Hokie family!
Another beautiful #Blacksburg #sunset with Buruss Hall in the backdrop. This will never get old. #sky #clouds #night #virginiatech #vt #hokies
Sunset on campus.
As the sun is about to set on another week, we wish you a safe and happy weekend!
Written by PRISM Communication Member Erica Wiles
Going into college I knew without a doubt that I would be studying abroad. Skip to August of my sophomore year: I completed the study abroad application for Pamplin’s semester long Lugano Program and was accepted the following October. The year since crept up on me and before I knew it, it was time to board the plane at Dulles International Airport bound for Switzerland.
I said my goodbyes to my family and anxiously made my way through security and to the terminal we’d be departing from. My stomach was feeling a strange mixture of anxiety, nerves and pure excitement.
I’ve been in Lugano 24 days now and I can talk for hours about how this is going to be the one experience in my life that will change me forever. Every day I find myself doing something different: experiencing new foods, hiking up mountains, walking through small towns that resemble movie sets and seeing views I will never forget. I still have 80 more days here (I have the countdown app on my phone) and I can’t begin to imagine what still lies ahead of me for the next few months.
I’ve been to three countries in the first 17 days I was here and plan on going to many more already. I’m travelling to Africa to work for an NGO and visit two countries there. I’m taking 18 credits and I’ve already had two midterms. Studying abroad for a semester is an all-around consuming experience but I’m enjoying every second of it. All of the moments I’m experiencing here I know I would never have the chance to have if I didn’t study abroad, and my time here is already flying by.
For anyone considering studying abroad—go! And if you aren’t thinking about it then start thinking! Every day is different and I’ve had so many amazing experiences in Switzerland and all over Europe already. Studying abroad is the trip of a lifetime.
Lugano, Switzerland
Munich, Germany
Milan, Italy
Erica gives a great first-hand report of her study abroad experience. For many, to study abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they’ll remember and cherish always.
It’s also why donors like Winston and Marilyn Samuels, both Virginia Tech alumni, give generously to Virginia Tech’s study abroad scholarship program.
“Our commitment is to give to Virginia Tech such that students will go out and then be able to bring back,” said Winston Samuels. “They need to go to Africa, Brazil, Katmandu, Canada, and see what’s going on out there, because the world is big and we cannot see the world from Blacksburg.”
Have you studied abroad as a Virginia Tech student on scholarship? We’d love to share your story and see photos!
Meet Virginia Tech students Annie Loyd and Richard Lee, both members of Virginia Tech’s Health Education and Awareness Team, or H.E.A.T.
We sat down with Annie and Richard today for a story we’re working on about the team and how it is making a positive impact both at Virginia Tech and in the community.
One of the most popular programs the H.E.A.T. team students work on involves the Tobacco-Free Hokies T-shirts, as you can see in the photos above.
Keep an eye out for this upcoming article and if you have this T-shirt or have participated in one of the H.E.A.T. team’s events, we’d love to share your story.
The new Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech is coming along nicely! It is scheduled to open later this year.
From the Center for the Arts Facebook page:
Happy Friday all! Here’s a peek at the work on the top of our performance hall. These beautiful ceiling “fins” serve as an acoustical element while keeping the highest point of the hall open and airy.
![Alumnus David Barnes and his wife Jennifer, members of the university’s Caldwell Society of donors, made a generous donation to help with construction of the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, due to open later this year.
“While I cannot sing or dance and have no art talent, I’ve always enjoyed shows in New York, and the talent that it takes to perform is amazing to me,” Barnes said. “Jennifer and I thought that this [center] was something that Virginia Tech needed.”
Read more in our latest issue of Impact Magazine.
Photo Caption: David Barnes and his wife, Jennifer, with their son, Ben, and daughter, Emily.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e61f0f009953341a47297b72ed18f00a/tumblr_mhiajaILns1qzkgbgo1_500.jpg)
Alumnus David Barnes and his wife Jennifer, members of the university’s Caldwell Society of donors, made a generous donation to help with construction of the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, due to open later this year.
“While I cannot sing or dance and have no art talent, I’ve always enjoyed shows in New York, and the talent that it takes to perform is amazing to me,” Barnes said. “Jennifer and I thought that this [center] was something that Virginia Tech needed.”
Read more in our latest issue of Impact Magazine.
Photo Caption: David Barnes and his wife, Jennifer, with their son, Ben, and daughter, Emily.
Kelsey Mellen earned her bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management from Virginia Tech in 2012. Even before she graduated summa cum laude, Mellen accepted a position with JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.
While attending Virginia Tech, she received a scholarship endowed by alumnae Starlette Johnson, who so valued her experiences at her alma mater that she wanted to give back and help future Hokies get the most out of their college experiences.
Read more about Starlette Johnson and why she’s made giving back to Virginia Tech a priority.
Michael H. Aldrich, a Virginia Tech alumnus and head of client service at Brown Advisory in Baltimore, Md., will give the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 3:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets needed. Free Parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.
Click here to learn more about Aldrich and get more information about his talk.
This distinguished lecture series is made possible through generous corporate support from Wells Fargo.
The Signature Engineering Building on 18 January 2013, a day after the first year’s winterstorm gave Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech campus 6 inches of snow. The SEB is expected to be open this time next year, in 2014. Its progress can be followed here, live, at our webcam from atop Whittemore Hall: http://www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding/livecam
An anonymous donor committed $25 million toward the Signature Engineering Building currently under construction at Virginia Tech.
The largest single donation ever given to the 140-year-old institution was one of three multimillion-dollar contributions to Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering highlighted April 28, 2011 by university President Charles W. Steger.
