Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech, located in Blacksburg Virginia and known as the home of the "Hokie's"! Founded in 1872 as a land-grant institution and originally named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. The Virginia general Assembly officially changed the college's name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in 1896. The name was so long it was shortened to VPI by the citizens of Virginia. As the original cheer for the institution made reference to the original name, it was no longer suitable for the institution, therefore a contest was held to select a new spirit yell! A five dollar prize was given to the winner for his cheer that is now knows as Old Hokie. Later, the phrase "Team! Team! Team! was added at the end and that is when the "e" was added to "Hoki." With the change of the new name and new yell it seemed fitting to replace the original colors of black and gray as well. Burnt orange and maroon were officially adopted as the new school colors and were first worn during a football game versus nearby Roanoke College on Oct. 26, 1896.

Virginia tech adopted a university logo in 1991, which incorporates an image of the War Memorial with its eight pylons, each representing a different virtue. Then in 2006, the university logo was updated followed by a yearlong study by a branding consultant who worked very closely with the university community to develop a representative tagline for the university. Usually when you see the updated logo you will also see the version that incorporates the new tagline, Invent the future. This tagline was chosen as it was felt it expresses the future-altering and future-enhancing work of the Virginia Tech experience.