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Commentary

Three organizations engaging alumni to strengthen Virginia Tech...

Virginia Tech has a rich history of alumni involvement and support. Its earliest Alumni Association was formed in 1875 and was run strictly by volunteers until the 1920s. However, the active involvement of alumni in the life of the university led to several other organizations being formed that are related to and support the university.
I thought it might be helpful to explain a little about the origin of these three entities that provide support to Tech, and how they are aligned with the university today.

The Alumni Association, as I mentioned, was the first to be organized by alumni. Its records were kept by volunteers and its activities organized by the volunteers. It was through the Alumni Association that the first capital funds were raised. The first successful campaign in the late 1800s funded the "YMCA building adjacent to what is now the Upper Quad. It served as the primary activities center for students for many years of the early 20th century and today houses part of the Performing Arts program. A second project came about 25 years later when the War Memorial Gym was built in honor of alumni killed in World War I. It was a center for basketball and other sports, and also had a few guest rooms to house visiting teams and occasional alumni visitors. The first permanent Alumni staff was located there.

The Alumni Association was formally incorporated in 1924 and gained 501(c)(3) status shortly thereafter. The first Alumni Secretary was hired in 1926. It maintained a nominal dues program and raised funds through the Alumni Loyalty Fund. This evolved into the Alumni Annual Fund, with its Century Club recognition program, that raised gifts until 1990. That year, the independent Association Staff was merged with the university and its alumni annual giving was merged with the fund raising conducted by University Development. The Alumni Association has a Board of Directors that helps create and advise the alumni programs of the university. The staff is no longer "independent" of the university, but is part of the university's staff. Support for the staff and programs is generated from alumni programs income and from the Virginia Tech Foundation. Gifts made to the Alumni Association are held and used by the Virginia Tech Foundation to support programs serving alumni. Today, the new Holtzman Alumni Center is home for Alumni staff and headquarters for many alumni programs throughout the year.

The first athletic scholarships were offered in 1925, and the formal organization to raise athletic scholarship support was established in 1946, the Student Aid Fund. The Student Aid Association, a booster club, was chartered in 1950. The Hokie Club was chartered in 1962 as part of the Student Aid Association to recognize volunteer participation and donor support. The independent Student Aid Association was aligned more closely with the university in 1988 and its staff became part of the university staff. The Hokie Club continues as the booster club organization, and gifts to support athletic scholarships are made through the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund to the Virginia Tech Foundation. Lu Merritt '68 serves as Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics.

A more formal development program was established in 1948 with the creation of the VPI Educational Foundation. Its purpose was to "work toward increasing gifts and endowments made to the college." The first director of development post was created in 1958. Over the nearly sixty years since its founding, the Foundation, now called the Virginia Tech Foundation, has accumulated assets exceeding $800 million. Several university-wide campaigns have been conducted since the early 1980s to attract operating, endowment and capital support. The Foundation holds and manages all funds and other assets contributed to the university, be they for any department, college, program, athletics or the Alumni Association. The staff of the Foundation, headed by Ray Smoot '69, is independent from the staff of the university and is supported by the Foundation. However, our entire Alumni staff and the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund (Hokie Club) staff are formally employees of the university.

All three organizations have a long history of attracting and strengthening support to advance Virginia Tech. And all have emerged as incorporated entities during the past 80 years. Alumni continue to support Virginia Tech in growing numbers because they are appreciative of what Virginia Tech has done to enrich their lives and careers. That support sets Virginia Tech apart from many of it peers around the country.