Thanks from Blacksburg, Nashville, and the rest of the Hokie family

N

NashvilleHokie

Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
1
It's touching to see the response of most through this terrible time. I'm a 1992 graduate. I am only in contact (sporadically) with 3 people at VT any longer. One of them happens to be the police chief. He's a good man who is under a lot of fire right now for a situation that he had little, if any control over. Wendell Flinchum is one of the best. If you would, please keep him and the VTPD in your prayers as well. I worked with them for 3 1/2 years as nighttime security staff - it paid the rent and helped me get through my studies. They are all first rate people, the kind you would be proud to call your friends.

Again, many thanks for your thoughts and prayers in this time when one person's choice to do evil has done great harm to many others. We in the Hokie family appreciate all of you.
 
You got it. Let's hope something positive will come from this. More prayers sent.

Eric
 
Could someone tell me where the term 'Hokie' comes from and what it means? I heard it on TV this evening.
 
From http://www.onlineseats.com/college-football-tickets/virginia-tech/index.asp

Here is the answer to that oft-posed question, "What's a Hokie?" and an explanation of other Tech traditions.

What is a Hokie? The origin of the word "Hokie" has nothing to do with a turkey. It was coined by O. M. Stull (class of 1896), who used it in a spirit yell he wrote for a competition.

Here's how that competition came to be held. Virginia Tech was founded in 1872 as a land-grant institution and was named Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1896, the Virginia General Assembly officially changed the college's name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, a name so long that citizens shortened it in popular usage to VPI. The original college cheer, which made reference to the original name of the institution, was no longer suitable. Thus, a contest was held to select a new spirit yell, and Stull won the $5 top prize for his cheer, now known as Old Hokie:

Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy.
Techs, Techs, V.P.I.
Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.
Polytechs - Vir-gin-ia.
Rae, Ri, V.P.I.

Later, the phrase "Team! Team! Team!" was added at the end, and an "e" was added to "Hoki."

Stull later said that he made up the word as an attention-grabber. Though he may not have known it, "Hokie" (in its various forms) has been around at least since 1842. According to Johann Norstedt, now a retired Virginia Tech English professor, "[Hokie was] a word that people used to express feeling, approval, excitement, surprise. Hokie, then, is a word like 'hooray,' or 'yeah,' or 'rah.'" Whatever its original meaning, the word in the popular cheer did, as Stull wanted, grab attention and has been a part of Virginia Tech tradition ever since.
 
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