    EXHIBIT
    PROTEST
CIVIL RIGHTS AND VIETNAM

In this exhibit you can learn how Virginia Tech students responded to the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War--from a dispute over whether to lower the flag after MLK's assassination to a student occupation of Williams Hall. By Jenni Gallagher and Paul Quigley.

REMAKING VPI: THE HAHN YEARS

What makes a Hokie a Hokie? Who belongs at Virginia Tech? What values does our community hold dear? The answers depend on who you ask—and when. From this community's beginnings in 1872, successive generations of Hokies have defined themselves in many different ways.

A particularly far-reaching transformation began in the 1960s, as Virginia Tech moved from college to university status under the leadership of President T. Marshall Hahn.  

During the 1960s, the demographics of the University began to shift. By 1970, the student body had changed dramatically; the enrollment of both female students and African-American students had increased significantly while the cadet population shrank. Against the backdrop of nationwide social change, Virginia Tech was reinventing itself.  

 Campus in 1970. Virginia Tech expanded its physical footprint as well as its students numbers throughout the 1960s

T. Marshall Hahn led a major transformation of Virginia Tech as the institution's eleventh president from 1964-1972

The 1960s saw a major increase in student numbers. Women and African Americans increased, while the number of cadets went down.

Freddie Hairston, Linda Adams, and Chiquita Hudson.

In 1966 the first black women were admitted to Virginia Tech: Linda (Adams) Hoyle, Jackie (Butler) Blackwell, Linda (Edmonds) Turner, Freddie Hairston, Marguerite Laurette (Harper) Scott, Chiquita Hudson.

The face of Virginia Tech's student body began to change--and new answers to the question "who belongs at Virginia Tech" became possible.

Check out VT Stories' interviews with three of the first black female Hokies.