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2HokiesIn1's picture 2HokiesIn1
PICK 6 BIG SHOOTS
| 11 months 1 week # | OT: 2025-2026 Premier League, EPL

Started following Kilmarnock in the Scottish PL and Brentford in the EPL last year. Hope for better results for both clubs this year!

Tech Triumph Teacher's picture Tech Triumph Teacher
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

Maybe I'm naive, and feel free to correct me if I'm missing something in the narrative, but man I wish we had these kinds of talks years ago. Leadership can hide behind Covid all they want, but the warts here were showing well before that. I'm happy to hear Whit beat the drum in such clear terms, but it feels very, very late and reactive to reality.

Alum07's picture Alum07
🦃 LEG KING 🦃
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

Fact of the matter is that we stand to lose more than the amount of money it would take to invest to bring us up to where we need to be. And the kicker is that if we fund properly our revenue streams will grow to make it even more financially responsible for us to do it

It sucks that we have to up our spending, but it is our only option if we don't want to see Virginia Tech as we know it die on the vine.

VTJ12's picture VTJ12
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

The University as most of us have known it for the last 20-30 years will not be the same. It will be more like VT prior to the growth of the football program - very strong engineering and sciences school, but the fan and alumni base would be altered for a generation or more. There's already way, way less VT stuff all over the state than there was even ten years ago. The concept of people growing up VT fans I think would be altered radically and the school enrollment IMO would shrink significantly over time.

MVhokie69's picture MVhokie69
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

I am all for finding real ways to win, but and extra 78M a year comes from where? That is more than 3k per student.

Ideally the vast majority of that isn't coming from current students. According to the VT alumni association board, there are about 292k alumi. Going with the assumption that the number given is living alumni means you only need to average about $270 per person to get to that $78M number. The Hokie Club needs to step up their game in a big way regardless, would've been an easy job in the 2000s when we were winning games, but that time as long since passed.

Our national education system is collapsing on itself while everyone spends into oblivion because someone else is. It cannot continue.

The education system as a whole is going to have a number of struggles in the coming years. Part of it is political issues that obviously won't be discussed here, but there's also a smaller generation of kids incoming, and by extension less potential students. We will likely see a lot of schools downsizing and many smaller schools closing down. While a large investment to "keep up with the joneses" may be tough to digest, it may also be an important factor in keeping Virginia Tech relevant in years to come.

Hokie2013's picture Hokie2013
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

"Hey guys, we need to spend an extra 78 million a year or we might lose 15 million a year" ... now thats some math that doesnt math.

I am all for finding real ways to win, but and extra 78M a year comes from where? That is more than 3k per student. This is another unsustainable collegiate arms race that is driving costs through the roof to keep up with the joneses. Our national education system is collapsing on itself while everyone spends into oblivion because someone else is. It cannot continue.

Ham Bone's picture Ham Bone
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

I see what youre saying and it makes sense. But what doesn't make sense are most18 year old teeneagers going to college. Having a strong althetlic brand absolutely increases admissions and applications. How many 18 years old do you know that thing rationally?

I only applied to VT. I knew they had good engineering but that was about it (Building Construction alum here).

I was going to school to tailgate and bash UVA. I know i wasn't alone.

rworrell's picture rworrell
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

It's more of a macro-awareness of the school as a result of the exposure. The specifics of the university's merits don't need to be spelled out in detail during a broadcast. Increased applications is an overall aggregate result of a broader brand awareness.

Whit had a slide about how Clemson's recent football success correlates with a 157% increase in new student applications. This was also already literally the case for Virginia Tech in the wake of our 1999 national title run. I don't have specific numbers, but being hoisted into the national spotlight resulted in a gigantic influx of new students and paid dividends for us for YEARS.

dzilla77's picture dzilla77
🥃🎸🎲⛳️
| 11 months 1 week # | Whit: "If VT doesn't radically leap forward now, our fate is likely sealed for generations to come"

How does VT winning a football game make anyone aware of how good their Computer Engineering department is? Or College for that matter. The 30 second ad that gets played on every VT telecast shows a few snippets of student life with a less than exciting (in my opinion tagline). There are no stats or data presented that state VT is a top 10 . The talking heads are going to mention what a good Architecture program VT has if we were in the running for a playoff berth.

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