Time Capsule

Time Capsule. Virginia Tech 150 (1872-2022). In 1872, the Commonwealth of Virginia established a land grant school just outside the original 16 squares of Blacksburg and named it the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. The new college took over the building erected in 1855 for the Olin and Preston Institute. This building stood for more than six decades beside Main Street, near the entrance to campus along Alumni Mall. The official name of the institution evolved several times, finally becoming Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1970. The university has been popularly referred to as Virginia Tech for many decades. Its Latin motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), was adopted in 1896., Over 150 years, Virginia Tech has grown from a small college that offered programs centered on agriculture and mechanics for the growing industrial age. Gradually, its programs incorporated the physical and human sciences, engineering, business, liberal and performing arts, architecture, education, environmental sciences, and more. Professional colleges of veterinary medicine and human medicine were established, as well as curricula and research touching cancer treatment, aerospace and ocean sciences, social behavior, analytics, decision sciences, packaging, global health, nutrition, and more. The continued growth inspired more innovative instruction and expanded global research and outreach to improve the human condition., As part of the Virginia Tech Sesquicentennial celebration in 2022, a time capsule was prepared to preserve significant artifacts commemorating the 150 years that followed the university's founding. This capsule, sealed below, is scheduled to be opened during Virginia Tech's bicentennial observance in 2072.