Artist’s drawing of the new Corps residence hall. Courtesy of Clark Nexsen

This fall, the 374 members of the cadet Class of 2024 learned the teamwork and attention to detail essential to being part of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets.

During the spring semester, these first-year cadets will prepare to take on the responsibilities of being an upperclass cadet and develop the grit needed to be leaders of character in their chosen careers in the military, in business, in government, and in their communities.

They are the reason that work on a new corps residence hall and the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building couldn’t come at a better time, according to Maj. Gen. Randal Fullhart, commandant of cadets. With a total enrollment of 1,182, the corps continues on a path to grow to 1,400 cadets in the next five years.

Artist rendering of the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building.

“Completing the reimaging of the Upper Quad demonstrates the tangible commitment of the university to the growth and evolution of the Corps of Cadets,” Fullhart said.

The new residence hall will be the third home for cadets. Pearson Hall East opened in 2015, and Pearson Hall West (formerly New Cadet Hall) followed in 2017. The new building will house about 300 cadets and continue the attention to detail evident both inside and outside the two current residence halls. For example, medallions on the building’s exterior will represent corps organizations, such as Skipper Crew, the Gregory Guard, the Color Guard, and more.

The residence hall will be next door to the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building, which will bring together corps and ROTC programs now dispersed across several buildings. It will also be a hub for the university’s Integrated Security Education and Research Center, a new facility designed to blend science, technology, policy, and ethics across homeland security, national security, and cybersecurity domains.

Planning and design work are underway in both buildings.

Alumni can leave their marks on the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building with a brick plaque. Learn more at vtcc.vt.edu/bricks.

Shay Barnhart is the communications director for the Corps of Cadets.