The perfect Hokie host
Bill Daughtrey '62 made the Commonwealth Club in Richmond feel just like home to scores of enthusiastic Hokies the night of May 7.
As chairman of the Richmond regional campaign, Bill, and members of his committee welcomed nearly 250 Virginia Tech alumni and friends to the campaign kick-off. Bill helped set the tone for the regional campaign with his commitment to endow the Daughtrey Scholars Program.
Virginia Tech is fortunate to have alumni such as Bill Daughtrey in Richmond, Mike Bogese '68 and Jerry Callis '54 in Petersburg, Va., Bob Altizer '73 in Bluefield, Va., Joe Hoge '54 in Charleston, W.Va., and Conley Stone '59 in Atlanta. As regional chairmen for the Campaign for Virginia Tech, these perfect hosts made a world of difference to our regional fund-raising efforts in April, May, and June.
Campaign hits the cross-country trail
Passing the $180-million mark in its climb toward $250 million, the Campaign for Virginia Tech took its show on the national road, beginning with stops in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
During the week of March 11, more than 400 Hokie supporters from the Tarheel State attended kick-off events in Greensboro, Charlotte, and Raleigh as part of the regional campaigns in those areas. Similar events in Bluefield, Va., and Charleston, W.Va., on April 9 and 10 attracted some 150 alumni and friends. The five campaign kick-offs were the first of more than 40 such regional fund-raising efforts scheduled from now until the end of 1997.
Featuring remarks by President Paul Torgersen and the showing of a 10-minute campaign video, each event was hosted by a regional campaign chairman. Charles Milam '73 was chair for the Winston-Salem/Greensboro region, the first to kick-off its campaign, while Mace Coleman '52 and John McConnell '72 served as chairmen for the Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham areas, respectively. Robert Altizer '73 headed up the Bluefield/Black Diamond campaign and Joseph Hoge '54 was chairman for Charleston.
President Torgersen spoke in personal terms about the values and the attributes of the university in the context of his 30 years in Blacksburg. The tenets of the land-grant university - teaching, research, and service - continue to guide and shape Virginia Tech, he reminded his audiences. He stressed that while Virginia Tech is one of the nation's top research institutions, teaching never takes a back seat to research, pointing out that 90 percent of Virginia Tech's distinguished faculty - including himself - teach undergraduate courses.
For the next 22 months, the Campaign for Virginia Tech will criss-cross the country to reach as many Virginia Tech alumni and friends as possible. Martha O'Neill, director of regional campaigns, says, "It's gratifying to see alumni pride in our first Rhodes Scholar in 30 years, along with enthusiasm for our athletic success. This pride has been concretely demonstrated in more than $4 million in early commitments from North Carolina supporters and nearly $900 thousand from Black Diamond and Charleston."
In May and June, the Campaign for Virginia Tech moved on to Richmond, the Tri-Cities area around Richmond, and Atlanta.
Alumni spotlighted during regional campaigns
As the Campaign for Virginia Tech moved its show across the country, there seemed to be a new star in every city.
In Charlotte, it was Brenda Rohe (HNF '66), who received a surprise birthday gift that will keep on giving. Along with 150 other Virginia Tech alumni and friends attending the Charlotte regional kick-off event, Rohe learned that her husband George and daughters Laura, a senior Tech engineering student, and Allison Waters of Greensboro, N.C., had endowed a scholarship in her honor. The Brenda Harmon Rohe Scholarship will be awarded to a dietetic student in the College of Human Resources, where Rohe - now a dietetic consultant - earned her bachelor's.
In concert with the kick-off of the Raleigh/Durham campaign, the College of Engineering recognized one of its most supportive alumni, Joseph Collie (CHE '50), and his wife Barbara at a reception on March 14 at the Hope Valley Country Club in Durham. Collie, who has made a $1-million gift to endow the Joseph H. Collie Chaired Professorship in chemical engineering, is the founder and retired chairman of Southchem Inc., an industrial, fine chemical, and solvent distribution firm headquartered in Durham.
And, in Charleston, W. Va., a surprised John Rinehart (EE '60, M.S.) took center stage at the regional kick-off, when he was presented with a Lifetime Golden Hokie plaque. Rinehart, who is president of Industrial Electric Corp. of Beckley, W.Va., had donated four portable heaters for use on the sidelines during frigid football games at Lane Stadium.
"I know players such as Bryan Still and Ken Oxendine join me in extending our thanks for your generosity," Michael Carroll, associate vice president for development, said in awarding Rinehart the plaque.