Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna Christina Royal named Wake Forest game Hokie Hero
Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna Special Agent Christina Royal, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in sociology from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2006 has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Virginia Tech versus Wake Forest game.
The corps Hokie Hero program started in 2006 by ISP Sports and sponsored by the University Bookstore, honors Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who are currently deployed. Recipients of this honor are highlighted by Bill Roth and Mike Burnop during the radio broadcast of Virginia Tech football games, on the corps website, on the corps alumni website and in the Corps Review magazine.
Royal is currently stationed at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, as a member of Air Force Office of Special Investigations Expeditionary Detachment 2413. She is from Herndon, Va., and this is her second combat deployment.
A Class of 2006 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, Royal served as the regimental commander during her senior year. In doing so she became the first African-American female cadet and the fourth female cadet to hold the highest position in the corps. She was also the third of seven consecutive cadets to be selected as the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Student Leader of the Year when she won the award in 2006.
Royal is the older sister of former Hokie football standout wide-receiver, alumnus Eddie Royal, who currently plays for the National Football League’s Denver Broncos and who has repeatedly said that his sister is one of his heroes. She would like to send a special thanks to her family and friends for their prayers, love, and support.
Below are the previous Hokie Heroes from the 2010-11 season.
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Cmdr. Jeff Woods, U.S. Navy Reserve, who earned a degree in marketing management from the Pamplin College of Business in 1989,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Lt. Col. Steven Carter, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1989,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Maj. Dave Sadlier, U.S. Marine Corps, who earned a degree in psychology from the College of Science in 1995,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus retired Col. James Tom Roberts, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in business administration from the Pamplin College of Business in 1962,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Capt. Timothy Owens, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in political science and a minor in international studies from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences as well as a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2004, and
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Capt. Daniel Richardson, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in industrial and systems engineering from the College of Engineering and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2004
