Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus named Duke game Hokie Hero
Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Capt. Patrick Lowther, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in political science and a minor in philosophy 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 2005 has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Virginia Tech versus Duke game.
The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Hokie Hero program started in 2006 by IMG College 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 of Cadets website, on the Corps of Cadets alumni website, and in the Corps Review magazine.
Lowther is currently stationed at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan, as an Electronic Warfare Officer on the AC-130 Gunship, 4th Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron, U.S. Air Force. He is from Clarksburg, W.Va., and this is his seventh combat deployment. Lowther is a Class of 2005 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets where he served as the Band Company Commander and Third Battalion Commander his senior year.
Lowther says he wants to give a shout out to all the cadets in the Highty-Tighties who traveled to Duke to support the team, he also wants to send his love to his family in West Virginia, and to all his fellow squadron members back at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Lowther was originally scheduled to give the Hokies Respect announcement on the field at the Corps of Cadets Homecoming before the Arkansas State game. However, less than two weeks before the game he got the call that the timetable for his seventh combat deployment had moved up and he had to leave almost immediately. He is doing his duty and is an outstanding example of the dedicated graduates of the Corps of Cadets.
Below are the previous Hokie Heroes from the 2011-12 season.
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus 2nd Lt. Mark Walczyk, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in political science and a minor in English 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 2010,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna 2nd Lt. Tavia (Cawley) Carlson, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in civil 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 2009,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Lt.Col. Tom Whitlock, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in geography from the College of Natural Resources and Environment and a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1995,
- Capt. Dan Forney, U.S. Navy, Professor of Naval Science and Commander of the Naval ROTC unit at Virginia Tech,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Maj. Ed Skelly, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in industrial and systems engineering from the College of Engineering and a minor in economics from the College of Science in 1995,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus 1st Lt. Nate Kane, U.S. Air Force, who earned a degree in marketing management from the Pamplin College of Business and a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development,
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Maj. Josh Snyder, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 1998 and
- Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumna 2nd Lt. Ashleigh Toguchi, U.S. Army, who earned a degree in political science 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 2010
