Parade marking entrance of Class of 2017 into the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets slated for Aug. 24
More than 300 new members of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets reported to the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg on Aug. 17 for New Cadet Training, one week before the rest of the campus.
For the second consecutive year the overall Corps of Cadets will number more than 1,000 cadets with the addition of the 331 members of the Class of 2017.
Throughout the week these new cadets will be taught by approximately 130 upper class cadets on how to march and perform military drill with precision, how to properly complete a military obstacle course safely, and how to rappel down a 40-foot tower. They will also compete in an athletic team-building competition along with many other experiences.
Fifty-nine percent of the new class is from Virginia with 10 cadets coming from outside the U.S. Many of the new cadets have family members that were in the Corps of Cadets. One of which is a third generation cadet, while another is following in the footsteps of four family members: his mother, father, aunt, and uncle.
In recognition of their completion of the challenging training, a parade marking the acceptance of the new cadets into the corps will be held Saturday, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. on the Drillfield. It will be centered on Burruss Hall. The incoming Class of 2017 will join a long-standing tradition at Virginia Tech which began with 132 cadets in October 1872, when all students were cadets and Virginia Tech was known as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.
During the parade, the Highty-Tighties, the regimental band, will play and Skipper, the Corps of Cadets cannon, will be fired when the cadets first enter the Drillfield, at the first note of the national anthem, and the first note of "Tech Triumph."
There will be three shots total, the first shot will be at approximately 9:50 a.m. and the final shot will be at approximately 10:45 a.m.
All are welcome to attend. Parking is available around the Drillfield and a visitor’s pass is not needed on weekends. However, move-in for non corps first-year students is on Saturday and parking may be limited around the Drillfield. Parking is also available in the Perry Street Lots and the Perry Street Parking Garage near Prices Fork Road. Find more parking information online or call 540-231-3200.
