Corps Leadership and Military Science Building construction project underway

Virginia Tech’s Upper Quad will soon feature a showcase building for the Corps of Cadets.

Demolition has started to pave the way for the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building, a project many years in the making, which has drawn support from numerous generous corps alumni.

The three-story, 75,000-gross-square-foot building is expected to be complete in 2023. It will bring together the corps staff and the university's ROTC programs now dispersed across several locations and will include custom space for the Corps Museum.

The building 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.

At its June meeting, the university’s Board of Visitors approved the naming of nearly 30 spaces within the building for donors whose generosity has helped to bring this project to fruition.

I can think of no other building where every single element has a tie to an alumnus or friend of the corps,” said Maj. Gen. Randal Fullhart, commandant of cadets. “When we say, ‘It wouldn’t be here except for all of you,’ it is really, really true. And we are most grateful.”

A virtual groundbreaking ceremony for the building took place on June 22, featuring Fullhart and other university leaders.

The Corps Museum is one of many prominent interior areas to be named for donors. The Board of Visitors approved the space being named for Raymond Reed ’57 and his wife, Peggy Reed, who are both deceased, as the Peggy C. and Raymond E. Reed ’57 Corps Museum.

“The Corps of Cadets was such a major part of Mr. Raymond’s life,” Vickie Whitehurst, daughter of Peggy Reed, said of Raymond Reed, whose support for the corps over the years included funding scholarships and an annual trip for new cadets to the D-Day Memorial, as well as the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building project.

“He was extremely passionate about maintaining the corps’ proud traditions and helping today’s cadets to have powerful, life-changing experiences at Virginia Tech, just like he did. Knowing how much this project meant to Mr. Raymond, I am excited to see it coming to fruition. This landmark building highlights the central role of the corps at Virginia Tech and of the lives of generation after generation of cadets.”

Similarly, the Archer Family Library, reflects the deep, multigenerational bond that its namesake family has with the corps and Virginia Tech.

Bob Archer ’69 has said he “didn’t even apply to a second school” after inheriting such a deep affinity for Virginia Tech and its Corps of Cadets from his father, James M. Archer Jr. ’42.

“The corps tradition runs deep in our family,” said Bob Archer, who was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Corps in 2020. His brother Jim Archer ’72 is an alumnus as well and serves on the corps alumni board and the Commandant’s Advisory Group. “Supporting this project was natural for us. It’s a way to help pass on our love of the corps. We’re thrilled to see this new home for the corps emerge on the Upper Quad.”

The library will be named the Major James M. and Regine N. Archer Jr. Library.

“It was important to the family to include Regine N. Archer, our mother, in the naming of the library due to her experiences during World War II as a Holocaust survivor,” Bob Archer said. “She met our father while working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Liege, Belgium, late in the war. Regine has always felt it important to support Virginia Tech and the corps over these many years due to their positive impact on our lives.”

Naming opportunities remain available in the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building. Please contact the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets advancement team today at 540-231-2892 or vtcc@vt.edu for more information.