Rediscovering Virginia Tech and VMI's forgotten football rivalry

I find it very exciting when opening a box. I'm not sure what's in there, because it oftentimes holds untold treasures and things that have been sitting in a closet or a basement or an attic for many years. The VMI-VPI rivalry was one of the first big rivalries of Virginia Tech. And so it's really important these artifacts tell that story and go on to help build the traditions of Virginia Tech athletics, and especially football in this case, because now we have other rivalries like with UVA. But it all started with this rivalry. And what this rivalry showed us was even at the very beginning in 1894, Virginia Tech students were very enthusiastic and very energetic and animated and wanting to show their school spirit and wanting Virginia Tech to succeed in this rivalry. The VPI-VMI football game on Thanksgiving Day is often called the Military Classic of the South. These two teams were, what, 80 miles apart? They were in the Southern Conference together from 1924 to 1964. And it was kind of that military-focused school of Virginia Tech that had ROTC, which was mandatory until 1964, against VMI, which was the state-supported military school. So it was quite the clash. And so it meant something. Though the VMI-VPI rivalry is not the same today, it's still, I think, alive in the collections because a lot of these rivalries built upon the traditions of Virginia Tech. It helped to establish our football program and athletics program. I don't think the rivalry we have with UVA would be anywhere near what it is without the VMI-VPI rivalry. We also established things like the university's colors, our mascots and how they evolved, and student and campus life. It helped build that culture. What makes the VMI versus VPI matchup special is the shared history between the two institutions. Our two corps of cadets have been linked on the football field in terms of a rivalry due to our proximity and due to the similarity between our two institutions, but also linked throughout our service after college, after graduating. And so the thing that separates us is on the field, but there's so much that unites us in our common history, our common rivalry, our proximity, and our mission of developing leaders for the Commonwealth, for the nation, and for the world. This is a playbook from Virginia Tech against the VMI Keydets. And they had a motto for the game: "Let's outgut 'em, outbutt 'em, and outhustle 'em." All of the artifacts and materials we pulled showed me how much material there is about this rivalry and how important it was to the early VPI and VMI students who came to the games and how much they wanted to preserve that history. We have so many materials that really tell you how important it was to these students who wanted to keep that history and that rivalry alive today. I think it's great it's back. I'm excited that it is, and I'm looking forward to the game so much. And I know after that game, it'll be fun to watch the corps and the happiness on the field from those guys after the Hokies win the game. Let's go, Hokies!