Sesquicentennial toolkit

Welcome to the Virginia Tech Sesquicentennial toolkit. This site provides the tools needed for the university, alumni chapters, and all of our communities to celebrate Virginia Tech’s 150th anniversary, from July 2021 through December 2022.

Questions or comments? Contact vtbrand@vt.edu.

Boilerplate (may be used verbatim)

Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech will celebrate 150 years of impact and engagement from fall 2021 through 2022. The sesquicentennial celebration explores Virginia Tech’s past, present, and future through the lens of three cross-cutting themes: solve problems, extend knowledge, and create and engage communities. The university motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), serves as the foundation of our efforts and represents our highest aspirations. The sesquicentennial’s future-oriented focus is based in the university’s Beyond Boundaries visioning effort.

Calendar

Each college and unit will also have a featured month in which they will be highlighted and share their place in Virginia Tech’s unique history and exciting future. While you are not being asked to “create” specific sesquicentennial content, it is requested that you incorporate sesquicentennial themes into your existing plans during your feature month, as well as throughout the comprehensive anniversary period. The schedule of colleges/units and the months in which they will be featured is as follows:

Featured units each month

July 2021

Inclusion and Diversity

August 2021

Inclusion and Diversity

September 2021

Corps of Cadets
Innovation Campus
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

October 2021

Athletics
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

November 2021

College of Science
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

December 2021

DC/Metro Area
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

January 2022

4-H/Virginia Cooperative Extension
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

February 2022

Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Government Relations
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

March 2022

Virginia Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
Women’s Center
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity
Council on Virginia Tech History

April 2022

Student Affairs
Moss Arts Center
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

May 2022

Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

June 2022

Outreach and International Affairs
Reunion
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

July 2022

Skelton 4-H Center
Honors College
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

August 2022

Agriculture and Life Sciences
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

September 2022

Engineering
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

October 2022

Natural Resources and Environment
University Libraries
Council on Virginia Tech History
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

November 2022

Architecture and Urban Studies
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

December 2022

Pamplin College of Business
Graduate School
Inclusion and Diversity

Cross-cutting Themes

Sesquicentennial themes were developed with the Academic Work Group, vetted with senior leadership, and reviewed with key stakeholders. Three themes emerged: solve problems, extend knowledge, and create and engage communities. The sesquicentennial celebration is grounded in the university’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), and informed by the social context of COVID-19 and calls for racial justice during its planning.

Narrated slide deck (on vt.edu/150) includes overview, themes, and social context for sesqui.

Email Signature

All university employees should follow the email signature formatting shown in the BrandGuidelines (page 92). From July 2021 through December 2022, employees are encouraged to use the following email signature. Please do not use any other taglines or messages during this period.

Download email signature image

Imagery

Sesquicentennial Imagery: Images illustrating Virginia Tech’s sesquicentennial cross-cutting themes may be accessed in the University Relations Photo Library Sesquicentennial Imagery collection.

Then and Now Motif: To create a “then and now” motif for web and print purposes, an Adobe Illustrator template has been created with instructions included. Note: when selecting imagery past and present imagery, if possible, record the subject, date taken, and photographer. This supplement information will help to provide image descriptions that help the audience understand the comparison.

Letterhead and envelope

Key Messaging

Link to narrated slide show has all current, authoritative messaging. Other messaging to come as needed.

Proclamations/resolutions

As proclamations or resolutions are created by governing bodies to celebrate our sesquicentennial, we will provide links to them here.

Social Media

Official hashtag: #VT150.

Use #VT150 on relevant sesquicentennial content, either as the only hashtag or in conjunction with no more than one other brand hashtag (official brand hashtags can be found here under “Using Hashtags”: https://brand.vt.edu/identity/social.html)

Use of the official 150 mark in social media: Follow the same guidelines as you would the Virginia Tech mark — do not alter, edit, overlay, etc. the mark with other imagery. Use the provided social media templates in the toolkit when branding your unit’s #VT150 social media assets.

Questions about social media usage: Consult a member of the New Media team by emailing socialmedia-g@vt.edu

Style Guide

The University Style Guide can be found here. Sesquicentennial-specific style guide information:

150th: Do not use superscript for the “th”.

Sesquicentennial/sesquicentennial/sesqui: Do not use “sesqui” in public-facing communications. AP lowercases sesquicentennial as a noun and adjective. We can capitalize it when it is modified by “Virginia Tech.” That is, Virginia Tech Sesquicentennial or Virginia Tech Sesquicentennial celebration. When not modified by the university name, use sesquicentennial as a noun and an adjective, e.g., sesquicentennial events.

Do not refer to the sesquicentennial as a birthday or party. Anniversary, observance, or celebration may be used.