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President Tim Sands welcomes community to Fall 2021 semester

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Category: campus experience Video duration: President Tim Sands welcomes community to Fall 2021 semester
President Tim Sands delivers his welcome message as the Fall 2021 semester kicks off.
Welcome back, Hokies. I've never seen more enthusiasm for the start of the fall semester after a year and a half and kind of a hybrid mode, here we are back in-person. It is truly exciting and the reason we're able to do that is the vaccine. We're able to come back together because nearly all of you have been vaccinated and that's the difference between the challenge that we had last year and the hope and optimism we have for this coming academic year. If you're new to campus or if you're perhaps returning after being away for awhile, you'll probably be quite surprised at the level of construction activity on campus, especially along the North End of our Blacksburg campus. A lot of these projects are projects that you're going to benefit from while you're a student here or a faculty member or an employee. It is really extraordinary the impact that they will have. The multi-modal transit facility and this sky blue pipes, this chilled water system we're installing all around campus, are direct responses to our Climate Action Commitment, which we re-established last semester. It is exciting to see them moving forward but there are many other projects that you'll get to know as we complete them and you get to inhabit them and enjoy them. We are this year kicking off our sesquicentennial, that's our 150th anniversary of the founding in 1872. One thing I love about Virginia Tech is it's rooted in tradition, but we are a young university as well. We didn't become a comprehensive public university until 1970 so there's this balance of the vibrancy of youth and the tradition of a well-established institution. We're also looking at the present and celebrating our accomplishments, but also envisioning are Beyond Boundaries future. So I encourage you to take part in that experience to be active and engaged throughout this fall semester and through the calendar year 2022. Welcome back and Go Hokies!