Virginia Tech Tuesday announced a $400 million fundraising campaign called Reach for Excellence with the goals of propelling Hokie sports to the forefront of the Atlantic Coast Conference, preparing generations of student-athletes for success in life, and raising the university’s profile nationwide.
“Athletics is an important part of the Virginia Tech experience, supporting the university and our local economy, and creating national visibility that engages our worldwide community of alumni, friends, and fans,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said while standing alongside Athletic Director Whit Babcock and other university leaders.
The campaign will leverage the momentum of recent successes on the field and in fundraising, such as adding about 10,000 more Hokie Club members in the past five years and opening the Student-Athlete Performance Center, thanks to a record gift.
Still, leaders acknowledged that the athletics enterprise needs an infusion of revenue in order to compete at the top of the ACC. Sands, speaking from the main football team meeting room within the Merryman Athletic Complex, noted that Virginia Tech Athletics is well-positioned for future success, but must invest in that success at a level comparable to its peers.
“Whit and our roster of talented coaches are doing a great job,” Sands said. “Whit has the right long-term vision for athletics, but that vision must be powered by resources. To take Virginia Tech athletics to the next level of competitiveness, we need to resource athletics in the top third of the ACC and the Power Five programs. To reach that level, we are committing to enhancing support from all sources, including significant private support from this campaign.”
The budget increase will support athletics in three primary areas: facilities, coaching, and the student-athlete experience.
Reach for Excellence is the largest ever campaign for Hokie sports, and is part of a broader, $1.5 billion fundraising initiative known as Boundless Impact: The Campaign for Virginia Tech. The goal of Reach for Excellence is to have raised $400 million by the time Boundless Impact closes in December 2027.
“This is an exciting day and the culmination of years of careful planning,” Babcock said during the Reach for Excellence announcement. “We know that our athletics program plays a central role in the student experience and the strong bond our wider community has with Virginia Tech. The past year has seen financial challenges due to COVID-19 and other factors, but we are confident in our long-term vision and our path to achieve it.”
The Reach for Excellence campaign has five main pillars: 1) A football enhancement fund to build a program that consistently competes at the top of the ACC, by allotting $30 million over time for recruiting, assistant coaches’ salaries, quality-control coaches, player development, and capital needs. 2) Renovations to improve Cassell Coliseum with at least $50 million to be raised privately. 3) The Drive for 25 initiative to increase Hokie Club membership to 25,000 and raise $20 million annually for student-athlete scholarships. 4) Striving for comprehensive excellence for all sports by providing operating expenses, facility improvements, nutritional and strength and conditioning programs, and more. 5) Increasing the number of student-athlete scholarship endowments to expand capacity to support students and broaden reach in recruiting.
Multiple Virginia Tech head coaches were present at the announcement of Reach for Excellence, including women’s basketball’s Kenny Brooks, women’s volleyball’s Marci Byers, track and field and cross country’s Dave Cianelli, football’s Justin Fuente, women’s golf’s Carol Robertson, wrestling’s Tony Robie, baseball’s John Szefc, men’s tennis’ Jim Thompson, and men’s basketball’s Mike Young.
Fuente stressed the importance of philanthropy to his team’s ability to win.
“Achieving and sustaining success as a football team begins with attracting the right type of student-athletes, coaches, and support staff to Virginia Tech,” Fuente said. “Then it’s our job to provide all the resources necessary to develop these young men athletically, academically and spiritually to reach their full potential.
“Our staff is dedicated to helping Virginia Tech reach its objectives on the football field. In turn, we need the investment in this program and its student-athletes to reflect the lofty expectations placed on them. Thank you for your support, and Go Hokies!”
Robertson, whose women’s golf team was recently ranked 16th nationwide, expressed confidence that Reach for Excellence will empower her and other coaches to build programs that win on a national scale.
“Our entire athletics department has a vision to make all sports even better, and the Reach for Excellence campaign will do exactly that,” she said. “It’s big, it’s bold, and it can provide us with the resources needed to be national championship contenders in all sports.”
