In 1890, Charles Owens began working at Virginia Tech (VT) as a janitor in one of the barracks. Shortly after, he joined the band students as a great drummer. Floyd Mead was introduced to the Virginia Tech family when, after living with the Thomas family, Thomas would bring Floyd to hang out at the barracks when he was a toddler. The cadets quickly took over Floyd and made him the mascot for the VT athletic teams. When he got a little older, he got a job in the canteen. He later passed the mascot job from him to the turkey he trained to cheer on the football team while parading on a leash.

The next black man to work at VT was John Sears in 1917; who came to be known as John the Barber, a nickname given to him by the cadets as his favorite barber. Shortly thereafter, in 1919, Pat Mills became a janitor and a well-liked debater. He even had a victory in a debate over Old-Time Negros.

In the 1950s, desegregation came to VT’s Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. After desegregation, black students began attending Virginia Tech with Irving L. Peddrew III at the helm in 1953. That same year, Jerry Bonet created a group that later became the Council on Human Relations. Fittingly, their meetings were held at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church.

It was 15 years later that the first black student graduated from VT receiving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. This student was Charlie Yates, who later served as one of Virginia Tech’s faculty members. A year later, in 1959, Mr. Whitehurst became the first black member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. He also he was the first black man to go to the Ring Dance.

While black men had previously enrolled in college, black women did not show up at Virginia Tech until 1966. Now that blacks were gaining more privilege and earning more honors, scholarships soon followed. The first was an athletic scholarship, awarded to Jerry Gaines for track and field. He was also the first black person to be inducted into the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame.

In 1968, after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Virginia Tech students held a vigil in his honor. On a lighter note, in that same year, the first black woman was chosen as homecoming princess. As the 1960s draw to a close, more and more black students play and start on athletic teams in VT. This is just a small look at the achievements and achievements of the black members of the VT family.