Class Gift Brightens Busy Corner of Campus

By Albert Raboteau

One of the busiest areas of campus has been transformed in a project funded by donors.

Officials recently celebrated the opening of the Graduate Life Center Amphitheater near the College Avenue entrance to Virginia Tech.

The $330,000 project features a small stage and fountain, both built of Hokie stone. Between them is a seating area that will eventually be shaded by elm trees. Officials believe it’s a vast improvement over what was there before -- a brick fountain that had not been turned on for a decade.

The amphitheater lies in the shadows of the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown (GLC), Squires Student Center, and Newman Library.

Matt Gart, a university architect involved in the amphitheater project, estimates the area receives either the first or second most pedestrian traffic on campus.

The Class of '59 made the main gift for the project, which also received money from the Hokie Parents Fund and the Class of '09.

At an Oct. 9 ribbon cutting for the amphitheater, T.O. Williams, Class of ‘59 reunion chair, said he and his classmates also earmarked class-gift money to undergraduate education and the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, "but we wanted to do some sort of brick-and-mortar project, and we also wanted to do something to honor graduate students."

Alumni traditionally work together to make substantial gifts tied to their 50-year reunions. The Graduate Life Center Amphitheater is one example. The West Campus Signature Gateway provided by the Class of ‘58 is another.

The GLC features graduate student housing and Graduate School offices that were installed in the Donaldson Brown Building after the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center opened in 2005. Before that, Donaldson Brown was the university’s hotel and conference center.

Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education Karen DePauw says the amphitheater will help her school continue to build a unique academic and social community centered at the GLC. But she also expects the amphitheater to be used by undergraduates and the wider community.

Many of Blacksburg's arts institutions are within a short walk of the amphitheater. The Lyric Theatre and the university’s new Theatre 101 building are just up College Avenue. The university’s Armory Gallery is just up Draper Road.

Portions of College Avenue and Draper Road near the GLC are sometimes closed for cultural events, such as the university's International Street Fair and Blacksburg’s annual street festival Steppin' Out.

In theory the amphitheater can be used during events like those, as well as Graduate School functions, and it's expected to be a popular gathering place on ordinary days as well.

"I envision that I am going to look out my window and I'm going to be able to see people out here all the time," DePauw said on the day of the ribbon cutting.

In fact, minutes after the ribbon was cut, she was approached by a man looking to book the stage for a jazz concert.

See pictures from the ribbon-cutting.