Virginia Tech game day reminders, the Hokie Effect era continues

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - For the first time in nearly two decades, Virginia Tech takes on West Virginia in Blacksburg at Lane Stadium Thursday.

To mark the special occasion, it will be a Hokie Effect game.

“Hokie Effect was started, I believe, around 2001-2002. So, it’s a pretty old program here on campus. It’s been around about 20-21 years, which is really awesome because now we’re seeing all of these people who continue to buy the shirts continue to love them,” said Meredith Ashley, director the of Hokie Effect program.

Hokie Effect games encourage fans to wear a certain color to show school spirit and create a unique color effect throughout the stadium.

Ashley helps lead the Hokie Effect a program through the Undergraduate Student Senate (USS). She helps design and sells spirit shirts for football and basketball games at Virginia Tech.

“And essentially what we do here with Hokie Effect is we create shirts and market and sell them to the students for our effect games, which turns the stadiums different colors at football and basketball games to sort of create spirit and also give back to our community.”

Buying a Hokie Effect shirt helps fund student-athlete initiatives, undergraduate student government and the Student Emergency Fund.

“It’s really cool because you do all this work, to market the shirts or to sort of raise awareness, but it’s a whole other level when you finally get to game day and you’re walking around and you see these people wearing shirts, and you can say confidently, I design that and you know that not only is it helping raise these funds, but other people are finding enjoyment to wear the shirt and to sort of get excited on game day.”

So far in 2022, they’ve raised nearly $20,000 for students.

“We have alumni who buy them, students who buy them, and it really brings the whole community together whether you’re a current Hokie or past Hokie, everyone really loves the shirts.”

Be sure to look up your section and seat location to know whether to wear maroon or orange.

You can find a few more game day reminders on Virginia Tech’s website.

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