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Engagement and Outreach

Adopted in 1896, the university motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), has long pointed to true north for Hokies. Hokies leave Virginia Tech with far more than an academic degree. Students and alumni embrace service as a way of life: They engage with others in the community, knowing that global leaders and valuable citizens must serve others in their daily lives. Service has become Virginia Tech’s most important tradition.

Global outreach, local impact

Virginia Tech's Outreach and International Affairs supports the university’s engagement mission by creating community partnerships and projects, offering professional development programs and technical assistance, and building collaborations to enrich discovery and learning — all with the overarching goal of improving the quality of life for people within the commonwealth and throughout the world.

Muni Muniappan examines a tomato leaf in Ethiopia, using a loupe, or hand lens.

Muniappan examines tomato leaf for Tuta damage in Ethiopia

Outreach and International Affairs guides Virginia Tech’s global presence; its regional research and professional development and development centers across the commonwealth focus on graduate education and professional development. Blacksburg-based centers are dedicated to engagement, language, culture, and economic development.

VT Engage

VT Engage is a university center in Student Affairs that seeks to equip students to serve as change agents who make the world more equitable and just through their commitment to community and civic engagement.

We partner with organizations to create community-driven service experiences that prioritize learning and prepare students to develop their leadership capacities.

Students shoveling on an alternitive spring break service trip.

Our vision is a just world. In pursuit of social justice, our mission is to strengthen communities while advancing community-engaged leadership. Students will experience and develop their understanding of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in thoughtful collaboration with stakeholders.

A pond in Tidewater

Virginia Cooperative Extension

Virginia Cooperative Extension brings the resources of Virginia's land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, to the people of the commonwealth.

Understanding that knowledge is power, we place that power in the hands of Virginians and help them learn how to use it to improve the quality of their lives. Our Extension agents and specialists form a network of educators whose classrooms are the communities, homes, and businesses of Virginia, where they bring research-based solutions to the problems facing Virginians today.