The Student-Athlete Experience
Hoops in a new house
The Virginia Tech basketball teams hold practice in the shiny new Hahn-Hurst Basketball Practice Center. The center contains the best in everything both programs could ever want, including spacious locker rooms, film classrooms, an equipment room, a training room and a weight room that conveniently opens onto the practice courts.
“Thanks, Hokie Club. Without you, I would not have been here! I am truly grateful.”
Elizabeth Basham - Senior - Women’s Basketball
“I love my experience here at Virginia Tech and I am happy to be a Hokie.”
Erick Green - Sophomore - Men’s Basketball
Donor File
Mike Schnell
Current Hokie Club level: Golden Hokie Champion
Hokie Club member since: 1997
Currently resides: Palm Harbor, Fla.
Family: Wife-Rita, Son-Austin, Son-Trevor
What year did you graduate?
1986
Being a member of the Hokie Club and supporting Virginia Tech athletics is important to me because …
We live and breathe Virginia Tech. Rita and I met at the university in 1984 and Virginia Tech has been a big part of our lives ever since. Our positive experiences at Tech really drive us to support athletics, as well as academics.
Living in Florida, how often are you able to travel to see the Hokies play?
I attend five or six games per year and even visit Tech during other times of the year as well.
Do you have any game day or tailgating traditions or superstitions? If so, what are they?
Probably too many to list, up to and including wearing my Hokie shoes!
When you drive into Blacksburg for a game, are there any “must-do” things for you and your family?
We always go to Macado’s and visit the Bookstore.
Over the past decade, Virginia Tech athletics has undertaken tremendous facilities growth and renovations. Do you have a favorite project? Why?
The west-side stadium expansion because it combined so many aspects that truly improved the football experience at Virginia Tech.
Looking forward at the upcoming 2010-11 academic year, what athletics event or game are you looking forward to the most?
The Virginia Tech vs. Duke basketball game.
My all-time favorite Virginia Tech student-athletes are ...
Bruce Smith (football) - I still visualize the sacks he made, most particularly against Jeff Hostetler of WVU.
Dell Curry (basketball) - My favorite memory is actually meeting him and his family many years after we were at Virginia Tech together.
Interesting Hokie fact: I co-own a house in Blacksburg adjacent to the university and have a Hokie “wing” at my house in Florida, which includes “imported” Hokie stone.
Anniversary Month vs. Benefits Deadline: What’s the difference?
When we talk to Hokie Club members, a few common threads seem to arise. Beyond their undying support for the Hokies and the passion that each of us shares, a few questions always work themselves up in conversation. We thought this would be a good opportunity to answer the most common question that we hear: what’s the difference between my anniversary month and the benefits deadline?
Anniversary Month
When a person joins the Hokie Club by making an annual donation at one of the seven annual giving levels, he or she becomes an active member of the Hokie Club for a 12-month period. The month in which a person first joins the Hokie Club becomes their anniversary month. The anniversary month is used to track the member’s giving and will be used as a reminder for membership renewal at the end of his/her 12-month period.
With approximately 90 percent of all Hokie Club members making a donation at one of the seven annual giving levels (Hokie Club, Orange & Maroon Hokie, Bronze Hokie, Silver Hokie, Golden Hokie, Platinum Hokie, and Diamond Hokie), the anniversary month is important to everyone. With approximately 11,000 members, it is also important to our office that we receive donations each month so that we can efficiently operate the Hokie Club office and effectively support the Virginia Tech Athletics Department throughout the year.
Benefits Deadline
To effectively utilize the Hokie Club point priority system, the Hokie Club has designated December 31 of each year as the benefits deadline. Using the Hokie Club point priority system, the Hokie Club ranks all donors and uses their rank as of this date for all benefits for the upcoming year, including benefits for football season tickets and parking, basketball season tickets and parking, bowl game tickets, etc. (For example, the benefits deadline of December 31, 2010 will be used for all benefits for 2011.)
What happens if a Hokie Club member does not renew his/her membership by their Anniversary Month and instead waits until the Benefits Deadline?
If a Hokie Club member does not renew his/her membership as of his/her anniversary month, then he/she will become INACTIVE and lose all benefits of membership. In recent years, all Hokie Club members receive Inside Hokie Sports magazine as part of a membership and this, along with all other Hokie Club benefits, will stop. Additionally, if the membership is not renewed, the donor may lose years of continuous membership points.
We appreciate all that our Hokie Club members do in terms of support for our student-athletes here at Virginia Tech, so we hope
that you will help us by renewing your membership on time and will encourage your friends, family and fellow Hokies to join the
Hokie Club!
Note: This does not relate to those enrolled in quarterly, Hokie Matic and employee payroll deduction payment plans. These memberships operate on a calendar year basis.
