Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Records of HokiePRIDE must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Access to unredacted HokiePRIDE Library circulation records is restricted. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Records of HokiePRIDE records, RG 31/14/15, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Records of HokiePRIDE records were donated to Special Collections in 2016.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Records of HokiePRIDE records commenced in December 2016 and completed in April 2018.

Historical Note

HokiePRIDE was originally founded in 1985 as Lambda Horizons (sometimes written as Lambda Horizon). In 1994, the group was renamed the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Alliance (LGBA). Then, in 1999, the name was changed again to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Alliance (LGBTA). In 2014 the name changed once more to the current name, HokiePRIDE.

HokiePRIDE was the second officially recognized LGBTQIA+ student group formed at Virginia Tech following the Gay Alliance of Virginia Tech (GAVT) in 1971. It also followed three unofficial groups: the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1970, the Gay Student Union (GSU) in 1975, and the Gay Student Alliance (GSA) in 1976.

The early goals of HokiePRIDE included providing a place on campus for gay and lesbian members of the university community to meet without judgement, helping educate the campus community about homosexuality, and creating a positive image of gay and lesbian people. Over time, the group's mission expanded to include advocacy for everyone under the societally defined umbrella of LGBTQIA+, including bisexual, asexual, pansexual, transgender, and intersex people.

The group implemented multiple programs on campus to advocate on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ population including Gay Awareness Week, AIDS Awareness Week, National Coming Out Day, Freedom to Marry Day, Pride Week, advocacy for hate crimes legislation, and the organization of Safe Line, Safe Watch, the Safe Zone program, and more.

For more information on the current organization, see their website: http://www.hokiepride.org.vt.edu/

Scope and Contents

The Records of HokiePRIDE records include materials from the HokiePRIDE student group including items from all of its named iterations: Lambda Horizions; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance; and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Alliance. The records consist of papers from the organization's officers, handbooks on programming and organizational operations for student groups, office records from the HokiePRIDE office and the original LGBT Resource Center (circa 2000s), event planning information, resource pamphlets, organizational marketing information, and directories that were available to visitors to the HokiePRIDE offices, and copies of organizational budgetary requests and financial accounting documentation. See the Arrangement note for additional information on the contents of the collection.

Arrangement

The records are divided into four sections reflecting the major groupings present when the records were received from HokiePRIDE. Folder titles are those supplied by HokiePRIDE for the majority of folders, especially those in the Office and Resource Center Records, and the Resources.

I: Officer papers , includes papers from the President, Vice President of the Interior, Vice President of the Exterior, Gay Awareness Week Chair, AIDS Awareness Week Chair, Webmaster, and Films Chair. It also includes applications for these positions and handbooks on programming and meeting materials from the Commission on Student Affairs meetings from 2008-2013.

II: Office and Resource Center Records , includes resource center sign-in sheets and library circulation records, copies of political action petitions, documentation of hate incidents on campus, Safe Zone materials, copies of the HokiePRIDE constitution, event planning documentation, event flyers, and more.

III: Resources , includes copies of various resources that were maintained in the HokiePRIDE resource center office for the use of members of the campus community. These include pamphlets and other documentation on a variety of sexuality and gender topics and organizational information for groups such as PFLAG, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Organization for Women, and the Roanoke Diversity Center.

IV: Finances , includes budget requests and accounting records for HokiePRIDE from 1995/1996 through 2014/2015 and budget requests for other student organizations from 2012/2013 to 2013/2014.

Separated Material

The following materials were removed from the collection and cataloged for the Special Collections Rare Book Collection:

Appalachian Heritage , vol. 34, no. 3, Summer 2006 Soft Shorts by Anna Van Evera, 1992 Homosexuality and The Bible by Walter Wink, 1996

The following materials were removed from the collection and added to the University Archives:

The Bugle , 2002 (Virginia Tech yearbook)

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• LGBTQ history
• Sexual minorities
• University Archives
• University History
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1970-)