Virginia Tech Ring History (PDF | 1MB) - Virginia Tech Alumni ...

Ringing in 100 yearsof traditionby Laura Wedin ‘84Following the creation of four class ring designs inone school year the ring tradition at Virginia Techcommenced with a bang.Like many Virginia Tech traditions, a bit of legend, lore, andmystery surrounds the first class ring at Virginia Agriculturaland Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (popularlycalled VPI, now Virginia Tech). Although the Class of 1911 hastypically been credited with introducing the VPI ring, recentresearch indicates a more complicated series of events. In TheBugle’s Echo, a comprehensive history of the early Corps ofCadets, Col. Harry D. Temple ’34 notes that the Class of 1911ring arrived well after the class had graduated, citing a 1966Techgram article based on an interview with Fred Kell Prosser’11. As class president, Prosser had promoted the idea of aclass ring, but fellow class members remained undecided andso graduated without any class-designated jewelry, not even apin as earlier classes had selected.When Prosser returned to Tech the following year forgraduate work, he wrote letters to fellow Class of 1911 membersasking for their approval to create a designated ring, no doubtinfluenced by the established ring traditions at such schools asVirginia Military Institute (VMI) and West Point. A jewelrymanufacturer agreed to produce the rings if Prosser providedthe design, which he did in 1912 on his student drawing board.Months later, Prosser received the rings and faced the challengeof mailing them to his 1911 classmates who were alreadyalumni. Interestingly, the Dec. 6, 1911, edition of the studentnewspaper, The Virginia Tech, the precursor to the CollegiateTimes, includes its first advertisement for Dieges and Clust, ajewelry manufacturer in Washington, D.C. The bottom portionof this ad reads, “We made pins and rings for V.P.I. classes of1913-1914,” suggesting that the 1913 ring was on its way by late1911. Moreover, an earlier edition of the newspaper reports thatthe senior Class of 1912 met on Nov. 4, 1911, and selected SpiesBrothers in Chicago to manufacture the 1912 class ring. Inlight of the ad and news brief, it seems likely that the push for aclass ring had become contagious within the Corps of Cadets’historically competitive classes.What the 1911 ring really looked like was a mystery untilthe spring of 2009, when the Tanner brothers, Paul ’45, Terry’47, and Maurice ’57donated the 1911 classring of their father,Paul Tanner Sr. to theAlumni Association.The concept of aunique ring designfor each class is nowclearly illustrated,either from existingrings or photographsfrom the ring tradition’sinaugural years. For1913 Class Ring:Possibly the First VT Ringinstance, the 1913 ring, which was probably the true firstring, was a metal-top signet style bearing no stone, depictingthe class numerals, crossed sabres, and letters “VPI” witha pair of eagles on each shank side, a design reminiscent ofthe early rings of both VMI and West Point. The 1912 ringfeatured a square top with a flat stone and a one-sided designthat incorporated an eagle, sabres, and shield bearing theclass numerals. Probably worn on the pinky finger, as was thecustom among military school graduates, both rings reflectclass logo designs that appear prominently in the 1912 Bugle,VPI’s yearbook.1911 1912Four Virginia Tech ringswere realized in the1911-1912 school sessionin this order, 1913, 1912,1914, and 1911 which wascreated by Fred Prosser,Class of 1911, after thatclass graduated.1914First classto select acommitteefor ring design.Virginia Tech