🏛 Landmarks
The Pylons
Opened 1960First Hokie Stone era
A War Memorial Pylon on a snowy day
Photo: EpicV27, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Eight Indiana limestone pylons at the edge of the Drillfield, each inscribed with one of VT's core principles: Brotherhood, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Service, Loyalty, Duty, and Ut Prosim (That I May Serve).
Fun facts
- •They are Indiana limestone, not Hokie Stone, and carry 425 names. The left pylons were carved by Henry Kreis, the right by Charles Rudy.
- •Tradition says if you walk between the Pylons before graduating, you won't graduate on time.
Stories that happened here
- The Campus Is an Argument Carried Out in RockA president thought his college looked like a shoe factory. A century later, the Board of Visitors wrote stone into policy. Every building shows who was winning the year it went up.
- Skipper, the Cannon Built to Answer VMIThree cadets, a pile of brass, a taunt from across the field and the day Kennedy was shot.
- Eight Pylons, Eight NamesThe quiet memorial above the Drillfield, the values it stands for, and the eight Hokies on its cenotaph.
On the map
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Close by
A short walk from The Pylons.
