In this day of more than 4,000 American colleges and universities of all stripes and seemingly universal access to a college education, it might be hard to sense the revolutionary nature of the land-grant college concept. Emerging from a 19th-century American culture dependent on agriculture and industry, land-grant schools were the first higher-education institutions focused on research and improving the economy.

Aficionados of Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" now owe a debt to Virginia Tech Professor of English Ed Falco (above), who has written a prequel to Puzo's epic tale.

In late March, members of Virginia Tech's Contemporary Dance Ensemble performed in "Springing Into Motion," the group's spring showcase. The ensemble was founded in 1990 to promote dance and artistic expression.

Fourteen feet in diameter, 500 pounds, and 50 years old, a medallion featuring the university seal—one of two medallions that once adorned Shultz Dining Hall—was installed on the exterior southeast wall of the Holtzman Alumni Center, facing the Duck Pond, in May. The two medallions had to be removed from the exterior of Shultz, which opened in 1962, to make way for the hall's renovation and incorporation into the new Center for the Arts, slated to open in 2013. Vice President for Alumni Relations Tom Tillar '69 secured the medallion to preserve on the alumni center.