One Hundred Years of Agricultural Education at Virginia Tech

Abstract

In 2018 the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE) celebrated one hundred years of agricultural education at Virginia Tech. The initial mission of the department, founded in 1918 as the Department of Agricultural Education and Animal Science, was to educate agricultural teachers to work in secondary education in rural communities. This mission has evolved and expanded over the decades to include preparation of Extension professionals while developing new programs designed to meet the ever-changing needs of rural and urban communities alike. The interviews presented in this volume tell this story through the unique perspectives of fourteen former and present students, faculty, and administrators. Taken together, these interviews bring the department’s history to life while also using the past as a springboard into a future that undoubtedly will be characterized by continued change grounded in ALCE’s ongoing commitment to excellence.