Black College Institute: History and Founding Memento pillars

Abstract

This exhibit celebrates the Black College Institute (BCI), founded in 2018 by Dr. Menah Pratt, Vice President for Strategic Affairs and Diversity and Professor of Education at Virginia Tech. She founded BCI as evidence of Virginia Tech’s deep commitment to be a destination for diverse and talented students through the work of identifying, cultivating, stewarding, and preparing diverse students to serve the world. The exhibit consists of 2 pillars with 4 values of BCI: community, inclusivity, education, and ut prosim. Each value represents each year in college when a BCI student goes to Virginia Tech (VT). The first year is community, then inclusivity, education, and lastly, ut prosim. Each year has 2 milestones for BCI students to accomplish. On the other sides of the pillars, there were mementos from each year that had the BCI students of that year, and the mementos would rotate each year that the students progress to.