Show the world that Virginia Tech is an inclusive and welcoming campus. Wear your Hokie colors and denim and be a part of our photo on the Drillfield. The Denim Day 40th Commemoration Photo will take place at 12:05 p.m. on Friday, April 5.

The idea for a 40th Anniversary Commemoration of Denim Day at Virginia Tech came from one of the organizers of the first Denim Day in 1979. Alumna Nancy Kelly returned to Virginia Tech after hearing about the opening of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center in Squires. She returned with a vision. She wanted the university to recognize the struggle that LGBTQ+ students faced here even after the first LGBTQ+ student organizations were recognized by the university and she wanted to raise awareness of the struggles still faced by LGBTQ+ students today.

Denim Day 1979 was a statement. It announced to the university that gay and lesbian students existed at Virginia Tech. This digital exhibit features the voices of alumni from that time recalling what Denim Day meant to them and what life was like for them at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

An exhibit was created as part of the Denim Day 40th Anniversary Commemorative events in 2019.