Just wondering if a hokie bird is a real animal, and what is it closest to? Turkey? Turkey Vulture? I did a little Googling, but came up with no answers - just VT links. Also, are there any running myths, legends or jokes about the mascot? (On or off-campus) …And, why was it picked as a mascot initially?
Inquiring minds want to know!
This site will tell you more than you probably ever wanted to know:
http://www.unirel.vt.edu/vthistory/hokie-explained.html
–Cabbage, VT class of '92
I spent seven years at the University of Vermont, and I never heard of the – what was it, “hokie bird”? Can you give us a little more background?
From what I remember from my days in the ESPN College Football chat room, the “Hokie” comes from an old cheer at the school. I think it went something like:
Hokie, Hokie, Hokie Hi
Tech Tech VPI!
Sola Rex, Sola Ri
That’s all I can remember. There is a turkey that plays into it somewhere, and I’ve heard the explanation before, and I remember thinking that it made sense when it was explained, but I really can’t remember the story. It is a turkey though. (Maybe it was a previous team name?)
“VT” isn’t “Vermont” in this instance, Brother, but “Virginia Tech” (aka “That cow-college in the western part of the state” (with apologies to Bear Bryant)).
A “hokie” is a castrated turkey. There’s some difference of opinion as to whether the term came first, or the fight song, but “hokie” is generally accepted in the poultry industry now as being a butterball-less turkey.
We did a thread about the around New Year’s, IIRC.
Well it was taking a while for Cabbage’s link to open (my slow computer), but it turns out I was pretty close.
plnnr, Cabbage’s link clears up the myth that it is not a castrated turkey.
I was told that it was a meter word,
Hokie, hokie, hokie-hai,
We’re the men from VPI
I’ve heard the castrated tom story as well.
VPI&SU 83-90.