I grew up in northern VA in the 1960s and had HS friends who went to Tech. In the late 1960s early 1970s, UVA and William and Mary found themselves unable to accept all the qualified Virginians and some percentage of out of state students.
The State adopted programs to upgrade the old RPI (Richmond Polytechnical Institute) and VPI (Virginia Polytechnical Institute) into Virginia Commonwealth University and, as it's known now, Virginia Tech. The state also developed George Mason University into a 1st class school and upgraded Mary Washington in Fredricksburg and James Madison to University status. My niece and nephew both considered Tech but went elsewhere.
Blacksburg is in SW Virginia; the largest nearby town is Roanoke where my wife grew up. Rolling hills giving way to the Appalachians to the west; hiking, hunting, canoeing, camping, and the finest tubeing in the east down the New River Gorge.
The older buildings at the school are veneered with VA 'Bluestone'; a blue/gray stone quarried locally in the Shenandoah Valley and used widely at schools, hospitals, and other institutional facilities; all the older buildings at James Madison in Harrisonburg to the north are bluestone.
'Back in the day', VPI had a Corps of Cadets; 1,100 or so ROTC candidates whose education was subsidized by the Govt to train future military officers. Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, the Cadets were routinely jeered by the other students; war was a crappy business to be in.
With its physical beauty and remoteness, VT/Blacksburg offered a sense of safety from the problems of urban life and intellectual and social stimulation instead of suburban alienation. What a tragic loss and yet another blow; more unwanted proof that collectively we can run, but we can not hide.