VT Stories Oral History with Jess Fowler, May 22, 2015 (Ms2016-015)

David C: Today is May the 22nd, 2015. This is David Cline from the Department of History, and I'm here at the Alumni Center on the campus of Virginia Tech as part of the Virginia Tech Stories, World History Project. And I have the honor of being with Mr. Fowler today, and let me just start by asking you if you could introduce yourself - full name and your year of birth, place of birth and what class.

Jess Fowler: Okay. I'm Jess Fowler, Jesse, that's the name my mom calls me. Everyone else calls me Jess. It's F-o-w-l-e-r. Was born in December of 1942. I entered here at Virginia Tech in September of 1960 as a member of the class of '64. A little bit about my 1:00background.

David C: Yes, please.

Jess Fowler: I'm an Army brat. My dad served in World War II and decided to stay in the service and we moved all over the world. I kind of grew up in France. For some reason, I was very very fortunate; my dad got an extended tour just before his retirement, so I had four years in the same high school. And having lived, I counted it up one time, I think I've lived in 38 different places and homes. So having four years in one school was a real treat for me in high school. It is very unusual.

David C: And where was that?

Jess Fowler: That was in Petersburg, Virginia. Dad was stationed at Ft. Lee. And he retired the same month, almost the day that I entered Virginia Tech, so he was getting out of the service and I was getting in, so it was a good transition. So that's sort of where I'm from.

David C: And did you think you'd follow your father's footsteps into the military?

Jess Fowler: I didn't know to be quite honest. I've always liked the service and I enjoyed it and I had a lot of friends. You can't be in the military as a kid and not have friends from everywhere, you know, very strong bonds form there. But quite honestly, when I came to Virginia Tech I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Petersburg High School was an excellent preparation. They had wonderful teachers. We were all well-trained, well-educated. I was a National Merit Scholarship finalist and science was written all over me. I think the main reason that I came to Virginia Tech was my backdoor neighbor who had graduated from Tech and he wasn't exactly threatening, but he said if you pass up this opportunity you will regret it for the rest of your life. So...

David C: It's interesting how those kinds of things can be influential to someone that you've lived next to or meet.

Jess Fowler: Yes. And of course my parents were supportive of me going to any university I wanted to, but he sort of played the final role in getting me in. And I did want to get in the Corps 3:00and be part of the military. I wanted to have that experience. So that's, again, sort of how I got into the system.

David C: And when you started the Corps it was mandatory?

Jess Fowler: It was. Actually, the year after we graduated, '65 was the first year that it was optional, so yes, it was mandatory. In fact, as I think back, I was actually declared ineligible for the Corps because as a child I had asthma. And somebody looked at my medical records and said, nope, can't do that. And my dad being very familiar with regulations I think, wanted me to really get in the military. Got that taken care of very quickly.

David C: Oh, interesting. So you were able to do it. Yes. Do you remember your first impressions of Virginia Tech when you- I don't 4:00know if you had seen it before you arrived to start here, or-

Jess Fowler: Well, I have two David. My roommate who was also one of my friends at Petersburg and I actually came up the summer before we both reported in September, and we were just enthralled, the beauty of the campus, the buildings and all that. His father had gone to Virginia Tech so he was familiar with it at the time. It was just really captivating. This was back in 1960. The campus was nowhere near as big as it is now. It was small, compact. The drill field was the same size and that was kind of huge. But that was, number one, we were just, you know, mesmerized and thrilled with the opportunity. The second impression I had was when we actually reported in in late September. And this I 5:00just - it's etched in my mind, an upperclassman walked out to greet my dad and me. He had driven me up. And he was about the size of that door in my eyes. And he asked my name and I told him and he said, "Okay, grab your stuff and we'll go." And I kind of turned to my dad and my dad was trying to hide a grin. And the upperclassman turned around and said, "Don't worry, sir, we'll take good care of him." I knew I was in trouble. (Laughter) Bud Gross was the fella's name.

David C: Oh, you remember it?

Jess Fowler: Oh yeah. He turned out to be a great friend. I was kind of at that point, saying I wonder if I made the right decision here.

David C: I've heard a number of people, maybe even the first nine after, beginning of a Rat Year.

Jess Fowler: Yeah.

David C: Having second thoughts, yeah.

Jess Fowler: It's quite an experience to be dumped into something like that.

David C: Can you tell me a little bit more about 6:00what that was- you're 18 at the time.

Jess Fowler: Actually, I was 17. I was a year ahead in school. It wasn't unexpected because I was sort of familiar with the military aspect of it, the discipline and learning new rules and all that. I was somewhat familiar with the whole concept of basic training. What I wasn't familiar with was, you know, somebody standing three inches away from my face screaming at me to stand tall and get up and move and all that kind of thing. That was kind of daunting. But I just kind of very quickly learned to accommodate and say, hey, I can stand on my head in the corner for a year. And I think it's kind of that attitude that everybody developed over time.

David C: Right.

Jess Fowler: And that's a good experience. I would not do it again, but I value the experience.

David C: One of those things that, yeah, once you've gotten through it.

Jess Fowler: Yeah.

David C: How about balancing that with academics?

Jess Fowler: That was tough. It really was tough. Again, I had no idea what I really wanted to be. I had signed up for aeronautical engineering, I think was the curriculum. And after probably about six weeks I realized that I was not going to be an engineer. Tech at that time supposedly had courses which they used to eliminate people. I don't think they used them to eliminate people. But they certainly used them to direct people to better uses of their skills. [Laughs]

David C: That's a nice way of putting it. I've got to borrow that.

Jess Fowler: And mine were not calculus. They were barely chemistry. I had no problem with English. So the first quarter was just- it was a slap in the face. A lot of changes had to be made. And then we were balancing that with the military, drills and duties. You know, you finally got into bed at 11 8:00o'clock at night. You knew you were going to be up at 5 or better the next morning, just continuous all the time. You were totally immersed in it. On the other hand, I do remember from the very start every upperclassman, not every upperclassman, but most of the upperclassmen offered to help academically. We had a scholarship officer in our company. They did offer to help, arrange for tutors. If we were studying we weren't bothered, at least in our company. We weren't hazed or harassed during that time. That was sacred time to study. Now, you go outside of your room or you go outside of the building you were fair game to anybody, but they were very conscious of the need for us to have time to do that. And I- we really appreciated that. Even in the midst of all the other harassment that was going on.

David C: So what did you end up pursuing?

Jess Fowler: I'll make it a very short story. I decided, I guess- I began to gravitate towards the sciences, biology and chemistry and that kind of thing and I thought that medical school might be an option. And I changed and started taking courses in that direction and left calculus far behind. And gradually over time that became not an option for me financially at the time, so what I decided to do was to go ahead and pursue an active duty career in the military. And then hope that I could somehow use that experience and get into the army medical training program.

David C: Okay, right.

Jess Fowler: Eventually I got a regular army commission. I was commissioned and then the day after I was commissioned I got a call from Dean Johnson, the course advisor. And he 10:00called me in and he said, "I have some bad news." And I said, "What's that?" And he said, "Well, you're short three hours in English." And I said, "No, I don't think so." And he said, "Yes, I think so." And to this day I'm convinced that he had the wrong record. Because of that I could not graduate with my class. I did not get a diploma that year. Six weeks later I completed an English course by mail from, I hate to say it, the University of Virginia. And had the certificate and -

David C: Got your diploma.

Jess Fowler: I didn't know they wouldn't give me a degree. Back then they only gave degrees once a year in June, the following June. As a result I lost my regular Army commission. I didn't lose it; they instead said, take this alternative and you can be commissioned as a reserve officer and then go on active duty. So I did a few 11:00weeks later, and I never got to attend my graduation ceremony where I would actually received the diploma because I was in Vietnam the next time that was offered. That was a quick transition. Anyway, long story short, I graduated eventually but I was not able to pursue that aspect of trying to get into the Army on a regular Army basis, or into medical school. On the other hand, I did stay on active duty for three years and I joined the reserve and I retired from the reserve after 30 years of service, so it all worked out. I got to do that.

David C: How long were you in Vietnam?

Jess Fowler: I had a year there, and when I came back I got off active duty and went into the reserve right away. It was an interesting- Well, I was thinking about this as I looked at 12:00some of the questions you wanted to talk about. One of the things the Corps taught me was to be nimble, to take advantage of situations, to seize the moment kind of thing, and to be sort of creative and work within the system to make things happen the way you want them to happen, which is sort of the secret to leadership management. So I adjusted, and I got a very good job very quickly with a plant, Hopewell Chemical Plant. And the reason I was hired there was because I had been at Tech and I'd been in the Corps. And the fella that hired me had been at Tech and been in the Corps. And yeah, that was my new career- until I went in the Army and went on active duty. And then I came back to that and spent a couple of years in plant management, as a leader of people in a 13:00different environment. So I had a lot of adjustments to do, but I was able to do it because I kind of had that training.

David C: How about during your active duty period? Did the Corps experience in Virginia Tech inform any of that as well?

Jess Fowler: Absolutely, yeah.

David C: Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Jess Fowler: The training we got here, and I don't mean to sound uppity about it, but just about everywhere I went on active duty, when people learned that I had been at Virginia Tech and in the Corps, it was okay. They knew they could give me assignments that would get done. And unfortunately not every ROTC program graduate has that skill set when he gets home, but even non-coms kind of respected my experienced and what I had done.

David C: So it really had that reputation.

Jess Fowler: It really does. It truly does. And the interesting thing is the academies, the West Points and Annapolis and all that, they have their own type of respect also. Because those are, you know, military leaders from the academy. But the Virginia Tech graduates are more 14:00like, well, they knew that we had a civilian aspect to us as well, and it wasn't all military. It was, how do you say it, community interest if you will that was driving us. So we were mission-oriented. We got the job done, but we also cared about people. And most of us didn't really give a damn about a career. We didn't care if we made the stars. We just wanted to do a good job where we were. And that was- Those were the kinds of things we learned in the Corps. You're assigned to a job and you get it done and you get your rank and you use 15:00that proportionally to what you need to do.

David C: So what was your assignment when you were overseas?

Jess Fowler: I was in the- It was the military assistance command in Vietnam. We supported some of the special operations folks there. I was a quarter Master officer, detailed in the infantry, and we made sure they got what they needed to do their stuff. It was not a pleasant experience. Vietnam is beautiful country, but it's not the place you want to be if people are shooting at you. That was it.

David C: You were there relatively early too.

Jess Fowler: Very early. Yes. We were there during the build-up. '65, '66, '67. It was an amazing operation to see just the amount of things coming into the country.

David C: Especially in your specialty. Yes.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. Materials just stockpiled everywhere, 16:00trying to sort through it. I had some experience in parachute delivery and some units got stuck way out in the boondocks so they kicked it out of the plane and watched it go down. Convoys and those kinds of things. I tell people my job was really to sort of steal stuff and make sure it got to the right person.

David C: Right. Lots of deals and swapping and that kind of thing.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. Exactly.

David C: Horse trading.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. Redistribution.

David C: I wanted to ask you this too, being that there were heady times obviously in the 1960s and a lot of change happening and a lot of interesting things happening politically, but the assassination of President Kennedy would have happened during your time at Virginia Tech.

Jess Fowler: Yeah.

David C: Do you remember how- Do you remember that day? Or how that played out?

Jess Fowler: I know you've had the same experience. You always remember exactly where you were when those kinds of things happen. And I can remember, I was walking across the 17:00drill field when I sort of heard some commotion going on and I went over to the ROTC building which was directly behind Burruss Hall at that time and heard the news. And it was just- It was such a slap in the face. The whole campus was just desolate and quiet, absolute quiet, and it was an eerie feeling, a huge feeling of loss. You don't know what to do. But that was the way it was throughout those following couple of days. And I remember hearing on the radio when Jack Ruby shot Oswald. In fact, it was the Sunday morning after I believe. I had just gotten out of the shower in the barracks and heard that come down. That was another kind of sideways blow. What's going on here?

David C: Right.

Jess Fowler: So anyway, the next week following that was sort of a 18:00period of rebuilding. It really locked the campus down.

David C: It did? That's what I was curious about.

Jess Fowler: Yes. Of course, you know, we had classes. But by and large people stayed in the dorms. It was a very somber thing to see that flag in front of Burruss Hall at half staff. We had another experience before that which was the Cuban Missile Crisis. And we were all convinced that we were heading to Florida. In fact, we told some of the rats at the time that that's what was going to happen. (Laughs) And were they ready to go. You know, teased a lot of people about it. I have to say, I think every person would have gone if we were needed at that point.

David C: So were you crowded around radios? Or how were you getting your news?

Jess Fowler: Yeah. There was a single television set in the lounge. I lived in Monteith Hall. L 19:00Company and M Company were- L Company was the first two floors and M was the second two.

David C: And you were in which company?

Jess Fowler: I was in M Company. And we, on occasion, we could watch that, but primarily it was radio that we got our news from, certainly not like what we have today.

David C: No, of course.

Jess Fowler: All the communications that go on.

David C: But I imagine that must have been something, the Cuban Missile Crisis, not knowing what was going on.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. It grabbed the whole country eventually. I don't think many people knew the seriousness of the crisis at the time. Probably didn't realize it until weeks later. But of course our ROTC instructors were kind of concerned and they were sharing with us, here's the way it happens and these kinds of things are real. These are the situations you're going to face. What would you do? So they made it a learning experience. 20:00(Laughs)

David C: A frightening learning experience. Yeah. Can you think of any particularly difficult experiences that you saw, you know, the campus go through or yourself go through it? And the reason that I ask that question is because, and I do this myself, I mean, as we get older we remember the good things. Thankfully, right, and memory has a nice way of suppressing the difficult times, but we're made by those difficult times too. I think we're crafted by them.

Jess Fowler: Absolutely.

David C: So I wanted to ask the question, if you yourself or if you saw the campus going, like I said, this was a time of great change.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. Well let me talk about the political side, the change that was occurring in the country. That didn't really occur during our time on campus. The early '60s up to '64 were 21:00reasonably peaceful. We had not yet gotten into Vietnam. There was no real political unrest. We had the two incidents we talked about Kennedy and the Missile Crisis. We were all kind of nervous about getting into the service and what was going to happen and all that. But again, it was what we were trained for, so there wasn't all political unrest at that point. Now I understand, and I'm aware that later on there was a lot of campus unrest. To be in the Corps was not necessarily a popular thing at that time, it taught perseverance.

David C: You were here for Marshall Hahn's arrival?

Jess Fowler: Yes. President Newman first and later Marshall Hahn came in.

David C: So that was a major change.

Jess Fowler: Yes, it was. And I think, well, it was rumored that the Corps was going to become optional, and that was kind of a sort of unsettling to 22:00us as members of the Corps, because you grow to love that organization dearly and we didn't really want to see anything happen to it. The one thing that I think a lot of people were not aware of, and I want to make sure that we mention this and talk about it as one of those events that sort of changes you. I had the privilege of serving in the Cadet Senate and also the Cadet Honor Corps. And from the very first day we stepped foot on campus the first thing we were taught was the honor code. And we had, there may have been more, but I remember distinctly that we had two drumming outs, one my freshman year and then one my junior year. And I don't know if anybody's told you about those or if you 23:00understand what happens.

David C: Would you mind describing that?

Jess Fowler: Sure. The entire-

David C: From your perspective of, I don't know, woken up in the middle of the night or whatever it was.

Jess Fowler: Well, you're awakened; it would usually happen around 1 or 2 in the morning, the first one did, freezing cold outside. You put on your uniform, including your overcoat. You have no idea what's going on. This was my freshman year. We're all being shipped off somewhere, what's going on here? And there's dead silence except for the muffled commands that are given by each unit commander. The Corps lines up in four deep. Two columns. We were right in front of Lane Hall, parallel to the front of Lane Hall. The entire Corps was assembled there and that was about 2400 people.

David C: No one saying a word.

Jess Fowler: Not a word.

David C: Dark of night, right.

Jess Fowler: And the drum beats start, and they're muffled, you know, just a cadence and the command is given. We lined up on either side of the wall facing each other, and the command is given to do an about face and you turn around and now you're facing out. And whoever this 24:00person was is marched down between the rows and out off campus, and you hear a door slam and the car start and he's gone. You're dismissed and you go back to your barracks. But you learn very quickly that this is something that's not to be taken lightly. And as I say, from the very first day we were here, it was kind of drilled into us that this is not play. Very very valuable life lesson that you don't lie, cheat or steal. And that you report anybody that does. There were at least two incidences of that while I was here, and I know there were other people that were discharged from school, but not drummed out.

David C: I hadn't heard the detail about the about face about turning your backs. 25:00That's very crucial.

Jess Fowler: Yes. Number one, the person- It was sort of symbolic in turning your back, but it was also sort of to protect his identity. Even though he had committed this crime against the code, so you weren't allowed to see who it was.

David C: But I also imagine from the other side, this facing a wall of backs is a difficult thing to do, to walk-

Jess Fowler: That was it. So, you know, kind of didn't know what happened to him but you knew they were no longer around. But that, again, that's sort of a life lesson that you learned, that will stand your good stead for as long as you live. That was a very dramatic event on campus. Of course people talk about that afterwards. It's a gut-wrenching reaction I can tell you.

David C: This may seem like a strange question about the honor code, because I went to a boarding school that had a strict honor code that had a big effect on me. We didn't have locks on our doors. Were there locks on the doors?

Jess Fowler: No.

David C: Yeah. Everything was open. That's very interesting.

Jess Fowler: The only lock was on the dorm. I mean, that was the- There were end entrances and there was the main entrance. And those were locked if the entire building was emptied, like if we went to the drill field or we went away for the weekends. You know we traveled.

David C: Right. But other than that-

Jess Fowler: But other than that they were unlocked at all times, and you could be quite sure that nothing would be bothered. It was a very good feeling.

David C: And you said that had an influence on you, but can you think of ways in which it really did, maybe particular incidences influenced you in later life for business dealings?

Jess Fowler: Well, it affects you in business. It affects you in relationships. It is so much easier to be honest and truthful and 27:00straightforward, I guess in a broad sense. I mean the lying, cheating and stealing, okay, that's very specific, but in a broader sense, it's just how you comport yourself and how you relate to other people. Obviously with classmates, very close friends, that's sort of an unwritten, unstated thing we had all the it's a defining experience.

David C: I had someone else say it in a similar way. I thought it was very interesting about like what you just said, it just sort of makes it easier. If you've got the term set you can take lying and cheating and stealing off the table, right, then it sort of makes everything else easier.

Jess Fowler: Yes. Exactly.

David C: You know how things are going to go.

Jess Fowler: Yep. And in family relationships it's the same way. It helps build that same bond and trust in a relationship and helps you form good relationships with other people, so yet another thing we learned at Virginia Tech.

David C: So did you, jumping ahead again, coming back after your military service did you come back to Hopewell?

Jess Fowler: I did. When I got out of school I didn't really make this goal, but very shortly afterwards it dawned on me that I was going to have to continue my education. So I immediately, after Vietnam and getting back and getting settled I started work on my master's degree, going to school at night, using the Veteran's GI Bill. And the way it worked out in life, again, in making it short, I managed to get a 29:00degree every ten years. I have a bachelor's degree and a masters in International studies. I have a Ph.D. My last one was I got accredited as a mediator in resolving business disputes.

David C: What's your doctorate in?

Jess Fowler: Business analytics, making sense out of big numbers, so that's a far cry from biology and chemistry and all that.

David C: Pre-med, right.

Jess Fowler: I have to say, I've had sort of a varied career. You asked about leaving Hopewell, I actually quit my job because I was getting tired of work and going to school at night so I did the final burst of speed on the master's degree and got that out of the way. And I got a phone call from a gentleman who wanted to know if I would be interested in becoming the first county administrator for 30:00Brunswick County Virginia. And he said, "We value your military skill. We know you went to Tech and were in the Corps. We need somebody that's had business experience." And this happened to be a military man himself, a West Pointer who had retired and had heard about me or whatever through a friend. And I said, "Well, Bob, I'd love to come down and talk to you." So for the next nine years I was the first county administrator in Brunswick County.

David C: And you had never had experience working in local government or anything like that?

Jess Fowler: No, not really.

David C: Right.

Jess Fowler: But as he explained it to me, he said, "That's not what we're looking for. We need somebody that knows how to organize, how to lead people, how to really bring the county into the 20th century." And Dave, I absolutely fell in love with the job because one day I would be at the dump worrying about how to get rid of trash 31:00and the next day I would be meeting with the governor and working on economic development and all those kinds of things, which was a wonderful experience. But it also tested me to use a variety of skills that life so far had prepared me well for. So they didn't exactly run me out of the town when I decided to leave. I had the opportunity to go to the National War College as part of my military career. I took that and we moved to Washington, D.C. But it was about nine years' worth of effort, and reasonably successful. We got about $350 million worth of investment. I think back on it fondly. Certainly learned a lot. That's helped in later jobs.

David C: Did that inspire you to- Did that give you a hankering for political office or anything like that?

Jess Fowler: Actually it gave me a hankering not to. [Laughs] For sure. It gave me 32:00an insight though on the way politics works, and I learned the skill of politicians.

David C: That's why I asked the question, you certainly would.

Jess Fowler: Learned how to use the political processes that were needed, and that has absolutely stood me in good stead, working in economic development and other areas of interest. And after that, I started my own business. I just had my own business for the last 30 years.

David C: And can you tell us a little bit about that?

Jess Fowler: Well, it started out doing sort of temporary stand-in C-level officers being the CEO of a company until they could find another one, an interim sort of position. What I would do would be to go in and take over the operation of a C-level or whatever, and then help them 33:00find the person that was going to be permanent and move on. I did that on a consulting basis, kind of like an interim priest in a church. But I met a lot of people. It was a good business. And from that I got more and more in the areas of marketing and using computers that were, at that time, pretty basic. I kind of picked up on where they could take us and we started using those to massage business data and figuring out why customers were acting the way they acting and learning - I learned a lot of statistics and modeling, applied that to business, and it was just one referral after another. AT&T Wireless was a customer. Ebay was a customer. We had a three-year contract with British Telecom, moved to London and lived there, helped them put together 26 different 34:00databases and did kind of what the NSA is doing today. But this was back in the early '90s. And we built a database of every phone call made in Great Britain every day, where it originated, where it went how long it lasted. And then we used that for marketing just by analyzing the data that was there, so it's not really rocket science stuff.

David C: You were well ahead of this big data revolution.

Jess Fowler: Yeah. I guess if I have a sense of pride about any of it I was sort of on the bleeding edge of that.

David C: Sounds like it.

Jess Fowler: And for some larger companies, that was- wow, you could do this with our dataset? Again, and I keep coming back to it, it's kind of - seize the moment. Carpe diem. Use the skills that you brung and put them to work. That's again, the sort of lessons I learned at Virginia Tech, so they get the 35:00credit, I don't.

David C: Perfect time to ask that question then about your continued involvement with Tech and what you've done and why you've retained close ties.

Jess Fowler: Well, we were talking about this just a few minutes ago at a meeting we had. Our class seemed to have a real close affinity while we were here. We melded as a class, even as large as we were. Obviously we didn't know everybody else in the Corps but within my company there were about 180 of us in the company. And I guess there were maybe 25-30 seniors. We as a group, after we had all finished active duty- and by the way, most of us wound up in Vietnam immediately afterwards, there was kind of a bond that forms there, 36:00having been there and come back. One of our group, Bill Webb, didn't come back and we started a scholarship in his memory. But we started meeting, getting together once a year. Sometimes people were not available, but among about 15 of us we managed to get together just about every year since we graduated. And there are a couple of other similar units in our class year. A Squadron is one, K Company was another, that have had that same experience, so the bonds are really tight. We've helped each other out through problems, laughed with people, cried with people, that kind of thing. But being able to get together back here in Blacksburg at least once a year has always been a big thing for us.

David C: Do you always meet back here or do you meet in other places sometimes?

Jess Fowler: So far it's been back here. We've threatened to go on a cruise or something, but we haven't yet. I think we will do some off 37:00campus things, but that's a certainty, our annual get-together here. And last year on our 50th reunion, we made an extra special push. We contacted 42 out of the original 45 cadets, or rats, in our class of whom about half graduated. That was the attrition rate. And at our 50th reunion last year we had 27 of our original classmates show up, including a number of those who never graduated. That's just how tight the bonds were formed from that year, and it was a real wonderful weekend. Had a good time putting that together. We rented out the Mountain Lake Lodge. Most of us stayed there and we had a dinner there and we had other events during the upcoming weekend. It was a special time. So maybe 38:00we'll try to do that again for 55. I don't know.

David C: There's usually a big push for some sort of a class gift or something, right, at the 50th. Did you get roped into that?

Jess Fowler: [Laughs] Well, let me tell you that story since you asked. At our 45th class reunion we had a presentation about an architect who wanted to- and I apologize to him, I can't remember the details of it, but in effect we were being asked to contribute to a memorial garden that they were going to put, I think maybe it was at the alumni center, but a number of persons in the class rebelled and said, "We're not doing that." And to this day I don't know where the idea came from, but it occurred to me that we should give 39:00something to Virginia Tech that would be perpetual. And in fact, my class has not been really good at donating a lot of money to the bricks and mortars, but we established several scholarship funds for Vietnam widows and children and so on, and that's what most of us give to. We've rather give to scholarships than bricks and mortar. Anyway, I'll try and connect all this in a second. I remember looking at my ring, and I don't know where the idea came from, but I said wouldn't it be great if we could take our rings and somehow give those back to the school if we don't need them. And I ran the idea by my company mates and we all agreed and said that would be a great thing to do. And one of our classmates, Jim Flynn lives in Blacksburg, so we started of the Hokie Gold Legacy Ring Program where we asked people to give their rings back. We 40:00melt those down and then the gold that comes out of those rings goes into that year's class ring, and that's where that came from. It's been a wonderful experience seeing how that goes. And we finally got our good alumni association to support us well through this. There was a flyer in the bag this weekend for the Old Guard, an 8 x 11 flier, and we've gotten some publicity in the Tech Magazine and so on. But the first year we had, I think it was six rings were given, and then it's been a couple more, and now the program seems to be taking off so that every year we expect it to increase. I've gone around, I've given talks on it and I've asked people and they say, "No, you can't have my ring." And I say, "No, no, I don't want it now. I want it when you don't need it anymore." But we've had people that have recovered rings from pawn shops.

David C: Wow, yeah.

Jess Fowler: A lot of ladies whose husbands have passed away did not know what to do with the ring, and we've contacted them and they've been gracious enough to donate the ring. The whole purpose of the thing is not to lose the rings, just have them go away somewhere.

David C: Right. To keep them coming back. Yeah.

Jess Fowler: And again, as a class gift, obviously we gave a financial gift as well. In fact, I think we raised close to $6 million in scholarships, but we're kind of proud of this program because it is something that will go on forever we hope. And everybody from now on that gets a ring gets a little bit of each class before that. We attended the first class, the class of 2014, which happened to be our 50th reunion class and they were the 42:00first class to get the gold, so the timing worked out.

David C: That's terrific.

Jess Fowler: It's been a lot of fun.

David C: I watched the little video about it and saw the students, the little ceremony that they did.

Jess Fowler: Boy you talk about tearing up.

David C: Well, one of my favorite students was one of that group.

Jess Fowler: Oh really?

David C: Steve Hamilton who was in the Corps. I don't know if you remember Steve. Steve's a terrific kid.

Jess Fowler: Oh wow. Yeah.

David C: So I was really happy to see him there taking it very seriously of course.

Jess Fowler: That's wonderful.

David C: Because the Corps means a lot to him too.

Jess Fowler: Yeah, when we went in the room and they had the Bugles from the year of the person that was being honored with the ring, their ring sitting in the photo. And each person stepped forward and read their name and dropped the ring into the crucible and it was very touching, so that's where it all comes together.

David C: Yes, a very neat program.

Jess Fowler: So things have moved on from that. We hope that program is maturing and will continue to for a long time.

David C: Wrapping up here, what changes have, obviously there's lot of changes that have happened since you were here as a student, but what changes really sort of resonate with you that you've seen happen and what changes would you like to see going forward?

Jess Fowler: Obviously the school is much different in character and- Well, no, not in character, but in admission. It's become a huge research University and we're very very proud of that. The growth has been phenomenal. It's now four times larger than when we were here. The Corps seems to be coming back and serving a useful function for the people here. So we see those changes and you 44:00hear a lot of people kind of griping and complaining it isn't like it used to be. Well no, it isn't, but what is? 50 years ago we didn't know about DNA either. Now it's a common word. So I think the changes have been very positive. I hope the institution does not grow much larger in terms of student body. I would rather see it become more competitive in admissions than just getting bigger and requiring more bricks and mortar and land and buildings and dorms and all that. And I think that's not just Virginia Tech, I think that's nationwide. We've got a real serious problem with higher education. Not everybody needs a four-year-degree. I think that's kind of doing it a 45:00disservice to some of these kids. My daughter has a $70,000 student loan from graduate school. That kind of brought it home. Why are we doing this? Anyway, I hope the university can move forward and continue the traditions, carry on with what it has, but I hope we can moderate or modulate further growth. That's my biggest concern right now.

David C: So last question is, as you already know, I always end with, is there anything that I should have asked that I didn't ask, or anything that you'd like to add?

Jess Fowler: Well, I think we've covered a lot of territory. Obviously my experience is based more on the Corps than on the academic side. Academics certainly played a strong role and I 46:00got to experience a wide range of academic pursuits while I was here, making up my mind what I really wanted to be when I grew up you know. But I really can't think of any other major areas that we haven't covered. I guess the one thing that I would add is that we have a new concept that I'm calling One Corps. Where we want to, and again, this is something we kind of generated here, and I'm on the board of the Corps alumni, to make it a more seamless organization, and to have one Corps of Cadets with a cadet regiment and an alumni regiment and an old guard regiment. When you join the Corps of Cadets as a freshman you join 47:00it for life, not for four years. My view is that that really kind of epitomizes what has actually happened and why not take advantage of that organization and structure it to make that a reality. That's one thing we're trying to get. The other particular sore point that we all have is that we think Major General Fullhart should be on the president's staff as a participating member of his staff, and we're going to try and make that happen too, so stay tuned.

David C: Okay. I love that One Corps idea, because as you said, it's what's happening anyway.

Jess Fowler: It is. So we want to try and make that a reality too.

David C: Terrific. Well thank you so much.

Jess Fowler: Sure.

David C: This has been a real pleasure.

Jess Fowler: Yeah, thank you.

David C: Thanks a lot.