VT Stories Oral History with David Lowe, September 27, 2015 (Ms2016-015)

Ren H: This is Ren Harman. It's May 13, 2015 at about 2 PM.

So if you could just state your name, date, place of birth, and kind

of tell me a little bit about your family and growing up.

David Lowe: Sure. I'll be glad to do that. My name is David Lowe.

I was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1941.

My parents, my father was a school teacher, my mother

was a school teacher.

Both of my maternal and my paternal families were working class,

blue collar families. One grandfather worked in the oil rigs

over in that part of West Virginia. The other grandfather was a

rural mail carrier. Lived in a small town. Everybody knew everybody.

You knew not to misbehave because everybody knew your parents.

And that had it's, I'd say it was a good way to grow 00:01:00 up.

You learned accountability right from the beginning in a small town

where everybody knew everybody. The church was a strong part

of our growing up life. Probably the center of social life in a little town.

I had a brother and sister. I was the oldest of three.

Was an active young boy. Was in scouting. Was in 4-H.

Maintained a lot of activity and probably had my first job mowing grass

when I was eight or nine years old. My parents,

we were brought up to work hard and be self-reliant.

I think I picked up early on that and found it kind of satisfying, quite frankly.

Was active in sports in high school. Played basketball, played baseball. 00:02:00Loved the sports and I think that was an important part of our growing up.

Small town church family, and athletics probably defined the world

I grew up in back in those days.

Ren H: So you said both of your parents were in education.

What role did that play in your growing up?

David Lowe: Well, obviously my parents valued education.

And our dinner time conversations always seemed to center around

mom and dad sharing thoughts or situations that occurred in school.

And as I think back, they talked about success and young people

who were doing things that really, and they talked about young people

who were making mistakes that were, and they never preached it to us,

but by listening to parents talk about it, they were defining values.

So I think (inaudible) my life values were defined listening to my parents 00:03:00talk about their experiences as teachers.

I never thought about it at the time, but in retrospect,

I think a lot of it took place there.

Ren H: What subjects did they teach?

David Lowe: Dad was primarily a math teacher and mom had what was called

a "standard normal" degree. That's something less than a four-year degree.

She taught in a one-room 6-grade school, whatever had to be taught that day.

Probably the thing my mom taught best was life skills.

Ren H: So when did you first start thinking about college and how did you

end up choosing Virginia Tech?

David Lowe: Well, I can't remember when I did not

realize that I would be going to college. It was sort of like the next step you

would take. When I started thinking about where, 00:04:00I had developed a great

appreciation for the military. My father was a naval officer in World War II.

And as the war ended my mother took my brother and me and drove to California

where dad was stationed to be with him and bring him home. And one day in my

childhood memory, I remember standing on the docks in San Francisco when the

liberty ships were coming back. And there were thousands of these guys leaning

over the rails of the ships screaming and hollering, throwing stuff to these,

these two little boys standing on the dock - my brother and I. And that had an

impact on me about, I guess, didn't understand it at the time, but what America

and our military service sacrificed, how it kind of manifested itself, so that

stuck with me. I thought at one time I might want to go to one of the service

academies, 00:05:00but I realized I did not want a military career, and that was more

for those who were career-focused. But I liked the idea of the military

structure as a learning developing opportunity. At the same time I thought I

wanted to be an engineer. And I heard about VPI that has a military school that

had a good engineering basis. And it was only, at that time, maybe four hours

from home. Four or five hours from home I think. So it was kind of, that's

how VPI came into it. Military opportunity and engineering school. Four or

five hours from home. And I could get in. [Laughs]

Ren H: So your first semester on campus, what year was that?

David Lowe: The fall of 1959.

Ren H: So you first step out on the campus of Virginia Tech,

can you describe that, what it looked like?

What were your initial thoughts and feelings were?

I mean, had you been there before?

David 00:06:00Lowe: Well, we had come through Blacksburg.

My father brought me to Blacksburg in the summer to be fitted for a

uniform. You had to come over and be fitted and measured ahead of time at the

tailor shop, so we'd done that. So I'd seen the campus, but really hadn't spent

any time here. So when we came to school, all I remember is mom and dad

dropping me off on the curb over in front of Eggleston. Setting my stuff on the

curb. Big hugs. They got in the car and off they drove, and I kind of looked

around at this place, not knowing anybody, and to me it was big. Small town I

grew up in, this was a big place. And the architecture is so formal and

impressive and the stone emotes something that's hard to describe, but you know

it's there. The continuity of the campus and, I realized I was entering into a

new world from the small country town I'd grown up in. 00:07:00And you know, it happened

soon because the fresh, the rat system as we referred to it then, was pretty

dominant, and reasonably severe. Severe in that you realized you were going to

be in a different world for a while. There wasn't any question about that, and

I adjusted to it. I was ready for it. I adjusted to it. In fact I think I

kind of thrived with it. The discipline, the order was good and you learned to

make use of your time and you learned you could control yourself in ways that

you would never have learned if it hadn't been forced on you. Self-control I

found in life is a pretty damn good thing, and a pretty important thing to

have. And we were forced to learn self-control then. And then you realized

that you were rewarded for it because you realized a lot of good comes from

those subtle 00:08:00 things.

Ren H: Right.

David Lowe: So, I did, I liked the Corps.

Had friends from that first, stepping on campus, they are still lifetime friends

today. I think that's kind of the starting point of it. Academics were

demanding.

Ren H: What was your major?

David Lowe: I was going to be an engineer.

The little town I grew up in was near Huntington and International

Nickel had a large manufacturing plant in Huntington, West Virginia, had

research labs there. And so at least in the world I grew up in deciding what

you wanted to do in life was more driven by how you could economically care for

yourself than fulfillment and satisfaction. I don't ever remember being talked

to about being fulfilled and satisfied. I remember talking about where can you

get a good job that you can earn a good living. 00:09:00And I was good in math

and International Nickel was there. And then when I came here I decided to be a

co-op. So I stayed the first three quarters in school and then the first summer

I co-oped at International Nickel. And in co-oping I learned I didn't want to

be an engineer. So I came back to school and changed curriculums. Wonderful

part of being a co-op, that's what engineers do. That doesn't turn me on.

Ren H: When we were talking about this the other day and that's sometimes

the problem, is people are trained in their field that they don't, and based on

curriculum, then we get out on the field it's drastically different than maybe

what they expected. So when you changed majors what did you change to then?

David Lowe: Well, I changed to a general business major. There was no Pamplin

school here at the time of course. Because I thought I might be interested in

law. And the direction to law school would have been through what was available

in the business curriculum at the time. It wasn't really pre-law, but it's

where you 00:10:00go. So that's really the direction I thought I wanted to go was to

law. So I kind of focused the course selections the next three years on things

that would help prepare me for law school.

Ren H: Were there any notable professors that you had that were obviously

influential in your life somehow?

David Lowe: Well, memorable and influential are probably two different

descriptions. There was a professor named Duke Baird who taught marketing and

advertising types of courses. He's acknowledged in Dale Carnegie's book "How to

Win Friends and Influence People." Duke Baird was a colleague, to some degree,

of Dale Carnegie. He was an interesting man. By even today's standards he was

raw, but he was captivating as a lecturer. So I remember Duke Baird. But 00:11:00interesting, Duke Baird, the Mayor of Blacksburg, Mayor Barringer taught in the

business school. I remember him. Helen Miles was my English teacher. Helen

Miles' husband was Hugh Miles who was a professor. And Helen was a motherly

type person who not only was my freshman English teacher, but then sort of

became a mother away from home for the remaining three or four years. Mark

Oliver. Mark Oliver was responsible for alumni relations activities at the

time. His office was over in War Memorial. And I got to know Mark and he was

one of those guys that in a soft-spoken way could kind of tell you what you

needed to know even though it did not make you feel like you shouldn't have

already known it. Jim Dean, who was the Dean of Students was another fatherly 00:12:00sort of guy who I remember well. He'd sit back in his office, put his

feet up, and his pipe and he'd say, David, and because of the leadership

roles I had in the class and later in the Corps I was fortunate to be able to

have more contact with like the Dean and people like that. I genuinely felt

that these people cared about what I was doing and what I was going to do. They

made me feel they cared, and that helped. That added to the commitment and care,

the value the VPI was to me at the time and certainly has been since then.

Ren H: Can you talk a little bit about the leadership roles?

You were telling us a little bit earlier about those.

David Lowe: My leadership roles?

Ren H: Yes, your leadership.

David Lowe: Yeah, well, you know, the first one was becoming

president of the class. And that sort of set the stage for the rest of my, I

was in a lot of 00:13:00activities here. Probably the first semi-leadership opportunity

was when I was given a bid to the German Club. In those days you didn't pledge

or seek membership in those. It was sort of a quiet process, at night somebody

knocked on your door and said, "We give you this invitation." In my case, the

two guys knocked on my door the same night and they gave me an invitation to the

Cotillion Club and the German Club. The Cotillion was the other social

organization on campus. I chose the German club. I saw a lot of a cotillion

Club and have lots of good friends from the Cotillion as well as the German

club. But the German club was important to me and it provided an opportunity to

continue to develop leadership and to display some leadership. It's the oldest

student organization on the campus as you probably know. And so that was an

opportunity. 00:14:00I found myself being asked to participate in things as school went

along. And then of course being named the regimental commander at the end of

our junior year was, that was really, one, it was totally unexpected. I had no

idea that I would even be considered for something like that, and it just

created so many wonderful opportunities to lead and to learn leadership. But

most importantly probably to build lifelong friendships. The regimental staff at

the time, the guys, we're still good friends. We've worked together now what,

52-53 years, Reed Schweickert, Johnny Bates, Sykes Dehart. We remain friends

and we get together periodically. And we've all, kind of in our own way, were

successful in life. None of us in the same 00:15:00direction, but we all went

out and did our thing, if you will. And we reflect back on the good times we

had together as leaders of the class.

Ren H: Can you talk about some of those good times?

David Lowe: You mean during school?

Ren H: During school. Yes.

David Lowe: Well, absolutely. This was not a social school. We went to class

5 days a week. Classes went from Monday to Saturday, so your weekend started

at noon on Saturday. And of course there were still Corps activities, but we

had a big formal dance weekend every quarter, and that was quite an event. A

formal dance Friday night, formal dance Saturday night, tea dance Saturday

afternoon. Dates came in from the southern colleges from back home. And

there's where Helen Miles comes in again to play because many of these southern

colleges required that the girl 00:16:00stay with someone who was officially a

chaperone. Mrs. Miles was always the host to my date. And Mrs. Miles would

always sign the letters to send back to the schools to tell the girls' colleges

that the girl would be properly chaperoned. And then Mrs. Miles would put her

hand on my shoulder and she'd say, "Now, David, you understand." And I said,

"Yes ma'am." And so when they said to be in at 11:00 Mrs. Miles said, "And I

know she'll be in at 11:00." I said, "Mrs. Miles, you got to bed and get a good

night's sleep." And she did and when my date got in I have no recollection.

[Laughs] Dance weekends were big. Other than that we worked hard to study.

Memorable events? Well, the VMI, VPI rivalry at Thanksgiving was memorable.

Certainly the inauguration of T. Marshall Hahn was memorable, because he came in

with such a fresh, exciting 00:17:00view of VPI. I was honored to speak on behalf of

the student body at his inauguration, and still have my notes where I pledged

our support to him. And I remember he called the regimental staff in his office

probably in the fall of his first year here. Said he wanted to talk to us about

what we thought if he made the Corps voluntary. And you might expect, the

leaders of the Corps were outspoken in how we thought that would damage the

Corps and the negative impact it would have on the Corps, and we went away

feeling we'd been listened to. Of course Marshall went ahead and made the Corps

voluntary because he'd already made up his mind to do it, and it was the right

thing to do. He lives over the hill here and he and I see each other

occasionally and chat and I kid him about how he conned me that day by asking

what I really thought when his mind had already been made up. But it was, I

didn't see the big change. I saw the man come into office, 34 years old and

young and bright and full of energy. 00:18:00And such a contrast to Walter

Newman who had been the president for the preceding three years, so that was

interesting. A lot of things, a lot of activities went on the campus. It was

sort of the culture of the day I guess. It was commonplace if you achieved

something you got thrown into the duck pond. There was silly stuff like that;

you've probably heard those stories. Panty raids at Hillcrest were not unknown.

Ren H: And what is that exactly? [Laughs]

David Lowe: What is that? Well, I mean, the guys went down and screamed

to the girls and hollered and taunted the girls to throw panties.

It was all in good fun. It wasn't anything unbecoming, but it was something

that wouldn't be okay 00:19:00today. It was clearly gender, I'm trying to think of other

unusual things. The rat system, if the hazing and stuff went on today,

some of it would be, you would go to jail for it today, that went on then.

It didn't hurt us. We never thought anything about it, but America's moved

ahead and the universities moved ahead in some of those things,

but they're great memories.

Ren H: And when you talk about a lot of these names, Marshall Hahn,

the Miles family, you think about the buildings that are named on campus,

Miles Dormitory, Hahn Hall. So you seem like you were

at Virginia Tech at a time when there was a lot of, a lot of things were

changing, a lot of these significant, prominent figures were really coming in to

the university.

David Lowe: Well, I'd say absolutely so. I mean, I think the

arrival of Marshall Hahn was the beginning of the future of VPI. Before him 00:20:00 had

been erudite academicians who were leading in traditional ways that

Virginia, with all the names we'd had before that. Marshall had been here

before, so he understood what was here, but he'd been out and seen some other

places and come back. So he came and Dr. Cassell, Stuart Cassell who was the

financial guy left shortly in that period, so there was a lot of change at the

top, but America was changing. More importantly, I think, America was changing

and it was also the arrival of John Kennedy. And so you went from Dwight

Eisenhower and Harry Truman and those traditional leaders to this young,

handsome New Englander, so America was changing. And then coincident with that

was the unrest that had begun to develop in America with Viet Nam. I

mean 00:21:00when I left here Viet Nam was just a minor footnote. And of course over

the next two, three or four years it got pretty big. But not only was VPI

changing, but I think America was in a state of change. I was here to sense the

beginning of it.

Ren H: We'll come back to some of the Virginia Tech stuff, but

once you graduated, where did you go from there?

David Lowe: Well, my intention was to go on to law school.

I was admitted to W&L and UVA law schools, but I

also had an Air Force obligation. So two things came into play that changed

that. One, I also fell in love, and so I got married. Decided to go do the Air

Force and get that obligation out of the way, and then with the idea I would

come back to law school. But in the interim two children were born to that

marriage, and now I had to think about being a breadwinner, 00:22:00so law school got

dropped. I went to work for the telephone company, what was part of the old

Bell system. C&B Telephone Company as you may have heard that name, which later

became Bell Atlantic which became Verizon. So that's where I went to work and

spent the next 35 years with the telephone company. Most of my work, I started

back in West Virginia. And the president of the company at the time was a VPI

guy who was a German club man who had recruited me to go to work for the

telephone company. It's funny how those things fall in place. Lee Tate was his

name and you'll see his name in a lot of the history. But anyway, telephone

company in West Virginia, Washington, Richmond, New Zealand, and I concluded my

career back in West Virginia as President of the West Virginia company. And 00:23:00then did some work in helping build a wireless company. And then Sharon and I

decided to come to Blacksburg and retire in 2000.

Ren H: So when someone says Virginia Tech, what does that mean to you?

David Lowe: Hmm. Well, Virginia Tech is and has been an integral part of my life.

It provided a pathway I guess, or the gateway for a small town country boy

to get out and get a sense of what the world's all about, and then it helped

prepare me to go into the world and do okay.

And I attribute a lot of that to the values and the principles I learned

from Virginia Tech. I think the honor system was hugely important. I

think 00:24:00the words that are defined on the pylons are hugely important. I think

each pylon is a living concept. Ut Prosim is so much more than just a Latin

phrase. And for those of us who lived it and worked it, I think you still see

it today. I think Dr. Sands acknowledged that early on when he came here. We

put the honor system with Ut Prosim and with the words that are engraved on the

pylons, so there's real value. This is more than just a place, it's a culture.

It's been very important in my life from that standpoint.

Ren H: So what was the importance of the honor system and how did you

see that as being a crucial part?

David Lowe: Well, the honor 00:25:00system said you won't lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate

those among you who do. Well, if everybody lives by that there's a lot of

second guessing and gamesmanship that doesn't have to be in human relations

whether it's you and I, man to man, or whether it's societal. It's a wonderful

basis on which to build businesses, to build personal relationships. And I saw

it work then and I also saw the consequences when people chose to deny it. One

of the earliest memories back to Virginia Tech memories, was my Rat Year. 2

o'clock in the morning, you've triggered it, I'm glad you raised that question,

because talking about it triggers it, the bugle sounded at 2 o'clock in the

morning. And the bugles always told you what the uniform of the day would be,

the sound of the bugle, and the bugle's call was for raincoats. So we piled out

and put on raincoats and it's not raining. And I'm a rat, so you piled out, you

stand at attention beside your door until you get-- 00:26:00We marched outside and we

formed, in formation in a quadrangle behind Eggleston Hall, in that quadrangle.

And the upper quad Cadets, we hear a drum beat, brrrrm. And they're marching

from the upper quad down there, and the whole Corps forms in that quadrangle at

2 o'clock in the morning. It's pitch black. There's not a light on. The only

sound is the brrrrm of the drums. You know where I'm going with this. It stops

and a voice comes out and says, I don't remember the exact words, but in

essence, "the Virginia Tech Cadet Honor Court this evening, (date), cadet was

found guilty of [blank] and is hereby dismissed from Virginia Polytechnic Institute,

never again to re-enroll." That's in essence what it said. Silence. Drum

roll. Back to the dorms.

Ren H: Wow.

David Lowe: That happened one other time in my four years.

But 00:27:00that was a drumming out ceremony that said to me

the guys were serious about this thing, and if this number of people are that

serious about it, if they're that serious about it there must be some value to

it. It must have value. I worked with the Honor Court one of my years. So got

the opportunity to see it in operation. But I have placed great value in being

forced to pay attention and to learn those things and it's a lesson. I often

come back to it in life.

Ren H: So how do you see the importance of the Honor Court being student ran?

Because it's still that way today, you know, it is student-centered.

David Lowe: Well. I think it probably ought to be student-centered.

Ren H: Yeah.

David Lowe: It was then. We had no involvement

or interference in any way from any administrator that I ever recall. I 00:28:00 think

the [key] puts a heavy responsibility on students. And I think the thing in our

day, you had to go through a pretty thorough indoctrination so that we were all

grounded on what it was and what it wasn't. Now, if the administration kind of

kept their eye on it from the side and didn't-they may have done that. And if

I were the administration I would probably do that too, but I'd try to find a

way that does it that's in no way seen as overseeing or policing the function.

But I think the honor system is very important. God know, you look around

America today and we'd be a better country if there was a little more honor.

Ren H: Absolutely. Right.

David Lowe: We talked- You know we understood what the

words on the pylons meant, and I've referenced it. Those to me differentiate

this school 00:29:00from other schools. And in my corporate life I've served on boards

at one, two, I've attended two other universities, University of Pittsburgh and

MIT. I've served on advisory boards at three other universities. None of those,

to my knowledge, did I ever had a sense of this commitment to the core set of

values that I think underlies VPI. And I think this is very, very critical to

having achieved the success that's been achieved here.

Ren H: So what else do you think makes Virginia Tech unique?

David Lowe: Oh well, you know, we've got crazy school colors that

we can laugh about. We got a crazy, ugly mascot that's

become as lovable as any could 00:30:00be. Very unique things like that. And

we've got a beautiful setting out here in the mountains. You're kind of

isolated. We're a part of the world but you can kind of be isolated out here,

and a little bit removed from some of the stuff that goes on in the heavier

populated parts. I think that the diversity of student body is certainly good.

There are areas that are continually looking to be better. We wouldn't have

students from all over the world wanting to come here unless there was something

world-class, and I think the world's come to realize that. It's a much better

school than the one I attended 60 years ago. You can get a lot better degree

today, but you can also get through a little easier too. There's both sides to

that spectrum.

Ren H: Can you talk a little bit more about that?

David 00:31:00Lowe: Well, there wasn't as much emphasis from my perspective in

making sure, I think the university is focused on helping students achieve today,

and I think that's very positive. I think the focus more in my day was being

damn sure you learned what you better learn. If you learned it, you get through it,

but flunking out wasn't uncommon. I don't know whether it is today or not.

And there were faculty members who clearly weren't nearly as concerned about

whether you-about anything other than if you learned what they were trying

to teach you. The rest of it, if you didn't learn it, it was your fault.

I think you can find ways to get a degree today with less effort

by picking and choosing than you could in my day.

But if you were to pick and 00:32:00choose to really get a world class

education, man it's here. I mean, you go down to Goodwin Hall and the

laboratories that are in there, as well as all the other things that are in

there, we didn't have any of that in my day. We didn't even have a business

college. The business college was formed as a unit I think in 1961, '60 or '61.

Before that it was just random courses.

Ren H: So throughout your career, once you graduated from Virginia Tech,

how did-you talked about when you were recruited to your first job,

the President was a Virginia Tech alum, so how did you see Virginia Tech kind of

popping out throughout your life once you graduated?

David Lowe: Well, I think I looked for Virginia Tech as I went

through life. I don't know that it popped up as much as I was consciously

looking for Hokies, because I had pride in it. I had a respect for other people

who shared what I had shared. So whether 00:33:00I was walking through Weisbaden,

Germany in 1967 and saw the guy coming towards me that I had served

in the Corps with and there we would be reconnected and stood and talked, to

know where each other were. And then in my adult life, as President of the

Alumni Association a few years ago, I traveled to many chapters around the

country and just love connecting with Hokies who you share this common bond with

here. So I was always on the lookout for men and women who had come to Virginia

Tech.

Ren H: So can you talk a little bit more about your military experience

and serving with other Hokies. I find that fascinating.

David Lowe: Well, very honestly, my military experience was very unexciting.

I had an administrative job which I didn't particularly care for, but the military

didn't ask 00:34:00you what they assigned you. The interesting part was I served in

Northern Maine for awhile, then in France and then in Germany.

So I got to experience other cultures. I was in France when Charles De Galle

pulled France out of NATO in the late, about 1967, so I participated in the

removal of US forces from France and a lot of the political things that were in the

air at that time. But my military career was undistinguished in every way.

I served well and did what I was asked and when I was through I got out.

I have a lot of classmates who made much more significant and distinguished

contributions more than I did.

Ren H: So in what ways are you currently involved with the university

and maybe in the past ten or 15 years, how have you been involved with

Virginia Tech?

David Lowe: Well, I've been involved with 00:35:00a group of alumni who focused on

reinvigorating the Corps beginning about 20 years ago. We saw the Corps about

to go, and there were those who wanted the Corps to go. And I understand that.

But there are those of us who believed the Corp was an integral part of the

value system of the University. So I've been, I've served on the Corp Alumni

Board for several years now, participated in efforts to rejuvenate the Corps and

to reestablish the value of the Corps as an integral part of the university.

That's been important. I served on the Pamplin Advisory Council for ten or 12

years, from the time I was in corporate life. I'm past president of the German

Club Alumni Foundation. I've served on the General Alumni Board several years.

I'm past president of the Alumni Association and was 00:36:00honored by being made an

honorary lifetime board member to the alumni, which is special. For 12 years, I

chaired the operating board for the River Course beginning with the university's

purchase of it in 2002. During that time, we worked with Pete Dye in the

reconstruction of the course as well as the construction of the $5 million

clubhouse. It enables me to kind of keep those linkages across the

years, to keep alive the value systems that I think ultimately keep the

university as one, this core set of values that go beyond how many degrees you

offer and things like that. Sharon and I became very involved on April 16th. The

day that happened I heard it on the news and immediately went down on campus,

and went over to the Inn. The Inn manager was somebody I knew and I said,

"Write my name down. If anything comes up where you need something, call me."

And quite frankly I didn't give it anymore thought. That was on a Monday, if

you remember. On Tuesday night at 11:30, my phone rang here and they said, "Mr.

Lowe, this is.." I 00:37:00forget the guy's name who was the manager at the Inn, he says,

"We have a problem." And I said, "What's that?" And he said, "The parents of

one of the victims have just gotten here," and he says, "The closest room we

have for them is in Lexington. Could you help?" So I woke up Sharon and I

said, "Sharon, we're going to have a house guest." So she got up, opened up the

house. I said, "I'll be there in ten minutes." So I pulled on my clothes and

went to the Inn. And Mike and Peggy Herbstritt, the parents of Jeremy, had just

gotten here. They'd been in Boston for the Boston Marathon where their daughter

had run. And Jeremy was supposed to go to Boston to run in the Boston Marathon,

but because of academic reasons he decided to stay here. And they took me in

and introduced me to Mike and Peggy. It's difficult to talk about, but we

embraced, got in the car and came up here. Mike and I sat out there on the deck 00:38:00for, I don't know, three or four hours. He talked about how similar the

topography is here to Penn State. He was on the faculty at Penn State. Not on

the faculty; he worked in the facilities branch at Penn State. And Mike and I

sat there and Sharon and Peggy sat in here. So they stayed with us for the next

couple of days and I took them to the campus and kind of fathered, not

fathered, wrong word, what did I do? I looked after them, because they were

hugely vulnerable as any parent would be. Hugely vulnerable and the press was

pretty insensitive at times. So I stayed with Mike and Peggy and tried to get a

sense of what exposure they would be okay with and what they wouldn't, and

protect them from the rest of it. 00:39:00Then they came back and stayed with

us for graduation when the students were honored. And we've kept not a close

relationship, but we certainly have an awareness of each other and we care about

them. But we chose not to press that issue because they needed to decide how

they wanted to maintain, what linkage they wanted to keep here. And I'm happy

they were back recently, so that was an opportunity to serve, and I'm fortunate.

Those kind of things you kind of feel golly, something was, why did I go down

and say, "If you need anything call me." I don't know why that happened. I

believe there are some things that kind of just, if there's a design or

designer, sometimes when that happens.

Ren H: Yes. We were talking the other day about how some things just

happen for a 00:40:00reason. We don't really know why.

But it's interesting to think about the time, probably when you were talking

about Marshall Hahn's inauguration. That class from 19--between the '60s and

early '70s, this alumni outreach that kind of spawned from those years. And

what's interesting I think about Virginia Tech and this question that I pose to

you is why, I mean, I just wonder why Virginia Tech alumni, especially from that

era, is so involved with these things as far as alumni associations and

organizing these things and being a part of these organizations. It just seems

like a snapshot. I mean, there were contributions before and after, but it's

just for some reason, I think that timeframe is really interesting.

David Lowe: Well, at that age in life it's a time of change for you. You had the

personal time of change in your life. 00:41:00You're going from your parents'

home and being a child to establishing yourself, so it's a change of time. And

I think we felt there was change going on here, and as I alluded to in an

earlier comment, there was change going on in America. And suddenly you feel

you're in the middle of change. And yet you felt good about it because we'd

become grounded in values and principles that would help us successfully

navigate change. And a lot of those values and principles were things not that

we heard about here; I'd heard about, I'd been brought up hearing about it.

But the life experiences here helped give meaning to those values and to those

principles and this stuff works. You know it works in life. And our

experiences here helped us understand that. And in sharing it together then we

shared the cementing of those values and 00:42:00principles and this was the place that

provided the foundation for that to happen. Is that why we're still as close as

we are? I think it has something to do with it.

Ren H: There's some type of commitment to where you've learned all these things

and what it did for you personally in your own life.

David Lowe: We learned it as it affected our own life and we learned it together

as a group. I mean, the classes around me are pretty strong classes.

I guess that's back to what you were talking about. Sam

Lionberger was president of the class of '62. In those days, the underclass

sort of helped support the upper-class when it came to Ring Dance for example.

We did certain work. It was the way you earned your way through the process.

So Sam and I knew each other from the time I first became president of the class

beneath him and we hung together, and likewise the class of 00:43:00'64 behind me. The

other thing is though, the freshman system was strong. And if you recall or

know how that worked, the sophomore class was generally the driver of the rat

system. So if you drove it, I remember the sophomores, the guys who were ahead

of me driving me when I was a rat, could be tough as nails on me, but somehow

through it, they expressed a care and a concern that I succeed. But they

weren't going to make it easy for me, and so you came to value that. You

realized hard work and care doesn't always show itself up in niceties. Care

sometimes shows itself in demands and in expectations. And I think that's an

important principle of life. As a father, my kids know I care because I had

expectations and demands on them growing up. But things are tough; I care. 00:44:00It's easy to be easy. And I think all of that is part of that culture

we went through in a time of general change. Psychologists may say David is

crazy, but that's the only way I know how to describe it.

Ren H: Right. So when you talk about, we keep referencing back to this change,

this changing era that you were- throughout time what changes have you seen

as far as just anything interms of the University?

From the time that you were there and through the years,

what kind of changes have you seen?

David Lowe: Well, the University has certainly continually raised its

academic standards and expectations. As I alluded to earlier,

it's a much better academic university than it was when I

was a student, and I think it's continued to 00:45:00look for ways to do that. It's

recognized that the value comes from lots of different directions and nobody

owns the solution to get it there. Hence, I mean, the term "diversity" gets

thrown around. I don't like it because there's certain, I think constraining

connotations to go with diversity. I think learning to appreciate the value of

all of our differences has been occurring. Virginia Tech was a little bit of a,

you know, it was kind of a little Virginia with a certain cultural-and it's

gotten bigger. It's come to recognize the value. Look at the change taking

place in leadership today. It's not from within, it's from without. The new

provost, the new president and that's going to make it better, as long as the

core principles that have 00:46:00gotten strong are sustained and maintained, and I

think they will be. At least that's from the things that Dr. Sands says. He

certainly appreciates those things. I'm very positive and optimistic about that.

It's seeing itself as part of the world. Not a little place to isolate out in

the mountains of Virginia and get a college degree. But it's seeing itself as a

world institution. Campus in Switzerland. Campus in Northern Virginia. The

best is still ahead I think for VPI.

Ren H: So what kind of changes or recommendations would you like to see?

As someone who has this vested interested in this University?

David Lowe: 00:47:00I don't think I have any great insight. I think to continue to

embrace the world while not losing sight of these values that I keep coming back to.

We can embrace the world, take our values to the world, and I think if anything

I'd like to see happen is more efforts to take our values to the world.

We should not be timid about our values.

And in the world of political correctness if standing for your values

means you're politically incorrect, politically incorrect and stand for what you

believe. I think that will assure sustaining progress here if we can do that,

and I don't think that's easy to do. Easy to say, but not necessarily easy to 00:48:00do. The integrity, the academic process is vital. The continuation of the honor

system as a creditable part of the University is important. All the student

activities that make Ut Prosim alive- What do they call it, the Big Event?

Ren H: The Big Event, yeah.

David Lowe: The Big Event, if all these things that stimulate student

involvement beyond themselves and beyond academia, because the

world is beyond those things. So understanding it and recognizing the value of

it - pretty important.

Ren H: So what would you like to be most remembered for?

David 00:49:00Lowe: I just, I mean the people that I've worked with know that I care

deeply about the University. I try to- I don't- Being remembered I'm not sure

is even important to me. Finding, doing something of value as long as I can be

of value is important to me, but I don't really care about the remembering part

of it. I find a lot of fulfillment in finding ways to do what hopefully is a

contribution of some sort. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you keep getting up in

the morning unless you're giving something back. So that's- Two of my

kids are 00:50:00Hokies. Don't think they ever considered anyplace else, and I never

encouraged them. They knew how I felt about it. And they'd come here and

they'd seen it and smelled it, so they knew what it was. My youngest daughter

told us she wasn't coming here. She was considering MIT and she was considering-

She's a very bright girl, but little did we know it was all a ruse. She had

applied for early admission without telling us, and then got her admission and

said, "By the way, Dad"- Reveled in the fact that she pulled it over, but she

didn't want her dad's involvement. She's going to get it on her own. She

wanted to make sure I didn't exercise anything to influence her coming here.

She's now a Navy doctor, a lieutenant commander in the Navy. So anyway, that's

probably-to know that your children, for whatever reason saw it as something 00:51:00they wanted to do and they had to read something into what they heard from their

dad. That said, I think I want that experience too.

Ren H: It sounds like they saw what Virginia Tech I think probably meant to you

and then do you think that's probably what influenced them to choose the University?

David Lowe: Oh, I think so. I mean, they knew how important it was to me.

And of course throughout the years I stayed involved here,

so they heard me talking about it and I assume that's what influenced them.

They both are very proud Hokies.

They have kids that are already talking about being Hokies, but they're hardly

old enough to know what it means.

Ren H: So did you have, wrapping up here, did you have any difficult

experiences or negative experiences, while you were in

college or later on, or anything that you would want to talk 00:52:00 about?

David Lowe: You know, my four years here was a hard, busy, challenging, fulfilling

four years. I had challenges and concerns along the way. But nothing that I

think I look back on with any bit of oh wows. I think the experiences I've had

here, particularly as- I know I sound like a broken record because I come back

to these principles and values, guided me through some challenging times in my

business life that had I not had the experience and that confidence that these

things work, I might have been tempted to look for easier ways 00:53:00 through

situations versus principle, ethical ways to the best I can apply those

principles and ethics in my, my human frailties. But this has served me

well. Don't let go of it now. I had business situations that involved falling

back on those principles. Yep. Yep. Some involving, well they were all

personnel, human relations kinds of things. I had one situation where I had a

boss who had become an alcoholic, and it was going to the point where he wasn't

just damaging himself, he was jeopardizing the business. And his boss was in a

different state 00:54:00because we were multi-state organized, so there was no way his

boss would know about it. And I struggled with what is my obligation to do,

because I wanted to be sure my motives were right. And I came to peace that my

motives are not about anything self-serving; they're about my commitment to the

organization. So I made contact with his boss and I said, "I need to come and

sit down and talk to you." And I did. I explained to him what was going on and

why I was concerned. And I said, "I'm not, my purpose here is not to hurt; it's

to help both my boss, who is in trouble and is not helping himself and the

organization." Anyway, he handled it in such a way that my involvement was

never acknowledged in any way, but he took control of it and he fixed it. And

the man was salvaged, which is what I wanted to see 00:55:00out of it and life went on.

But it was a time where at least I wanted to be sure my motives were right and

not self-serving and not intended in any way to damage anyone else, but to help.

And I think my experiences here-back to those values. Make sure you've got

your own head right. Think through it. That's kind of a simple one. But

that's a simple example of it.

Ren H: Kind of falling back on the principles that learned.

And then applying that elsewhere in your life.

David Lowe: Applying the principle in a different circumstance. You have to

experience that kind of circumstance.

Ren H: Right.

David Lowe: But this core set of values when applied can always be there,

take you through about any circumstance in life.

I had other situations that I had to get back in touch with my values,

some deeply personal and others 00:56:00 organizationally.

Ren H: Can you talk about your class ring a little bit?

David Lowe: Well, you know,love the class ring. It's that symbol that a

few of us share. You saw some things on the wall downstairs and

there's other things. Of course, you know, I was on the ring committee

that helped design it and every ring is unique to every class.

Ren H: It's much nicer than mine. (Laughter)

David Lowe: In our day you didn't have all the choices. Today the classes,

they have all kinds of different rings today. But that was the only-

you had that one that you had a miniature and quite often

the guys gave their girls a miniature as an engagement ring. I gave my mother one.

And then when my mother passed, she passed it back to Sharon,

so Sharon has the miniature one. Again, it was the camaraderie of

being on the ring committee and designing it is probably the memory, because

it's a case where everybody kind of had their say and everybody had their

thought of what they wanted and we're all proud of what we ended up 00:57:00 with.

Ren H: So you kind of see it as almost a symbol of some sort?

David Lowe: Oh sure. Yeah. It's a symbol.

Ren H: Do you wear it every day?

David Lowe: Oh yeah. I don't wear it in the garden.

Having the Class of 2013 ring collection named in my honor was hugely special

since it came on the 50th anniversary of my graduation-

the model of their ring has a prominent place at home. My kids are

already debating about who's going to get dad's Tech stuff. [Laughs] Because

they know how much dad loves Tech, so they want to get Dad's Tech stuff. Yeah.

Ren H: Well thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. One thing

that we kind of like to end with is, if there was anything that I should have

asked you that you thought I was going to, or maybe that you wished I had asked

you, was there anything else that you kind of want to say?

David 00:58:00Lowe: No. I think you can gleam from what I've said,

how much the University means to me, and how much I value in my life.

That's really the bottom line to all of it. I put a lot into it, but Ive gotten out of it

multiples of what I put into it. I'm just thankful I made the decision to come here.

Beyond a doubt I feel fortunate to have had the experiences I've had.

I can't think of anything else.

Ren H: Great. Thank you so much.

David Lowe: Oh you guys are welcome. It's wonderful talking about it.

Ren H: Thank you. Nice meeting you.

David Lowe: Nice to meet you all.