"Tech Triumph" is the fight song of Virginia Tech. It was composed in 1919 by Wilfred Pete Maddux (class of 1920) and Mattie Eppes (Boggs).[1][2]
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Wilfred Preston ("Pete") Maddux, a trombone and baritone player in the Virginia Tech Regimental Band (member of the band from the Fall of 1917 to 1919), jointly composed "Tech Triumph" (1985 recording - link updated 2008) in 1919 along with Mattie Walton Eppes (Boggs). Mattie Eppes was a neighbor of Pete in his hometown of Blackstone, Virginia. When he was home, Pete would often play violin with Mattie accompanying him on the piano. One evening in the summer of 1919, Pete asked her to help him compose a fight song for VPI. She played the tune and Pete wrote out the score and the words for two verses in a single evening. Pete Maddux is not listed in the yearbook with the band after 1919. Miss Eppes later married John C. Boggs, Superintendent of Randolph-Macon Military Academy.[3]
The song was first performed on Saturday, November 1, 1919, before the football game between V.P.I. and Washington and Lee University. The , issue of the university newspaper noted:
On arriving at the grounds, the battalion was formed for the review on the football field. After passing in review before the grandstand, the four companies formed a hollow square with the band in the center, and the band played our new song, 'Tech Triumph'."—Nov. 5, 1919, The Virginia Tech
In a letter to The Virginia Tech published on Dec. 10, 1919, Maddux expressed his appreciation to the student body.
Techmen, we're Techmen, with spirit true and faithful, Backing up our teams with hopes undying; Techmen, Oh, Techmen, we're out to win today, Showing pep and life with which we're trying; V.P., old V.P., you know our hearts are with you In our luck which never seems to die; Win or lose, we'll greet you with a glad returning, You're the pride of V.P.I.
Chorus: Just watch our men so big and active Support the Orange and Maroon. Let's go Techs. We know our ends and backs are stronger, With winning hopes, we fear defeat no longer. To see our team plow through the line, boys. Determined now to win or die: So give a Hokie, Hokie, Hokie Hi, Rae, Ri, old V.P.I.
Second Verse (seldom used) Fight, men, oh, fight, men, we're going to be the champions Adding to our list another victory; Football or baseball, the games in which we star, They're the sports which made old VP famous. Hold'em, just hold'em, you know the Corps' behind you Watching every movement that you make. Winning games was nothing for our teams before you—Keep the "rep" for VP's sake.
The song is noted for beginning with the opening notes of Reveille--a nod to Tech's past as an all-male military school. "Tech Triumph" is played after points are scored at Tech football games, and occasionally during timeouts at basketball games.
A strain of the Bliss Triumph potato developed for its disease resistance by Virginia Tech researchers in 1926 and was named Tech Triumph.[4]
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