VTBAS Clarification on Past & Upcoming Events

Dear VT Black Alumni:

We have been receiving a lot of questions related to a Black Alumni Weekend event in the Washington, D.C. / DMV that is being promoted to VT Black alumni as well as other misinformation about VTBAS. Please allow us to clarify several issues.

• The Black Alumni Weekend event being advertised for June 19th – 22nd in the Washington, DC. area is NOT a VTBAS event.

• There has been NO safety breach affecting our organization and no security compromises to our website, social media platforms or financial accounts.

• The official VTBAS email is: communications@vtblackalumnisociety.com

Here are the facts:

VTBAS is not hosting an event during the weekend of June 19th – 22nd in Washington. DC. In December 2024, VTBAS previewed an alumni event to be held in the DMV in June 2025 with registration to open in January 2025. However, VTBAS leadership then determined that this event was not economically feasible for the organization to continue to pursue. Registration information was removed from our website in December 2024 with the event’s cancellation. Any registration fee solicited or paid for a Black Alumni Weekend June 19th - 22nd in the DMV / Washington, DC area was not solicited by VTBAS or paid to VTBAS.

Misinformation and Mischaracterizations

In the last 30 days, VTBAS has received inquiries regarding the promotion of a Black Alumni event to Hokies. The content, dates, and schedule of this event are similar to what was originally planned by VTBAS. Photos used in advertisements have included VTBAS members and events. Consequently, this has created confusion among alumni. The event titled “2025 Black Alumni Weekend” from June 19th to June 22nd, 2025, in the Washington D.C. area is NOT a VTBAS event. VTBAS will have Black alumni gatherings in 2025 in regional areas and in Blacksburg.  Details of those will be communicated soon.

False Email Statement

We understand that some in our VTBAS community received an email dated Dec. 21, 2024, that stated in part the following: there was “a serious security and safety breach affecting our organization. We have discovered that our website, social media accounts, and financial accounts have been compromised. … If you receive any messages or posts from these accounts/platforms, please treat them with extreme caution and avoid responding or engaging.” This was a FALSE statement. There has been NO safety breach affecting our organization and no security compromises to our website or social media platforms or financial accounts.

Please note events or programs organized by VTBAS will be communicated through our official newsletter, posted on our social media channels and posted on our website: vtblackalumnisociety.com. All official communications will come from this email: communications@vtblackalumnisociety.com.

Onward

Thank you for your attention and thank you to those who have reached out to alert us regarding these issues. We appreciate the opportunity to address them. Our mission is to celebrate, serve, support, and engage VT Black alumni and we look forward to continuing to do that.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors and Executive Officers