page_title: Skipper (cannon)
section_title: Naming the cannon
hierarchical_section_title: Skipper (cannon) / History / Naming the cannon
caption_attribution_description: This image depicts a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Source This image is from Imagebase, a library of images maintained by Virginia Tech's Digital Library and Archives. The exact URL of this image is http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/view_record.php?URN=lh135 en:Category:Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
context_page_description: "Skipper" is the name of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets' cannon that is sounded at home football games and other events. The cannon was created by a group of cadets in 1963 for the rivalry game against the Virginia Military Institute, held annually on Thanksgiving Day in Roanoke, Virginia.
context_section_description: The cadets had been brainstorming for a name for the cannon. The majority of names being suggested were in honor of former Corps of Cadet war heroes such as: "The Major Williams Memorial Cannon", but nothing truly uniquely compelling. It started to become clear that the cannon would in some way need to be named to honor John F. Kennedy. JFK's legacy and naval background became the inspiration for the naming of the cannon. In his career with the Navy, Kennedy was the captain, or "Skipper", of a PT boat during World War II. Additionally, the name, "Skipper" had a meaning within the Corps itself. It was the traditional title for a senior private, a senior without any stripes. Harper and Hickam decided that the cannon would be named Skipper, to honor both JFK and the Corps of Cadets.
caption: A VPI cadet (c1950s)
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