For four decades, the hum of the Donnkenny textile factory signaled steady work for families in Floyd and across the region. When it closed about 25 years ago, the town was left with a question: How could the property serve the community’s future while still honoring its past?
To help find answers, Floyd leaders turned to Virginia Tech. Faculty and students from the Institute for Policy and Governance in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and the Community Design Assistance Center in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design worked side by side with the community to gather ideas and draft possible solutions.
The project is one of dozens that bring Hokies and communities together every year to tackle real challenges. More than 50 such projects will be highlighted Oct. 8-9 at the 25th Annual Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) International Conference in Roanoke. The event will feature two days of interactive workshops, research presentations, panel discussions, roundtable sessions, and poster displays.
Hosting the conference underscores Virginia Tech’s role as a national leader in engaged scholarship and reflects its land-grant mission to transform partnerships into lasting impact.
“As a university, we see community engagement not as an add-on, but as central to who we are,” said Susan E. Short, senior associate vice president for outreach and international affairs. “Hosting this year’s conference alongside our other ESC East Region institutions is an opportunity to celebrate the partnerships already changing lives here in Virginia while also learning from colleagues from around the world who are tackling similar challenges.”
Listening to Floyd, planning for the future
For graduate students and faculty presenting in Roanoke, the conference is about more than sharing their own work.
“The ESC conference provides an opportunity for our graduate students to present their research in a welcoming and accessible setting, for our faculty to network with colleagues across disciplines, and for all of us to learn from the best practices that others are taking,” said Lara Nagle, community-based research manager at the Institute for Policy and Governance. “It’s especially meaningful to share this work while Virginia Tech is serving as host.”
From day one, Floyd residents have been at the center of the Donnkenny project — funded by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Brownfields Program — through neighborhood meetings, online surveys, and other discussions with the town council. While ideas varied, one need came through loud and clear: workforce housing.
With that in mind, the Virginia Tech team proposed plans that include affordable options for teachers, service workers, seniors, and young families. Residents also wanted to honor Floyd’s textile heritage with touches such as naming the access road Cutter’s Lane, creating a public green space called Donnkenny Commons, or installing sculptures celebrating textile work.
Researchers also are recording the memories of former textile workers and their families in a digital archive that will support graduate research into the factory’s cultural and economic significance.
Max Stephenson, director of the Institute for Policy and Governance and professor of urban affairs and planning, said the project has pushed faculty and students to think deeply about community identity and social transformation.
“We’ve been interested in how those who worked there understood the plant’s role in their lives and in the community — and whether, and how, that history still matters in a region where globalization shuttered so many such facilities,” Stephenson said. “Our graduate students have been challenged to grapple with these complex questions of identity. How did workers see themselves as their world shifted? And how do townspeople today — both longtime residents and newcomers — understand that legacy?”
Helping students find their civic voice
Students learn that civic leadership begins with understanding themselves, their communities, and the world around them. An interactive workshop from Billy McKeon and Tony Trimpe of VT Engage: The Center for Leadership and Service Learning will highlight how students are being prepared to navigate civic engagement in today’s complex and often polarized environment.
“There are many different approaches to civic engagement, and there is no single ‘right’ way to do it,” said McKeon, civic engagement coordinator. “In our presentation, we will dive into our approach and what we’ve found that resonates with students.”
The Civic Leadership Academy sharpens skills in self-reflection, dialogue across divides, methods for social change, and the overall structure of democratic institutions in their communities — while also tackling issues close to home.
“One of my favorite parts is when we engage students in conversations about local issues impacting Blacksburg,” McKeon said. “National debates can feel overwhelming, but local government has a direct impact on students’ lives, and teaching them how to get involved is powerful.”
Building bridges with local schools
Another project to be featured at the conference is reshaping how Virginia Tech connects with K-12 schools.
What began as a conversation with Montgomery County Public Schools has grown into a broad partnership with five surrounding school divisions. At its center is a network of liaisons — individuals who bridge higher education and K-12 classrooms.
Before the liaison model, faculty often reached out directly to teachers or superintendents, creating uneven opportunities and extra burdens, said Phyllis Newbill, associate director of youth and community education at the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts within the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
The liaison model changed that dynamic.
Spending part of their week on the university’s Blacksburg campus and the rest in their school divisions, liaisons help faculty shape ideas into research collaborations and age-appropriate programs, and ensure resources reach schools across Montgomery, Floyd, Giles, and Pulaski counties as well as the city of Radford.
“Outsiders trying to connect with Virginia Tech face a maze of research, faculty roles, departments, and grant priorities, while those approaching public schools must navigate busing, testing, schedules, curricula, and teacher support,” Newbill said. “Liaisons understand both worlds, making it possible to build true two-way collaborations.”
The results have been tangible — and far-reaching. In the past year alone, the partnership supported 72 field trips and 38 outreach events, reaching nearly 7,000 students. Fifth graders became “Hokies for a Day,” while others explored careers through Tech Tracks, discovered bugs at the Hokie BugFest, or experienced performances at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.
For the Engagement Scholarship Consortium presentation, Newbill will be joined by Center for Educational Networks and Impacts Director Jake Grohs; Gary Kirk, the center’s associate director for engaged scholarship; Aparna Shah, collegiate assistant professor in the School of Neuroscience; Kimberly Keith, Floyd County Public Schools liaison; and Rob Graham, Pulaski County Public Schools superintendent.
“We want people to understand both the work of trust building and the rich results this network has produced,” Newbill said. “And we look forward to learning from others who are doing this work in innovative ways.”
Short said that spirit of collaboration and shared learning lies at the heart of the Engagement Scholarship Consortium — and of Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission.
“Community engagement has the power to change lives,” she said. “It strengthens schools, helps towns reimagine their futures, and builds partnerships that create real and lasting impact.
“That’s the work we’re proud to showcase in Roanoke — and the work we’ll continue to build across Virginia and beyond.”
Explore the list of presentations led by Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students.
By Diane Deffenbaugh
