I'm a junior at Virginia Tech. I sent this to Spotlight Dispatch because I didn't know where else to send it and I figured someone should probably know what's happening here.

They announced Abigail Spanberger as our commencement speaker a few weeks ago. Governor Spanberger. Democrat. The woman who just beat Winsome Earle-Sears in November. And I want to be clear — I'm not saying she's a bad person. I'm saying that roughly half the students on this campus did not vote for her, did not want her here, and were not asked.

Nobody asked us. That's the part that keeps coming up when I talk to people. Not just the conservatives — people who don't even care that much about politics are asking the same question: who decided this? How does that decision get made? Because it wasn't made by us.

The group chat has been going since the announcement. It started with people venting. Now it's people making actual plans. I'm not going to describe what those plans are because honestly I don't think anyone has fully decided yet. But the mood is not — I don't know how to say this — the mood is not nothing. It's something.

Virginia Tech dissolved its DEI office this year. Under federal pressure, sure, but they did it. They cut the programs. They told students who depended on those programs that it was out of their hands. And now the same administration that couldn't say no to Washington is inviting the governor of Virginia to stand at our podium on the most important day of the year.

I've been here three years. I love this school. That's actually why this bothers me. If I didn't care I wouldn't be writing this.

Commencement is May 15. Lane Stadium. I'll be there. A lot of people I know will be there. We haven't decided yet what that means.