Denim Day: 40th Anniversary
This exhibit was created as part of the Denim Day 40th Anniversary commemorative events in 2019.
For more information about the commemorative events, including a #VTDenimDayDoOver on Friday, April 5, 2019, visit the Alumni Relations Denim Day commemoration site.
The idea for a 40th Anniversary Commemoration of Denim Day at Virginia Tech came from one of the organizers of the first Denim Day in 1979. Alumna Nancy Kelly returned to Virginia Tech after learning about the opening of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center in Squires at Virginia Tech and after being inspired and encouraged by LGBTQ+ students at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University where she works. She returned with a vision. She wanted the university to recognize the struggle that LGBTQ+ students faced here even after the first LGBTQ+ student organizations were recognized by the university and she wanted to raise awareness of the struggles still faced by LGBTQ+ students today.
Denim Day 1979 was a statement. It announced to the university that gay and lesbian students existed at Virginia Tech. These pages feature the voices of alumni from that time recalling what Denim Day meant to them and what life was like for them at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Learn more about LGBTQ+ history on our Timeline of LGBTQ+ History at Virginia Tech.
Jeans Noticeably Absent: The Story of Denim Day 1979
This stage production included readings of contemporaneous newspaper articles about Denim Day in 1979 and clips from the Denim Day 40th Anniversary Oral History Collection. It featured stories from some of the original members of the Gay Student Alliance who were involved in planning the first Gay Awareness Week at Virginia Tech, which included Denim Day.
Andrew Alvarez
Andrew Alvarez was a founding member of the Gay Student Alliance in the late 1970s. In his interview, he talks about living on campus at Virginia Tech, being a guest speaker for the Social Deviance class in the sociology department, planning and promoting Denim Day in 1979, and his experience of being a gay man in America.
Lisa and Mark Barroso
Lisa Barroso arrived at Virginia Tech in the fall after Denim Day happened. She became an active member of the lesbian community and the Women's Space group. Her brother, Mark Barroso, was an editor at the Collegiate Times and is remembered by many in the LGBTQ+ community as one of the strong editorial voices against Denim Day. They discuss his editorials and her experience as part of the community. At the end, Mark remembers instances where the university administration attempted to censor reporting by the Collegiate Times.
Scott Beadle
Scott Beadle was a member of the Gay Student Alliance during the first Gay Awareness Week and helped to plan Denim Day in 1979. During his time at Virginia Tech, he studied engineering and theater arts and served as president of the Gay Student Alliance. Beadle's interview covers the motivations behind Denim Day, the experience of gay students living on campus in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and how things have changed on campus and in our society in the last forty years.
Beth Benoit
Beth Benoit talks about computer science classes and the campus climate for gay men and lesbians at Virginia Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She recounts how it felt to come out publicly in the school paper while having family in Blacksburg and the effect that coming out had on her career prospects regarding government computer science jobs. She then discusses how different things are today for her children, her observations of Denim Day in 1979, and the legal issues and societal acceptance of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
Sueann Brown
In this interview, Sueann Brown talks about realizing her sexuality and becoming involved with the Gay Student Alliance at Virginia Tech, her experience of Denim Day in 1979, and her experience as an openly lesbian architect with the National Parks Service.
Nancy Kelly
Nancy Kelly was one of the original organizers of Gay Awareness Week, including Denim Day. She helped distribute the flyers and was featured in newspaper interviews following the event. Nancy was also greatly responsible for the creation of this oral history project and the 40th anniversary Denim Day commemorative events in 2019.
Bill Kenealy
In this interview, Bill Kenealy discusses what it felt like to return to campus after forty years, the Gay Student Alliance in the late 1970s, summer resort jobs in New England, gay discos, Denim Day preparations, his time in the United States Navy and service during the first Gulf War, and his current work in local politics in the United Kingdom.
Susan Manero
Susan Manero talks about her time at Southern Seminary College (now Southern Virginia University) decision to transfer to Virginia Tech, surprise at the lack of denim on Denim Day in 1979, coming out, the gay and lesbian community in Blacksburg, the women's rugby team, returning to Massachusetts, her family's reaction to her brother contracting HIV and dying from AIDS, the Denim Day do-over in 2019, and observations on being a gay woman business owner.
Steve Noll
In this interview Steve Noll discusses accepting his sexuality as a young man, the unnamed gay student group before the Gay Student Alliance and the support it received from Cooper House, and reactions to Denim Day from the communities surrounding Virginia Tech.
Edd Sewell
In this interview, Sewell discusses the classes he was teaching as a member of the Department of Communications in 1979 during Denim Day. He recalls some of the responses he observed to the event, including the university's official stance on the Gay Student Alliance. He also talks briefly about his life prior to coming to Virginia Tech including the fear that his parents might find out about his sexuality and his wife's reaction when he came out to her.
William Simpkins
William Simpkins discusses his experience coming to Virginia Tech as a student from the local area in the late 1990s and coming out as gay while here. He talks about the history of gay student groups at Virginia Tech in the late 1990s and their programming, including Wear Jeans if You're Gay Day. He also shares his thoughts on the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the preservation of LGBTQ+ history and the experience of his generation of gay men.
Helene Vachon
Helene Vachon was a member of the Gay Student Alliance at Virginia Tech while studying animal science in the late 1970s. She took part in the Denim Day event as part of Gay Awareness Week while working to maintain separation of her lesbian identity from her life in animal sciences.
Sherry Wood
Sherry Wood was the editor of the Collegiate Times in 1979 when the first Gay Awareness Week, and Denim Day, occurred. In this interview, she discusses the volume of letters to the editor received by the Collegiate Times in response to Denim Day and the paper's reaction to them. She also speaks about her connection to the LGBTQ+ community both in 1979 and in the decades since.