BLACKSBURG, Va. – Legendary Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer will, once again, be teaching students valuable life lessons.
This time, rather than standing on the sidelines with a headset, he'll be addressing the Class of 2019 from the podium at this year's commencement.
Virginia Tech announced Friday that Beamer is the university's commencement speaker for the May 17 graduation.
Beamer, a 1969 Tech grad, celebrates his 50th reunion this year.
He retired in 2015 as the winningest coach in Hokie football history, with a school-record 238 victories in 29 seasons. Under Beamer, the Hokies had five top 10 finishes and became one of only six programs in college football history to go to a bowl game for at least 20 consecutive seasons.
University Commencement begins at 8:30 a.m. on May 17.
Virginia Tech also announced that Melody Barnes, co-director of the Democracy Initiative at the University of Virginia, and Joshua Johnson, WAMU radio program host in Washington, D.C., will speak at other university commencement ceremonies.
Barnes will speak on Thursday, May 16, at Virginia Tech’s Graduate School Commencement Ceremony at 2:30 p.m. in Cassell Coliseum.
Johnson will address graduates at the National Capital Region Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 19, at 1 p.m. at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax.