In the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech, college students across the country have joined forces to ask people the world over to wear Hokie colors tomorrow in what they are calling “Orange and Maroon Effect Day.” As reported in Tech’s student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, the grassroots movement has spread primarily through the social-networking website Facebook. According to tallies from the various Facebook groups promoting the gesture, thousands of students say they will don the orange and maroon on Friday. Others have chosen to take down pictures of themselves on their personal Facebook pages and replace them with the VT-with-black-ribbon logo.

Since Monday’s tragedy, many people have been wearing Hokie colors. Locally, most UVA students attending the Tuesday night vigil at McIntire Amphitheater traded UVA blue for Tech maroon. That same night, all members of Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals wore maroon VT caps in their home game against the Atlanta Braves.

UVA merchandiser Mincer’s does not sell Hokie gear, but general manager Chris Hendricks says the demand has never been greater. “We’ve had dozens of phone calls about it,” he says.

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