Rasche Hall
Rasche, Shanks, and Monteith Hall
Rasche Hall, a residence hall on the Upper Quad, is home to 301 members of the Corps of Cadets. It is composed an old section (Barracks No. 2) and a newer section built on the site of the First Academic Building. Barracks No. 2 section was completed in October, 1894 at a cost of $13,467. The building was remodeled in 1957-58 at a cost of $148,291. A new section was completed in the Summer of 1957 at a cost of $552,973. The building contains 62,491 sq. ft.
William H. (Bosco) Rasche
Rasche Hall is named for William Henry "Bosco" Rasche. Rasche served as a professor of mechanism and descriptive geometry from 1895 to 1951. Rasche received his nickname from students after the visit of a traveling carnival featuring "Bosco the Wild Man from Borneo who eats snakes alive." No one ever saw Rasche eating a snake, but sophomores were in danger of figuratively being eaten alive by him after they painted his riding horse with black and white zebra stripes around 1920, according to Ellison Smyth Jr. (electrical engineering, 1922) in his book, Retrospect.
References: "Heroes and Heroines Set in Stone," by Su Clauson-Wicker and Netta Smith, in the fall 1995 issue of Virginia Tech Magazine. University Archives of Virginia Tech, Historical Data Book, Section 6.5.
Address: Mall Entrance / Main Street (Upper Quad) | Map Grid: N-3
Originally Built: 1957 | Abbreviation: RASCH