Virginia Tech's Student Government Association’s annual Hokie Effect T-shirts are on sale early this year for all Hokies fans who want to participate in a show of school spirit at the Hokie Effect football games this fall.

The student-designed T-shirts are the primary funding source for the Student Government Association, which serves as the voice of undergraduate students on campus. The association will donate a portion of the proceeds from this year’s Maroon Effect shirt to the Lunch Pail Defense scholarship foundation, an organization founded by Hokies Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster.

This year’s shirts will be worn at the Orange Effect game Sept. 3 against Georgia Tech and the Maroon Effect game Oct. 13 against Duke University, which is also the annual homecoming game.

“The purpose is to help the SGA raise money for community initiatives, unite the community through these shirts, and to flood Lane Stadium with either maroon or orange for their respective games,” said Hokie Effect Assistant Director Michael Conway of Vienna, Va., a first-year student majoring in business in the Pamplin College of Business. “It’s an annual tradition that is very popular here at Virginia Tech.”

This year’s Orange Effect T-shirt is short-sleeved and features the slogan “The Sweet Sound of Victory” along with a picture of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets’ cannon Skipper, which is fired during the pre-game national anthem, as well as after every touchdown and every win. The Maroon Effect T-shirt is long-sleeved with the slogan “All Hail the Lunch Pail,” a reference to the team’s lunch pail defense. The shirts are $6.99 and $10.99, respectively, or can be purchased together for $13.99.

The shirts are available at the University Bookstore, Volume Two Bookstore, and the Dietrick General Store on the bottom level of Dietrick Dining Hall.

“These shirts are very inexpensive and everyone buys them, from students to alumni to faculty to parents,” said Conway. “The Hokie nation is a united community, and this is one way to feel that sense of unity.”

The Student Government Association is a student organization advised by Student Centers and Activities, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs.