Emily Hoyt, a senior Human Development major, organized the first Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Wytheville, Virginia and served as the committee chair. The event, which took place June 15, was hosted by the Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology, the Virginia Tech Women’s Resource Center, the Elder Justice Task Force of the New River Valley, the New River Valley Area Agency on Aging, and the League of Older Americans Area Agency on Aging hosted a one-day multidisciplinary elder abuse conference on June 15th, 2018 for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day; approximately 200 professionals from different backgrounds participated.

Hoyt is also a Pamplin Scholar in the Honors College and a Cloyd Fellow.