The Board of Visitors elected educator and physician Paul B. Barringer (1857-1941) as the sixth president of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI) on May 17, 1907. Accomplishments of his administration include entrance requirements raised from four to fourteen units; a Farmer's Winter Course established; and summer school expanded.

Barringer's tenure as president was not a smooth one, hampered by several investigations. From the start, he was determined to develop the agricultural facet of VPI until it was at least equal to the engineering component, which caused some dissatisfaction among certain alumni and faculty. In 1909, the Chairman of the Alumni Association Welfare Committee, Lawrence Priddy, attempted to have the Board of Visitors oust Barringer. The Board ordered an investigation and a public hearing was held March 25, 1910, at which Priddy's charges were dismissed as "unwarranted" and "inaccurate." However, this was not the end of Barringer's problems.

In the fall of 1911, the Board again called for an investigation when a former Commandant of Cadets accused Barringer of "countenancing immorality" on campus. The investigation concluded that the charges were "without foundation."

Having survived those investigations, Barringer next ran afoul of Governor William H. Mann, who wanted the College to become involved in agriculture extension work. Barringer did not agree, so Mann said he would appoint a Board of Visitors antagonistic to Barringer if he did not resign. On June 10, 1912, Barringer resigned, but the Board asked him to remain in office another year until a new president was selected.

In 2020, Barringer Hall, a dorm on the Virginia Tech campus named for the president, was renamed Whitehurst Hall after James Whitehurst, the first Black student to live on campus and the first African American on the VT Board of Visitors. According to the Virginia Tech August 13, 2020 press release entitled "Board of Visitors Executive Committee approves new names for residence halls", Barringer's "public speeches and writings that were popular throughout the South prior to, during, and subsequent to his time as university president demonstrated and celebrated his personal views as a white supremacist who favored pro-slavery and anti-Black positions."