Longwood University
| Seal of Longwood University | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1839 |
| President | Patricia P. Cormier |
| Undergraduates | 4,350 |
| Postgraduates | 100 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Rural |
| Nickname | The Lancers File:LancerLogo.jpg |
| Website | http://www.longwood.edu/ |
Longwood University is a four-year public, liberal-arts university located in Farmville, Virginia. It was founded in 1839, and became a university on July 1, 2002. It currently has an undergraduate enrollment of about 4,350 students.
History
Longwood University, a pioneer first in private and later in public education, is one of the oldest universities the United States and was the fifth oldest college for women. It was founded on March 5, 1839 as the Farmville Female Seminary Association. In the succeeding years the increasing prosperity of the Seminary led the stockholders to expand the seminary into a college, and the Farmville Female College was incorporated in 1860.
On April 7, 1884, the state of Virginia acquired the property of the Farmville Female College, and in October of the same year the Normal School opened with 110 students enrolled. This was the first state institution of higher learning for women in Virginia.
With the passage of the years, the Normal School expanded its curriculum and progressed through a succession of names. It became the State Normal School for Women in 1914, the State Teachers College at Farmville in 1924, and Longwood College in 1949.
In 1954, graduate programs were authorized. Longwood became fully coeducational in June 1976. Governor Mark Warner officially signed legislation changing Longwood's designation to university on April 24, 2002, the one-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed Ruffner Hall (see below).
The main University building, Ruffner Hall was built in 1839 as the "College Building" and evolved through several stages of construction and expansion from 1839 to 1907. For decades the sprawling Ruffner, whose image appears on the university's logo and seal, was the main administration building, with administrative offices on the first floor and student housing on the upper two floors. After students vacated the building by the early 1970s, dorm rooms were converted to office and classroom space. The former library, Lancaster Hall, was renovated and reopened in 1996 as the main administration building. Ruffner was then used primarily for classrooms and faculty offices before being closed in 1999 for renovation.
Ruffner Hall burned down on April 24, 2001, in the middle of its renovation period and was subsequently rebuilt. A popular myth on the University campus holds that around the time the college changes its name, catastrophe occurs such as the Ruffner fire, deemed "The Great Fire of 2001." For example:
- 1884: The college changes its name to the State Female Normal School in Farmville. This was part of the agreement when the Commonwealth of Virginia bought the school from its original owners, because the owners were bankrupt following the Civil War.
- 1923: Right before the school changed its name to the State Teachers College the next year, a fire destroyed the dining hall, sitting behind Ruffner Hall. It was replaced by a replica, now called Dorrill Dinning Hall.
- 1949: Just after the school changed its name to Longwood College, a fire destroyed White House Hall, a building next to East Ruffner (currently where part of Main Tabb is today), and a mirror image to Grainger Hall, which housed an auditorium. The decision was made by then-President Dabney Lancaster to wait for the new auditorium (now Jarman Hall) to open two years later, then expand Tabb to connect directly to Ruffner.
== Academics ==
Longwood’s academic reputation begins squarely with its education department. With a long history as a teacher’s college, teachers produced by Longwood are heavily sought after throughout the country and consistently win local and national education awards. [citation needed]
The University is consistently ranked in the top ten among all southern universities offering Master’s degrees, according to U.S. News and World Report, and was recently selected by USA Today as one of only 20 schools in the country that actively promote and foster student success.
Longwood offers over 100 majors and minors, with business as the most popular, followed by education and psychology.
== Campus ==
Longwood sits on 60+ acres in the gently rolling Virginia piedmont. Although a single campus, architecturally speaking the grounds are separated into two distinct areas: the historic “north core” and the more modern south end.
The oldest part of campus stretches along High Street from French dormitory to Grainger Hall. These six red-brick Jeffersonian buildings (French, Tabb, South Ruffner dormitories, and Grainger, Ruffner, and Blackwell Halls) date from the 1830s to the 1920s and are joined by a covered colonnade and all bear the university’s signature red roofs. These dormitories, as of 2006, have been shut down and are being renovated for use as office space. At the center is Longwood’s main building, Ruffner Hall.
The original eight paintings on the interior of Ruffner’s rotunda dome, created in 1905 by the Italian-born artist Eugene D. Monfalcone, have been returned to the dome following an extensive restoration that was underway prior to the Great Fire. The historic “Jeanne d’Arc” or Joan of Arc statue, known affectionately as “Joanie on the Stony,” was also restored recently and returned to its place of honor on the main floor beneath the Rotunda. The full-scale sculpture is a reproduction of the famous 1870 original created by French sculptor Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu. The statue was a gift of the Class of 1914 and symbolizes Joan of Arc as the patron saint of Longwood.
A second Joan of Arc statue, a reduced version of Anna Hyatt Huntington's 1915 Joan of Arc equestrian statue and nicknamed on campus as “Joanie on the Pony,” sits in the middle of the covered colonnade on High Street. It was returned there in April 2006 after two years of conservation and reconstruction, including replication of its then-missing sword. [1]
Next to Grainger Hall, home of the school's English and Foreign Language departments, is the recently remodeled Lancaster Hall. Built in the 1930s as part of the Works Projects Administration, Lancaster currently houses the President’s Office and the offices of Administration and Finance, Student Affairs, and University Advancement.
The north core is also the home popular gathering spots and large, sweeping malls and lawns including Blackwell Plaza, Lancaster Mall and Wheeler Mall, where the University holds its commencement exercises each year. Nearby are Hiner Hall, home of the school's AACSB-accredited College of Business and Economics and student-run radio station WMLU; Coyner Hall, home of the school's Information and Instructional Technology Services (IITS) department; Cunningham Hall, the primary upperclass residence hall; Jarman Hall; home to the Department of Communication Studies and Theatre as well as a 1,000+ seat auditorium; and Blackwell Hall, the former dining hall and current home of the university bookstore.
The most recent addition to the north core is the new Science Center, dedicated on December 6, 2005 and first opened for the 2006 spring semester: a 70,822 square foot facility that includes 23 classrooms and laboratories, 47 faculty offices and additional research space for both undergraduate and graduate research projects. The new building will feature a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled environment, with safety ventilation systems and hazardous materials safeguards along with a high-tech infrastructure for classrooms, laboratories, and distance learning facilities. A greenhouse and herbarium, housing the world’s largest collection of Virginia plant specimens, is located on the roof. The Science Center houses the Deparment of Natural Sciences, which offers majors in biology, chemistry, physics, and several pre-professional degree programs, and replaces Stevens-McCorkle-Jeffers Hall, which dated from 1951. Current plans for Stevens-McCorkle-Jeffers are not known at this time.
Longwood’s more modern south end has seen dramatic improvements over the past few years with the completion of major construction and campus beautification projects.
Brock Commons, a beautiful pedestrian promenade named after benefactors Macon and Joan Brock (Class of 1964), was officially opened on April 24, 2004. Brock Commons has become the central focal point for Longwood, uniting the campus community around a safe, pedestrian-friendly environment, while creating an outdoor, collegial ambiance for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
Near the center of Brock Commons is the two-story, 60,000 square foot Dorrill Dining Hall, located across from the Lankford Student Union. This multi-purpose facility, which opened in 2000, is marked by its curved, colonnaded portico overlooking Iler Field and is the first building on campus to utilize geothermal heating and cooling. Next to the "d-hall," as it is known on campus, is Iler Hall, housing the Student Recreation facilities and offices for the school's Army ROTC program, available as a major in Military Science.
Across from Dorrill, the Lankford Student Union is home to the Student Government Association, the campus post office, a student gathering place called the "Lancer Cafe," and several meeting rooms named after surrounding counties. Behind Lankford is a large plaza frequently used for student gatherings and concerts, including the annual Oktoberfest and Spring Weekend festivities.
Construction has also started on a new fitness and recreation center. The 80,000 square foot facility, scheduled to open in the fall of 2006, will feature a wide range of amenities including an indoor track, basketball and racquetball courts, a climbing wall, work-out rooms, juice bar, and the latest weight, exercise and training equipment.
Also at the south end of campus are Curry and Frazer Halls, twin high-rise dormitories; Hull Education Center, home to the College of Education and Human Services; Willett Hall, housing the basketball gym and Department of Health, Recreation, and Kinesiology; Bedford Hall, home to the Department of Art; Wygal Hall, containing the Department of Music; and the Greenwood Library, named after the first female president of a public four-year college in Virginia, Janet Greenwood. The Wynne Building, former home to the Campus School (an elementary and middle school for use in training teachers), and later some departments of the College of Arts and Sciences during the Ruffner reconstruction, was recently demolished. [2]
==Student life==
Student life at Longwood revolves around many traditions, such as the annual Oktoberfest and Spring Weekend celebrations and Founders Day celebration. Oktoberfest is usually held on the first weekend in October, while Spring Weekend typically occurs on the third weekend in April. One part of Spring Weekend is called "Bandfest," a concert on the Friday of Spring Weekend, and is run by the student radio station WMLU. Such artists as Hoobastank, Something Corporate, Yellowcard, and Andrew W.K. have performed in the past. Through out the rest of the year weekend events are sponsored by the student activities board, Lancer Productions. Past acts have included comedians Elvira Kurt, Stephen Lynch, and Jimmy Fallon.
Many myths also abound on Longwood’s campus, thanks in part to the annual Longwood Ghost Stories. Told at Halloween by legendary professor of anthropology, Dr. James Jordan, students are reminded every year of the cemetery that still remains beneath the North Cunninghams residence hall; the infamous University Bell, which now sits in the lobby of Greenwood Library and is rung only on highly special occasions, is said to be cursed, having caused the mysterious deaths of more than one student. Also said to have caused the mysterious departing of students is the once massive network of underground tunnels. Although remaining portions of the tunnels are officially said to not exist, many students believe they do and are haunted by the ghosts of past students.
CHI
Also popular at Longwood is the secret society, Chi, named after the Greek letter X. Shrouded in mystery, Chi was founded on October 15, 1900, and promotes and maintains the spirit of Longwood. Members are secretly “tapped” and are revealed only at the conclusion of their senior year during the annual Chi Burning, a large bonfire held on campus (most recently it has been held behind Wygal Hall).
Chi members hold one “Chi Walk” a month. Members, completely covered in blue and white robes of their own making, follow one another from one area of campus to another at midnight. Walks are announced silently with the draping in white and blue rope of “Joanie on the Stoney” a plaster statue of the University’s patron saint, Joan of Arc, located in the lobby of Ruffner Hall. During these walks, members drop small cloths emblazoned with the year and either an “X,” the word “Chi” or the seal of the university. These “pieces of Chi” are said to bring good luck as obtaining one is very rare.
== Sororities ==
Longwood is the founding home of four national sororities: Kappa Delta (1897), Zeta Tau Alpha (1898), Sigma Sigma Sigma (1898) and Alpha Sigma Alpha (1901). This is the most of any college or university in the country.
The Dos Passos Prize
Annually, the English department at Longwood University awards the prestigious John Dos Passos Prize For Literature.
The Prize was founded at Longwood University in 1980, and is meant to honor one of the greatest--and most often ignored--American writers of the twentieth century by recognizing other writers in his name. It is administered by a committee from the Department of English and Modern Languages; the chair of the committee also serves as the chair of the prize jury. Other members on the committee include the immediate past recipient and a distinguished critic, editor, or scholar.
Recipients of the prize are American creative writers who have produced a substantial body of significant publication that displays characteristics of John Dos Passos's writing: an intense and original exploration of specifically American themes, an experimental approach to form, and an interest in a wide rage of human experiences.
Notable past recipients:
- Graham Greene, 1980
- Tom Wolfe, 1984
- Shelby Foote, 1988
- Paule Marshall, 1989
- Ernest J. Gaines, 1993
- E. Annie Proulx, 1996
- Richard Powers, 2002
Notable Alumni
- Jerome Kersey '06 (Drafted in 1984 but did not finish degree until 2006), professional basketball player, currently coaching in Italy.
- Michael Tucker '93, professional baseball player currently with the Washington Nationals.
External links
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