Summer 2017

From the President

This summer marks the end of a remarkable academic year at Longwood — arguably one of the most eventful in our 178-year history. During 2016-17 we hosted the Vice Presidential Debate and approved a bold new core curriculum. We welcomed alumni back for the first Mega Reunion (see Page 10). Our graduates and other supporters contributed more than $10 million in a year for the first time, including the largest gift in our history from Joan ’64 and Macon Brock to support transformative learning experiences for our students.

Old traditions flourished, and new ones bloomed. Our student artists, performers and researchers reached new heights, and student-athletes excelled in the classroom and on the field. Particularly joyful were softball’s wins over Liberty for another Big South Tournament Championship and shortly thereafter over Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State en route to the NCAA regional finals.

This coming year will be memorable as well. A record freshman class soon arrives, as does an extraordinary cohort of faculty eager to begin teaching and building their careers here. The new core curriculum will take shape, as will our first Brock Experiences for students, and a number of campus construction projects are nearing completion. In Farmville, a new boutique hotel, loft apartments, several restaurants and a new Main Street location for the Longwood bookstore are all set to open.

Thinking to the farther future—say 2039, when Longwood will begin its third century— I am optimistic as well. There is much we cannot anticipate, good and bad. Perhaps drones and driverless cars will render campus parking challenges a thing of the past. Certainly new obstacles will emerge. But I am confident that, in broad strokes, Longwood then will be recognizable to you—the same, but better.

We will be roughly similar in terms of size. The habits of democracy must be taught anew to each generation, so our mission of creating citizen leaders will endure. So, too, I believe, will our commitment to a tightknit residential learning community, with the liberal arts and sciences running through the heart of our curriculum (indeed, as the economy changes, it is precisely these skills that will enable our graduates to grow and adapt in their professions). And, finally, I hope and expect Longwood will maintain
its commitment to remaining affordable by offering more scholarships and continuing to keep tuition increases as low as possible.

To preserve and strengthen what is great about Longwood, we will need help from you, our alumni. Philanthropic support will, of course, be essential. But we will also need your engagement, energy and enthusiasm. Annual giving, volunteering, mentoring through Career Services, serving on advisory boards, even returning to visit campus— all of these things send a powerful signal to the outside world about the impact Longwood has. Our alumni are our best cheerleaders and most effective recruiters. So thank you for sporting your Lancer gear and proudly talking up your own Longwood experience, and for encouraging young people to consider coming here.

Above all, thank you for your loyalty and affection for Longwood, which inspire us every day to make this place even better in the years to come.

W. Taylor Reveley IV
President