The March 13th celebration of Longwood University’s 174th birthday put Longwood’s past and future into perspective for the Longwood community.
In honor of Founder’s Day, which was technically on March 5 during Spring Break, students gathered at Jarman Auditorium to hear Dr. James Jordan, professor of anthropology and sociology, speak about the day when Longwood became co-ed with a speech titled, “You've Got Male: The Day Longwood Went Co-Ed and the World Turned Upside Down.”
“The day we went co-ed, I could hear Longwood Alumni turning in their grave down at the Westview Cemetery,” Jordan said.
It was 1976, and 2,300 students were expected to attend Longwood, with 75 to 100 of them expected to be male. They were housed in the Tabb and Cunningham residence halls on separate floors from the women, as reported in the Farmville Herald in August 1976.
“However, the real drama had only begun when 3,000 members of the Longwood community of scholars and 9,000 people in the town of Farmville faced a change in their world with profound consequences,” continued Jordan. “Things would be different from now on, many felt; and some welcomed the new possibilities while others were not pleased.”
From opening in 1839 when only six women wanted to learn at what was called the Farmville Female Academy at the time, to becoming co-ed, there were many milestones that the university faced in between and after.
After the Civil War, the college returned in the fall of 1865 with only 35 girls returning. Then 10 years passed and the stockholders of the Farmville Female College sold the college property. On April 7, 1884, the property of the college was deeded to the State of Virginia, and the name was changed to the State Female Normal School. In 1924, the name changed to The State Teachers College at Farmville, which was changed again on March 30, 1949 to Longwood College.
Over the years, students, both male and female, grew in number even though the female to male ratio still remains three to one. Longwood College became Longwood University in 2002. Then Longwood University reached a record of approximately 4,900 students in the fall of 2011, with more than 100 majors, minors and
concentrations for students to choose from. As the university continues to thrive, the Board of Visitors, faculty
and staff have composed the 2020 Campus Master Plan that was put in place so that the university can continue to grow and possibly house 6,000 students by 2020.
Jerry Jerome, facilities planner, and Kelly Ann Martin, sustainability coordinator, are two of the faculty members that composed and are now executing the Campus Master Plan.
According to Jerome, the ongoing current projects are North Campus student housing, Stubbs Hall renovations and French renovations.
North Campus student housing is projected to open in fall 2013. Stubbs is gaining a new look that is going to be similar to the looks of Cox Hall and Wheeler Hall. Renovations for Stubbs will start right after move out this spring and will be finished by August 2014. French is going to be the new I.T building and is schedule to be finished around spring 2014.
Another project is the Alumni Center, which will be placed on the ground floor of Blackwell Hall after renovations. According to Jerome, the university hopes to start the project this summer and
finish by fall 2014. While these projects have not been approved by the General
Assembly, the next projects that are slated to follow will be a new student union and a student success center. Construction on the new student union will begin after the demolition of the Cunningham Residence Halls. The new student union is “still in the very early stages of design,” said Jerome, and it will be late in 2014 or early in 2015 before this will begin.
The student success center will be a consolidation of student support offices including First Year Experience, the Writing Center, Athletic Student Support Effort, Associate Vice President for Student Success, Disability Resources, the Academic and Career Advising Center and student learning space.
“We are taking a lot of existing offices that are spread out that are student based and consolidating them, making it more convenient for students,” Martin said.
Design meetings will be held on March 25, 26 and 27 with the architect and building occupants to begin designing. According to Jerome and Martin, it will be placed somewhere between the Janet D. Greenwood Library and the north end of Lankford Student Union, but the exact location has not yet been determined.
The General Assembly passed a budget in the 2013 session that includes early planning money for two more buildings, a new admissions office and a new academic building, which will be a “new large learning building.”
Jerome said, “This learning building will hopefully be a very flexible building that will be used for all sorts of student learning activities. It will be built on what used to be the four tennis courts behind French.”
As Longwood continues to grow and accommodate these new changes, Jordan expressed that he hopes that Longwood will remain an “institution where students want to learn” and continue to have a “sense of community.”
“While we are coping with expected changes, we hope that we are accommodating changes beyond what we can see,” Jerome said. “With these changes, we hope to keep the campus aesthetically pleasant and accessible while keeping space inside and outside of buildings for students to do things they enjoy, such as Oktoberfest. Hopefully in the end, it will benefit all students now and in the future.”
After hot cocoa and cider were served on Brock Commons in the early morning, Dorrill Dining Hall celebrated by hosting a Birthday Dinner for Longwood's 174th Birthday.
