Longwood's history is very unique. Many colleges have not even been around for as long as Longwood, which was founded in 1839. We have a really interesting history here that needs to be acknowledged, known and celebrated. It is our responsibility as members of the Longwood community to know where we come from. We need to know how we evolved into the institution that we are today.
So, the plan is to have a celebration that fits the full academic calendar year. and this day is called Longwood 175. So, here are some interesting facts about your university that you may not have known. The university has been renamed four different times. Longwood University’s original name was Farmville Female Seminary Association, which was created in 1860. It was then changed to Farmville Female College. In 1924, the name was changed to the State Teachers College. The university was not named Longwood College until 1954. The college was deemed an official university in the year 2004.
Greek life started at Longwood on Oct. 23, 1987, founded by the sorority of Kappa Delta. Sigma Sigma Sigma became an official sorority on April 20, 1898. Zeta Tau Alpha was founded on Oct. 15, 1898. Finally, Alpha Sigma Alpha was founded on Nov. 15, 1901. Originally, men were only admitted to summer school in 1968, but they had to be enrolled somewhere else too.
In 1973, the first group of males was admitted to the institution, but they could only be juniors or seniors. Long- wood officially became a fully co-ed college in the year 1978. These facts and more are from the website 175. longwood.edu/our-past.
Director of Major Events Diane Easter was able to answer a few questions about the Longwood 175 event. She believes that Longwood 175 is an event about, “honoring your past and remembering our future. It's going to last the full academic year."
According to Easter, the idea was in the works a few years ago. She said, “A committee has been meeting since last spring to discuss event plans because we wanted to really celebrate that Longwood has been around so long.”
She went on to say, “The committee is made up of 12 members, both of students and faculty members. This committee has been broken into different groups, depending what their talents were. These people were chosen because they have worked together in the past, so they have excel- lent experience and can put on a good event.”
Easter is no stranger to planning events. Her new title as director of major events was changed. She was originally director of events and ceremonies. She's been at Longwood for 12 years. Easter was here for the opening of Brock Commons and also played a part in the rebuilding of the Rotunda after the fire.
There are many special events that students can be excited about. Some of these include booths at Rock the Block and Oktoberfest, President W. Taylor Reveley IV's inauguration and a student party on the actual 175th anniversary.
“We started building up the events and the anniversary because we felt we should celebrate the whole academic year and not just one day. We wanted this to be really special because it is,” shared Easter.
There are many ways students can get involved in the celebration. They can go on to the website 175.longwood.edu and look at the memory bank or take the quiz provided. Students can also use the Twitter hashtag, #LONGWOOD175 or follow the Facebook page. However, the main way to become involved is to go to events and participate.
If you have ideas about events or want to be involved in the committee, contact Paige Rollins, student representative for the committee.
