If you haven’t heard of President Reveley’s new master plan by now, you must have spent the past year under a rock. If you look out of a window in almost any main campus building, you can see some parts of the plan are already underway.
Despite all of the construction that is going on right now, the campus will be back to being more pleasant and comfortable soon. Under the new master plan, Longwood will feature a bunch of new buildings like the Upchurch University Center, which, much like the Lankford Student Union, will house a variety of food options and rooms for organizations to hold meetings. However, unlike the Student Union, this new center will have multiple study lounges with updated technology that will better suit students’ needs.
Aside from new buildings to improve the quality of each student’s, staff member’s and alumni’s experience, Longwood is planning to enhance the landscape around campus. With new trees, gardens and greener grasses, walking around campus will no longer be a solely functional activity that helps one get from one place to another. It will become an experience to enjoy.
All this sounds great, but you may ask yourself, what’s the reasoning behind all of this? Building up the campus is meant to both encourage prospective students to choose Longwood and make improvements that adapt to the current members of the community’s needs. Each building in the plan has a particular function that is meant to make certain aspects of college life better. For example, the plan proposes a new performing arts center that will enhance the experience of each performance and seat about 500 people. While we already have a few auditorium spaces, this new auditorium is meant to become a new home to the Longwood performing arts programs that the auditoriums in Wygal and the communications building just can’t compete with.
With growth, Longwood will be able to better compete with other, more well-known colleges and universities around the country. As more national attention comes to our campus with the vice presidential debate in the fall, more eyes will fall upon us. This could include attention from more out-of-state students, and in an effort to gain the status that Longwood deserves as a Division I university, the new campus look could ameliorate the national view of our university.
At times, it can feel discouraging to see the muddy hill that used to be the beautiful Cunninghams or to hear the sounds of construction coming from behind the library. Unfortunately, change takes time. Construction is never a pleasant sight, but sooner than we know it, the campus will begin to resemble a newer, stronger Longwood, while still retaining that familiar glow. It’s only a matter of time.