From the President

From the President

If you’re visiting campus after an absence of even just a few years, you’ll notice quite a number of new and wonderful buildings and spaces. In all of them, we have worked hard to carry forward Longwood’s distinctive spirit. In that vein, I am especially proud of the new statue of Joan of Arc, created by acclaimed Scottish sculptor Alexander Stoddart, which was dedicated in November and now stands formidably at the south end of Brock Commons.

In this issue of the magazine, Matt McWilliams delightfully recounts the story of Longwood’s proud history with our patron hero, dating back more than a century and now extending to three beautiful statues. The article explains why so many students here over the years have found a deep connection with Joan of Arc—a strong young woman, determined to overcome the obstacles and prejudices before her and assume the mantle of leadership.

Traditions matter. Here at Longwood, they tie together the generations of students and alumni with an enduring bond. Even as institutions grow and evolve, traditions remind us of the fundamental and timeless strengths at their hearts. Perhaps above all, traditions help create and preserve our special sense of community, which, in the experience of the many alumni in my family and in my own experience as president, has proved the essential ingredient in what so many love about this place.

Longwood’s faithful honoring of Joan of Arc is among our strongest and most enduring traditions, and this latest statue is a remarkable addition to our campus, powerfully strengthening this connection for a new generation. Come see it for yourself. It is a world-class piece of sculpture that on its own is worth the trip. And there is so much else here that is new as well—from residence halls to the Upchurch University Center to our soon-to-open new admissions building across High Street from the Rotunda. All of it reflects the best of our past as well as the future. 

Taylor Sig Transparent

W. Taylor Reveley IV

President

  • The iconic Washington Post newsroom, made famous in the 1976 film All the President’s Men, has been transformed into a modern multiplatform information hub featuring a digital media wall that tracks website and social media analytics in real time. Longwood alumni Travis Lyles (left), Anna Knapp and Anthony J. Rivera are playing a role in the news company’s resurgence.

    A Different World

    April 01, 2019

    Nothing compares to the pure adrenaline rush TRAVIS LYLES ’15 gets when he’s about to tweet breaking news to 13.3 million followers. Especially when it’s exclusive.

  • Halle Parker's assignments as a reporter/photographer for the Danville Register & Bee take Halle Parker far afield. She’s one of three reporters at the paper, where the newsroom staff has shrunk from 20 to 5. (Courtesy of David Duncan Photography)

    Journalists in smaller markets play critical role in their communities

    April 01, 2019

    Whether it’s working at the Washington Post or covering local news stories in communities around Virginia, many alumni journalists see their jobs as practicing one of the purist forms of citizen leadership.

  • Autumn Childress followed in her mother’s footsteps to a job reporting the news for television. (Photo courtesy of Autumn Childress ’18)

    Alums make the news must-see TV

    April 01, 2019

    AUTUMN CHILDRESS ’18 grew up in the TV news business—literally. As a child she would sometimes wake up at 3 a.m. to go to work with her mother, a morning news anchor at the local ABC affiliate in Richmond.

  • Longwood Building

    A Shining Moment

    April 01, 2019

    Surprised, but honored. That sums up how this year’s six deserving recipients felt on learning they had been recognized in Longwood’s annual Alumni Awards program.

  • Brent Roberts

    Q&A: Off the Shelf

    April 01, 2019

    We all know someone like Brent Roberts, but we don’t always expect a quirky, colorful personality like his from a librarian.

  • Tom Wolfe, shown here in 1988, had already won acclaim for his nonfiction works when he received the Dos Passos Prize in 1984 and was turning his writing talents to fiction. He went on to write The Bonfire of the Vanities, a best-seller published in 1987 and often called the quintessential novel of the 1980s. (Photo courtesy of Ulf Andersen)

    Talent Scout

    April 01, 2019

    Tom Wolfe, Annie Proulx, Colson Whitehead. They are counted among America’s greatest authors, their works achieving critical acclaim and a place in the syllabi of classrooms from sea to shining sea.

  • Jada Russell ’20, a biology major, shows off her creation made with Photobacterium leiognathi strain KNH6.

    What Do You Get…

    April 01, 2019

    Sitting in a biology laboratory on the second floor of Chichester Hall, Kamarin Bradley ’19, a graphic design major, carefully pulled a sheet of aluminum foil out of her notebook.

  • The renovation of Frazer Hall (foreground) is about 50 percent complete. Adjoining Curry Hall will receive the same treatment.

    Progress Report

    April 01, 2019

    Visitors to campus these days can see the fulfillment of several goals of Longwood’s Master Plan happening before their eyes.

  • Dr. Dina Leech (center) has found that the dominant lake type in the U.S. has shifted from clear blue to greenish brown and murky.

    Am I Blue?

    April 01, 2019

    The fresh water in America’s lakes is increasingly turning greenish- brown—which has negative consequences for water quality, fish and the aquatic food chain.

  • Small Talk

    April 01, 2019

    "It’s really important that we honor and have pride in our history but also that we allow allies to join us and show their humanity."

  • A photo of Mary Venable Cox Mattoon, Class of 1900, is surrounded by her wedding dress. Both items are in the Greenwood Library archives. The photography of Mattoon’s great-great-granddaughter, Eva O’Leary, is currently on exhibit at the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts.

    An Artist and Old Lace

    April 01, 2019

    Eva O’Leary, an artist whose photographs are on exhibit at the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts through March 31, has never seen her great-great-grandmother’s wedding dress.

  • Sigma Alpha Iota is Longwood’s music fraternity.

    Belly Dancing, Anyone?

    April 01, 2019

    Students from across campus turned out early in the spring semester to learn more about Longwood’s 175 student organizations.

  • Clint Wright (right), broadcast studio managing editor, is the coach for a group of freshmen who have a shared interest in film and movies. As an outgrowth of their coaching group, these students created an improv show called ‘Skit Happens’ that they write, act in, film and edit. (Photo courtesy of Hiba Abu Chabke ’19)

    Put Me In, Coach

    April 01, 2019

    One Tuesday evening a little more than a month into his freshman year, Jaelon Hariston was learning to run the state-of-the-art equipment in Longwood’s communication studies broadcast studio.

  • Shoppers browse the student artwork on sale at the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts. (Photo courtesy of Rachel Ivers)

    Profit and Nonprofit

    April 01, 2019

    Call it a taste of business school for art students.

  • Dr. JoEllen Pederson (left) and Dr. Lee Bidwell are wrapping up a three-year research project that involved more than 80 students.

    Quality Time

    April 01, 2019

    It might be an easy peanut butter bird feeder made from ribbon and cardboard tubes. It might be making cookies.

  • An electric utility crew from the mainland works on a line more than three months after Hurricane Maria cut it.

    Territorial Imperative

    April 01, 2019

    Next year, groups of Longwood students will travel to Puerto Rico—a Caribbean territory that has been the subject of intense debate since a devastating hurricane struck the island in September 2017.

  • Poe

    Crash Course

    April 01, 2019

    ENGL 215: Virginia Literature

  •  Murder

    In Print

    April 01, 2019

    In this, her seventh book, Tracy collected and edited the work of 19 other scholars from across various disciplines, as well as writing the introduction and an article.

  • The performance of players including JaShaun Smith ’20, a sociology major, has packed fans into Willett Hall. (Photo courtesy of Mike Kropf ’14)

    #OnTheRise

    April 01, 2019

    When Longwood hired Griff Aldrich as head men’s basketball coach in March 2018, the head coach of the team Aldrich had worked with the previous two years had strong words to share.

  • Willy Miezan ’19 (right, wearing cap), who volunteered to be a spotter during the event, encourages a lifter to do his best.

    Lifting Spirit

    April 01, 2019

    The soundtrack of Iler Hall is unmistakable. A symphony of crashing barbells, primal grunts and all manner of hype music played at ear-splitting volumes has long emanated from the building.

  • Sam Hovan (left), the new Voice of the Lancers, announces men’s basketball and several other sports. He recently was joined by Rohn Brown ’84, who provides color commentary for broadcasts of men’s basketball games on WVHL FM. (Photo courtesy of Mike Kropf ’14)

    The Voice

    April 01, 2019

    Sam Hovan’s timing is impeccable—not only in his play-by-play commentary but also in his arrival at Longwood just in time to take over as the Voice of the Lancers for a historic men’s basketball season.

  • The softball team is expected to fill the stands again this season as it goes for a fifth Big South title. (Photo courtesy of Mike Kropf ’14)

    Lancer Roundup

    April 01, 2019

    Wallace repeats as Big South Defensive Player of the Year The fall produced yet another winning season for Longwood women’s soccer.

  • Caroline Carter ’19 (center) spent a day immersed in the Washington, D.C., political scene while shadowing Kaitlin Owens ’16 (right), a criminal justice reform and policy analyst with the American Conservative Union Foundation. They met James Scribner ’17, regulatory affairs specialist at the National Mining Association, for lunch following a tour of the Capitol.

    Me and My Shadow

    April 01, 2019

    It’s just another day at the office for Longwood students who participate in the new work shadow program run by Alumni and Career Services.

  • Current freshman Heather Waldo; her grandmother, Donna Carr (right), who purchased the sweatshirt nearly 30 years ago; and Heather’s mom, Tamara Smith Waldo ’90 (Photo courtesy of Ted Hodges ’85)

    The Magic of the Traveling Sweatshirt

    April 01, 2019

    Two of my grandmother’s three children were attending the same school, and she consequently felt compelled to get some form of Longwood merchandise to show her support. She chose a sweatshirt.

  • Becky Schnekser stages a 360- degree camera to collect images and videos of Shanay-Timpishka, a boiling hot thermal river in the Peruvian rainforest. (Photo courtesy of Wesley Della Volla)

    Super Natural Experiences

    April 01, 2019

    For many teachers, “professional development” takes the form of attending a class, workshop or conference.

  • Ashley Jones ’12  strategizes content for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

    Living the Brand

    April 01, 2019

    Ashley Jones ’12 is one of many Longwood alums inspired by the late Dr. Bill Stuart, professor of communication studies, who was known to respond to almost any greeting with the same phrase: “Living the brand.”

  • Going Viral

    April 01, 2019

    When a social media campaign focused on Longwood alums who are teachers went viral last August, staff in Alumni and Career Services knew they were onto something.

  •  Miller with barrel

    Class Notes

    April 01, 2019

    Louise Scolamiero Liddle ’75 was named chair of the board of trustees of Destination Imagination Inc. (DI) in October 2018.

  • In Memoriam

    April 01, 2019

    Virginia Jones Canada ’40 Oct. 11, 2018, Mallory Davis Foster ’43 Dec. 14, 2018

  •  Missing Persons

    Missing Persons

    April 01, 2019

    In January of 2016, the Virginia Department of Education (VaDOE) released a legislative study focusing on the shortage of qualified teachers in Virginia’s classrooms.

  • New Joan of Arc Statue

    A Tale of Three Joans

    April 01, 2019

    Like many good stories, this one begins with a legend. Here’s how it goes. It was 2001, and Ruffner Hall was on fire.