It’s something that’s always set Longwood apart from other colleges—an especially vibrant student government, where students are actively engaged in almost every aspect of campus life and getting real-life training for citizen leadership.
Now Longwood’s leading student organization has a home to match its importance and visibility in campus life: a state-of-the-art chamber in the newly opened Upchurch University Center, peering over the intersection of Brock Commons and Wheeler Mall.
An education at Longwood is not just about learning how to have a career but really learning how to live a life—and particularly learning how to be a citizen leader in a democracy that desperately needs you.
President W. Taylor Reveley IV Tweet This
On Tuesday, SGA President Josh Darst ’19 presided over the first SGA meeting in the Wilson Chamber on the third floor of the center, which has its grand opening celebration Friday. The chamber features tiered seating, state-of-the-art audiovisual technology and a view of the busiest part of campus.
Amidst other business Tuesday, Darst shared with the roughly 40 SGA members who were present a symbolic brick from the Cahoots Society that had been delivered earlier in the day to mark the occasion. President W. Taylor Reveley IV also stopped by.
“An education at Longwood is not just about learning how to have a career but really learning how to live a life—and particularly learning how to be a citizen leader in a democracy that desperately needs you,” Reveley told the SGA members. “It needs the habits that you learn and practice in this room. It’s profound for me to think of all the good things that are going to flow from you all, from your successors through the years and decades deliberating in this chamber. It makes my heart sing to see you all sitting in here.”
Ahead of the meeting, Darst, a business administration major, sat down to talk about what the new student center means for the SGA and Longwood.
These new spaces in Upchurch are important because they aren’t just some rooms where you can do homework and some rooms where meetings can be held. They are opportunities for students to grow and learn student advocacy.
SGA President Josh Darst ’19 Tweet This
What was your first impression of the new Upchurch University Center?
My first impression was I just couldn’t believe it. It’s a huge step up from where our offices were in the old student union. This is the university center. When you walk through the doors it’s like “wow,” I can’t believe this is really our space. For our students, it says we’re here, we’re important, and this is our space. As a senior, I’m happy to be able to utilize this great space before I graduate. I’ve talked to alumni who are jealous that we have this building that’s dedicated to us. We used to have cement block for walls, so it’s not a little step up—we are going from a motel to the Ritz-Carlton.
What are you most looking forward to about this new space?
There are so many different things. When I was in high school, I played football and we always dressed up on game days. Why? Because if you dress well and dress professionally, you are going to play better. You are going to have better focus and see better results. Getting a space like this, to me, shows how important SGA is at Longwood. The university is putting a lot of trust in us by giving us space like this. They see how valuable we are as an organization, and we are going to be able to capitalize on it and really get a lot out of it. These new spaces in Upchurch are important because they aren’t just some rooms where you can do homework and some rooms where meetings can be held. They are opportunities for students to grow and learn student advocacy.
Where did the SGA meet before Upchurch opened? Where did it meet before that?
We have been meeting in the Martinelli Board Room in the Maugans Alumni Center. Before that SGA used to be in the ABC rooms in Lankford, which were not really a professional environment. We made a step up with Martinelli. This is very different with the tiered seating. Plus we are going to have microphones. This new setup allows us to have better eye contact with people, and I think that will be conducive to better discussion.
What will the new Upchurch University Center allow you to do that you couldn’t do before?
For SGA, this is now a one-stop shop. We will have our executive meetings in our conference room. Then we have our office suite—where we even designed our own hangout area. Then we have the Wilson Chamber, where we will have our meetings. And then there’s food downstairs. In the past, we didn’t have a central location for everything. Our office was in Lankford, but we would have Student Finance Committee meetings in Ruffner. We would have our executive meetings in the Student Success Center, and then we would have our meetings in the Martinelli Board Room. Instead of being all over the place, we have one centralized hub that is going to be our home and that’s a big deal to have that identity.
When we were in the old student union, we felt somewhat isolated because a lot of people weren’t passing through. SGA wouldn’t really get many student visitors there. But now I’m sitting in my office and people are popping their heads in asking, “Hey, what do you guys do?” I see this new building as transformative in terms of the SGA’s future progress.
What does this new student center mean for the Longwood student body as a whole?
As soon as the doors opened, it was great to see students using it and making it their own. We immediately saw students in all of the study spaces and study nooks. With the old Stu, it didn’t really have the study spaces that students need. It didn’t have things that attracted students to go there unless you had a reason. The first day Upchurch was open, there were 3,300 students who made food purchases. Students are making use of the study space, the new food options, checking out the different student offices that are based here or just hanging out on the couches. I really think this new center—in this prominent place—is going to help increase the level of socializing on campus. This is a great space for students to meet and talk and just hang out. I also think it’s going to help drive some collaboration and innovation. It’s going to be such an incredible resource for our students.
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