Commencement speakers inspire Class of 2025 to serve the common good as nation’s 250th birthday nears

With the nation preparing to mark its 250th birthday, Coleman centered her remarks on the legacy of the 56 men who gathered in Philadelphia in 1776 to draft and sign the Declaration of Independence. She pointed out that the youngest among them were just 26—only slightly older than many of the graduates before her. Coleman reminded the Class of 2025 that, like the founders, they too will face setbacks and hard choices—but they are also called to lead with courage, conviction and a sense of the greater good.

“Navigate your future knowing that everything isn’t going to go to plan,” said Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, which oversees the Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. “Sometimes you will have to step out of your comfort zone. Sometimes you will have to make the tough call. I hope that you will choose to make it with the greater good, the common good, in mind.”

A graduate of Hampton University, Coleman is an award-winning historian and historical organization executive who has been a leading voice in interpreting both Virginia history and the history of the United States at important national sites. She implored graduates to take with them the greatest lessons learned at Longwood—both inside and outside of the classroom.

“Take with you your curiosity; a desire and ability to learn new things based on new evidence,” she said. “Take with you empathy. Continue to build relationships with people unlike yourself. Commit yourselves to make a difference in this world that benefits the whole of humanity, not just a select few.”

In his remarks Saturday, President W. Taylor Reveley IV also noted the upcoming celebration of the nation’s founding.

“That anniversary is not just a number, it is a call,” he said. “A call to carry forward the ideals upon which this nation was built: liberty, equality, democracy and the pursuit of the common good. A call to reflect on the long and difficult road we have traveled, and the road still ahead. And, most of all, a call to rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work of building a more perfect union.” 

Reveley noted that the class arrived on campus in the fall of 2021, when the world was still mending from the pandemic. “You came here seeking not only an education, but direction, community and meaning,” he said. “Now, four years later, you leave stronger, wiser, ready to meet the new fulcrum years of our dynamic age.”

In his welcome, Rector Ron White, a West Point graduate, shared words from Gen. George C. Marshall, as well as lyrics from the 1980s pop hit “Holding Out for a Hero.” He called on graduates to employ the qualities of perseverance and commitment to navigate a rapidly changing world. 

“Longwood’s mission calls on you to combine these qualities with the knowledge you have learned on this campus and to do what is best—not only for you, but for your community and your country,” he said. “Each of you will be asked difficult questions, both personally and professionally. Longwood has prepared you for this. Each of you will be that hero, that citizen leader hero that this broken world so desperately needs.”

Senior Class President Nicholas Carlstrom ’25 noted how each graduate faced different challenges along the road to commencement, but at this moment those setbacks felt small, yet important. 

“What really stands out isn’t the grades or the schedule, it’s the journey,” he said. “That’s what makes today so meaningful. We didn’t all follow the same map, but yet we all arrived."

Student Government Association (SGA) President Neil Miller ’25 called on his classmates to take stock of their transformation into leaders over the past four years.

“Whether your accomplishments were through student leadership, activism, academic excellence, or simply being there for your peers—you have all shown what it means to step up and be a citizen leader,” Miller said. “I have utmost faith that the people walking the stage today will find a place, drive change and help continue to make the world a better place.”

At the undergraduate ceremony, five graduates shared the Sally Barksdale Hargrett ‘21 Prize for Academic Excellence, Longwood’s top academic award given annually at Commencement to the graduating senior(s) who has the highest cumulative grade point average among those students with a full tenure at Longwood. The 2025 recipients were: Elena Audrey Firestone ’25 of Aldie (B.S.  computer science), Abigail Renee Marple ’25 of Grottoes (B.S. liberal studies), Jade Mckenzie Riddle ’25 of Christiansburg (B.S. biology), Lauren Elizabeth Vick ’25 of Quinton (B.S. communication sciences and disorders) and Kendall Michelle Wieckert ’25 of Chesapeake (B.S. elementary education and teaching).

Christina Marie White ’25 of Hampton received the prestigious Dan Daniel Award for Scholarship and Citizenship, which recognizes a Longwood senior who exhibits a commitment to a life of public service and leadership. White, who received a bachelor of arts in Spanish: PreK-12, has been employed since January as a Spanish teacher at Cumberland County High School. She received a 2024 Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant to study in Valencia, Spain. While at Longwood she was a member of the Cormier Honors College and served as a member of the Student Philanthropy Council, a group of philanthropic-minded student leaders with a proven track record of serving the local and University communities and who have a passion for advancing the alma mater. 

Dr. Ronda Scarrow ’80, associate professor of theatre education, was awarded the Student-Faculty Recognition Award, given annually to one faculty member for professional excellence and service to students. 

At Friday’s graduate ceremony 396 graduate degrees were awarded, including 86 to double Lancers, who also received their undergraduate degree from Longwood. During the ceremony, Reveley gave a special recognition to one audience member: Nancy Shelton ’68, who served as Longwood’s alumni director for 41 years. She was there to celebrate her daughter, a fourth generation Lancer receiving a graduate degree.

Stimpert, the 25th president of Longwood’s college-town neighbor, Hampden-Sydney College, offered graduates several practical pieces of leadership advice in his keynote address.

“There is little room for leader ego in a successful organization,” he said. “Very few people want to follow leaders who are in it for themselves. But they will do almost anything for leaders who are mission focused and prepared to support them.”

In 2026, Hampden-Sydney will mark the 250th anniversary of the start of classes at one of the oldest colleges in the U.S. Longwood was founded in 1839, giving Farmville the distinction of being America’s first two-college town. 

“Colleges like Longwood were founded because the founders believed that education was the path to a better world,” he said. “Today you leave here prepared to improve the organizations where you work and the communities you call home. Be a servant leader. Bloom where you are planted. And always remember the importance of communicating purpose and meaning.”

Several annual student and faculty awards were conferred at Friday’s Graduate Commencement ceremony:

• Graduate Faculty Research Award: Dr. Steven Mueller, assistant professor of management
• Graduate Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award: Dr. Laura Poe, assistant professor of information systems & cyber security
• Longwood Graduate Innovation Award: Laurie Wright ’25, M.S., counselor education — mental health counseling
• Graduate Citizen Leader Award: Anna Katherine Keesee ’25, M.S., counselor education — school counseling
• Graduate Young Alumni Award: Emily Preuss-Anderson ’15, M.Ed. ’21, school librarianship

Graduate Alumni Award: Mary Harrison ’05, M.S. ’10, counselor education — school counseling