Longwood University is a
public university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...
in
Farmville, Virginia
Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 8,216 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County.
Farmville developed near the headwaters of the Appomattox R ...
. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Longwood became a university on July 1, 2002.
Three undergraduate academic colleges—the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economics, and the College of Education and Human Services—supported by the Cormier Honors College and coupled with the College of Graduate and Professional Studies serve an enrollment of 5,096.
In early April 1865 both Gens.
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...
and
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
marched past the north end of campus on Lee's retreat to
Appomattox just days before the end of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
;
at the south end of campus lies the former
Robert Russa Moton High School
The Robert Russa Moton Museum (popularly known as the Moton Museum or Moton) is a historic site and museum in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia. It is located in the former Robert Russa Moton High School, considered "the student birthplace ...
, site of the historic 1951 student strike that became one of the five court cases culminating in the historic ''
Brown v. Board of Education'' decision; and
Israel Hill Israel Hill developed as a community of free black people in Prince Edward County, Virginia along the Appomattox River around 1810. It was established by Judith Randolph after the death of her husband Richard Randolph who inherited land and slaves f ...
, a community of free
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
people formed around the turn of the 19th century, stands two miles from campus.
History
Early history (1839–1884)
![LU 1859 Farmville Female Seminary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/LU_1859_Farmville_Female_Seminary.jpg)
Longwood was founded in 1839 as the Farmville Female Seminary Association. Led by Solomon Lea, a Methodist minister who had taught at
Randolph–Macon College
Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continu ...
, the school flourished. Lea left to become the first president of Greensboro Female Seminary (now
Greensboro College
Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls about 1,000 students from 32 states, the District of Columbi ...
) in his native North Carolina, and several presidents and name changes followed in the subsequent decades. Led by a number of Methodist ministers, the school offered English, Latin, Greek, French, and piano.
As was common among
female seminaries
A female seminary is a private educational institution for women, popular especially in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when opportunities in educational institutions for women were scarce. The movement was a sign ...
during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
, Farmville Female College, as the institution was then known, fell into a period of deep financial difficulty. The decade following the Civil War saw many seminaries around the South shutter their doors. The college was given new life on June 5, 1875, with a new charter granted and the college renamed Farmville College. Rev. Paul Whitehead, a minister from nearby
Nelson County, Virginia
Nelson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,775. Its county seat is Lovingston. Nelson County is part of the Charlottesville, VA Metropolitan Statistic ...
who had been president of Wesleyan Female College at Murfreesboro, N.C., was appointed president. Under Whitehead, enrollment grew by nearly half, topping 100 students in 1876. Whitehead resigned in 1872 to return to full-time ministry.
Normal School (1884–1949)
Farmville College was reinvented once again on March 7, 1884, as the State Female Normal School—the brainchild of Dr. William Henry Ruffner, the first Virginia State Superintendent of Instruction. Modeled after the French
École normale supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
, which had been developed in the late 18th century as a model for teacher preparation, the State Female Normal School is one of the oldest of several
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
s in the state.
In 1902, Joseph L. Jarman was named president of the State Female Normal School, a post that lasted an astounding forty-four years. Jarman reshaped the physical campus from a single Victorian structure to a row of colonnaded Jeffersonian brick buildings that forms the core of today's campus. The academic program was also overhauled: the two-year teacher training program that had been in place since the college's founding was replaced with a four-year college academic program with permission to grant degrees. Jarman instituted the Honor Code, which survives to this day, and the student government. Through still several name changes—State Female Normal School (1884), State Normal School for Women (1914) and State Teachers College (1924)—Jarman shaped the institution into one of the most well-respected teacher preparatory colleges in the state.
During Jarman's presidency, the college purchased in 1928 the nearby estate of the
Longwood House
Longwood House is a mansion in St. Helena and the final residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of the French, during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, from 10 December 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821.
History
Longwood " ...
, which would become the namesake of the institution in years to come.
Longwood College (1949–2002)
With an expanding curriculum and growing class sizes, State Teachers College was renamed a penultimate time to Longwood College, its namesake being the nearby estate purchased by the Jarman administration. Longwood—with a focus still very much on teacher preparation—expanded its academic degrees, and in 1954 was authorized to issue graduate diplomas. The campus grew quickly in the ensuing years—three dormitories were constructed perpendicular to the core four Jeffersonian buildings: Wheeler, Cox and South Cunningham dormitories all arose between 1959 and 1963.
In 1964, the issue of coeducation arose but the Board of Visitors rejected the notion. The tide swung four years later, when Longwood began to admit male summer school transfers, and then junior and senior transfers in 1971. Men were admitted as day students in 1973, by order of the Virginia Department of Education until Longwood went fully coeducational in 1976.
In 1981, Dr. Janet Greenwood became the first woman president in the modern history of Longwood. She served until 1987.
Dr. William F. Dorrill, president from 1988–96, was instrumental in increasing Longwood's international population and expanding study-abroad opportunities for students and faculty through partnerships with numerous educational institutions around the world.
In one of the touchstone events in the college's recent history, The Great Fire of 2001 burned
The Rotunda building on April 24, 2001. The building was undergoing extensive renovations at the time, and no one was injured in the blaze, though the rotunda and much of The Rotunda and Grainger Hall required rebuilding.
Longwood University (2002–present)
Virginia Governor
Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...
signed legislation designating Longwood a university on April 2, 2002, one year to the day after The Great Fire that burned The Rotunda and significantly damaged Grainger Hall. Then-President Patricia P. Cormier said at the time that "university is a better reflection of the type of institution that Longwood is today. We are a comprehensive entity with a broad array of undergraduate majors and minors as well as graduate programs." Since becoming a university, Longwood has expanded its physical campus and academic offerings.
![Longwood University - panoramio (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Longwood_University_-_panoramio_%281%29.jpg)
The 70,822-square-foot John H. and Karen Chichester Science Center opened in 2005. Longwood's Health and Fitness Center, which opened in 2007, was the first higher education building in Virginia to be awarded the gold level of LEED certification. A new 41,983-square-foot Center for Communication Studies and Theater opened in 2009 to house the rapidly growing communication studies major. That building is adjacent to Bedford Hall, home of the art program, which was expanded and renovated in 2012. Three residence halls were renovated between 2007–14: Wheeler Hall (2007), Cox Hall (2008) and Stubbs Hall (2014).
Two residence halls and a commons building opened in 2013 at Lancer Park, an off-campus apartment complex. The residence halls house about 450 students, in addition to the 264 students who were already living there in apartments and townhouses. Longwood has managed the complex since 2006.
Keeping with campus tradition, in 2004 three major campus buildings were named for former presidents. The dining hall was named Dorrill Dining Hall for Dr. William F. Dorrill, president from 1988–96; the library was named Greenwood Library for Dr. Janet D. Greenwood (1981–87); and Lancer Hall was named
Willett Hall
Willett Hall (originally Lancer Hall) is an academic facility and 1,807-seat multi-purpose arena in Farmville, Virginia. It was built in 1980 and is home to the Longwood University Lancers men's and women's basketball teams. On December 3, 2016, ...
for Dr. Henry I. Willett Jr. (1967–81).
The academics profile has increased as well since becoming a university, notably with the additions of nursing, environmental science, athletic training, animation and cybersecurity programs, among many others.
On March 23, 2013, Longwood's Board of Visitors introduced
W. Taylor Reveley IV as the university's 26th president. Reveley's father,
W. Taylor Reveley III, was the president of the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
, and his grandfather
W. Taylor Reveley II was president of
Hampden–Sydney College
gr, Ye Shall Know the Truth
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts men's college
, religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church (USA)
, endowment = $258 million (2021)
, president = Larry Stimpert
, city = Hampden Sydney, Virginia
, cou ...
.
On September 23, 2015, the
Commission on Presidential Debates
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1987 under the joint sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican political parties in the United States. The CPD sponsors and produces debates for U.S. pres ...
named Longwood as the host for
the 2016 United States vice presidential debate,
which occurred on October 4, 2016.
At the first home basketball game of the 2015-16 season, members of the Black Students Association, with the encouragement of Longwood's associate director for diversity and inclusion, staged a protest of Longwood's alleged mistreatment of minority students.
Academics
Longwood University is a small, highly residential public university that offers more than 100 majors and minors across three main academic colleges. Longwood is ranked in the top regional universities in the South by ''
U.S. News & World Report'' and has the largest percentage of classes taught by full-time faculty of all public universities in Virginia. Longwood is listed in the "Best in the Southeast" section of ''
The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
''s 2015 Best Colleges: Region by Region survey. Longwood also is listed in The Princeton Review's Best Value Colleges: 2014 Edition, the third consecutive year that Longwood was named to this list. The university is also ranked 354 among "over 700" colleges and universities ranked by
''Money'' magazine. ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' ranks Longwood in the top 600 colleges in the U.S. and in the top 175 in the South. In 2005 it was recognized by ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' as among 20 schools in the country that promote and foster student success.
Longwood is known for active students and emphasis on collaborative learning. In the annual
National Survey of Student Engagement The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (pronounced: nessie) is a survey mechanism used to measure the level of student participation at universities and colleges in Canada and the United States as it relates to learning and engagement. The ...
review, Longwood routinely outscores other public universities in the Southeast in baseline measures of student engagement and quality learning environment. These scores include academic challenge, learning with peers, experiences with faculty, and campus environment.
Longwood requires every student who graduates to complete an internship, directed research or guided field experience in their field of study.
One of the centerpiece hands-on learning opportunities available to students is LU@YNP, an annual interdisciplinary program held at
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
that exposes participants to public issues in and around the park. In addition, students have the opportunity to study abroad at one of many faculty-led intensive study trips to places like
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
Longwood is accredited by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
.
Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences
The largest college at Longwood, the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences houses the core of the liberal arts offerings at the university and offers 18 majors with dozens of minors and concentrations.
* The English and Modern Languages department at Longwood University awards the annual
John Dos Passos Prize For Literature, founded in 1980. Notable past recipients include
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
,
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
,
Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of '' The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three ...
,
Paule Marshall
Paule Marshall (April 9, 1929 – August 12, 2019) was an American writer, best known for her 1959 debut novel '' Brown Girl, Brownstones''. In 1992, at the age of 63, Marshall was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant.
Life and career
Marshall wa ...
,
Ernest J. Gaines
Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...
,
E. Annie Proulx, and
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from se ...
. The 2014 Dos Passos Prize winner was
Ruth Ozeki
Ruth Ozeki is an American-Canadian author, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. Her books and films, including the novels '' My Year of Meats'' (1998), '' All Over Creation'' (2003), '' A Tale for the Time Being'' (2013), and '' The Book of Form ...
.
The college is named for Dr. John Randall Cook '52 and Dr. Waverly Manson Cole, who endowed it in 2006.
College of Business and Economics
Longwood's College of Business and Economics is accredited by
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
International. It was originally accredited in 1998 and has been reaffirmed twice. Students of the college earn a bachelor of science degree.
The online MBA program ranked 78th nationally in 2015 and 62nd nationally in 2014 in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of best online MBA programs. The program, which offers concentrations in general business and real estate, was ranked 31st nationally in 2014 in GetEducated.com's biennial "Best Buy" rankings of AACSB-accredited online MBA programs.
College of Education, Health, and Human Services
Longwood's College of Education, Health, and Human Services houses teacher preparation faculty alongside social work, communication sciences and disorders, health, athletic training, and kinesiology programs. The college also offers online speech language pathology courses to prepare students for graduate-level coursework.
College of Graduate and Professional Studies
Students of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies earn a master of science or master of education degree. A fully online Masters of Business Administration is also offered.
Professional studies offers for-credit teacher licensure/recertification courses, Speech Language Pathology prerequisite courses (SLP Online), and courses for the educational leadership endorsement. A variety of non-credit classes are offered for teacher recertification including partnerships with the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Cormier Honors College
Founded in 1983 as the Arts & Sciences Honor Program, the Honors College was named for outgoing President Patricia P. Cormier in 2008. Cormier Scholars are an elite group of selected students who mostly live together in a learning-enriched environment and enjoy smaller classes, close interaction with faculty members, increased opportunities for independent undergraduate research and an emphasis on experiential learning outside the classroom.
Tuition and fees
In 2014, the Longwood Board of Visitors approved the smallest increase in tuition and fees of any Virginia public university in a decade, responding to the rising rate of student loan debt, which President W. Taylor Reveley IV called "unsustainable." In 2015, the Longwood Board of Visitors again approved a tuition and fee increase below 3 percent. Tuition and fees for the 2014-15 academic year was $11,580 for in-state students and $23,350 for out-of-state students.
Campus
![Brock Commons - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Brock_Commons_-_panoramio.jpg)
Longwood's main campus comprises approximately 154 acres (0.62 km2) near downtown Farmville, Virginia, in a triangle bordered by High Street, Griffin Boulevard and Main Street.
The architecture of the campus ranges from its more historic "north core" to its more contemporary southern end organized along a central promenade, Brock Commons. The north core stretches along High Street and consists of four historic brick Jeffersonian buildings: French Hall, Tabb Hall, The Rotunda, and Grainger Hall. These buildings are joined by a covered colonnade and bear the university's signature red roofs.
The rest of campus is organized along a picturesque central promenade, Brock Commons, that stretches south perpendicular to High Street. Located along Brock Commons are the university's dining hall, student union, library, gymnasium, music and arts buildings and the homes of the College of Business and Economics and the College of Education and Human Services. A new student center, the Norman H. and Elsie Stossel Upchurch University Center is under construction on the site of the former Cunningham residence hall. At the south end of Brock Commons sits the Health and Fitness Center, an 80,000-square-foot facility that features an indoor track, basketball and racquetball courts, a climbing room and exercise equipment. It was completed in 2007 and is certified GOLD by
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
(LEED).
Off-campus housing
Across Main Street, a retail/student housing complex called Longwood Landings was completed in 2006. This complex housed the university's bookstore until 2018.
Lancer Park (formerly known as Stanley Park) sits north of the main campus and includes several athletic fields and facilities, two residence halls and several townhouse and apartment buildings. It is accessible from the main campus by pedestrian bridges.
Longwood Village consists of eight buildings 2.5 miles away from main campus that house 380 sophomores, juniors and seniors living in three-bedroom apartments.
Longwood Center for the Visual Arts
The art museum of Longwood University, Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, or LCVA as it is more commonly known, was established in 1978 to house the university's substantial museum collections and further foster an appreciation of art among the student body. The LCVA moved into its current home on Main Street, just off main campus, in 1993. Annually it serves more than 38,000 children, adults and students, who enjoy its exhibitions, workshops and lectures.
In 2014, the LCVA formalized an agreement to assume control of the Folk Art Society of America. In the agreement, the LCVA will serve as a repository for an invaluable collection of primary Folk Art source material, publish its annual magazine, and manage its growing ranks of several hundred members. The LCVA currently holds an impressive collection of folk art.
In addition to operating the museum, the LCVA partners with several regional school systems to supplement art education.
The director of the LCVA is Rachel Talent Ivers.
Hull Springs Farm
Longwood also operates Hull Springs Farm, a 662-acre plantation on two tributaries of the Potomac River in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The plantation was bequeathed to Longwood by Mary Farley Ames Lee, class of 1938, in 1999. It is currently the site of several environmental and archaeological research studies.
Sustainability
Longwood annually saves about $4.5 million in fuel costs by using woody biomass (sawdust). Nearly all of the campus' heat and hot water are provided by burning woody biomass, mostly pine and some hardwood, which is a byproduct from local sawmills. Longwood is the only public institution of higher education in Virginia and one of only two state agencies that burns biomass for heating fuel, which the university has done since 1983.
Longwood has been voted one of the greenest campuses in terms of sustainability in the Southeast by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine.
Longwood House
Southeast of the university's main campus is the Longwood House, a home built in 1811 but was burned and rebuilt in 1815 by Nathaniel E. Venable. The estate on which the home sits is the historic home of the Venable and Barber families and the namesake of the university. Confederate Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia seceded ...
was born in a house on the estate that no longer exists. The estate was purchased in 1928 by the State Teachers College and has been used as the home of the Longwood president since 1969.
Athletics
Longwood University's 14 varsity athletics programs, known as the Lancers, compete at the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
level. Thirteen of those teams compete in the
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...
, while field hockey is a member of the
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...
.
Longwood has six varsity men's teams, including baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer and tennis. Longwood's eight women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball and tennis.
The program has produced a number of professional athletes, most notably
Jerome Kersey
Jerome Kersey (June 26, 1962 – February 18, 2015) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Portland Trail Blazers (1984–1995), Golden State Warriors (1995–96), Los Angele ...
(
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
),
Michael Tucker (
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
), and
Tina Barrett
Tina Ann Barrett (born 16 September 1976) is an English singer and actress. Her major breakthrough came in 1999 when she became a member of the pop group, S Club 7. She has been a member of spin-off group S Club Allstars (previously "S Club 3" ...
(
LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
), all of whom were part of the school's inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame Class in 2006. Alumnus
Mark Montgomery is also currently a relief pitcher in the New York Yankees organization.
The Longwood softball program won Big South Championships in 2013, 2015, and 2016, three of their first four years of conference membership. The Lancers earned an automatic bid to an NCAA Regional all three times, becoming Longwood's first program in the Division I era to reach the NCAA postseason. They won one game in the 2015 tournament, and two in 2016. The men's basketball program won the 2022 Big South Conference tournament and a bid to the
2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college basketball national champion for the ...
.
Club sports
Longwood also has many club sports, including rugby, baseball, football, men's lacrosse, roller hockey, golf, and others. The Men's Rugby Team took 3rd place in USA Rugby's Division 3 National Tournament in 2007, and again in 2009. In 2011 Men's Rugby won the National Championship. The 2010-2011 season ended with the Lancers ranked #1 in the nation for Division III schools. They beat Occidental College (CA) in the National Championship by the score of 36-27 on May 1 in Virginia Beach, VA. The National Championship is the school's first. The club baseball team in their second year of competition made it to the Division II club baseball world series in Johnstown, PA. They went 2-2 and finished 4th.
Student life
![Longwood University - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Longwood_University_-_panoramio.jpg)
Located in Farmville, Virginia, Longwood is within 65 miles of three of Virginia's urban centers: Richmond (65 miles), Charlottesville (60 miles) and Lynchburg (45 miles). In addition to existing adjacent to one of Southside Virginia's historic downtowns, there are several outdoors opportunities available to students. The 31-mile
High Bridge Trail is a short walk from campus, and the centerpiece of the path, the nearly half-mile long High Bridge is just four miles from campus and easily accessible by bicycle or foot. The Appomattox River, a popular canoeing destination, also runs a short walk from campus. The Appalachian Trail is a short drive west, and there are several golf courses nearby.
Greek life
Known as the mother of sororities, Longwood is the birthplace of four national sororities:
Kappa Delta
Kappa Delta (, also known as KD or Kaydee) was the first sorority founded at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University), in Farmville, Virginia.
Kappa Delta is one of the "Farmville Four" sororities founded at the university, wh ...
in 1897,
Sigma Sigma Sigma
Sigma Sigma Sigma (), also known as Tri Sigma, is a national American women's sorority.
Sigma Sigma Sigma is a member of the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), an umbrella organization encompassing 26 national sororities or women's fraterni ...
in 1898,
Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...
in 1898 and
Alpha Sigma Alpha in 1901. Today, twenty Greek organizations operate on campus.
Secret societies
Longwood is home to two secret societies: CHI and Princeps.
CHI was founded on October 15, 1900, and serves to promote the Longwood spirit. Members are secretly tapped and revealed only at the conclusion of their senior year during the annual CHI Burning, a large burning held on campus. CHI members at times leave "CHI droppings" on campus, and it is considered rare for someone to find one. Members of CHI, hidden beneath blue robes, occasionally process through campus in what are known as "CHI walks." CHI is represented around campus by an image of the Rotunda painted on the sidewalk. It is considered bad luck to step on the CHI symbol.
Princeps was founded on seven principles of leadership and also keeps member identities secret until a revealing their senior year. The organization honors academically successful students each year by posting their symbol—a seven-pointed crown—on the residence hall doors of each student who makes the dean's or president's list. Princeps' crown symbol also appears on campus sidewalks, but it is considered good luck to step or jump on the symbol before exams.
Joan of Arc
Longwood adopted a patron hero,
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
, who is said to protect and inspire students. The university's three prized sculptures of the 15th century French heroine are Jeanne d'Arc, known affectionately as "Joanie on the Stony", an 1870 plaster statue by French sculptor
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work.
Life and career
Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...
;
Anna Hyatt Huntington's 1915 bronze Joan of Arc equestrian statue, nicknamed "Joanie on the Pony"; and
Alexander Stoddart
Alexander "Sandy" Stoddart (born 1959) is a Scottish sculptor, who, since 2008, has been the Queen's Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland. He works primarily on figurative sculpture in clay within the neoclassical tradition. Stoddart is best k ...
's heroic monument, dedicated on November 9, 2018.
Rituals and myths dealing with the two statues abound. Joanie on the Stony, for example, heralds the occasion of every CHI walk with a pair of mysteriously appearing blue and white carnations. Joanie on the Stony is also said to bring good luck for tests to students who touch her clasped hands on their way to class.
Joanie on the Pony, however, with her knight's armor and sword, acts as Longwood's protector. On the night of the Great Fire of 2001, Joanie turned bright red upon her horse from the intense heat of the flames. Although the fire spread west-ward, engulfing Grainger Hall along with The Rotunda, the connected student dorms past Joanie to the east remained untouched — the fire stopped directly before her.
In October 2009, Joanie on the Pony was vandalized. After being restored, she was placed in
The Rotunda (Longwood University)
The Rotunda is the name given to a building on the campus of Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. It was formerly known as Ruffner Hall, but the name was changed in 2019. The original Rotunda was built in 1839 and gradually expanded along w ...
in April 2010.
Notable alumni
See also
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List of presidents of Longwood University
Longwood University, a public liberal arts college in Farmville, Virginia, is led by a president selected by a Board of Visitors, who are appointed by the Governor of Virginia. Beginning with its founding as a private finishing school in 1839, ...
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Farmville fire department
References
External links
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Longwood Athletics website
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Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
Public universities and colleges in Virginia
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
Educational institutions established in 1839
1839 establishments in Virginia
Education in Prince Edward County, Virginia
Tourist attractions in Prince Edward County, Virginia
Buildings and structures in Prince Edward County, Virginia