Longwood’s first African-American graduate speaks at MLK Symposium

January 2012

N.H. “Cookie” Scott related her experience as a Longwood freshman in 1968 in the keynote address at Longwood University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium in January.

When Scott participated in orientation as a freshman in 1968, she was told she would not be welcome on Sunday morning at the downtown church where she was attending a required candlelight service. The day she moved onto campus, her mother was refused service when she tried to eat at the lunch counter at a department store on Main Street.

Scott, however, was not deterred by the racism of that era—in fact, she was motivated by it to become a stronger person. She went on to become Longwood’s first African-American graduate and is now deputy director of administration for the Virginia Department of Corrections (DOC). She returned to campus in January to share her story and to commemorate the life and legacy of the civil rights leader who paved the way for her and others.

“It’s good to be back here with a good feeling,” said Scott. “I’m not bitter about anything that happened [in Farmville], but I would say the church experience changed me—it didn’t make me angry, just sad.”
 Scott’s primary message for the day was that good people—and not so good people—come in all colors.

Company donates $30,000 to leadership institute at Longwood

February 2012

A company led by a Longwood alumnus has donated $30,000 to the SNVC Institute for Leadership and Innovation, based in Longwood’s College of Business and Economics, to implement a leadership development training program in a Virginia elementary school.

The gift from The Choice Inc., a staffing company headquartered in Washington, D.C., whose president and CEO is Drew Hudson, a 1990 graduate, was used to implement The Leader in Me, which is for students in pre-kindergarten through grade six and is based on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Hudson hopes the program will be implemented in a school in Culpeper, his hometown. The gift is part of the SNVC Institute’s campaign to raise $100,000 for The Leader in Me.

“In an era of focus on SOLs, gifted and talented students, and AP and IB programs, it is a pleasure to be a part of a program such as The Leader in Me,” said Hudson, a former president of the Longwood Alumni Association. “We at The Choice were eager to effect change with a younger group of students, and The Leader in Me ties in well to our commitment to develop citizen leaders. Programs such as this don’t get budget priority in these economic times, so we wanted to step up as citizen leaders and fill the gap. I look forward to tracking the long-term effects of the program as we engage young students to harness these great skills and apply them in a purposeful adult life.”

The Leader in Me is officially a “process for schoolwide transformation that is designed to enhance students’ life skills and workforce readiness.”

Longwood named to The Princeton Review’s list of ‘Best Value Colleges’

February 2012

Longwood was named one of the nation’s “Best Value” colleges and universities according to The Princeton Review. The education services company selected Longwood as one of 75 public institutions to be featured in its book, “The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition.”

In its profile of Longwood, the editors at The Princeton Review praise the school for its “diversity, tradition, sustainability, and leadership.” A Longwood student surveyed by the Princeton Review said Longwood “is a small school on a beautiful campus where I can be well known and feel like I can make an impact.”

Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior vice president/publisher and lead author of The Best Value Colleges: 2012 Edition, said, “We commend Longwood and all of the extraordinary colleges on our 2012 ‘Best Value Colleges’ list for all they are doing to keep costs down and/or offer generous aid to applicants with financial need – all while maintaining excellent academic programs.”

New office supports efforts to secure research grants

March 2012

This month, Longwood created a new Office of Sponsored Programs to help faculty find funding opportunities to support their research and scholarly projects.

Although faculty and staff members have applied for and received grants for years, establishing the office and hiring staff represents a more concentrated effort. In recent years, many universities, facing diminished public funding, have launched such offices to assist in the grant-writing process.

“This was a need that President [Patrick] Finnegan identified at the outset of his tenure,” said Dr. Ken Perkins, vice president for academic affairs. “As we move forward with the Academic Strategic Plan, there will be opportunities for the office to provide support.”

Film based on book by professor premieres at Longwood

March 2012

The national premiere of “WaterWalk,” a film that chronicles the epic 1,000-mile canoe trip undertaken by a Longwood English professor and his son, was held April 16 in Longwood’s Jarman Auditorium.

The independent film is based on the book Dr. Steven Faulkner wrote about the 62-day journey, which retraced part of the route taken in 1673 by Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, the French explorers credited with discovering the Mississippi River. Faulkner and his then-16-year-old son, Justin, traveled from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to St Louis, facing such obstacles as overcoming a near drowning and getting lost in a swamp, among other adventures.

Although some details have been changed, the film is largely faithful to Faulkner’s book, WaterWalk: A Passage of Ghosts, which was published by RDR Books in December 2008, more than 10 years after Faulkner and his son completed their journey. In 1996, Faulkner was a graduate student at the University of Kansas. He undertook the trip out of a desire to retrace Marquette and Joliet’s route as well as to get closer to his son, whom he felt he’d been neglecting while focusing on his studies and working two jobs.