Sabrina Brown

As we anticipate the new year, I’m passing along an email about the spring semester that was sent to your student on Wednesday, Dec. 30, by Matthew McWilliams, assistant vice president for communications.

It contains important information about
—Covid-19 precautions for students to take prior to returning to campus and guidelines for students who should delay their return
—Guidelines for move in, set for Jan. 9-11, including the limiting of helpers to 2 per student
—Continued vigilance in combatting Covid-19 this semester
—The extension of the fall visitor policy into the spring semester
… and more

I hope you can take a minute between now and your student’s return to campus to read through this update.

By working together and taking precautions seriously, the entire Longwood community—and especially students—made Longwood’s successful fall semester possible. By continuing that commitment, the coming semester can be just as successful.

Happy New Year!

—Sabrina Brown

Full text of email sent to Longwood students on Dec. 30, 2020

I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday season. I’m reaching out about 10 days before most students return to campus with some information about your return and the upcoming semester. The semester will begin as scheduled, with graduate classes beginning Jan. 8 and undergraduate classes beginning Jan. 13.

While the news about vaccines is a source of great hope for 2021, we continue to see substantial Covid-19 cases across the country and here in the Commonwealth. We must assume the virus will be present in our community during the spring semester. That means the precautions that served us well in the fall will remain in place as we return to campus. I urge every member of the campus community to review the Shared Commitment that was foundational in our success in the fall and pledge yourself to those principles again.

As in the fall, we are prepared to handle Covid-19 cases in the university community. It is up to all of us to do the things we know work—wear masks, keep socially distanced, and wash hands regularly—to make the spring successful.

Prior to Returning to Campus

Our collective steps to ensure a successful semester must begin now, ahead of our return to campus. Please exercise great care these next two weeks— wearing masks, social distancing and avoiding gatherings.

If you are experiencing any potential Covid-19 symptoms or have been contact exposed, or are awaiting test results, do NOT return to campus. Please call the University Health Center at 434-395-2102 and email questions@longwood.edu so we can work with you on academic considerations if you need to delay your return.

Per our consultations with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), our plan for repopulating campus this spring will mirror our successful approach in the fall. In general, a test is not required before returning to campus. However, if you have visited with family or friends over the holidays, testing options have expanded and can help ensure you are not an asymptomatic carrier. If you have visited with others, we encourage you to seek out one of these tests a few days before returning to campus. VDH’s testing site map may be a helpful resource. If you are near Farmville, you can arrange for a test at the University Health Center, which opens Jan. 4 at 8 a.m. To make an appointment, call 434-395-2102.

Daily Health Screening

Ten days before you return to campus, you should resume asking yourself the daily health questions:
—Are you currently experiencing a fever (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher)?—Are you currently experiencing a new cough?
—Are you currently experiencing a new shortness of breath?
—Are you currently experiencing new chills?
—Are you currently experiencing a new sore throat?
—Are you currently experiencing new muscle aches?
—Have you had a loss of taste or smell?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should contact a health care provider and not return to campus until cleared following a negative test.

Move-in

Students can begin moving back into their on-campus residence halls on Jan. 9. Spring move-back is different from the fall—there are fewer belongings to move, and the return is naturally more staggered over several days, so we will not assign specific move-in times. However, please exercise caution. Remember that when you are in on-campus buildings, including residence halls and university-managed apartments, you must wear a proper face covering. This includes family members who are helping you move back in. Please limit the number of family members who assist you with move-in to two. Face coverings are also required outside when you cannot maintain consistent 6 feet of distance between yourself and others.

Visitors

The visitor guidelines put in place for the fall semester are still in effect. These will continue to be reviewed regularly in consultation with student leadership.

Testing, Quarantine and Contact Tracing

As during the fall semester, we will engage in prompt testing of those with symptoms or who are contact exposed, as well as contact tracing, and provide support services for students who may need to isolate or quarantine. The Health Center expects to be able to continue offering “peace of mind” testing to students who are not symptomatic or contact exposed but would like to be tested. VDH is strongly supportive of our approach this past fall and has not recommended random surveillance testing of the campus community. However, over the course of the semester we may engage in targeted surveillance testing — for example of a broader group of people around a cluster of positive cases.

We are looking forward to having you back on campus this spring. Thank you for continuing to take these individual actions that will be key to a successful spring semester.

Best,

Matthew McWilliams
Assistant Vice President for Communications
Longwood University

 

It’s hard to know what kind of holiday wishes to send to folks this year. Some of you may not be able to experience the holidays as you have in years past. Still, I hope that the spirit of the season finds you no matter where you are or whom you are with this week.

Toward that end, I thought I’d share with today you some words of reflection on the fall semester and the holidays from President W. Taylor Reveley IV and Longwood’s Board of Visitors.

I’ve also included a link to a holiday-themed collection of performances by Longwood’s music faculty and students as well as a video featuring one of our most cherished holiday traditions.

Personally, I’d like to wish you and yours all the best. Longwood is truly a special place, and you and your Lancer are a big part of the reason why.

—Sabrina Brown

From President W. Taylor Reveley IV

in an email to the Longwood family

At the end of this harsh and historic year, the usual sense of holiday joy may feel harder to summon. But this holiday season, as campus winds down the work of this semester, I am filled with gratitude as well as hope.

Our achievements in 2020 weren’t the usual ones. Simply being together for in-person learning tapped our deepest reserves of creativity, flexibility and perseverance. We have had to dig further still to maintain the human connections that are Longwood’s heart and soul. These efforts have produced real exhaustion. But our mission of preparing citizen leaders has never mattered more, and we should be proud we have succeeded, in such full measure.

To our students — Thank you. I know this semester has been hard in so many ways, but your commitment to public health and to one another made it possible to be here. So many people have doubted college students. But you have stepped up, earning praise and gratitude from the Town of Farmville and well beyond. I promise you, in 2021, sunnier days lie ahead.

To our faculty and staff — Your professionalism, imagination and dedication have been powerful, and they have mattered so deeply in the lives of our students. Amidst your own challenges, including caring for family members young and old, you safely reimagined our classrooms, upgraded our buildings, cared for anxious students, redesigned courses and quickly learned new technologies to keep our students personally and academically connected. Thank you.

To our home community of Farmville, we are so grateful for your partnership and support. And in spite of 2020’s challenges, we took real strides together. The opening of the elegant Johns and Moss Halls, landmarks along Main Street. A third Starbucks! Indian food! The coming year will also bring our new art-house style cinema on High Street — and much else in the way of progress, as our community flourishes.

In this hard year for families, our community and the nation, we have experienced grief, anxiety and challenging conversations about justice, equity and our obligations to one another. There is still difficult road to travel in 2021, and we cannot let up. But Longwood has met and prospered through every great challenge we’ve faced, drawing essential strength from our community and our true spirit of camaraderie. This year, all of you — students, faculty and staff, friends near and far — have been writing your own great chapter in our history.

I wish you peace and health this holiday season.

President Reveley

From the Longwood University Board of Visitors

in a full-page ad in the Farmville Herald

In the spirit of the season, during this historic and challenging year of 2020,
We wanted to say THANK YOU with this public resolution of gratitude

To Longwood’s students, faculty and staff, and the entire Lancer family — our Lancers have been true citizen leaders,

To the Town of Farmville and the broader community — our partners and trusted friends,

To Hampden-Sydney — our neighbor through the centuries here in America’s oldest two-college community,

To the Commonwealth of Virginia — an example of compassion and common purpose in the face of this pandemic and in this time of reckoning,

To President Reveley and the administration of the University — for remarkable, principled leadership and vision

May the holidays offer peace and joy, as well as renewal,
in the promise of yet finer days to come

Holiday Music from Longwood Musicians

Some holiday-inspired selections from the faculty and students in the Department of Music.

 

A Grand Illumination in the Rotunda

 

 

 

 

As we wrap up the fall semester, I wanted to share with you some dates and a few pieces of information that may be helpful. Spring semester will be here before we know it!

Important Dates

—The university will be closed beginning tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 18, and will reopen Monday, Jan. 4.
—Residence halls and other Longwood-managed housing will reopen beginning Saturday, Jan. 9. Check-in will be noon-5 p.m. on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Jan. 11.
—Classes begin for undergraduates on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
—Spring break will be different this year due to public health and academic calendar considerations. Instead of 5 consecutive days off, students will have 5 days off spread throughout the semester. These days are: Monday, March 1; Thursday-Friday, April 1-2; and Tuesday-Wednesday, April 27-28.
—Martin Luther King Jr. Day—Monday, Jan. 18—is a Longwood holiday.
—The add/drop period ends at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21.
—The last day of regular classes is Monday, April 26.
You can find the full spring academic calendar here.

Dashboard

The last Covid-19 daily update for the fall semester will be Dec. 17, when the university closes for winter break. We will restart daily updates when the university opens on Jan. 4. If there are any urgent public health matters to communicate to the campus community while the university is closed, we will do so.

Covid-19 Practices and Precautions

The precautions and practices that have served us well this past semester will remain in place. Later this month, more specific guidance will be shared with students about returning to campus and public health precautions next semester.

Covid-19 Testing

Over the course of the fall semester, the University Health Center increased its testing capacity and has generally been able to offer appointments for peace-of-mind testing in addition to testing for those who are symptomatic or contact-exposed. We expect to continue to be able to continue testing on this basis in the new year. The University Health Center will be closed Dec. 18-Jan. 3.

Longwood Magazine

Finally, by now you should have received the latest issue of Longwood magazine. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the academic and extracurricular activities that kept your students busy this fall. Faculty and staff really put their hearts into making this a good semester for your Lancers. If you didn’t receive a copy and would like one, just send your mailing address to browncs2@longwood.edu.

 —Sabrina Brown

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we’re still here. Not all universities can say that.

I don’t think anyone in the world would say their fall this year has been perfect, but I’m hoping that, as I do, you feel thankful for the things that went right at Longwood this semester.

I’m thankful for the Longwood leadership team that came up with a workable plan. And most of all, I’m thankful for our students—the young people you guided to this point in their lives—who took the situation seriously and, for the most part, followed the guidelines. Again, not all universities can say that.

The last day of undergraduate classes is Nov. 24, and most students will soon head home for Thanksgiving break. Most exams will be proctored online, and we anticipate that many students will choose to take their exams from home. For safety reasons, students who plan to return to Longwood-managed housing (on-campus residence halls, Lancer Park or Longwood Landings) for any length of time after Thanksgiving need to let us know by filling out an Intent to Stay form by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16.​

Your student has received the information below about opening and closing dates, but I thought it might be helpful to pass it along to you as well.

Please note that the winter break information is different for students living in Longwood Landings and Lancer Park apartments.

Thanksgiving Break

Residence Halls, Longwood Landings and Lancer Park
Housing Closes: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24
Food Outlets Open: None
Deadline to Submit Intent to Stay Form: 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16
If your student plans to stay in Longwood-managed housing during this period, they need to fill out an Intent to Stay form, available through the Housing Gateway.

Exam Period

Residence Halls, Longwood Landings and Lancer Park
Housing Opens: Noon Sunday, Nov. 29
Housing Closes: Noon Saturday, Dec. 12
Food Outlets Open: Yes (limited hours and outlets)
Deadline to Submit Intent to Stay Form: 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16
If your student plans to stay in Longwood-managed housing during this period, they need to fill out an Intent to Stay form, available through the Housing Gateway.

Winter Break

Residence Halls
Housing Closes: Noon Saturday, Dec. 12 through noon Saturday, Jan. 9
Housing Re-opens for Spring Semester: Noon Saturday, Jan. 9

Winter Break

Longwood Landings and Lancer Park Apartments
If your student will be occupying the same apartment in spring 2021, they may occupy their apartment over the winter break. However, they must fill out an Intent to Stay form by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16. The form is available through the Housing Gateway.

Whatever your Thanksgiving celebration looks like this year,  I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.

—Sabrina Brown

Pumpkin carving has come a long way in the last few decades, and nowhere was that more apparent than in the pumpkin-carving contest held Thursday.

There was hardly a triangle-shaped eye or nose to be found among the entries—but there were a lavender wig, handmade paper sunflowers and some incredibly intricate designs. Contestants ranged from first-time carvers to practiced artisans with years of jack-o’-lantern experience, and each of them had a story to tell.

 

Inspired by his love of Japanese culture, Rayshad Lindsay ’22 carved Japanese maple leaves onto his pumpkin. A physics major who took three years of Japanese in high school, he embellished his pumpkin with carvings of Japanese maple leaves, along with a crescent moon inlaid with diamond shapes—pretty ambitious for his first carving attempt.

Continuing the Japanese theme, Jordan Matthews ’22 drew inspiration from Studio Ghibli, a Disney-like Japanese animation film studio that Matthews describes as “very whimsical, fun and magical.” An art education major, she covered her pumpkin with drawings of Ghibli characters.

When Kira Pierce ’22 dropped off her entry, it was immediately apparent that she took the contest very seriously—just as she does the annual Halloween pumpkin-carving competition between her and her dad, Longwood alum Gary Pierce ’91. Kira, a math major, spent eight hours carving intricate replicas of the Rotunda façade and the Colonnades—two of her favorite campus spots—onto her entry. Her previous pumpkin work includes detailed portraits of Jesus and of the University of Tennessee’s bluetick coonhound mascot Smokey. Why Smokey? Because Kira hopes to do her graduate work in engineering at UT.

Davice Jones ’23, a biology major, proved that pumpkin-carving inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places. A Student Government Association (SGA) senator, she met with Dining Director Mitch Rodhe Tuesday to give him feedback she’d gathered about the food at Longwood. “He made me laugh,” she said, adding she decided then and there to create her pumpkin in his honor. Lit from within by twinkly lights, her “Mitch” pumpkin is gobbling a “cheeseburger” (represented by a smaller pumpkin) from FarmGrill, one of the restaurants in  the Upchurch University Center’s food court.

Prizes were awarded for the best entry in several categories, including Longwood-themed (winner: Pierce), best painted (winner: Hannah Swain ’22) and best classic jack-o’-lantern (winner: Jones).

Also Thursday, the pouring rain stopped and the sun came out just in time for students to trick or treat across campus during the afternoon. Costumes were encouraged for those making the rounds of more than 20 offices that had signed up to welcome students for Halloween.

I think it’s nice that you don’t have to be a kid to celebrate Halloween at Longwood—just a little bit of a kid at heart.

—Sabrina Brown

One of the great things about being a student at Longwood—and then being a Longwood graduate—is the strong connection our alums feel with these young people and the support they provide to them.

One example of this is the Work Shadow Program run by our Office of Alumni and Career Services.

The program gives current students the opportunity to spend a day with an alum working in a career field in which they have an interest. So far, more 55 alums, many of them from high-profile businesses and organizations, have volunteered to host a student for shadowing this year.

The deadline to sign up for this year’s winter break program is the end of October. If you think your student might be interested, now is the time for them to apply here: http://www.longwood.edu/career/work-shadow-program/ . The program will be held virtually this year due to the pandemic.

“Alumni really enjoy connecting with students and making a difference in their professional futures,” said Teresa Dodson, assistant director of employer engagement and internship services. “The goal is to give our students a taste of what the professional environment is like as well as to provide networking opportunities for our future alumni.

“We will do our best to find an alum in the student’s area of interest,” she added.

Below are some of the alums who have signed up to participate this year. Spending a day with professionals in these types of influential positions could be a life-changing experience for your student.

Editor and junior video editor
National Geographic Studios

Head of technology in corporate and commercial banking
Ernst & Young

Director of talent development
Virginia Tech

Associate compliance tester
Capital One

Senior human resources manager
Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond

International program manager
The Boeing Company

Open source intelligence specialist and analytic training coordinator
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

—Sabrina Brown

There are many things I love about our Longwood students: They’re friendly, kind, thoughtful, hard-working, unpretentious. Many of them also are really good sports, as the story I’m about to tell you will show.

Recently, 8-year-old Regan Vogel, the daughter of Longwood photographer Courtney Vogel, was on campus. She’d accompanied her mom to an assignment and kept herself busy collecting colorful leaves.

All was not exactly well, though. Regan noticed the smiles of students she encountered were hidden by their dutifully worn masks. Couldn’t they do something about that? Regan mused.

In a moment of collective creativity, the group drew smiles on the leaves and the students placed them in front of their masks for a photo op.

 

Regan was happy, and we hope these photos make you feel that way, too.

—Sabrina Brown

The clouds moving across the sky at times decreased visibility but they did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the Longwood students who turned out recently for an evening of stargazing.

“Even with the clouds rolling in, we were still able to view the moon, Mars, Saturn and its rings, as well as Jupiter and its four inner moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto,” said physics major Austin Hedges ’21, president of the Society of Physics Students (SPS), which co-sponsored the event with the Outdoor Club.

Giving participants that close-up view of “outer space” was an 8-inch telescope equipped with a GPS system programmed with the locations of thousands of celestial objects.

Leah Eick ’23, a nursing major and Outdoor Club media and equipment chair, got an eyeful thanks to the sophisticated equipment. “I’m fascinated by the planets. Just being able to look at something so far away and see the beauty of it is amazing,” she said.

Dr. Kenneth Pestka II, a physics professor and the SPS faculty advisor, said students received training and practiced using the telescope before taking it to the event. “Once the operator has correctly aligned the telescope, it can accurately track objects, and it can also find celestial objects for the user,” he said.

The Society of Physics Students and the Outdoor Club are just two of Longwood’s more than 175 student organizations. With adaptations for Covid-19 guidelines in place, these organizations are providing students with opportunities to get together to do things they love and make new friends.

Outdoor Club president Crystal Rosenbaum ’21, a nursing major, said her group has been “jam-packed with activities” this fall, including weekly bike rides, outdoor yoga classes and a sunset hike on the High Bridge Trail attended by 25 students.

The stargazing event is another facet of the club’s mission to “get students interested in the outdoors and to continue that interest past their college years,” she said.

The event put Ashley Roberts ’21, a sociology major and Outdoor Club member, in mind of camping trips with her dad where they would lie on their backs and look up at the stars.

“It’s something that’s always interested me,” she said.

Daniel Alvarez ’23, an English education major and treasurer of the Outdoor Club, is a nature lover who spends a lot of time at his home in rural Northern Virginia “down at the creek fishing” and exploring the woods with his dog. He had a telescope when he was a kid, but it was nothing like the one the physics students set up for the stargazing activity.

“It’s nice to be able to look through a telescope that lets you see so much detail,” he said.

That’s just the reaction Hedges was hoping for.

“I think the participants really enjoyed being able to get great views of these objects,” he said. “Especially with Mars, Saturn and Jupiter because with the naked eye they are just small dots in the sky. With the telescope, we could clearly see the red color of Mars, the beautiful rings of Saturn and the bands across Jupiter’s atmosphere.”

The event was such a hit that the two clubs are planning to do it again in the near future—hopefully when the weather will be more cooperative.

“Outer space is so vastly unknown to society as a whole,” said Rianne Woudsma ’23, a physics major and vice president of the Society of Physics Students. “I’m hoping we can get more people interested in what’s out there with these events.”

—Sabrina Brown