Southern Virginia University
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Southern Virginia University (SVU) is a
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liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...
in Buena Vista, Virginia. The college, though not officially affiliated with a particular faith, embraces the values of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church). It was founded in 1867 as a school for girls and is now a private four-year coeducational institution. The
Carnegie Classification The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is a framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. It was created in 1970 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Adv ...
categorizes it as a very small baccalaureate-only college with an arts & sciences focus.


History

The school was founded as a for-profit institution in 1867 during Virginia's post-Civil War era when Alice Scott Chandler established the Home School for Girls in Bowling Green, Virginia, later renamed the Bowling Green Female Seminary. In 1883, Edgar H. Rowe purchased the school and operated it with Mrs. Chandler as principal. Dr. Rowe moved the school to Buena Vista in 1900, and changed its name to Southern Seminary. It was located in the splendid Buena Vista Hotel, which had been built 10 years earlier to accommodate the large numbers of land speculators investigating the town's
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deposits. The iron boom was short-lived, however, and Rowe purchased the hotel. The original hotel still serves as Main Hall, the university's principal building, and holds a place of distinction on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
, on which it is listed as the Southern Seminary Main Building. In 1919, Robert Lee Durham, former dean of Martha Washington College (which merged with Emory & Henry College), bought a half-interest in Southern Seminary and became the resident head of the school. An educator, lawyer, engineer, author and inventor, Durham strengthened the school's academic program. In 1922, Durham's daughter, Margaret, married H. Russell Robey, who purchased Rowe's remaining interest in the school and became its business manager and treasurer. Durham and Robey added college-level courses to the school's curriculum, and the first class of the new junior college program graduated in 1925. The period of greatest physical growth of the school, by then called Southern Seminary and Junior College, occurred during the presidency of Margaret Durham Robey, who succeeded her father upon his retirement in 1942. Facilities for art, early childhood education and home economics were added. In 1959, the Robeys turned over the ownership of the college to a board of trustees and the institution changed from proprietary to nonprofit status. In 1961, the school ceased offering high school courses, and the name of the institution was changed to Southern Seminary Junior College. The academic program was expanded to allow students to begin careers after their two years at the school or to transfer to four-year colleges. "Sem" became a nationally recognized competitor in intercollegiate riding, winning numerous state, regional and national equestrian competitions. To avoid confusion, the name was again changed to Southern Virginia College for Women, which was shortened to Southern Virginia College in 1994 when male students were admitted. In the late 1980s and early 1990s enrollment began to slip and the college became financially unstable, which led to a loss of regional accreditation in 1996. In the spring of that year, Southern Virginia College's board of trustees transferred the school's assets and liabilities to a new board, many of whom were members of the LDS Church. The main figure in this reorganization was Glade Knight. In 2000 the school was accepted into pre-accreditation status by the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE), which is separate from accreditation bodies, and was renamed Southern Virginia University in April 2001. In 2003 it was granted full accreditation by the AALE. In June 2010 the Commission on Colleges of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...
awarded initial candidacy to SVU. Two years later, in June 2012, the university received full regional accreditation. On August 9, 2017, Southern Virginia University officially changed its school colors from green to crimson. On June 11, 2020, Southern Virginia University removed the name of Durham from its main academic building in the wake of the
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, citing Durham's racist views. In the interim before a new name is chosen, that building has been temporarily titled the Academic Center.


Campus

SVU's campus consists of twelve main buildings, including Main Hall (the most visible building on campus, used for administrative offices), the Kimball Student Center, the Knight Sports Arena, the Stoddard Center, the Von Canon Library, Landrum Hall, Robey Hall (men's residence hall), Craton Hall (women's residence hall), The Lofts (men's and women's residence hall), Walnut Avenue Apartments (men's and women's residence), Academic Center (the main academic building), and Chandler Hall (theatre and music). The campus area also includes several homes that are used for additional student housing and office space.


Academics

SVU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. SVU offers seventeen different majors and eighteen different minors. Other programs include Health Pre-Professionals, Army ROTC and Teaching Licensure.


Student life


Religious activity

LDS Church principles and activities are fully integrated into life and education at SVU. An LDS Church Institute of Religion is operated on campus. Once each semester, SVU cancels classes for a service day on which the local LDS stake organizes an optional trip to the Washington D.C. Temple, where students perform service on the temple grounds and participate in temple ordinances. Students are not required to enroll in religious classes.


Code of Honor

SVU has a code of honor, See (
PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...
) for full text of the pledge.
intended to help students live by its core values, which includes the following guidelines: * Honesty in academic and personal behavior * Living a chaste and virtuous lifestyle * Abstinence from alcohol and tobacco * Respect for the rights and property of others * Obedience to law and university policies * Observation of university dress and grooming standards An ecclesiastical endorsement to live the code of honor is part of the application process. This consists of students signing a compact in conjunction with their respective ecclesiastical leader.


Performing arts

SVU offers several performing arts sections to its students, including its premier choir Chamber Singers, a women's choir (Bella Voce), Men's Chorus, opera workshop, and a contemporary a cappella group Accolade (formerly The Fading Point). There is also a university Dance Company, which performs many different styles of dance at different functions throughout the year, including jazz, ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, Irish and other ethnic styles. Music programs consist of an orchestra and flute choir. The theatre program has performed ''The Diary of Anne Frank, The Sound of Music, The Importance of Being Earnest, Seeking Higher Ground,'' and ''Beauty and the Beast,'' among many others. Another option for participation in theatre is the Shenanigans Comedy Troupe, an improv comedy group.


Athletics

Southern Virginia athletic teams are the Knights. The university is a member of the Division III level of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA), primarily competing in the
USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolin ...
for most of its sports since the 2021–22 academic year; while its men's volleyball team competes in the Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) and it’s men’s wrestling team competes in the
Old Dominion Athletic Conference The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other ful ...
(ODAC). The Knights previously competed in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC; now known as the "Coast to Coast Athletic Conference" (C2C) since the 2020–21 school year) from 2013–14 to 2020–21; as well as a provisional NCAA D-III Independent during the 2012–13 school year. They also competed in the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...
(NAIA) and
United States Collegiate Athletic Association The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...
(USCAA) from 1998–99 to 2012–13.


Notable people


Faculty

* Jeff Benedict, sports writer *
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...
, science fiction author (''
Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...
'') * Ed Mulitalo, former
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
player who played in
Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2000 Baltimore Ravens season, Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2000 New York Giants season, New York Giant ...
with the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
* Debra H. Sowell, former secretary and board member of the
Society of Dance History Scholars The Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) was a professional organization for dance historians in the United States and internationally. Founded in 1978, it became a non-profit in 1983. SDHS became a member of the American Council of Learned Soc ...


Alumni

* Beezie Madden, an American
show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...
competitor and Olympic
medalist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...
* Gustavo Ramos, Brazilian-American internationally renowned fine artist.


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

*
Athletics website
{{authority control Education in Buena Vista, Virginia Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Latter Day Saint universities and colleges Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Private universities and colleges in Virginia 1867 establishments in Virginia Buildings and structures in Buena Vista, Virginia Universities and colleges established in 1867