Specific plans for Longwood University’s new university center, slated to open to students in 2016, are in the works. The university center will replace Lankford Student Union, which will be converted into a Student Success Center with academic support offices.
The university’s Board of Visitors approved the naming of the Norman H. and Elsie Stossel Upchurch University Center on Sept. 15. Elsie Stossel Upchurch, a 1943 alumna, donated $4 million toward the new university center in May 2012.
According to Ken Copeland, director of the university’s Real Estate Foundation and vice president for Administration and Finance, the construction of the new building is set to start in late 2014.
The university center will be located at the site of the Cunningham Residence Halls, which will be demolished in spring 2014. The project is part of the university’s 2020 Campus Master Plan.
Copeland said the university has received a $30 million appropriation from the state of Virginia for the project. He noted that none of this includes taxpayer funds. Half of the fees will come from student fees, and the other half will be paid for through private donations.
Regarding the name change from student union to university center, Dr. Tim Pierson, vice president for Student Affairs, said that “part of that is not a subtle retiling but ... because it’s going to be really the center of so many things on campus, broader than just the student union.”
Pierson, Copeland and other faculty and staff members have traveled to different areas and universities around the east coast to look at different set-ups and find features that fit the vision for Longwood’s university center.
As far as the structure of the new university in comparison to the student union, Pierson said that the administration and architects have “reshaped it to get more use out of it.”
“One of the things that we tried to do in this new building is maximize space for students that is not assigned,” Pierson said.
Pierson said that there will not be a great deal of spaces within the center designed for one specific purpose, with the exception of official student activity offices. Many of the spaces will transform easily to serve different functions.
“One of the concepts that we were most excited about was how to get the most out of a ballroom,” Pierson said.
While the ballroom in the current student union is a direct entrance into the building from Brock Commons, Pierson said the university center’s ballroom will be a closed off space.
There will also be retractable seats, a stage area and speakers. The ballroom could also be transformed into a banquet area or sectioned of into separate rooms.
“We paid attention specifically how to enter the building and not interrupt an event going on in the ballroom,” added Copeland.
Copeland said the fact that the new ballroom will not be “right in the center of things” or “in your traffic pattern” will allow organizations to hold uninterrupted events.
There are also plans for a student organization space, said Pierson. This space will include storage space, meeting areas and white boards for recognized student organizations.
The offices in the university center will most likely be open offices with clear, glass walls to establish a more open environment, said Pierson. These offices include the Office of Student Union and Involvement and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion will move to the new center from Lancaster Hall The Student Government Association (SGA) will also have a designated home in the Student Senate area, which will provide space for the organization to meet, microphones for senators and a live stream system. Pierson said while the SGA will have precedence to this area, other organizations can reserve the room as well.
An area Pierson believes will be a prime entertainment space is the cabaret, which will allow for karaoke nights, small concerts, video game playing and a lounge area. Copeland believes the planned food court area will be a needed addition in order to accommodate the increase of incoming students.
According to Copeland, there will also be more “casual hang out space” for students as opposed to the many meeting rooms of the current student union.
While the plans for the construction of the university center and demolition of the Cunningham Residence Halls have been in place since the conception of the Campus Master Plan in 2008, there has been some controversy in the past. In early 2011, university alumni even created a Facebook group entitled “Longwood University Save the Cunninghams.”
However, the plans for the new university center are set, and Copeland said administrators are taking all recommendations and opinions into account for the amenities provided in the university center.
Regarding how he thinks university alumni will feel about the new university center, Copeland said, “I think when it’s all said and done, anybody affiliated with Longwood is going to be proud of what this space looks like and what it means to the overall student life on the campus. I think that’s really the goal for everybody concerned.”
