In 2014, Longwood is changing their requirements for incoming legacy freshmen who have a parent or grandparent who graduated from Longwood.
According to the Board of Visitors’ minutes from Sept. 13 and 14, Vice President for Administration and Finance Ken Copeland stated that the $50 fee will be abolished for incoming legacy students.
Dean of Admissions Sallie McMullin stated, “Nancy Shelton, associate vice president of Alumni Relations, is always looking for ways to keep alumni involved and to recognize their continued support of Longwood. She mentioned the idea several months ago. We evaluated it and decided that it made sense.”
Shelton, said, “I think it’s a great thing to do with legacy students.”
Alumni Relations posted this proposed idea through social media outlets, including Facebook and LinkedIn, to inform Longwood alumni of the change.
“So far we have gotten relatively good responses from social media thanking us for this change,” Shelton said.
McMullin said, “Longwood values their alumni, and we wanted to show it in a small way. For several years, the Admissions Office has been hosting an alumni day for these students again, just providing a little extra for this population.” McMullin reported that there would be no additional changes regarding the application process for prospective students. McMullin also mentioned how legacy students will benefit Longwood, saying, “Having a diverse campus is good for Longwood. Legacies are just one small population that adds to our culture.”
“Longwood strives to enroll qualified students who will embrace Longwood’s community-driven culture, benefit from interactive classes taught by dedicated faculty and thrive as they transform into citizen leaders, and who better to become citizen leaders than those raised or influenced by citizen leaders?” McMullin said.
An average of 175 legacy students apply to Longwood University each year with an average of 62 students enrolled each year, reported McMullin.
Benefits for legacy students also include two to three Longwood Legacy Scholarships from the Alumni Association that students may apply to each year, according to the LongwoodLink website.
Shelton stated, “As an alumni association, we offer a legacy scholarship, which is available to one incoming student whose mother or father or grandparent graduated from Longwood, and we offer this scholarship to a returning student with the same qualifications.”
Shelton added, “We are seeing more and more students apply every year, and we are getting more legacies. We now have legacies whose mother and father are alumni, and this means they are a double legacy.”
McMullin said, “If 175 apply this year, we would not collect a total of $8,750 in application fees. However, we are hoping that more legacies apply, which will make that amount higher, but if even one more legacy enrolls, this promotion has paid for itself.”
McMullin added, “Some children of alumni have been ‘Longwood bound’ for years. Others might be looking for a way to differentiate themselves from their parents. If not having to pay an application fee helps them see Longwood as a possible option, it served its purpose.”
For more information, contact Dean of Admissions Sallie McMullin by email at mcmullinsd@longwood.edu or Associate Vice President of Alumni Relations Nancy Shelton by email at sheltonnb@ longwood.edu.
