With Election Day in our rearview mirror and a new governor elect in place, Longwood University turns its head to the excitement of inaugurating a new president. President W. Taylor Reveley IV is no stranger to Longwood, and Longwood is no stranger to him. Ever since the resignation of Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, our campus has been missing a president.
Finnegan was our president for a short time, so many people may be unaware of what he did during his term in office. According to a press release from May 15, 2012 regarding his resignation, one of his lasting legacies was “gaining board approval for the location of an alumni center on campus,” which at the time of the press release was planned to open on the ground floor of Blackwell.
Finnegan was also a huge part of finding a Division I conference for Longwood to join. He also helped the Board of Visitors establish a task force that would focus on making staff and faculty salaries more competitive. With all these things, Finnegan left his legacy on this school.
Longwood also saw the short time frame of Interim President Marge Connelly, who served Longwood on the Board of Visitors before being named interim president.
Nearly 10 months after the announcement of Finnegan's resignation, Longwood's new president was announced. We all anxiously awaited the news of who would be the next president. That long awaited name finally was released in March of this year.
Now, we look toward a new legacy, one that began on June 1st of this year. President Reveley began his term of office on June 1, 2013.
Reveley was serving as the Managing Director of University of Virginia's Miller Center. However, this Friday, he officially becomes our president.
This inauguration will be a pivotal part in Longwood's 175th celebration. We are witnessing history in the making.
Reveley will officially be our 26th president this Friday. His family has a long history of graduates, including his grandmother Marie Eason Reveley, who graduated in 1940, and his grandmother's mother Carrie Christian Rennie Eason, who graduated in 1910. His great-grandfather, Dr. Thomas D. Eason also taught Biology at Longwood.
Reveley is not a new name to college and universities in the Commonwealth, either. His father is the current president of The College of William and Mary, and his grandfather served as president of Hampden-Sydney College for more than 10 years.
Reveley and his father will speak on Friday, along with former Virginia Governor Gerald L. Baliles. The inauguration ceremony takes place on Lancaster Mall at 3:30 p.m.
