After being replaced by the Longwood Bed & Breakfast and having to operate from Lancaster, alumni will finally have a home in the new Frank O. and Katharine Allen Maugans Alumni Center. The center is scheduled to be completed in May of this year, but the construction on the outside of the building has been delayed due to winter weather conditions.
The idea for the center was presented when the Longwood Bed & Breakfast took over the Alumni Relation’s center of operation. Nancy Shelton, the associate vice president for Alumni Relations, began to work towards the idea in the early 2000’s. Regardless of the few years it took for the university to agree to the center, the nearing completion has raised anticipation for all.
Although an estimate of the cost of the center was not able to bedisclosed, the funding was raised in a campaign, the majority of which was provided by the Maugans. Katharine Maugans graduated from Longwood in the class of 1946. The new center will have its grand opening Sept. 10-12, 2015. Shelton says the weekend will most likely consist of a special dinner for the donors and an “all alumni day” on the 12.
The ground floor will consist of the offices for Alumni Relations: offices for development, fundraising and advancement, and the Longwood Foundation. “In the alumni unit, there will be a library that will feature the history of Longwood. There will be all kinds of displays out. There will be monitors on the walls that will also talk about Longwood today, so alumni can understand how Longwood currently is, as well as displays on what the vision is for the future…so it’s the past, present and future.”
The first and mezzanine floors will hold a different variety of rooms, including a large board room. The existing ballroom will remain in place. An elevator has also been added in the building as well, which will allow access to the mezzanine floor. Before the elevator was installed, the mezzanine floor was rarely used.
“Alumni are important to the life of the university. They’re the one constant that you have in this university. You’re going to see administrators come and go, deans are going to come and go, faculty are going to come and go, but your alumni are your constant. And they need to feel welcome on the campus; they need to feel valued. They have so much to offer, the university and the students…during the campaign we called it the “Home for Alumni.” They would have a home on the campus. That is their home now.”
