Located on the Griffin Boulevard side of campus, Academic Residential Community (ARC) Hall and Cox Hall remain closed again this academic year as a result of decreased student enrollment at Longwood.
In an interview on Sept. 11, Senior Director of Residential and Commuter Life Jean Wilwohl said, “We didn’t need as much housing for our students right now, so that’s why they were taken offline.” She added, “It didn’t make sense to keep a whole building open if we weren’t able to fill all the space in the building.”
When renovations to Cox Hall were completed in 2008, according to the State Council of Higher Education’s (SCHEV) fall headcount enrollment data (link), Longwood’s total undergraduate student population was then 4,022. According to the Fall 2023 enrollment data, the undergraduate population at Longwood was down exactly 800 students, to 3,222.
In 2014, Longwood began work on a 2025 University Master Plan (link), set to “guide the development of Longwood’s campus to support approximately 6,000 students by the year 2025,” according to Longwood’s Master Plan website. A year later, according to the SCHEV enrollment reports, Longwood’s undergraduate student population was its highest ever in Fall 2015, with 4,612. The new Master Plan was published in 2016, but the university’s enrollment has significantly changed.
Facilities Planner Jerry Jerome said in a Sept. 25 interview, “In my mind, 6,000 students is not foreseeable in the next few years.”
Originally built in 1962 and renovated in 2008, Cox Hall was used as a quarantine building during COVID-19 and although closed to undergraduates during the year, Cox has been used during intersessions. “We have our 12-month housing program, but then there are students that need to be here for a summer class or an internship that don’t qualify for 12-month housing. So, we use Cox all over the summer to house students,” said Wilwohl.
Senior Director of Operations Kim Bass said in a Sept. 25 interview this academic year also adds a new purpose for Cox. “This year, we also had some limitations and housing options for graduate assistants; there were limited apartments because [the] university [is] selling Longwood Village.” According to Bass, Cox’s third floor is made up of graduate assistants that have had the suites adjusted to fit one per room.
ARC Hall was built in 1992 and had been used up until 2019, though was also used as quarantine housing. According to Wilwohl, quarantine housing was “one of the things that enabled Longwood to stay open while other schools might’ve had to close.”
Jerome said renovations to ARC must come from a demand in housing, and funding would be complicated. “The problem with residence halls in particular is that they are not supported by the state. They are funded completely by student housing fees. So, anything we spend on a residence hall comes directly from student pockets, so we have to be careful with how we spend money,” he said.
On page 198 of the full master plan report, ARC Hall is listed for renovations under a category titled, ‘When The Opportunity is Presented,’ along with 16 other potential projects.
Regarding potential future use of these buildings, Bass said the structure of both ARC and Cox Halls would require complicated changes to add offices or classrooms. She said, “When you have filing cabinets and heavy items; it requires more pounds per square foot, which is more beefed up, concrete or steel, than it does for residence [halls].”
