According to university documents obtained through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Longwood University officials have restored $601,865.73 to academic departmental local accounts as of Feb. 28, 2025 after two large restorations on Nov. 13, 2024 and Feb. 21, 2025.
The FOIA request was filed by The Rotunda on Feb. 13 and returned on Feb. 28, after a delay due to the university's closure for inclement weather and officials’ request for more time to respond.
The request asked for a record of all deployments of local funds since September 2024, a record of local funds not yet restored as part of University President W. Taylor Reveley IV’s promise to restore swept local funds, and relevant communications from Vice President for Administration and Finance Matt McGregor, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Larissa Smith and Vice President for Institutional Advancement Courtney Hodges.
University officials responded with a 171-page document primarily comprised of emails from Smith informing department chairs of the restoration and attached records, but also a record of restorations to local accounts within Academic Affairs and an email from University Spokesperson and Deputy to the President Matt McWilliams to Smith and McGregor sent on Feb. 28 to put local funds information in one place for future reference.
The documents also include a list of 92 accounts which had local funds restored, including $40,000 to “Eng & Mod Lan”, $35,000 to “Nurse Sim. Lab,” $30,000 to “Library Operating,” $12,000 to “Coll Business” and a variety of other accounts and amounts.
Furthermore, not all accounts had their full amounts restored. For example, of the $40,000 swept from the Cormier Honors College, listed “VPAA 070-030-0102 Cormier Honor” in the August FOIA documents, only half was restored.
In the Feb. 28 email to McGregor and Smith, McWilliams wrote, “A significant portion of the June sweep was of Athletics and Advancement funds, which at any given summer are drawn down normally at the end of the fiscal year.”
He added, “The remaining $1.6 million had two parts – a) roughly $1 million of normal endowment yield, which we have to spend on an annual basis, and which is replenished each May from investment earnings, and b) roughly $600,000 of departmental local funds made up of annual giving.”
“That third part – the $600,000 of departmental local funds that came from annual giving is what was promised to be replenished in full,” he wrote.
In addition to this, the restoration also did not include accounts falling under Student Affairs. According to the FOIA documents provided to The Rotunda in August, accounts such as “Stud Affairs,” “LU Cares Eme,” “Campus Rec,” “F & S Life,” “Club Sports,” among others had funds swept in June. Also not included in the restoration was the $30,000 swept from the “Moton Operat” account.
In an email statement to The Rotunda on March 4 in response to a follow up question, McWilliams wrote, “The accounts that were replenished were departmental local accounts that are used to supplement annual operations of those academic departments in a way that E&G dollars often cannot be used. Student Affairs departments and the Moton Museum operate under fewer restrictions and have other sources of funding they can use for earmarked operations, like Advancement or Athletics. The Moton Museum in its partnership with the University also receives annual support for personnel, operations, and building maintenance.”
When asked via email if Student Affairs operational budgets received funds from the university to supplement the loss of swept local funds, McWilliams wrote, “Yes, the university continues to fund these departments annually.”
According to an email statement to The Rotunda on March 5 in response to a question about where restoration funds were sourced from, McGregor wrote, “Funds were transferred from the Longwood Fund account which is an unrestricted philanthropic account used to support general operations.”
As reported by The Rotunda in August, the June sweep of local funds resulted in frustration and concerns from faculty members over a perceived lack of transparency and communication. Faculty Senate Chair and Professor of Sociology Dr. Lee Bidwell said in an interview on August 9, “What I'm hearing [from faculty members] is grave concern about the lack of communication.”
In an interview on March 7, 2025, Bidwell said that some concerns have persisted into the Spring semester. “I think some faculty might feel more trust, other faculty might feel less, and for some it's no change. I would say that overall there still is a sense of distrust of the administration after the sweeping of the funds,” she said.
Bidwell said there is “frustration that not all of the money that was taken was restored, because the interest that came from endowed funds was not restored, but other local funds were.” She also said there is “trepidation” among the faculty that a sweep like the one in June may happen again.
She said, “There's still a lot in flux because of what's happening nationally right now and at the state level, but I wish I could say I don't think it would happen again… I wish I could be confident.”
According to publicly available minutes of the President’s Advisory Council (PAC) meeting on Feb. 25, PAC members spoke to Reveley about trust and transparency. In attendance at the meeting was Reveley, Bidwell, Faculty Senate Vice Chair Dr. Eric Hodges, Faculty Representative to the Board of Visitors Dr. Lisa Kinzer, Dr. Darrell Carpenter and Dr. Benjamin Topham.
According to a summary of the conversation in the minutes, “[Bidwell] explained that the surprising sweep of local funds last summer, which occurred after repeated assurances that the university’s budget situation was strong, resulted in mistrust of the President. The climate of mistrust has fueled rumors about the fiscal strength of the university”
The minutes also state, “the president categorically denied there was any truth to rumors that Longwood is experiencing financial difficulty.” Bidwell, asked about this specifically during the interview, said, “Do I still worry about the financial health of the university despite those reassurances? Yes.”
According to the minutes, PAC members encouraged Reveley to create opportunities for dialogue in order to improve trust in the administration and expressed willingness to work with him in order to repair trust. “PAC members suggested that meetings about budget and other campus concerns should provide an opportunity for open dialogue, rather than be formal presentations,” the minutes state.
Bidwell said during the interview, “The President volunteered and offered to come to Faculty Senate on [March 6] and to explain some things that were coming from the federal government and offer opportunities for people to ask questions. He came at the beginning of the faculty meeting and at the end of the faculty senate meeting to answer any casual questions that faculty had. I think that’s an indication that he was trying to be more open in terms of communication.”
According to McWilliams in the FOIA documents, the most recent restoration of local funds took place on Feb. 21, the Friday before Love Your Longwood Day. Smith informed academic department chairs and deans of the restoration on the night of Feb. 24, the day prior to Love Your Longwood Day.
She wrote, “This is [the] first of a series of emails I will be sending this week to academic departments and deans about FY25 budgets and about FY26 budget planning. This email focuses on local funds. The restoration of local funds has been completed.”
Love Your Longwood Day took place on Feb. 25, and according to their website, raised $907,847 and received 2,192 gifts from 1,474 donors.
According to publicly available meeting materials from the September 2024 Board of Visitors meeting, in 2023, Love Your Longwood Day raised $735,247 from 1,894 donors. In 2024, coupled with the Longwood Men’s Basketball Team’s trip to March Madness, Love Your Longwood Day brought in $1.3 million dollars from 1,773 donors.
There was previously concern among some officials that the summer sweep would impact annual giving, including on Love Your Longwood Day. Member of the Board of Visitors Vellie Dietrich-Hall, at the December 2024 meeting of the board, expressed concern over the university’s credibility with donors. She said, “I received so many emails from people who donated because they didn't know where that money went,” and added, “I hope we're not losing our credibility in soliciting money for the February campaign, for Love Your Longwood Day.”
[Courtney] Hodges responded to her concerns and said, “Our gifts are always allocated to the purpose and intention they've given to… we hold donor intention paramount.” In the Feb. 28 email from McWilliams, he said, “fundraising activity for this year continues to be strong.”
The Rotunda will continue to report on this story. Those with information relevant to this story, or those who would like to share their thoughts and opinions, are encouraged to contact therotunda@live.longwood.edu.
