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Founders Day Celebrates Past, Looks Toward Future
Professor Larry Hultgren, 2018 Alumni Awards, Goode Center Beam Signing highlight Founders Day festivities
University News | September 6, 2018
In the summer of 1969, Larry Hultgren packed his most prized possessions into a yellow Volkswagen Beetle and hit the road from Nashville to Virginia Beach. His travels took him to Virginia Wesleyan, where, just eight years after the institution's 1961 founding, he became the first philosophy professor among just 27 full-time teaching faculty and 481 students.
As keynote speaker at Virginia Wesleyan's Founders Day Convocation on September 6, held in the Convocation Hall in the Jane P. Batten Student Center, Professor Hultgren recalled his nearly 50 years at VWU and the ways it has grown from an aspiring college to an inspiring university.
When he arrived on campus that summer just out of graduate school, Virginia Wesleyan's "quality and future were not assured," he said. Only Bray Village (Village I) was completed. Hofheimer Library was under construction, and work was in progress on a service building that would later become the Fine Arts building. The athletic facilities were empty fields, he said, with a parking lot for basketball. There was no DeFord Gatehouse at the entrance—only the old, Smith Farm house.
"Having been students in the '60s," he said, "we were looking for change and experimentation. Imagine our horizon...having the opportunity to start at a new school and develop an academic department. Imagine the possibility to construct a curriculum, not just for your discipline, but for a college."
He highlighted the successes of Virginia Wesleyan's four presidents—Joseph Johnston (1965), Lambuth Clarke (1966-1992), Billy Greer (1992-2015), and current President Scott D. Miller, who arrived in 2015.
"[President Miller] reminds us that no institution of higher learning can remain essentially static and unchanging in time," he said. "If Shakespeare is correct, that 'What's past is prologue,' then, given all the changes that President Miller has made in the few years he has been with us, to paraphrase Bachman–Turner Overdrive, 'We ain't seen nothing yet.'"
What has kept Hultgren here through the years, he said, are the people who have embodied the vision of the Virginia Wesleyan's founders.
"In Proverbs 29:18 we are warned that 'where there is no vision, the people perish.' But we must never forget that there is no vision without people—people like our founders and like all of you who are here today."
The convocation also included remarks by President Scott D. Miller, performances by the Wesleyan Vox Vera student choir—featuring a fitting rendition of The Beatles' 1965 hit "In My Life"—recognition of the 2018 Alumni Awards recipients, and a benediction by 2008 alumna Rev. Stephanie Kimec Parker.
2018 Alumni Awards
The day began with a special 2018 Alumni Awards program in Hofheimer Theater honoring recipients Joseph P. Ruddy '83, Chief Innovation Officer at The Port of Virginia (Distinguished Alumni Award), Clayton J. Singleton '94, Artist/Teacher at Norfolk Public Schools (Alumni Service Award), and Alisa W. Crider '10, Public Relations Coordinator at Hampton Roads Transit (Graduate of the Last Decade Award).
"Recognizing alumni is among the most important traditions at Virginia Wesleyan," said President Miller. "Our accomplished alumni are the very best examples of our mission and educational programs. And the talented individuals we honor today are a tribute to all that is valuable and notable about a Virginia Wesleyan education."
Dr. Miller and Alumni Council Chair Troy DeLawrence '93 presented the awards and also paid tribute to outgoing Alumni Council Chair Mavis McKenley '11 for her three years of service to the University.
Beam Signing at the Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center
Guests headed from the Fine Arts Building to the site of the forthcoming Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center, where arts students and alumni, faculty, staff, and friends made their mark on the building by signing one of its galvanized beams.
"After today's signing, the final beam will be placed and the structural steel will be completed on this grand 23,200-square-foot academic facility," President Miller said. "We expect that this magnificent facility will foster continued growth and prominence within the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities, while serving as a state-of-the-art facility for fine and performing arts not only at VWU, but also in the community which has a vibrant arts scene."
President Miller recognized and thanked those in attendance whose leadership has been instrumental in the success of the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities and the Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center. Special guests included building namesake and Trustee Susan Goode, her husband David and daughter Christina; Trustee Henry Watts and his wife Eleanor, for whom the grand lobby will be named; past Alumni Council Chair Mavis McKinley '11 and current Chair Troy DeLawrence '93; Michael Schnekser from Tymoff+Moss; Chris Brandt, Clark Lambert, and Nathan Leonard from Hourigan; and Travis Malone, Dean of the Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities. President Miller also thanked Joan Brock and her late husband Macon for whom the 300-seat theater will be named.
Chartered in 1961, Virginia Wesleyan first opened its doors to students on September 14, 1966. Since its first graduating class in 1970, the Virginia Wesleyan community has grown to include approximately 1,600 students and nearly 10,000 alumni. Founders Day was established in 2016 to honor the University's legacy, recognize important individuals in its history, and celebrate the institution's bright future.
Watch an archived video of the Founders Day Convocation on the VWU Digital Broadcasting Network.