$6 Million Student Center Renovation Starts This Summer

Randolph College will begin construction on a $6 million renovation of its Student Center this summer, President John E. Klein announced on Tuesday, January 25. You can watch a video with more details of the renovation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uTF1B5Pz-g


“Thanks to the wonderful support of our alumnae, we will be greatly enhancing the Student Center spaces and bringing a significant improvement to life on campus,” Klein said. “We are extremely grateful for the support and commitment of the donors to this transformational project.”

The project will be completely funded by five alumnae donors. The alumnae who are financially supporting the project are Sadie “Puff” Gravely Hampson ’41, Byrd and Alice Hilseweck Ball ’61, Sally Maier Rowe ’67, and two alumnae who wish to remain anonymous.

“We’re excited and pleased to be able to do this for our students, and we’re happy we can continue to add features that will attract more students,” said Lucy Williams Hooper ’73, chair of the Randolph College Board of Trustees. “Fully funding this project with donor support shows we will be able to tackle future projects successfully.”

The Student Center is located in the rear of Main Hall at the center of campus.

The area of Main Hall that is now the Student Center has seen many incarnations during the College’s history, previously serving as the chapel and as a dining hall.

The renovation plans, designed by Craddock-Cunningham Architectural Partners of Lynchburg, will totally transform the current Student Center by adding many exciting new spaces for student activities and stunning views of the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains on 3 1/2 floors. The renovation will incorporate treasured elements of the campus’ current architecture, such as curvy stairs (“curlies”), the Skeller, the vaulted ceiling beams and the existing organ, pipes, and stained glass. The renovation will be energy efficient and sustainable with low-energy lighting, energy-efficient mechanical systems, double- and triple-glaze windows, and low VOC carpet, paint, and cabinetry.

Students, faculty, and staff played a large role in the design of the Student Center’s design, offering suggestions and ideas for ways to improve and enhance the space to meet the Randolph College community’s needs.

“Students have been a focal point of this project from the beginning, and that’s important,” said Carl Coffey ’11, Student Government president.

Construction will begin this summer and is expected to last 18 months.

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lawrence Garnell Stamps (below, right) led a rousing and poignant tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. this afternoon in front of faculty, staff, students and guests from the Lynchburg community in the Houston Memorial Chapel (bottom). Stamps is a retired educator and Lynchburg civil rights activist who as a young man met and was inspired by Dr. King.

Stamps was introduced by Octavia Rodney ’11 (middle), president of the Black Leaders Association on campus. Hermina Hendricks (left), Randolph’s director of Multicultural Services, organized the event as well as a number of other events that will be held on campus throughout January and February as part of Randolph’s 2011 Black History Celebration.

Get Ready for Randolph ScienceFest

The Randolph College Society of Physics Students is proud to bring you the Second Annual Randolph College Science Festival, March 25-27, 2011.

Begun as a Science Day for kids in 2005, we are joined by science, humanities and arts departments across the campus, and by numerous presenters to bring a weekend of activities for all.

All activities are free and open to the public, and are for all ages.

Learn more at www.RandolphScience.org

Welcoming Places on Campus

Main Hall Lobby and the fourth floor of the Lipscomb Library recently received makeovers.

The first phase of the library renovation included two wings: one that's more computer friendly where students can use their laptop computers and work together on projects, while the other wing is a more traditional reading area.

The renovation was made possible by an annuity fund established by Florence Ridley in honor of 19 women from the Class of '44 who forged a lasting friendship. The Parents Fund also helped provide furnishings in the periodical room. A second phase will soon address renovating the remainder of the library's fourth floor.

In Main Hall, the lobby received its first update since 1999. Four new sofas were added, furniture was recovered and the walls were painted a warm yellow with crisp white woodwork.

The Physics of Sledding

Randolph Physics Professors Peter Sheldon and Katrin Schenk, along with her son, Finn, and husband Dan Healy, who works in the College's IT department, enjoyed sledding Friday on the front lawn of campus.

Snow Blankets Campus

Five inches of snow blankets campus as students finish their final exams for the semester and prepare for the Winter Break.

Randolph College Professor Earns National Teaching Honor

Susan Stevens, a Randolph College classics professor, will receive the 2011 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).

The AIA awards committee chooses one winner each year it feels demonstrates excellence in the teaching of archaeology. Nominations come from colleagues and students. Stevens will receive the award January 7, 2011 at the annual joint meeting of the AIA and the American Philological Association in San Antonio, Texas.

“It is really gratifying to be recognized for my undergraduate teaching,” Stevens said. “I’m proud to be a part of an organization that recognizes the efforts of teachers and I am appreciative of my students for participating in this.”

Two of Stevens’ students, Rhiannon Knol ’11 and Eric Struble ’11, are presenting a paper at the conference and will also be in attendance to see Stevens receive her award.

Stevens earned her undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and her master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has taught at Randolph since 1993 and is now the Catherine E. and William E. Thoresen Chair of Humanities.

Her expertise centers on Roman and Early Christian art and archeology, burial archeology, and late Roman architecture. In addition to teaching Latin and archeology courses at Randolph, Stevens also regularly conducts fieldwork, most recently in Tunisia. She is co director of excavations at Leptiminus at an underground Christian burial complex. She also speaks Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Tunisian Arabic.

As president of the Lynchburg chapter of the AIA, Stevens helps coordinate four speakers a year for the community. “Most small cities do not even have chapters,” she said. “Ours is pretty active.”

The AIA award is especially important to Stevens because of its emphasis on teaching in archaeology. “It means a lot to be celebrated specifically for teaching in the area of my own research and for bringing undergraduates into archaeology,” she said.