Storylines

Longwood Storylines

Unprecedented Engagement

Longwood is taking debate volunteering to the next level, implemented the unprecedented step of matching as many students as possible who volunteer with their course of study or career interest. Participating in the 2016 Vice Presidential Debate won’t be just a great story to tell over winter break--it will be an impressive line on hundreds of Longwood students’ resumes that comes with valuable experience for burgeoning careers.

Beyond volunteer efforts, more than 30 debate-related courses have been developed across 13 disciplines, ranging from history and political science to art and music. Courses include an investigation into how letterpress and printmaking has affected political discourse and elections to a broad look at how music defines campaigns and candidates. View the full list of courses.

Contacts:
Macrae Hammond, volunteer coordinator
Dr. Pam Tracy, associate professor of communication studies, director of Center for Faculty Enrichment

K-12 Outreach

Longwood is proud of its deep roots in teacher preparation, and we are taking advantage of our robust relationships with area school systems to expand the reach of the debate beyond our campus borders. Social studies and history teachers from fourteen districts and two community colleges completed a professional development course focused on integrating themes of citizenship and democracy into their classroom discussions.

In the days leading up to the debate, more than 600 secondary school students from around the region will discuss civics education and how the democratic process has brought about meaningful change in American history. Keynote speakers will discuss the role of debates in our democracy, and students will interact with the C-SPAN exhibit bus while on campus. A partnership with Scholastic will provide students with unique insight into the role teenagers play in driving the national conversation. They'll also tour R.R. Moton Museum, now affiliated with Longwood, and site of the 1951 student strike which became part of Brown v. Board of Education and helped launch the modern civil rights movement. Pre-packaged lesson plans are available for any teacher interested in linking class discussion to the debate.

Contacts:
Dr. Paul Chapman, dean of the College of Education & Human Services
Dr. David Locascio, associate professor of education and associate dean for outreach

Civil War to Civil Rights

Farmville’s unparalleled history has shaped both Longwood’s campus and the town deeply and profoundly. Truly at a crossroads in history, the Civil War drew to a close along the northern border of campus as Gen. Ulysses Grant first proposed surrender terms from a house steps away from campus two days before the surrender at Appomattox, and remarkably nearly a century later, the modern Civil Rights Movement began with the historic and brave 1951 student strike at R.R. Moton High School, the resulting lawsuit of which became part of Brown v. Board of Education three years later. That history and its sometimes painful reverberations, have forged the university and surrounding community with the understanding that true leadership comes from reconciliation and our recent history has borne witness to major strides in harmony as we forge a common future.

Contacts:
Dr. Larissa Fergeson, professor of history (Civil Rights specialist), associate provost for outreach, liaison to R.R. Moton Museum
Dr. David Coles, professor of history (Civil War specialist)
W. Taylor Reveley IV, Longwood president who led a partnership with Moton Museum