Lynchburg College

Coordinates: 37°23′54″N 79°10′52″W / 37.398468°N 79.18101°W

Lynchburg College

Former names	Virginia Christian College
Motto	Above and Beyond
Type	Private
Established	1903
Affiliation	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Endowment	US $97.3 million[1]
President	Kenneth R. Garren
Academic staff	157 full time
Students	Approximately 2,500
Location	Lynchburg, Virginia, United States
Colors	Crimson and Grey
Nickname	Hornets
Mascot	Elsie
Website	http://www.lynchburg.edu

Lynchburg College is a private college in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, related by covenant to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. The Princeton Review lists it as one of the 368 best colleges in the nation.^[2] LC is cited in Colleges That Change Lives and is also profiled in The Templeton Guide: Colleges That Encourage Character Development. Lynchburg College was also the first institution in the United States to train nuclear physicists and engineers for the NS Savannah project under order of President Eisenhower, to aid in the development and operation of the world's first nuclear-powered ship.^[3]

History

Lynchburg College was founded in 1903 by Dr. Josephus Hopwood as Virginia Christian College, a selective, independent, coeducational, and residential institution, which is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Hopwood was president of Milligan College in Tennessee when a group of ministers and businessmen approached him about establishing a college in Lynchburg. He agreed to serve as president, after which the group purchased the failed Westover Hotel resort for $13,500, securing Lynchburg's current campus. Hopwood worked with his wife Sarah Eleanor LaRue Hopwood to establish the college based on their shared vision.

The institution officially changed its name to Lynchburg College in 1919, citing a constituency that had expanded beyond Virginia.

The college has maintained its original commitment to a liberal arts education. Beginning with 11 faculty and 55 students, the college has grown to 159 full-time faculty and 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. The college offers 39 majors, 49 minors, two dual-degree programs, the Westover Honors Program, and offers graduate degrees in Masters of Arts, Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Education, and Masters of Science in Nursing as well as Doctorate programs in Physical Therapy and Educational Leadership. Lynchburg College has more than 20,000 alumni.

The Lynchburg College hymn was written by alumnus Paul E. Waters. Its melody is derived from J.S. Bach's "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" Op. 135a, No. 21. The college fight song includes the phrase, "Hornet Born and Hornet Bred and when I die I'll be Hornet dead."

In the fall of 1994, a few months after Intel introduced its Pentium microprocessor, Dr. Thomas R. Nicely, from Lynchburg College, was performing computations related to the distribution of prime numbers and discovered the Pentium FDIV bug. Dr. Nicely left Lynchburg College in 2000.

In 1997, after Dr. Leonard Edelman was denied tenure by the dean of the college, he filed a lawsuit against the college for religious and gender discrimination. The lawsuit was filed, however, beyond the limit allowed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Edelmen filed a petition for re-consideration, and his lawsuit went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled against his extension request, and not on the merit of his tenure-denial claim.

Community outreach remains a tradition of the college, through initiatives of its eight Centers of Lynchburg College and the SERVE program, through which 98,000 volunteer hours are contributed annually by students, faculty, and staff.

Campus and campus life

Lynchburg College campus

Lynchburg College is located in Lynchburg, Virginia, about 180 miles southwest of Washington D.C., in the Central Virginia foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It occupies 250 acres (1.0 km²) in Lynchburg and has a separate environmental research center on 470 acres (1.9 km²), the Claytor Nature Study Center, located about 40 minutes from campus. Most students live on campus and in nearby college-owned houses.

Student organizations

Lynchburg College has over 40 clubs & organizations for students to participate in. Examples of organization types include Greek life, student government, spiritual life, volunteer organizations, leadership programs, and publications.^[4]

Greek life

Fraternity life began on the Lynchburg College campus in 1962, with the arrival of Sigma Mu Sigma, whose Sigma Chapter was active until disbanded in the mid 1980s. Fraternities and sororities appeared on campus again in 1992. All official Greek houses are located on Vernon Street, and are currently owned by the college. LC is 17% Greek. Listed below are the chapters of the social fraternities and sororities that comprise Greek life at LC.

Fraternities

Organization	Symbol	Nickname	Chapter
Phi Delta Theta	ΦΔΘ	Phi Delt	Virginia Theta
Phi Kappa Tau	ΦΚΤ	Phi Tau	Zeta Epsilon
Sigma Nu	ΣΝ	Sig Nu	Mu Chi
Sigma Phi Epsilon	ΣΦΕ	Sig Ep	Virginia Omicron

Sororities

Organization	Symbol	Nickname	Chapter
Alpha Chi Omega	ΑXΩ	A Chi O	Iota Omicron
Alpha Sigma Alpha	ΑΣΑ	ASA	Zeta Upsilon
Kappa Delta	ΚΔ	KD	Zeta Nu
Sigma Sigma Sigma	ΣΣΣ	Tri-Sigma	Eta Upsilon

National Pan-Hellenic Council Fraternities and Sororities

Organization	Symbol	Nickname	Chapter
Alpha Kappa Alpha	ΑKΑ	AKA	Omicron Sigma
Alpha Phi Alpha	ΑΦA	Alphas	Sigma Pi
Delta Sigma Theta	ΔΣΘ	Deltas	Eta Upsilon

Athletics

The Lynchburg College Hornets participate in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). The Hornets program offers eight men’s sports, nine women’s sports, and two co-ed sports. Since joining the ODAC, the Hornets have recorded 148 conference titles.^[5] Lynchburg College is one of the stronger competitors at ODAC. The Hornets have won many ODAC championships throughout their history; the most recent came in 2010 for men’s indoor and outdoor track and field.Traditionally its Lacrosse, baseball, cross country, field hockey, soccer, softball, and track and field teams compete at a high level in conference play.

In 2015 the Lynchburg lacrosse ODAC champions made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III championship with tournament wins over Sewanee (13-4), Aurora University (19-8) and Salisbury University (13-11) at home before traveling to Gettysburg College for a thrilling come-from-behind 11-9 semi-final win. The Hornets then lost to Tufts University in the championship game of the NCAA Division III Title Tournament 19-11. The contest was held at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.^[6] This remarkable achievement brought much more attention to the entire athletic program.

Lynchburg College Rugby Football Club's Crest.

Lynchburg College also fields an exceptional men's rugby union team, which operates under the club sports department rather than the athletic department. Founded in 2010, and a member of USA Rugby, Lynchburg College Rugby Football Club competes in the Cardinals Collegiate Rugby Conference as a National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) team, competing in the Challenge Cup portion of the league. They compete regularly against schools such as Roanoke College, Emory and Henry College, Christopher Newport University and Hampden–Sydney College.^[7]

In 2011 Lynchburg's Men's Club Lacrosse program won the Division 2 National Championship over the Cincinnati Bearcats 12-10.^[8] The team made it to the national title game from 2009-2011. Competing in the Blue Ridge division with Radford University, Virginia Military Institute, Washington and Lee University, and High Point University. The team travels to play teams from around the country every year continuing it's competitive effort.

Administration

Lynchburg College has both a President and a Board of Trustees, which currently consists of 37 individuals. The Board of Trustees' role in administration is the "fundamental oversight of the College."^[9]

Presidents of Lynchburg College

Dr. Josephus Hopwood	1903–1911
Dr. S.T. Willis	1911–1912
Mr. G.O. Davis	1912–1914
Mr. Matthew Clark (Acting)	1914–1915
Dr. John T. Hundley	1915–1936
Dr. Riley B. Montgomery	1936–1949
Dr. Orville W. Wake '32	1949–1964
Dr. M. Carey Brewer '49	1964–1983
Dr. George N. Rainsford	1983–1993
Dr. Charles O. Warren	1993–2001
Dr. Kenneth R. Garren	2001–present

Dr. Kenneth R. Garren began his tenure as the tenth president of Lynchburg College in 2001. A former vice president and dean of Roanoke College, Garren led Lynchburg College through its 2003 centennial celebration and initiatives such as a strategic plan, campus facilities master planning, building projects (including Elliot & Rosel Schewel Hall), and restoration work on College Lake. Recently, the college finished multimillion-dollar renovations of Shellenberger Field and Drysdale Student Center.

Notable alumni

Name	Known for	Relationship to Lynchburg College
Brad Babcock	College baseball coach and administrator	BA, 1963
Ryan Cranston	Former Major League Lacrosse Player	Graduate
Bob Duff	Senator - State of Connecticut	BA, 1993, Sigma Phi Epsilon[10]
Jerry Falwell	Founder of Liberty University	Journalism student before transferring to Bible Baptist College[11]
Ted Gulick	Episcopal bishop	Graduate
Franklin P. Hall	Virginia House of Delegates [12]	Graduate
Whit Haydn	Magician, entertainer	BA, 1972
John Hobbs	Major League Baseball player	BA, 1978,[13]
Robert A. McKee	Member, Maryland House of Delegates	B.A. in political science in 1971[14]
Deirdre Quinn	Actress	1993 BA in Theatre[15]
Jessamine Shumate	Artist and painter	Attended art classes during the 1940s
Percy Wootton	American Medical Association president[16]	Graduate

References

1. As of February 14, 2015. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2014 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2013 to FY 2014" (PDF). 2013 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
2. Archived September 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
3. John Pike. "NS Savannah". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
4. "Student Activities". Lynchburg College. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
5. Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
6. "Tufts Wins D3 Lacrosse Title with 19-11 Win over Lynchburg College - Lynchburg". Athletics.lynchburg.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
8. As of February 14, 2015. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2014 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2013 to FY 2014" (PDF). 2013 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
9. "Board of Trustees". Lynchburg College. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
10. "My Bio". cthomesearch.com.
11. "Jerry Falwell Dies After Falling Unconscious in His Office". Fox News. 2007-05-15. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
12. "Virginia House of Delegates: Historical Bio for Franklin P. Hall".
13. "Jack Hobbs". CNN.
14. "Robert A. McKee, Maryland State Delegate". msa.md.gov. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
15. "Lynchburg College: StageNotes 2006". Lynchburg College Theatre.
16. "Society of Smith Scholars".

External links

• Official website
• Official athletics website