ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
It looks like the end of the road for the 129-year-old Southern Virginia College in Buena Vista, but school officials seem to be holding out hope for a last-minute detour around its financial instability.
Col. John Ripley, president of the women's junior college, announced after a board meeting Thursday that the school would close at the end of the spring semester.
But spokeswoman Grace Sarber said the school could reverse that decision if it receives a large gift - in the $2 million range - this semester. "It is possible that we could be in existence ... next year. We just don't know yet."
Board members went ahead with plans to close the school, so students would not be left in limbo.
"Everyone felt that it was the most prudent and honorable decision," Sarber said.
The financially strapped college cited the Southern Association of Colleges and School's December decision not to renew the college's accreditation because of its financial problems as a factor in the closing, according to a news release.
Board chairman Harry Warner, a Lexington financial consultant, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but he said Wednesday that the school needed to raise substantial funds or transform itself into a completely different type of institution.
Sarber said a task force has been formed to oversee the closing and seek out alternatives to revive the institution.
The college, known as Southern Seminary until 1992, is one of the few two-year colleges where students live on campus that still exist in the United States and the last of its kind in Virginia. Ferrum College gave up a similar two-year program in the mid-1980s when it became a four-year institution.
Without the accreditation, it would have been difficult to recruit new students since most graduates transfer their credits to four-year institutions.
The school will be accredited through the end of spring semester, so second-year students will be able to transfer their credits, but first-year students will be left trying to find a new school.
Susan Lough, a second-year student from Blacksburg, said it's sad to see the school close.
"I really wish it could stay open," said Lough, who is double-majoring in psychology and sociology. She said she has enjoyed her two years at Southern Virginia and views the experience as a turning point in her life.
It's a shame that other students won't have the same opportunity she did, Lough said.
Holly Shoemaker is a first-year student who also is from Blacksburg. She said the college's closing came as no surprise.
She said rumors were circulating on campus, and that at the end of fall semester officials told students the school might close.
"They were concerned about the students," said Shoemaker, who chose Southern Virginia in part because of its equine studies program. She'll probably attend New River Community College next fall.
For Anne McClung, the news of Southern Virginia's closing was "doubly sad" because she graduated from the school in 1967 and returned as a professor after receiving a bachelor's degree from Mary Baldwin College and a graduate degree from the University of Virginia.
She said the faculty have known for awhile that the school's financial situation was not improving quickly enough.
Board chairman Warner said Wednesday that because the college was a for-profit institution until 1963, a fund-raising tradition never took hold.
Gifts to the college more than doubled since 1991 and President Ripley, who held leadership positions at Virginia Military Institute and the Naval Academy secured large alumni contributions, but in the end, it wasn't enough.
McClung, a Rockbridge County native, said she plans to look for work in the area, but would be interested in staying at the college if it does head in a different direction.
No matter what happens, she said, "I think the president can rest at ease that he did all he could."
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