Early this year, education leaders signed a partnership agreement between Emory & Henry College and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, Va., to expand the region’s educational opportunities and bring new healthcare and business programs to the area.
Posted July 03, 2023
As a partner, Emory & Henry will have its own office at the Center to work with prospective and current students and plan courses using its state-of-the-art technology. “Emory & Henry College has offered higher education to regional residents for 187 years and in 2021 had the largest incoming first-year class in its history. In 2022, the College also set a record with the most residential students on campus,” said President John W. Wells. “The growth is prompting new modes and locations of academic delivery, including the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center and new online graduate-level degrees in business, nursing, education and mental health counseling. We are committed to continuing to serve the region, meet higher education demands for its residents, and build on economic development with our graduates.”
Both parties will work collaboratively to use resources to the greatest advantage in service to the higher education needs of the region’s citizens and encourage the expansion of higher education in the region. “The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center is excited to embark on this new chapter with Emory & Henry College, and we are especially looking forward to expanding programming to accelerate economic development and educational opportunities. This partnership will enhance our mission and ability to meet the needs of the region,” said David Matlock, agency head of the Center.
“We are committed to continue to serve the region and meet higher education demands for its residents as well as continue to build on economic development with our graduates.”
The 175th commencement ceremony for the graduating class of 2023 was held at Fred Selfe Stadium on the Emory campus on Saturday, May 6. More than 230 graduates walked across the stage and received their diplomas with supportive family, friends and faculty cheering them on. Speakers included Dr. John W. Wells, president; Dr. Michael J. Puglisi, executive vice president and provost; Dr. Ann Sluder, ’81, chair of the board of trustees; Rev. Sharon Wright, ’94 College chaplain and co-pastor of Emory United Methodist Church; graduates Diego Zamarripa Velo, ’23 and Olivia Bailey, ’14, ’23; and keynote speaker Alan Levine, chair and chief executive officer of Ballad Health.
Throughout April, the College celebrated National Poetry Month by hosting the Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series with ecopoet Sherwin Bitsui and the Daniel Leidig Lectureship in Poetry with Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Phillips. Both Bitsui and Phillips are nationally renowned and award-winning poets. Each poet visited an English class taught by Professor Matthew Kelley, gave a poetry reading and signed broadside poems for attendees.
