In March, the College hosted Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver (left) and co-founder of The Origin Project (TOP) and New York Times best-selling author Adriana Trigiani (right) in celebration of the 10th anniversary of TOP. The Origin Project is a program that helps second to 12th graders find their voices through writing about their family and regional roots. Trigiani brings in outstanding authors to talk with students participating in TOP each year. Teachers and high school students who participated in The Origin Project were invited to campus for the unique opportunity to spend time with Trigiani and Kingsolver. Kingsolver discussed her latest book, Demon Copperhead, a modern-day story set in Southwest Virginia. The event was a pre-event of the Virginia Festival of the Book.
A new Center for Outdoor Studies will launch this fall that will support students academically who want to work toward careers related to the outdoors. The center is part of the Collective Connection Campaign initiative to expand student engagement and the strategic plan to embrace and support our place in the region. More than 375 incoming students are expected to join the campus this fall, and Summer Experience Days are underway for the new swarm of Wasps!
The College formally dedicated the Ashleigh “Stardust” Langbein Memorial Fund scholarship to honor the late Ashleigh Langbein, ’16. The fund was initiated in 2020 to provide support opportunities for theatre students to expand their training beyond the College through related workshops and conferences. It will help these students continue their education while keeping Ashleigh’s memory alive in the campus community. The ceremony concluded with remarks from Ashleigh’s parents and co-founders of the Ashleigh Langbein Project, Russell and Paula Langbein, who visited from Katy, Texas, to attend the signing in memory of their daughter.