Congressman Porter Hardy greets guests
at the College's first groundbreaking
ceremony on July 18, 1965. The shovels
behind Hardy have been used for every
groundbreaking since that time.
By Stephen S. Mansfield, Ph.D.
In the late 1950s, when thought was first given to establishing a college which would become Virginia Wesleyan, there were no church-related, four-year colleges in eastern Virginia. A 1959 federal Office of Education survey, authorized by the State Council of Higher Education and funded by the Norfolk Junior Chamber of Commerce, concluded that the citizens of Hampton Roads should support not only the expansion of existing public colleges but also “such others as may be developed to give an equitable geographic service to the college-going population of the region.”
The Rev. Dr. Joseph S. Johnston, Norfolk District Superintendent of The Methodist Church at that time, began generating interest in the establishment of a Methodist-affiliated college somewhere in Hampton Roads. With the encouragement of Methodist Bishop Paul N. Garber, Johnston invited representatives of the Church’s Board of Higher Education to come from Nashville to evaluate eastern Virginia as a possible college site. Favorable reports from local church and community leaders encouraged The Methodist Church in Virginia to devise a formal plan of action. That plan culminated in the presentation of a charter to the Virginia Annual Conference of The Methodist Church which met at the Alan B. Shepard Civic Center in Virginia Beach in June 1961.The members of the Conference voted to approve the charter, which was then submitted to the State Corporation Commission, and Virginia Wesleyan College became a legal entity, on July 27,1961.
The Board of Trustees met for the first time on Nov. 7,1961, and Johnston was elected to serve as the first Chairman of the Board. One of the Board ’s initial tasks was to select a site for the new campus, from 18 proposed sites scattered across Hampton Roads. A 300-acre parcel located astride the Norfolk-Princess Anne County boundary line adjacent to the proposed interstate highway route was chosen. (In less than two years Princess Anne County would merge with the oceanfront community of Virginia Beach to become the city of Virginia Beach.) The western portion of the new site was land previously owned by the city of Norfolk, but most of the acreage was farm land which had been in the possession of the William Smith family since 1899.The future campus contained stands of valuable timber as well as cultivated fields, some of which had been leased by the Smiths to the federal government during World War II as the site of barracks to house fighter pilots stationed at the airfield which would later become Norfolk International Airport.
Another task for the Board of Trustees was the selection of an architectural firm and approval of a campus plan. The Norfolk firm of Shriver and Holland, in consultation with Perkins and Will of Chicago, developed a plan based upon the “Jeffersonian Village ”concept of teaching and living facilities closely connected. The original campus physical plant consisted of the seven buildings of Village I and a one-story academic building behind the village which housed the library, science laboratories, and additional classrooms. Groundbreaking for the first phase of construction took place on July 18,1965,with Lt. Gov. Mills E. Godwin as the speaker. By that time Johnston had been succeeded as chair of the Board of Trustees by Judge Jerry G. Bray and was serving as first president of the College. In March 1970,former Virginia Governor Colgate Darden was the principal speaker at the dedication of the Henry Clay Hofheimer II, Library, by which time a science building and two additional dormitories were under construction.
The president, in conjunction with Academic Dean Robert C. Provine, had the responsibility for hiring a faculty and designing a course of study. Three of the original faculty members who would serve the College over a long period of time were Joseph Harkey, a member of the English faculty for 30 years; Robert Tucker, who taught history for 17 years prior to his retirement in 1983;and Douglas McIntyre, who, after several years as a mathematics instructor, held the position of Registrar from 1972 to 1989.Long-time staff members included James R. Bergdoll, who was responsible for the development efforts of the College from 1966 to 1998,and William T. Joseph,who has shepherded the College’s finances since his arrival in 1966.
Lambuth M. Clarke began a distinguished 26-year tenure as president, succeeding Johnston as president by the time the first class of 75 freshmen arrived in September 1966, marking the opening of the College. The initial curriculum prescribed almost all of the courses in which students were expected to enroll during their first two years, but the faculty, reflecting changed national trends, voted in 1969 to eliminate most of the common graduation requirements and place responsibility for devising a balanced program of study upon the individual student and his/her faculty adviser.
An important goal of the new College was full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Conditions for such accreditation included completion of four years of instruction and a commencement, the latter event held on June 14, 1970, for the 41 members of Virginia Wesleyan’s first graduating class. By that time the enrollment exceeded 600 students, with a corresponding increase in the number of faculty and course offerings. In December 1970, SACS did grant the College full accreditation, at the earliest opportunity to do so.
The 1970 graduating class included Ann Peacock Shappell, the first student to enroll in 1966 and a member of the College ’s development staff since 1980.She and her classmates truly were pioneers, entering an institution yet-to-be accredited; enduring almost continuous campus construction and isolation from greater Hampton Roads; performing chores and helping design programs which linked them uniquely to the College and each other; and paving the way for future Virginia Wesleyan alumni by performing well in graduate schools and careers.