Longwood University selected 268 students to the President’s List for superior academic achievement during the spring 2009 semester. Among those who earned an academic average of 4.0 are: * Melissa Paige Bray of Chesterfield (23832) * Emily Suzanne Briggs of Chesterfield (23832) * Philip Lok of Chesterfield (23832)

Longwood University selected 536 students to the dean’s list for outstanding academic achievement during the spring semester. Among those from the Richmond area who earned an academic average of 3.5 to 3.99 were: * Sarah A Johnson of Bon Air (23235) * Amanda Gail Barker of Chesterfield (23832) * Rebecca Christine Borum of Chesterfield (23832)

Virginia State University was given full certification by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia yesterday, reversing a decision it had made the day before. The action means VSU will not have to submit a remedial plan addressing why it failed to meet all of its performance goals, which the university had blamed on a computation error on its part.

This week’s Division I conference baseball tournaments have a limited Virginia flavor. Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond, William and Mary and James Madison all failed to qualify for their respective league tournaments. The University of Virginia is the sixth seed in the eight-team ACC tournament. George Mason and Old Dominion made the six-team Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Liberty, Radford and VMI are competing in the eight-team Big South Conference tournament.

FARMVILLE—A sorority founded more than a century ago at Longwood University is closing its chapter at the school in the aftermath of allegations of hazing and underage drinking, officials said. The closing of the Alpha Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha comes less than a month after it had been reinstated with sanctions for policy violations.

College graduates—some with student debts rivaling mortgage payments—may be second-guessing themselves about the value of their hard-earned and expensive bachelor’s degrees. But as they pick up their diplomas this month and head into a world of economic uncertainties, the U.S. Census Bureau has a word of reassurance. The bureau says a worker with a bachelor’s degree earns about $26,000 more on average each year than someone with a high school diploma.

With events ranging from a James River bike ride to an afternoon of memorabilia sharing, Virginia Commonwealth University will hold its annual Reunion Weekend on April 24-26. The Class of 1984 will celebrate its 25th anniversary during the weekend, and the Class of 1959 will celebrate its 50th. Among the highlights for the weekend are a reception and cocktail buffet on April 24 at the Colony Club, 10 E. Franklin St., and an alumni dinner on April 25 honoring the classes of 1959 and 1984 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Farmville coaching cradle Longwood has produced nearly 40 high school and college baseball coaches since Buddy Bolding became the Lancers coach for the 1979 season. Five current Central Region coaches are former Lancers:
  Coach  School
  Tim LoweryCosby
Mickey RobertsPrince George
Fred StootsMatoaca

According to a former Longwood baseball player with a knack for numbers-crunching, Buddy Bolding has thrown approximately 6.5 million batting-practice pitches since he began coaching that school’s team in 1979. Bolding, 61, may be good for 10 million. “Colonel Sanders made pretty good chicken when he was in his elder years,“ Bolding said. “I have no particular fascination about sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth and falling asleep.“

Patricia P. Cormier, Longwood University’s president for the past 13 years, will retire from the job she describes as “a thrill of a lifetime.“ Cormier, who will step down June 30, 2010, made the announcement recently at a campus ceremony for the 170th anniversary of Longwood’s founding. On Friday, the board of visitors named a 14-member committee to help find her successor.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering will expand its curriculum in the fall with new programs to train nuclear engineers. The School of Engineering will offer a program leading to a master’s degree in mechanical and nuclear engineering. An undergraduate track in nuclear engineering also will be added to the mechanical engineering program.

More than 90 percent of Virginians—nearly 7 million people—live in localities in which the majority of restaurants are smoke-free, a Longwood University geographer has found. David Hardin, associate professor of geography, set up a Web site called “Clearing the Haze” last week as the General Assembly began debate on a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.

Jillian Klein, a Longwood University senior from Henrico County, is the university’s William G. McGowan Scholar for 2008-09. The McGowan Scholars Program, made possible by the McGowan Charitable Fund, funds one full-tuition scholarship for an undergraduate or graduate business student at selected colleges accredited by AACSB International.

Now in their second season as a full-fledged Division I members, the Lancers beat Colonial Athletic Association member JMU in early December and last Saturday knocked off George Washington, of the Atlantic 10 Conference.