Celebrating
school pride and honoring our College’s legacy is incredibly important
to me. It is for this reason that I recently requested that our
campanile, known to many as simply “The Bell Tower,” begin sharing songs
of spirit and tradition. Take a walk across campus this afternoon and
you will hear our fight song, “On, Virginia Wesleyan!” at noon, followed
by our Alma Mater at 5 p.m.
Virginia Wesleyan's Monumental
Chapel and its adjacent Frank E. Brown Campanile are landmarks on our
campus. They not only symbolize our United Methodist heritage, but for
many, they visually represent the passion of those who laid our
College’s foundation and the progress of those who have earned their
education within its classrooms.
According to Dr. Stephen Mansfield's book Wisdom Lights the Way: Virginia Wesleyan College's First Half-Century, these historic structures came about in an “unusual fashion”:
“The
minister and leaders of Portsmouth's Monumental United Methodist Church
indicated during 1972 that they would like to provide funds for a
Virginia Wesleyan project as part of the church's 200th anniversary
celebration. Monumental's decision to raise $50,000 for a chapel was
matched by a gift from the Beasley Foundation. During the planning
stage, Richmond philanthropist Frank Brown offered to donate the cost of
the bell tower, or campanile, which would stand near the chapel, and
the Norfolk Federal Savings and Loan Company contributed the carillon,
which had been a fixture of its home office since 1957.
“[Then]
President [Lambuth M.] Clarke observed that it was unique within
Virginia United Methodism, and perhaps the entire denomination, for a
congregation to fund a college building. He saw significance for United
Methodism's commitment to higher education in Virginia's oldest
continuous congregation making such a contribution to the denomination's
newest college. The completed chapel, campanile, and carillon were
consecrated in February 1975.”
Our Alma Mater and fight song
carry significant histories of their own. The College’s Alma Mater was
written in 2002 by Dr. Sandra Billy, Director of the Center for Sacred
Music, and Professor Emeritus Dr. David Clayton, VWC’s first full-time
music professor. From the Alma Mater came the College’s Latin motto, sapientia illuminat viam,
or "Wisdom Lights the Way.” Our fight song, “On, Virginia Wesleyan!”
was written in 2011 by Joanne Renn, Executive Director of
Intercollegiate Athletics, and Bill Bishop, a veteran area sports
announcer.
Both of these compositions invoke in me, and I hope
in you, a strong sense of pride and belonging. I am grateful to be here
at Virginia Wesleyan at this momentous time in the College’s history,
and I look forward to continued celebration of our dearest traditions
and creation of those that are still to come.
