Thursday, May 18, 2017

​Nota Bene: Dedication of Mastracco Hall

Since my arrival as president nearly two years ago, I have consistently heard complimentary, admiring, and respectful comments about Virginia Wesleyan Trustee Vince Mastracco and his wife, Suzanne.

In their honor and in appreciation for their many contributions not only to the College but also to the Hampton Roads/Coastal Virginia region, we dedicated on Wednesday a residential facility in Honors Village as Mastracco Hall. 

A member of the Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, and now serving as chair of our Advancement Committee, Vince is known throughout Coastal Virginia as a man of integrity, duty, and loyalty. He has been extraordinarily helpful in providing counsel for various initiatives we have undertaken, notably the Campus Master Plan. He has been working, quietly but diligently, to make it possible for us to move forward on the residential development planned for the area across Wesleyan Drive—to be known as Oxford Village—and he has been enormously helpful to our senior administrative team, and me personally, in matters of fundraising, community engagement, marketing and rebranding, and other areas that have enhanced our visibility, leadership, and effectiveness as Coastal Virginia’s premier institution of the liberal arts and sciences.

His community service has included active participation on the Greater Norfolk Corporation and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Not surprisingly, a profile of him last year in Inside Business opened with the statement, “If you want something done in Hampton Roads, you call Vincent Mastracco, Jr.”

We thank Mr. Mastracco for his service to Virginia Wesleyan, his willingness and readiness to offer professional assistance whenever it is needed, and his wider role as an influential, conscientious, and gracious citizen in our community.

We are grateful, as well, for Suzanne Mastracco’s contributions to our region. Her commitment to the arts in Hampton Roads and in the Commonwealth has enriched all of our lives. Her service on the board of trustees of the Chrysler Museum of Art, as well as her many contributions to the Virginia Arts Festival, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, all speak to her devotion to a world of beauty, inspiration, and creativity.

No list of the region’s most important leaders throughout its history would be complete without both Vince and Suzanne’s names. It is fitting to remember that in 2007, Volunteer Hampton Roads honored both of them with its Lenora Mathews Lifetime Achievement Award as exemplary volunteers and caring citizens, and they received the 2012 Darden Award for Regional Leadership.

I hope that in some meaningful way, Mastracco Hall will remind our current and future students of their obligations as community servants and stewards of this soon-to-be University and our society.

May they follow the Mastraccos’ humble example for the benefit of our campus, our state, and nation for generations to come.