My Virginia

Chris Howard, Hampden-Sydney’s new president, is a high-wattage hire who aims to raise the profile of a very traditional Southern college.

by J. Tayloe Emery

9/27/10 8:06 AM

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Howard wants no distractions as he pursues his goals. He has begun formulating a new strategic plan for the college, and to help pull it together, he has hired two consultants—Charles Bryan Jr., former head of the Virginia Historical Society, and Daniel Jordan, the veteran director of Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Thomas Allen says that their extensive knowledge of historical preservation combined with their strategic skills makes them a good fit. “They’re local and they know our culture.”

Allen insists that the trustees will not be wasting any time debating whether or not to go coed. “I’ve sat through that once before” he explains, “None of us wants to go there again.” What will be in the offing is a new capital campaign. Under former presidents Walter M. Bortz III and Wilson, H-SC alumni contributed $154 million during a ten-year campaign that ended in 2009. With that money, H-SC built a new state-of-the art library, a new football stadium and a new dining hall—they also upgraded fraternity houses and renovated Jones Auditorium.

Howard and his family live in more traditional digs— Middlecourt, the red brick Federal-style home that serves as the college’s anchor and has been home to the president since 1939. There, and on campus, Howard daily mulls the “breadth of ideas and opportunities” he has for moving Hampden-Sydney ahead. As he says, “I look forward to engaging members of the college community, and to devising an audacious yet pragmatic plan to ensure we continue to build a better world—one Hampden-Sydney man at a time.”

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Chris Howard, Hampden-Sydney’s new president, is a high-wattage hire who aims to raise the profile of a very traditional Southern college.

by J. Tayloe Emery

9/27/10 8:06 AM

Latest Comments

  • Re: Raising the H-SC profile

    Dear Dr. Hayes,
    I appreciate your comments about creating scholars who are capable and competitive in debate. To that end, Hampden-Sydney is a proud supporter of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges (VFIC) Ethics Bowl. Our team placed 2nd in the 2009-2010 state-wide competition.(See this news release: http://www3.hsc.edu/news/articles/2009-10/ethics.html)
    The men who competed in that VFIC debate had multiple venues at Hampden-Sydney at which they could hone their skills. For instance, Hampden-Sydney's oldest club is the Union-Philanthropic Literary Society (UPLS). The Society meets weekly to debate a wide range of topics. A link to the UPLS website can be found here: http://www.hsc.edu/Student-Life/Activities/Clubs-and-Organizations/Debate-Politics-and-International-Affairs/Union-Philanthropic-Society.html. Thank you for your interest in the College.
    Sincerely,
    Drew Prehmus
    Hampden-Sydney College, Class of 2008
    Special Assistant to President Howard

    Posted by Drew Prehmus September 14, 2010 10:38:14

  • Raising the H-SC profile

    Dear President Howard,

    Just read the article on, and by, you in Virginia Living, and your desire to raise the school's profile. I just watched the Virginia Tech - Boise State game. That's the usual way to raise a college's profile - through athletics.

    There is another way, more dear to my heart (my Phd is in political science, University of California) - and that is, to create the scholars that defeat evry other school in debate, in demonstrated knowledge of current and historical events, in literature, in scientific knowledge - in the forthcoming Superbowl of Knowledge, which you might want to create. "Artes Liberales" refers to liberating the mind, not liberalism in thinking. Why do we have sports super bowls and nothing academic? If you rate Number One in academics you have raised your own profile, and created a prestige for learning that is now sadly missing in young people's lives.

    Sincerely,

    Edward C. Hayes PhD

    PS Feel free to Google my name - I was born in 1937.

    Posted by Edward C. Hayes PhD September 08, 2010 22:24:43

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