Church a part of SVU's plan to accommodate more students
by STACEY GRIJALVA
The Buena Vista City Council on Feb. 8 approved a more than 15,000-square-foot church to be owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Walter Ralls, president of the Buena Vista stake, the Mormon equivalent of a diocese, said that the church will not be operated by Southern Virginia University (SVU) even though the church is for its students.
If a stake is similar to a diocese, a ward is similar to a parish. The school has five wards on campus, distinguished by geographic boundaries.
The new church, at 1716 Walnut Ave., will be used for religious instruction that the students do not receive university credit for, and for worship. The church currently rents spaces from the university, but the school needs the rooms for its planned expansion.
SVU plans to more than double its student population in the next five to 10 years, to more than 1,500 students.
Richard Whitehead, vice president of institutional advancement for SVU, estimated that about 90 percent of students currently identify themselves as Mormon.
The school is not owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, beliefs and standards are supported and encouraged at the university;
“One out of every eight people [in Buena Vista] is a student, so it is quite a culture shock,” said Whitehead.
If the school reaches its goal, students will make up almost one out of every five people in the town.
Buena Vista is not about to become a Mormon city, however.
“We have lots of different churches, lots of Baptists,” Whitehead said. “We have Catholics, Protestants, and evangelicals.”
One resident is wary of the change in the feel of the town that the student influx of will bring.
“What scares me and a lot of us in the community is that we are losing our identity,” said Dick Kuettner.
Kuettner and his family, which includes two children in college, moved to Buena Vista in 1995 because they liked the size and spirit of the town.
Changes are already underway. Construction began on the new dorm that will house 210 students, making it the largest dorm on campus, and SVU officials hope it will be done in less than a year.
Construction on the new church is slated to begin in the fall and should take a year to complete. Ralls expects the church to be finished within a year from groundbreaking.
Whitehead acknowledged that there were initial concerns about the school’s expansion, but that residents are very comfortable with the students.
“One of our strengths is that we do service hours,” he said. “As part of the religious requirement, students help teachers and work for business in town. Last year students worked for 11,000 hours.”
Whitehead also cited SVU’s honor code, based on truth and virtue. Violations of the honor code include drinking alcohol, smoking, taking drugs, cursing, and disrespect toward authority.
He also stressed that the school’s student expansion is not a jump. “It’s a steady growth, not an exaggeration,” he said. “It’s steady so that it can be absorbed.”
The school’s population increases about 10 percent a year already.
Whitehead said he hoped the additional people will become an integral part of the community and spur growth of hotels, restaurants, and the performing arts.
“Great things have happened in Lexington because of W&L and VMI,” he said. “The schools set the pace and we hope for that to happen here.”
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd