R-MC 175th Photo Galleries: Celebrations
In honor of Randolph-Macon College’s 175th anniversary, all five of its boards were invited back to campus Feb. 25 and 26 to celebrate the special occasion, rejoice in all the college’s accomplishments during the last 175 years and share their visions for Randolph-Macon’s future. Today, we invite you to share in our celebration by browsing several photo galleries that include images from throughout the special weekend.
The celebration weekend commemorated an exciting new beginning for the recently renovated Thomas Branch building. Friday, Feb. 25 the college dedicated the Birdsong Peaks of Excellence Center and the Brock Residence Hall in the Thomas Branch building. Today, the newly renovated facility houses 60 students and serves as a center for Randolph-Macon’s “Peaks of Excellence” program.
The Birdsong Peaks of Excellence Center Dedication
Following the Thomas Branch dedication, the college held a celebration dinner for more than 350 special guests, including its boards, donors and friends of the college. The college was proud to host Virginia Sen. John Warner as its guest speaker during this event. Warner has a special connection to Randolph-Macon through one of its historic buildings, Washington-Franklin Hall, as well as through several mentors and friends who graduated from the college.
The 175th Anniversary Dinner Celebration
The celebration continued Saturday morning when the boards were invited to listen to two panel presentations on student life. The first panel included R-MC alumni George Oliver (Class of ’49), Ira Andrews (Class of ’59), Bill Sprinkle (Class of ’67), Pat Hanback (Class of ’75) and Alva Hughes (Class of ’81) – all who discussed the aspects of student life at R-MC through the decades. The second panel included R-MC Associate Dean of Students, Mary Anne Pugh, Professor Beth Gill and R-MC juniors Brian Bielecki and Oneika Cassanova – all who discussed the student life at R-MC as it relates to today.
The Student Life Panel Discussion
Saturday afternoon, Randolph-Macon then brought the past to the present with a special celebratory worship service at Duncan Memorial United Methodist Church in its College Chapel. Approximately 50 of the college’s alumni who pursued careers in the ministry returned to campus to participate in this unique event, which also involved four R-MC A. Purnell Bailey scholars and the newly appointed leader of the Virginia Conference, Bishop Charlene Kammerer.
A Service of Celebration: Past, Present and Future
In addition to the 175th celebration weekend, R-MC also lit the candles on an extremely large birthday cake Feb. 17 in Estes. All the faculty, staff and students were invited to the special event. R-MC freshman Emily Bailey also made history when she cut the very first piece of 175th anniversary birthday cake.
The 175th Birthday Cake Celebration