Southern Virginia University

Southern Virginia University is a small private college in Buena Vista, Virginia. It currently has less than 1,000 students. It is owned by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but does not receive funding from the LDS church and is not officially affiliated with the church.

Related Topics:
College - Buena Vista, Virginia - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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The school was founded as a for-profit institution in 1867 as the Bowling Green Female Seminary. At that time "seminary" meant a school for girls or women. In 1900 the school was moved to Buena Vista and renamed Southern Seminary. The short form of "Sem" would be the common name of the college from then on. In 1922 the school became a junior college and was renamed Southern Seminary and Junior College. In 1959 it became a non-profit college under the control of trustees. In 1961 the school ended its high school program and became Southern Seminary Junior College

Related Topics:
1867 - 1900 - 1922 - Junior college - 1959 - 1961 - High school

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The financial health of the college began to decline in the 1980s, and by 1996 the school was at the point of closing. Late name changes were to Southern Virginia College for Women in 1990 and simply Southern Virginia College when the school began accepting male students in 1994.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1996 - 1990 - 1994

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In 1996 the school was sold to a group of Mormon businessmen from Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area, who had the goal of establishing an institution founded on LDS principles in the eastern United States (Brigham Young University, the most prominent school operated by the Church, has campuses only in Utah, Idaho and Hawaii). In 2000 the school regained its accreditation and was renamed Southern Virginia University.

Related Topics:
1996 - Virginia - Washington, D.C. - Eastern United States - Brigham Young University - Utah - Idaho - Hawaii - 2000

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Some alumni of Southern Seminary, however, do not consider SVU to be a continuation of their alma mater, but rather consider it to have closed in 1996 and SVU to be a new institution.

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One of Southern Virginia University's most high profile professors is the noted science fiction author and Mormon Orson Scott Card, who slashed his writing time in half to teach at the college.

Related Topics:
Professor - Science fiction - Author - Orson Scott Card

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