Praise, Renewal For Virginia Intermont College

“We are pleased to tell the community that we have successfully addressed the challenges and to thank so many for their support. We look forward to continuing to be a strong partner with the community.”

– Dr. Michael J. Puglisi, president of Virginia
Intermont College,
June 2009.

“It’s been around 125 years and, hopefully, it’ll be around 125 more.”

– Bristol businessman and philanthropist
Bill Gatton.

From its humble beginnings in a large home in Glade Spring in 1884, and the construction of its original building in Bristol, completed in 1893, Virginia Intermont College today has grown into an unprecedented educational and economic institution in the city.

That mantle slipped, briefly, in 2007 when VI landed on probation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. But two years after a financial crisis threatened to close its doors, VI drummed up more than $12 million and won back unqualified accreditation.

Tonight, supporters will gather at the renovated Bristol Train Station for a celebration of the college’s 125th anniversary – a historic milestone by any accounting. We hope this celebration is one more successful step to maintain momentum and rebuild financial support for VI, led by those who believe in the mission of this important school.

For the founders who aimed to bring a college to the city, the aim was obvious: People hungered for more education. When the college opened in Glade Spring in 1884, it was known as Southwest Virginia Institute and had only three teachers. Bristol leaders on the college’s board had designs on bringing the college here.

By 1893, the first VI building was complete in Bristol, but according to local historian Bud Phillips, it was surrounded by pasture where cattle grazed.

As the college and Bristol grew, the mission expanded, but fundamentally was unchanged. People still hunger for more education.
Today, the college offers degrees in more than 40 disciplines, including business, psychology, marketing, sciences, art, painting, sculpture, English, music, political science, social work and more.

And the college’s equine studies program – its biggest draw with about a third of the students declaring it as their major or minor – and its graphic arts programs are nationally renown.

This liberal arts college, led by its president, Michael J. Puglisi, does not aim to be the biggest, but strives to be one of the best.
With nearly 600 students and more than 200 staff, the college generates more than $32 million in the community each year. It is a hefty economic engine that also provides quality education to its students and good jobs for those who work there.
Each of these elements increases the quality of life in and around Bristol.

Virginia Intermont stumbled in 2007 when its finances were seriously weakened. Supporters rallied and should be commended for raising more than $12 million; pulling out of a financial tailspin in the midst of a recession is a testament to the strength of its donors and the faith they place in the college.

They have insisted that changes put in place since then will make that earlier stumble a distant memory to future students and upon future anniversaries.

As a private school, VI must rely on donors who believe in the mission for long-term support. Seeing the college come to the brink has reawakened supporters who have given generously, and to encourage others to do the same. Among them is Bristol businessman Bill Gatton, who personally donated $1.5 million to the college.

Obviously, most people could never make a gift of this size, but Gatton inspired others to give to the college, to see its powerful benefit to the region and to remember the important place it occupies in Bristol’s past and present.

Regularly reminding others of that mission will make VI invaluable to the community and provide the momentum and money so it never again will struggle like it has in the past.

As supporters gather to support the college upon its 125th anniversary tonight, we salute the faith and tenacity that created this college, the drive to support it over multiple generations and the everlasting aim to see it thrive into the future.