Talk:Longwood University Sucks

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[edit] Play nice

This site welcomes a discussion about the content its users have contributed. If you feel you had a different experience at Longwood, or have something to say, speak up! You should add it to the talk pages (like the one you're on right now).

But DO NOT make personal attacks. If you attack any of the other users on this site, your comments will be removed and you may be blocked from bluwiki indefinitely. We're not here to flame eachother.

Thanks! --Sam Odio 19:20, 2 August 2006 (EDT)

[edit] General Comments

First, may I say that LONGWOOD IS AWESOME. People who are unhappy with the administration and the school and general can a. leave or b. get involved on campus and work to make a change. There are plenty of ways to change the campus and the administration such as the Student Government Association, becoming involved in the Residential and Commuter Life office and even joining some of the Greek organizations who are active on campus. This website does nothing to help Longwood, it only serves to provide prospective students and the general public with jaded and one-sided information. There are plenty of positive aspects about the campus, the administration and Farmville in general.

While I can appreciate that the creator(s) of this site had bad experiences with Longwood University I would like to point out that telling people they should not go to LU and even the creation of a page called "Longwood University Sucks" seem to indicate a sort of childishness that is not easy to overlook. If one would wish to appear more professional then I would suggest instead of saying 'don't go to Longwood' you simply create a list of other schools and find links to their homepages and encourage people to explore other options before 'blindly' choosing Longwood. For some of us, Longwood is the perfect fit, it's small, I have found the people friendly, and as long as you are involved in something you can find people to hang out with and create your own things to do. At this moment there is nothing else that I have to add, however, I would encourage people to think more about their complaints and to stop sounding like whiny little children. Nobody will take this site seriously unless people start sounding more adult. --anon

Your right, the whole "don't apply" thing is a bit childish. I put it up there to get the Longwood Administration's attention. The reasoning was that they would be more likely to listen if dissatisfied students told others to stay away. Personally, I've tried going through several other routes (including writing the president and meeting with administration) to solve my complaints. None of it worked.

Maybe I'll take it down if I feel it's not effective, I'm not sure. But honestly, I don't think it's bad advice. I had a really close friend who's college years were practically ruined by her experience at Longwood. She ended up leaving and questioning if college is right for her. Please don't insult her by saying she was probably the problem - from what I saw she DEFINITELY wasn't. She did the best she could in a horrible situation. --Sam Odio 05:45, 3 August 2006 (EDT)

I've changed the Don't Go! page so it's a little less harsh, but I don't think we're ready to remove the "don't apply" banner yet. I also think that its really necessary to get Longwood's attention. --71.1.141.93 06:27, 3 August 2006 (EDT)

If you want people to look at this website and view it as a means to making a positive change then everything on the site needs to be spelled correctly and accurate. Otherwise this looks like nothing more than a rant page for an annoyed freshman. I suggest reviewing all the spelling and grammar. ~a Longwood graduate (x2)

We're still working out our editorial policy. Generally I think we'd like to keep edits of other users comments to a minimum to maintain the authenticity of the site. --Sam Odio 03:22, 4 August 2006 (EDT)

I'd say with such a draconian policy in place at this point no one could ever take this seriously. You might as well change all the "we"s to "I"s because based on all the editing you've been doing no one's voices can be heard outside of the talk pages. This is your site and you alone are dictating what can and can't be said here, so why should anyone viewing this page take the opinions seriously? If people didn't come to Longwood because of this site, then they're probably not the kind of people that can handle college in general anyway. Researching and visiting campus is an important part of the search for the right college and it seems like most of the complaints on this site are either 1. Entirely false, 2. Misguided observations, or 3. Simply policy that could have been noted by a visit to the campus beforehand. For someone who only spent a freshman year at longwood you should not be editing the voices of those that spent 4+ years here and some that continue to live and work here (me included). It's shoddy at best, and mostly deceiving to those that might visit this site. --208.27.3.38 00:28, 5 August 2006 (EDT)

Thanks for your suggestions. If you read the prior comment - you'll see that I agree with you, I should not be editing the voices of those that spent 4+ years at Longwood.

However after Longwood Graduate's suggestion... "I suggest reviewing all the spelling and grammar." - I did make some edits for grammer and clarity. Besides that, almost all my edits are for formatting.

If you are accusing me of editing the voices of others - please let me know where and when these edits occurred so I can do something about them. I would be glad to talk specifics - but there's little I can do otherwise.

Regarding your broad accusation about the complaints posted to this site - I have yet to see you mention a single complaint that is "entirely false." Without specific evidence that particular complaints are false, I'm afraid they'll have to stay online. --Sam Odio 06:46, 5 August 2006 (EDT)

NOTICE ANON USER: Please don't delete other user's complaints unless you have evidence that they are factually incorrect. If they are fictitious, please make the smallest change possible so that they are true. For example, an accusation that "Longwood does XYZ" might be incorrect, but "I feel Longwood does XYZ" would be true. In this cause you would be adding "I feel" to the comment - which is preferable to deleting the entire complaint.

Censoring complaints about Longwood is a sure way to get blocked from this site - since the purpose of this site is to allow students to voice them. Like you said, it's not our place to be editing the voices of those who have spent 4+ years at the University. --Sam Odio 06:53, 5 August 2006 (EDT)

When I made the comment about editing, I was referring directly to the posts made by the site creator, Sam Odio. Many of these were erroneous and I found it to be offensive that he would bash an institute of higher learning without first reflecting on his own usage of his education. Also, every college campus across America has got problems. To those students who are in their first or second year of attendance at Longwood, keep in mind that when I came here I was tripled up in a double dorm room (three people living in each of Cox's rooms), the Rotunda was nothing more than a charred pile of rubble, the area directly behind the student union was dirt paths, most classes were held in Wynne, and over the next several years the center of campus along with several other places was going to be torn up. As of right now, almost every complaint voiced on this site are the same complaints you're going to hear at every college across the country. Be glad that you don't have those petty complaints paired with construction outside your bedroom window and an extra long walk to class because the route you would usually take has become a dirt pit. I say that you really have nothing to complain about. If that's all you're going to do, then the student body, the school, and even the town would benefit from you leaving as soon as possible. Not only am I proud that I have made Longwood the place where I worked incredibly hard to earn both my undergraduate and graduate degrees, but I have also made the Town of Farmville my home. Those who find this to be offensive are better off somewhere else. Your complaints aren't welcome. ~An annoyed Longwood Graduate

I would like to think that my grammar on this site is mostly correct. However, if you do find grammatical errors - please let me know. After all, we're only human :)

I find it ironic that you're able to mention a litany of complaints in that previous post, while at the same time telling the rest of us that OUR complaints aren't welcome.

Can I ask where you work in Farmville? Please tell me its not the university. --Sam Odio 03:54, 6 August 2006 (EDT)

"Many of these (comments) were erronous..."

I forgot to say, if you are reading complaints that are erroneous, bring them to our attention so that we can correct them.

Oh, and before you criticize my command of the English language you might want to buy a good spell checking software program. I took the liberty of editing your post for spelling. --Sam Odio 04:43, 6 August 2006 (EDT)

I am a Longwood Alumni and I LOVE Longwood. I was even a Longwood Ambassador. I must echo what the other Alumni had to say in that all schools have their problems. Personally, housing was horrible and messed up my room my SENIOR year, but I got over it and made the best of it. Of course the 3 parking tickets I received did not make me happy either. If you are not happy with Longwood, by all means, go somewhere else where you will be happy. College is what you make of it and if you expect everything to just land in your lap, then you are mistaken. I got involved in two organizations before my first day at Longwood to make sure that I knew people and also so that I would have something to do. I love the fact that Longwood has two secret societies on campus, and I was commended by Chi and given a wooden seven by Priceps. For me Longwood was the best fit and I would not change those four years for anything. (I also met my fianc� there.) But, I know that Longwood is not for everyone. I think this website shows a lot about its creator�s character, but both Mr. Odio and Longwood are better off without each other. �Longwood Enthusiast Alumni

Congratulations on being commended by Chi and given a wooden seven by Priceps. I'm sure you are very proud of that - and it is obvious that you have positively contributed to the Longwood Community. I have no doubt that you Love Longwood. And there are many other students that feel the same way - around 50-60% like it enough to graduate in 5 years. However, IMO that's a little low compared to the 90% of another VA school. I think this site was made to serve those in the underrepresented 45% who dropped out because they were unhappy @ LU.

You can criticize the character of those who complain, but the school will never improve if it doesn't listen to its dissatisfied students.

But you're right, both Longwood and I are better off apart. I'm sure the Longwood administration are much happier without me and my crazy aspirations (what?! you want to pay for college by running a business instead of working for minimum wage?! That's not allowed here...).

And on the other side, I'm much happier now that I don't have to deal with illegal room charges, and now that I'm allowed to have a girl over in my room after midnight. It's also nice to be able to play with & learn about the latest technology (like wireless networks / web servers / etc. ) - something that was encouraged @ UVa and prohibited @ Longwood... --Sam Odio 20:41, 9 August 2006 (EDT)

I am glad that everyone at UVA is so happy. My brother was not, and is now at JMU. His opinion was that everyone basically had a stick up their butt. And, who did you talk to, who made you so mad? Everything I ever asked for I seemed to get. --CC

I'm sorry to hear about your brother - hopefully he is happy now @ JMU.

"And, who did you talk to, who made you so mad? Everything I ever asked for I seemed to get. --CC"

If my memory serves me, I've brought my criticisms to the attention of my RA, Michael Cubberly (my REC), Laura Bayless (Assistant Dean), Douglas Howell(Housing Director), Dr. Cormier (Longwood President), Kim Redford (ITS), and a few other administrators whom I don't have their names. I can't think of any issue I had with Longwood that was ever resolved. If I remember one... I'll post it up here. --Sam Odio 20:41, 9 August 2006 (EDT)

I didn�t know where to put this, so since I have commented here before, I will do so. Anyway, if you had not heard Dr. Ken Perkins is now the �executive assistant to the president for student success.� I work with Dr. Perkins on a Board of Directors not directly associated with Longwood, but what I gather is his job is to improve student life. Whether you realize it or not, your voice was probably heard. However, things take time and things don�t happen over night. Also, did you know that out of all the Virginia state colleges and universities, Longwood is the least funded? Sorry I don�t have a reference for you, but this was stated at a function I recently attended. Money, I have learned, is a huge factor in how places operate. When I first visited this site (it has been rearranged since then) I was furious, but now having dealt with a bad experience of my own I can somewhat understand. That experience was not with Longwood, but with something else (obviously) which many others say they have had positive experiences and don�t understand my thinking. I would recommend that you share some of your experiences with Dr. Perkins, I am sure he would want to hear them. So I guess, thanks for trying to make Longwood better, but again things take time. I still don�t think it sucks though� -Longwood Enthusiast Alumni (and CC too)

Oh, here is the news article http://www.longwood.edu/news/releases/2007/perkins.html ~ sorry if this is repeating anything.

[edit] What's the goal? Alternative View

Not everyone dislikes Longwood and it is good that you have a props section. When I was there, there was a website called Longwoodsucks.com, of course the students heard about it, but that guy from what I was told was a little strange and when I dealt with him, was just an angry person and might have had mental issues, who knows for sure. Anyway, the professors really try from what I saw, growing up basicaly at the college. I understand your purpose but I do not think the title that it sucks is necessary. I know at least a hundred people, if not more, that have gone to longwood and graduated and loved it. Just like with Best Buy, Firedog, everyone at some point has a bad situation, doesn't mean the whole is bad. Think about the past, philisophy, act, do something about it through peaceful means and educated means. Just my thoughts. It is indeed important to attempt to make something better but your site, I think, is by far the minority from all the people I have talked too. The reason students leave on the weekend is because farmville is small, period, not because Longwood sucks. My dad is a professor at Longwood and I would like to think that Longwood doesn't suck because I know my dad works hard to be a great professor.

Posted 7-26-09: I am the guy that ran the "LongwoodSucks.Com" website. It was initially a joke amongst friends that got blown out of proportion once the general population caught wind of it. Let me say that I'll never argue that I might be a "a little strange" but, then again, who isn't? I was an art major- what do you expect? I do take issue with the "angry person and mental issues" comment though... when exactly did you "deal" with me? I am probably one of the most laid back & reserved guys around so to see someone type such a contradictory description of me it a little bothersome. Until you have direct knowledge of the situation, as opposed to hearsay, its best to keep it to yourself. The fact is that I went to Longwood to play soccer and study graphic design. The coach at the time, Todd Dyer, and I never saw eye to eye. That put a major damper on my college experience at Longwood. No one at the school ever contacted me regarding the website- if they had I would have taken it down... probably. But they didn't. I went home for winter break, ready to enter my final semester and received a letter saying I had been suspended for 5 years. It was probably the best thing that happened to me. I finished my degree elsewhere, got a sweet job, and never looked back. I have great memories & lifelong friends from my 3½ years spent there but, given the opportunity to do it all over, I probably would have gone elsewhere. Not to bash the school- it just wasn't for me and I'm a firm believer in "to each his own". -JE

This letter is in no way grammitically correct or anything, so I know that, not worried about writing an essay. If you disagree with me, thats fine, I am sure some people would and to those who have not been treated well I am dearly sorry. In life, we all do the best we can. I am sure there are days that when you are at work you are a jerk to the customer or your boss, its human nature, we get tired, irritable. I understand you are just trying to get help and that Longwood will pay more attention, which is not bad, but your in the minority unless out of the 4,000 plus that go there each year all suddently signs a potential agreeing with you, I will never agree. - anon (moved from main page)

Posted 11-10-07: I appear to be commenting on comments more than a year old, although some comments give no indication when they were made, but, while the comments are old, the issues are still ongoing.

This is my second comment, although I'm not sure I am navigating and posting properly. If anyone knows me, they know that won't stop me. I'll just do it differently when someone points out the proper manner.

If anyone knows me, they also know I sign my posts. I always signed my Letters to the Editor of The Rotunda and my comments on Blackboard for classes, and I will do so here.

That all said, I am compelled to comment on the comments about Longwood and any particular person being better off apart and that if any particular individual has a problem with Longwood, they should just leave.

That attitude is contrary to Longwood's mantra; you know, that mission they drum into our heads: be a citizen leader by striving for the betterment of society for the greater good of the community, or words to that effect. Longwood is a community. Leaving, rather than striving to right wrongs or improve the status quo, is not citizen leadership.

I happened to have loved, and still love, Longwood. I also happen to have raised my voice on many occasions against the injustices I observed. When using the chain of command failed, I spoke out through my Letters to the Editor of The Rotunda, especially when I believed the Longwood community should hear it. Many students agreed with me. Most were too busy or afraid to speak out for themselves and others.

My concerns were not, and are not, with faculty, staff, or even students, unless they experienced injustices or unfair treatment. My concerns are with policies and procedures, and, thus, with Administration because Longwood tradition has a tight grip and while the mission is to develop citizen leaders, the Administration, and by extension the SGA, don't seem to want to, or don't know how to effect change and come across as stifling student opinion and sweeping concerns under the rug for four years until the student graduates.

It was my experience that my concerns (actually the concerns of the Commuter Student Association) were nothing but complaints -- until certain members of the SGA moved off campus and began experiencing the same concerns, i.e. commuter parking, and then the complaints became important concerns and they began acting to make changes. Not dissing the SGA, just pointing out human nature: nothing is a problem unless I am adversely affected by it.

It may not be entirely Administration's fault: they must get approval from the Board of Visitors. Although, Administrators decide which matters to put before the Board for vote.

No one wants to upset the apple cart or rock the boat. I say, if your cart is upset or your boat is rocked, then maybe the shoe fits and you should reconsider the way you conduct business.

So, here, see me upset another cart and rock another boat: petition to get an elected Board of Visitors -- voted on by students, faculty, and staff -- rather than Board members appointed by the Governor.

Oh, yeah, it was my understanding that Dr. Perkins is researching student retention, or lack thereof. I can imagine many students leave because they do have problems that Administration all up the chain of command ignore. Maybe he can discover them and persuade Administration to rectify the problems. I also imagine many students came to Longwood as their second, or maybe even third, choice, but got accepted to their first (or second) choice after spending a year or two at Longwood, in which case or time Longwood failed to satisfy their academic or social needs so they left. Other factors can explain student retention problems: homesick, lack of finances, victims of assault, family illness. None of which may be reasons that "Longwood sucks," but matters or reasons that just are.

And I'm all for attention getters. If "Longwood sucks" gets the proper attention and gets the intended results -- improvements in policies and procedures -- then so be it. When I created that flyer, "Stop the Police," I offended some (unintended), but it got the attention needed and we had a good attendance to that Open Forum with Town Officials. I am only saddened that there is not a permanent Liaison (that I am aware of) for the purpose of maintaining good relations and communication between Longwood and the Town of Farmville. I would gladly take that position because I am familiar with both sides of that coin and there is a need for continuity, else the issues get put on the back burner only to reach a boiling point every few years, but never resolved.

tbberry@alumni.longwood.edu

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