New institute building shows growth at Southern Virginia

BUENA VISTA, Va. — It's midday Sunday on a bright winter day, and the new LDS chapel next to Southern Virginia University's campus is bustling as five student wards take turns meeting in the chapel, cultural hall and rooms throughout the building.Sounds clash and overlap as opening, closing, and in-between hymns are sung and students greet each other in the hallways between meetings.The 18,000-square-foot building a block off campus is just as busy any other day of the week, as it also serves as an on-site LDS Institute of Religion, offering an array of classes and activities. Institute classrooms, game room, lounge area and faculty offices are in the back.The Buena Vista Institute also serves cadets at Virginia Military Institute and students at Washington and Lee University, both in nearby Lexington, Va., and other young single adults in the area. Before construction was completed in February 2009, students had institute classes and church services in a small wooden structure on the school's grounds."I love having institute so close to campus," said Nelson McNaughton, a sophomore biology major from Washingtown Township, N.J. "It's not just a building, but a dedicated house of the Lord." He said that having his institute class in the middle of the day "gives me a break from secular learning, and I honestly feel my day goes better."__IMAGE1__The number of student wards and the fact that it has a vital institute program housed in the same building demonstrate the growth of SVU, a private, four-year liberal arts university that adheres to Mormon standards and values.Its 155-acre campus, tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, began in 1867 as a private girls' school. It went through several hands and name changes until 1996, when it came under a new board whose members were Latter-day Saints. Roughly 96 percent of the student body is LDS.The school's enrollment varies between around 700 students fall semester and 600 spring semester. Although religion courses are not required for graduation, 75 percent of SVU students enroll in the Buena Vista Institute, making it the largest daytime program east of the Mississippi, according to director Richard P. Stuart. Having their own building has been a blessing, he said."I have personally waited for over 10 years for this building. We are so pleased to have a place where we can worship together, receive gospel instruction and provide an environment to socialize."Along with Stuart, three full-time senior missionary couples teach 20 daytime classes and three evening classes winter semester. Offerings range from scripture-based courses such as Book of Mormon and New Testament to the pragmatic Preparing for Celestial Marriage, Missionary Preparation, and The Gospel and the Productive Life. Students study current general conference addresses in Teachings of the Living Prophets, and discover more meaning in the hymns in a new class, Gospel Doctrine as Taught in the Hymns.But it's more than subject matter."I have felt the love of the instructors as well as my Savior's love" in institute classes, said Adam Whipple, a junior in Spanish and business from Tupelo, Miss. Others agree."The teachers know who you are and care about you and your life," said sophomore Rebekah Wilson, a history major from Yorktown, Va.Wilson is one of many students who've found that attending twice-weekly institute classes at SVU helps them cope with the rigors of academic life and living away from home. Many of them enroll in more than one course."There are heavy expectations and pressures in other classes," she said, "but I feel free here (in institute). I feel the Spirit, and it lifts my burdens."She related how she received comfort from an opening hymn in institute when her family at home was going through a difficult time last year.Buena Vista Institute president Chris Teerlink, from Waynesboro, Va., a junior in business management and leadership, enrolled in institute after his mission in order to follow the admonition of his mission president to not let his testimony stagnate."Institute is a vital part of helping me stay on a righteous path at this point in my life," he said.In addition to leading the council in providing activities for institute students, Teerlink also takes the opportunity to lead a fitness/workout class at the building six days a week, in the early morning and late afternoon.Institute council member Lauren Hughes, a senior in biology from Fort Worth, Texas, is in charge of the monthly Friday Food and Fun. She found institute a good segue from seminary, she said, and even though she's already graduated from institute, she still takes classes. "The growth I've experienced keeps me coming back," she said.Many students say attending institute helps them do better in school and in life."On days when I'm not able to make it to institute, I feel it," Kelan Macy said. A senior in Spanish and Child Development, from Amelia, Ohio, he organizes institute service projects that help the SVU students connect with the non-LDS Buena Vista community.Ashley Miles, a junior music major from Auburn, Wash., is one of those students who feel that institute helps them succeed and meet goals, spiritual as well as academic. She says keeping up with the reading schedule in her Book of Mormon class is no longer just an assignment to get through."It's something I want to do every day," she said.Sophomore Shea McCartt, from Richmond, Va., said she took to heart the promise of President Thomas S. Monson about making institute a priority. "My faith has been strengthened, I've made friends, and I have a stronger power to avoid temptation and receive the direction of the Holy Ghost."