A Statement Regarding Sweet Briar College from Randolph President Bradley W. Bateman

Editor’s Note: In March 2015, Sweet Briar College officials announced that the College would close. Sweet Briar has since reopened.

We are saddened to hear about the decision to close Sweet Briar College for many reasons. Our greatest concern is for the institution’s faculty, staff, students, and alumnae who will all be personally affected either by the loss of their college or their place of employment. Our thoughts are also with the college’s board members, who we know from our own past experience must have struggled greatly with this difficult decision.

As a former woman’s college, we still believe in the importance and relevance of this educational option to women. We share the higher education community’s disappointment that another college has had to close its doors. Sweet Briar has long been a part of the greater Lynchburg region, and its closure will leave a void both locally and nationally.

Bradley W. Bateman
Randolph College President