When you try something for the first time, there’s always a question in the back of your mind about how it will work out. But when it came to Longwood’s first Virtual Alumni Weekend, that question was answered long before the event took place May 29-31.

“We far exceeded our expectations. We had more than 1,300 registrants just for the #LongwoodTogether Virtual Race Series,” said Nicole Perkins ’05, director of alumni engagement.

Alumni and friends also responded enthusiastically to other components of the weekend, which included a virtual Alumni Color Wars, a memorial service, and two “Jams in Place” concerts, one featuring Pat McGee ’95 and the other featuring Jason Masi ’02 and a special guest performance by Jason Mraz.

The Tagboard for the weekend is chock full of people showing off their commemorative T-shirts, which were given out free to the first 250 race registrants; their race times; and their Longwood spirit.

 “The engagement was surprisingly high,” Perkins said. “There will definitely be another virtual race in the future.”

Race participants went the distance (either five kilometers or one mile) in more than 20 states from Arizona to Arkansas to New Hampshire, as well as in England, Spain and Australia. They ran or walked individually or as part of one of 50 teams representing Lancer sports, Greek organizations, families and other groups.

The virtual Alumni Color Wars drew a crowd on Facebook, where red classes and green classes threw virtual paint via comments, and the red class emerged victorious.

The “Jams in Place” concerts were particularly well-attended. McGee and Masi interspersed their music with reminiscences of their time on campus—drawing 780 listeners, 1,839 likes and 2,040 total comments.

“Pat talked about the local establishments here in Farmville where he played as a student,” said Perkins. “He talked about the Shotz bar on Main Street, Perini’s, the Creamery. He talked about students’ buying his first CD and how he made deliveries to residence halls.”

Masi gave special shout-outs to his freshman roommate in Tabb Hall, who was also on the soccer team, and to several members of his “Longwood music family,”  thanking them all for “inspiring me to keep on playing music.”

Perkins said she and other alumni office staff are talking about how they can bring some of the successful virtual elements from the 2020 Alumni Weekend into future events.

“With alumni engaging virtually from around the globe, I would love to offer a similar experience in future years so those who cannot make it back to campus can still participate,” she said. “Maybe an in-person 5k on High Bridge trail in combination with another virtual race.”

And she is looking forward to the on-campus event next year, set for June 4-6, 2021, which she thinks will be bigger than ever.

“People are want to come back to campus and to be together,” she said. “We are all longing for that interaction.”

Online registration for Alumni Weekend 2021 is open now.
—Sabrina Brown