SVU President Bonnie Cordon

SVU President Bonnie Cordon

Teaching the Constitution, serving the community, and educating the whole person are goals for Southern Virginia University’s new president.

(President Bonnie Cordon | SOURCE: Southern Virginia University)

“We want to develop the whole person, the whole soul!” Bonnie Cordon, Southern Virginia University’s newly inaugurated 10th president, told The Spectator in a recent interview. Throughout the conversation, she emphasized a holistic approach to education based on faith, reason, service, and an unbiased study of the U.S. Constitution. 

Southern Virginia University (SVU) was founded in 1996 when several members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assumed responsibility of what was then Southern Virginia College in Buena Vista, Virginia. The transition occurred less than a month before Southern Virginia College was set to close. 

Twenty-eight years later, during a time when many small colleges and universities are struggling, SVU has grown from an enrollment of 73 in 1996 to 1,170 in 2023, with the student body growing by 50% over the past two years. 

On September 13, Bonnie Cordon was installed as Southern Virginia’s 10th president. Cordon was previously the General Officer of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and president of the Young Women organization.

Cordon earlier pursued a management career in the software industry, started her own business, and served on institutional boards for the Church Educational System Board of Education, Brigham Young University Broadcasting, Humanitarian XP, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Church of Jesus Christ’s Missionary Executive Council. She was also a mission leader in Curitiba, Brazil, and is a mother of 4 and grandmother of 7. 

Cordon sat down with The Spectator to discuss what makes her university unique, how it is connected to the broader Buena Vista community, and her hopes for SVU’s future. 

Cordon began by recognizing that SVU — along with Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute — “are doing the same important work of lifting young adults to do grand things in this world.” She also holds “W&L in the highest esteem,” adding that “we love having W&L as a friend and neighbor because they really set the standard for where we want to be someday.”

As for what sets SVU apart, Cordon pointed to her university’s Code of Conduct, summarized in three traits: being “faithful, honest, and kind.”

Moreover, Cordon remarked how important integration into the Buena Vista community is for SVU. She remarked that “service is the best way to belong to a community,” and that “one of the most important teachings of Jesus Christ is that we love our neighbor, so we want to make sure that we’re a good neighbor and put our arms around the community and everyone in it.” 

She continued, saying that “We want students to feel that this is home. If you’re not part of your community and serving in it, you won’t feel connected. We’re not here to pass time. We’re here to serve and invest our time in the lives of others.

SVU was one of 50 schools to receive a $10,000 grant this year from the Allstate Foundation and the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity. The grant will fund service projects undertaken by the university’s students.

Southern Virginia also distinguishes itself through its commitment to teaching the Constitution, free from political bias, to every student. “We want to make the Constitution a focus for our University!” Cordon declared.

SVU requires every student to take the course “America and the Enlightenment,” which covers the Constitution in a non-politicized format. 

While the university is “still figuring out exactly how to implement” a more rigorous study of the constitution, President Cordon’s “dream is for every student to study the U.S. Constitution [even more deeply] as part of their experience at SVU.”

“Here’s the reason why I feel so strongly about this: we live in a free country, so we want every student to understand our free country’s founding document — regardless of their individual political persuasions,” Cordon elaborated. “Knowing the fundamentals of the Constitution will help our students be well-prepared and wise throughout their lives.”

Another thing that sets SVU apart is its commitment to forming “the whole person.”

Southern Virginia is “a Christ-centered university for faithful Latter-day Saints and those who share our values, and we want to stay that way,” Cordon said. “It’s wonderful to learn, develop, and progress in such a faith-supportive space.”

While the university is, according to its website, “not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” it is nonetheless “aligned” with them.

Cordon stated that Southern Virginia has “professors who are experts in their respective fields who are also fluent in faith. We believe that learning happens intellectually as well as spiritually. We want to develop the whole person, the whole soul. We believe in learning by study and faith.”

Cordon touted the variety of programs her school offers, saying that SVU has “exceptional academics and meaningful extracurriculars, such as athletics, music, and theater, which are all phenomenal here!”

In addition to a liberal arts formation, the university also accounts for the challenges of the modern workplace. Cordon stated that SVU wants “to be nimble enough to adapt to a quickly-moving modern economy.”

She brought up the AI revolution to illustrate the importance of flexibility, saying that “the recent emergence of AI is important to understand and teach. We want to be nimble enough to prepare our students to enter the workforce and make an immediate positive impact.” She shares this view with other university administrators who have talked with The Spectator.

Southern Virginia plans to continue its growth, while also seeking “to be good neighbors and have an overwhelmingly positive impact on our local community.” Cordon described how “When you combine students, faculty, and staff, our campus community has more than 1,200 Knights and we hope and encourage these individuals and their families to help bolster the local economy and contribute in a variety of positive ways.”

On the subject of the Buena Vista and Rockbridge communities, Cordon noted that both have great potential for growth and investment, while also remarking that “our graduates who stay in the area are very smart. It’s beautiful here! When I drove in for the first time, I thought to myself, if you’re smart, you’ll stay here. This is a great place to be!”

Cordon concluded the interview by encapsulating her idea of the “whole purpose” of a Southern Virginia University education: “to help young adults increase their capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation.”