The Anniversary Committee is designing a program that recognizes and highlights the close connections between the founders of the College and the Nation and the ideas behind the creation of both. Programming will also seek to create an inclusive examination of the College’s history, exploring and revealing less well-known individuals whose contributions helped to build and sustain it. 250th Anniversary programming will give current and future Hampden-Sydney students a deeper understanding of the impetus for and context of our College’s founding period and how it applies to the present and the future of the Republic.  

The 250th Anniversary commemoration will highlight the continuing relevance of civic virtue which was the basis of the College’s mission “to form good men and good citizens,” as stated by the College’s first president, Samuel Stanhope Smith.  

Over the next three years, there will be opportunities for students, alumni, friends, and community members to reflect on the continuing significance of the College’s founding mission and principles.  

The 250th Anniversary is being planned and directed by a Steering Committee comprised of

Co-chairs:
Caroline Emmons, Elliott Professor of History 
Tommy Shomo ‘69
Trustee Gene Hickok ‘71

Members:
Shaunna Hunter, Director of Bortz Library
Mike Utzinger, Elliott Professor of Religion