By Fannie Bradley Hinson (Communications Intern)
On August 27th, administrators, donors, and Trustees, members of the Rollins family, and students gathered outside of the old community center to break ground on Rita Anne Rollins Hall, coming Fall 2028.
As I watched from the back of the crowd, seeing Head of School, Ms. Cole, the siblings of Rita Anne Rollins, and One Lovett Campaign Co-chairs scoop their shovels into the mound of dirt compiled, my eyes couldn’t help but look at the building standing alone in the distance, with the big letters “Alan Fuqua Center” intact, with the Hendrix-Chenault Theater inside, where I’d spent the better part of the last four years, as well as a significant amount of my thirteen year Lovett journey. While I was stricken by the loss of a place I had known for so long, the event did nudge me toward the hope for what the new building will mean for the Lovett Community.
One Lovett Campaign Co-chairs, Eileen Keough Millard ’80 and John O. Knox, Jr. ’88, spoke of the fundraising milestones in the five-year campaign, which recently hit a roughly halfway point. Ms. Millard referred to the effort as “our most ambitious campaign to date.”
She said the “working goal of $113 million dollars includes allocating $12 million for faculty support, $8 million for student support, and $93 million for Rita Anne Rollins Hall.”
At the time of the Groundbreaking, she remarked they were currently at $5.6 million for student support, $10.2 million for faculty support, and $82.8 million for Rollins Hall – more than 89 percent of the capital goal- even before turning the first shovel of dirt.
John O. Knox pointed out that the Lovett Board had been considering replacing our community center for nearly 20 years. The construction of the Community Center seems to have been a natural next step, following the opening of the new Upper School in 2000, the new Lower School in 2003, the Portman Family Middle School in 2009, and the Murray Athletic Center in 2015. “While the campus footprint has expanded over the years,” he said, “the school’s commitment to character, intellect, and community has never wavered.”
Ms. Cole described the new location as “in keeping with Eva Lovett’s vision of an education that honors children’s curiosity and all their potential. One that, in her words, allows students to develop an appreciation for what is beautiful in nature and in humans.” She said the joint-green space will serve as a ”nexus” for our Lower, Middle, and Upper School divisions.
Following the adult speakers, the Student Construction Ambassadors spoke. This is a group of six students (with representatives from each division) who will be students here when the building opens its doors in a few years.
They each shared what they are excited about:
Hill Rogers ’33: “The new chapel and it being upstairs, overlooking the Riverbank, and being surrounded by nature.”
Macen Brown ’35: “The new dining hall in Rollins Hall.”
Riley Sutton ’33: “The new dance studios.”
Rufus Smith ’30: “All the new and improved classroom spaces for electives and the new areas for spending free time with friends.”
Norah Mudd ’35: “Common spaces where I can run into my brother and sister who are in the other divisions: middle and upper school!”
Eloise Stafford ’30: “The new chapel in Rollins Hall. I can’t wait to have a chapel in such a beautiful room looking over campus, and I’m so excited to join all of my classmates in worshiping a God who loves us.”
As excited as everyone was, Ms. Cole acknowledged the challenge of the transition. “Growth and transformation don’t come without a little struggle,” she said, noting how everyone has been extending grace.
Ms. Cole’s words reminded me of one of my favorite inspirational researchers, storytellers, and academics, Brené Brown, who recently said on an episode of her podcast “The Curiosity Shop” that transformative change requires grief, a loss of innocence, of community, and of how you once saw yourself.” She said that “Sometimes we have to let go of what we planned to really embrace what is. And that’s transformation.”
Of course, embracing what is has been tough for me as a member of the Senior class, who’ll be closing my Lovett chapter in May when I walk across the graduation stage. While I was happy to hear all these speakers talk about the great innovation and curiosity that will be generated in this new space, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t be there to experience it. College will undoubtedly bring my own exciting new space, but as a Lovett Lifer, it sounds cool and appealing to be part of and present for this great new chapter Lovett is entering.
For now, I’ve tried to experience the changes here with openness and curiosity. As a dedicated member of the Fine Arts program here, I pass Honors Singers in the Middle School MPR, which has been turned into a makeshift chorus room, as I make my way to the third floor of the Middle School to reach the Middle School Drama Room. If you ever went into our old Black Box, you’ll know there was no access to daylight there. At least now, we have windows! I usually wave a hello when I see Ms. Cole or former Head of Upper School, Mr. Boswell, in their office, formerly the storage space of Digital Design teacher, Mrs. Youngs.
In the Upper School, walking down the first-floor hallway, I pass what used to be the US office and has been renovated to house the Makers-space, Robotics, and even a few private Music lesson booths.
On the second-floor hallway, I walk to my advisory, now located on the indoor track in the Glover gym, with my advisor, Upper School Librarian Mr. Bowden, who calls the little hallway that overlooks Keough Concourse between the back stairway and the indoor track his “Sky Fortress.” Walking down the Keough Concourse, you’ve likely noticed the cardboard cut-out of school founder, Eva Edwards Lovett, keeping an eye on those who can’t pick up after themselves at lunch.
As I walk to the indoor track, I see the former US 200, the infamous Directed Study room, where Ms. King and Mr. Kofoed are teaching Middle and Upper School Band Classes.
Once a week, I trek to the Lower School, where I meet my private voice instructor, Dr. David, in a practice cube in their MPR, where the Lower School Orchestra or Band is usually taking place.
And to get to Dr. Eccles’s and Ms. Kawamura’s Orchestra classes and Mr. Silverman’s Film and Broadcast classes, you have to head to the top floor of the MAC.
And last but certainly not least for me, theater rehearsals are now in the scout hut, where I drive my Ford Bronco full of underclassmen girls up to the softball field parking lots every day. And that fact, perhaps more than any, reminds me of the valuable lesson as an artist and a human that it doesn’t matter where the art (or learning…or maker-spacing is taking place), as long as you have the same passionate and hardworking people doing what they love.
And that will continue when the new building finally opens. “Rita Anne Rollins Hall will do much more than house classrooms,” Ms. Cole said. “It will shape how our students think, create, collaborate, experiment, reflect, and dream for generations to come.”
For now, this particular theater kid would love for you to come see Pride & Prejudice, November 5th-7th. In the scout hut! While the space will be different, our commitment to dramatic excellence will never waver.
