Lynchburg College

Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg College is a private, independent, residential college located on 250 beautiful acres in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Central Virginia, approximately 180 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. and 135 miles west of Richmond, Virginia. The student body numbers 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students. LC offers 39 undergraduate majors, 52 minors, 13 pre‐professional programs, and 14 graduate degrees, all supported by a strong liberal arts foundation.

Designed by Dominion 7 Architects, the new Drysdale Student Center formally opened October 24, 2015. The $12 million expansion brings the Student Center to a total of 72,000 square feet and includes a welcome center, a fitness center, meeting rooms, multicultural center, a Commons space, veterans' lounge, dance and aerobics space, a game room, and additional food options. The center was named for Douglas Drysdale, a member of the Lynchburg College Board of Trustees, and his wife Elaine Hadden Drysdale, who pledged $3 million toward the building.

As the construction neared completion, 1717 was invited to design the donor recognition wall for the ground floor lobby. The building committee was particularly interested in three things — an approach that would recognize and honor the individual generosity of their donors, a solution that would demonstrate how the broad support from so many alumni and friends of the college could make initiatives like the new student center possible, and the development of an “artistic” design that would complement the architecture and serve as focal point for the lobby. The finished display is 12' high x 35' wide and includes approximately 250 solid maple donor plaques in seven sizes and stain colors representing the various levels of giving. Donor names are rendered using over 6,750 laser cut dimensional letters with a brushed aluminum finish.