248 students move in at Sweet Briar

AMHERST CO. (WSLS 10) - This move-in day is one of the most important days in history for Sweet Briar College.

Last March, the college's president announced the school would close. But after months of legal battles, fundraising efforts and new leadership, the college is back open.

Move-in day was a day of many hugs, heavy lifting and new beginnings on Sweet Briar's campus. Alexis Wilkinson and her friend Cass Sea are two of 248 women who are returning to campus.

"I've hugged so many people. I've missed them so much. So yeah it's just coming home and seeing everyone so it's so great," Wilkenson said.

The juniors committed to other colleges, but quickly changed their minds once they heard the news Sweet Briar would continue another year.

"I knew instantly, when they started working on the settlement, that I was coming back. No second thought in my mind," Seay said.

"I can't see myself anywhere else," Wilkenson said.

As sophomore Arienna Groves unpacked her old dorm with the help of her mom, she said she never made plans to transfer.

"I was actually holding out hope the whole time," Groves said.

But for returning seniors, it's a day of not only nostalgia, but thankfulness. Annabell Vesterman moved in on Monday.

"I just thought since I had the opportunity I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Vesterman said."

They say to have a degree from Sweet Briar means a little more, knowing now what could have been.

"It's definitely going to mean something down the road," Vesterman said. A degree now from Sweet Briar means a earning a diploma for one of the most talked about colleges in the nation. Senior Molly Vanburen said the value of a degree there is certainly more coveted than before.

"It was special before but now it's noticeable. People know Sweet Briar," Vanburen said.

It's a story that the administration aid it hopes to capitalize on. So far they've exceeded their recruitment goals for their first official semester back. They originally had hoped to secure 225 students. President Stone says 248 have enrolled to live on campus, while an additional 80 remain in the study abroad program.

Knowing the fight they gave, it makes all the heavy lifting of move in day seem not so heavy. It's a fight they say they will continue to keep their Alma Mater alive for another 114 years.


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