ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
Col. John Ripley, chancellor of Southern Virginia College, will step down in June to become president of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham.
Ripley was president of Southern Virginia - long known as Southern Seminary - for four years until May, when a group of Mormon educators and businessmen took over the 130-year-old institution, which had lost its academic accreditation because of financial problems and was in danger of closing.
The Buena Vista school, formerly a two-year women's college, is now a four-year coeducational school.
When the new owners named a new president, they appointed Ripley the school's first chancellor. When he leaves next summer, Ripley will remain on the college's board of directors.
Ripley's successor as president, David W. Ferrel, praised the colonel for his help during the transition.
"We have been well served by Col. Ripley, especially during the development and building period of the new college," Ferrel said in a news release.
Ripley's new position at the 400-student, 87-year-old Hargrave Military Academy will mean a return to military life.
The 57-year-old Radford native was in the U.S. Marine Corps infantry for 35 years. During two tours of duty in Vietnam, he received six decorations for valor, including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart.
He was dean of humanities at the U.S. Naval Academy and taught naval science at Virginia Military Institute before he became president at Southern Virginia.
At Hargrave, he will succeed Col. Thomas Cunningham, who is retiring.
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