Salem College Shows Support For Peers At Sweet Briar

There're lots of similarities between Salem College and Sweet Briar College. Both are small southern liberal arts schools for women. But now there's also a big difference.

Salem is growing its campus. Sweet Briar, on the other hand, is closing its doors.

The southern Virginia college announced this week that it's facing financial and enrollment issues that college administrators consider insurmountable. The college is now in a winding-down stage and expects to shut down for good in August.

Katherine Knapp Watts is the dean of admissions for Salem College. She says she was shocked and saddened when she heard the news about Sweet Briar.

"I've always had some great respect for Sweet Briar so it was certainly a surprise and very unsettling, and we feel great sadness at the loss of one of our sister schools," she says.

Salem is offering “Sisters in Spirit” scholarships to interested Sweet Briar students and is also talking to high school students who had planned to enroll there. It comes at a time when Salem is already in an expansion mode. Watts says over the past five years, applications have doubled, and the fall enrollment – at about 1,000 students – set a record. The college has built a new student center and is adding another dorm.

Watts says Sweet Briar's closing illustrates how difficult it can be to attract students to a single-sex college. But she says schools like Salem offer advantages for young women they may not find in co-ed settings.

"Our women are really taught how to speak up for themselves, how to lead, and how to be prepared for a co-ed world - a women's college really offers them great benefit," he says.

Salem students are also reaching out to their peers at Sweet Briar. They're putting together a video of support to offer encouragement.

"Our students are really standing in solidarity with the Sweet Briar students," Watts says.

She says she's not sure how many Sweet Briar students Salem could accommodate should there be widespread interest in transferring here.