The Benedictine monks of Mary Mother of the Church, Benedictine Abbey, in Goochland, want to further develop the 50 acres they own at 12829 River Road. The plan, still in its early stages, is to build a new monastery and renovate their current building as the new home for Benedictine High School, an all-boys college preparatory high school founded in Richmond in 1911. Benedictine is owned and operated by the Benedictine Society of Virginia, and the high school’s athletic fields are already located at the Goochland abbey.

Post your comments and tell us what you think about this development, and see two videos on Benedictine: one
& two

Moving that school to the Abbey is a complete abomination to everything Benedictine stands for.  All this will do is make people upset and result in a massive loss of alumni support, which is one thing that makes the place so great. God placed that school in the city for a reason and had a plan for the school and it has worked out just fine since 1911 and I do not see a need for change all of a sudden.  If they knock down that gym I will never ever associate myself with Benedictine ever again.  I will not send my sons there and will not give a dime to the school if they make such a mistake.  When people think of Benedictine they think about the tough hardnose military kids who don’t take crap from anyone, not a preppy west end kid from Collegiate, or St. Chris.  The move to Goochland would make Benedictine just like those two schools.  Benedictine is so worried about catching up to St. Chris and Collegiate and following in their footsteps.  But the one thing that we have and they don’t is the pride and toughness that you can’t find at those places and that is what makes Benedictine so special.  The hallways, classrooms, cafeteria, and gym on Sheppard Street is the symbol of thousands of men who have graduated from that school and its a complete slap in the face to every Cadet who walked those halls since 1911.

An Outside Opinion:

I think it would be an absolute travesty to move Benedictine to another location.  The school has been there for almost one hundred years. A place that has seen so many promising youths come and go and has given so many young men such a distinguished education, deserves to remain undisturbed.  To do anything otherwise would be shameful.  A building that holds so many memories and traditions to so many people tends to develop a spirit of its own.  If Benedictine is relocated, it will only be the stones, an empty shell.  The spirit shall be left behind.  Don’t allow it to fade.

It is very sad to see the monks try and move Benedictine out to the abbey. Most of the monks do not play a part in the day to day operations of the school and are not considered a part of our BHS community by the alumni. Nearly 100 years of tradition will be broken if these plans go through. Benedictine can never be Benedictine in Goochland. Every students and teacher who has spent time at BHS has wonderfull memories of the place. I personally take comfort in knowing i can feel welcome to stop by anytime to catch up with old friends and faculty. Benedictine is a very close knit community. Moving the school out to the Abbey could put an end to that. How can you play home basketball games anywhere but our intimidating Rut Court? If the powers that be still want to go through with this after outrage from alumni, don’t come knocking on my door or my classmates doors for any money. Keep Benedictine where it belongs.

Taking on all of what these alum and current students have said, I myself believe it is a stupid move. I currently am a sophmore at Benedictine High School. I am at the “end-of-the-line” of a legacy that my grandfather built when he attended the school in 1940, and my grandmother built when she went to Saint Gertrude, the sister school. Through this legacy, I have learned so much about the tradition stored inside those simple brick walls on North Sheppard Street. Finally I am apart of the tradition, walking the same halls that the first student in 1911, to my grandfather in the 1940’s, and to my brother in 2005 walked and went to class. And what will happen to that tradition and to those legacies? What will happen to the Annex and the bell tower, and Rut Court? The obvious solution is not to move, and though in five years I will be out of that school, it will remain a lasting memory in my heart, as it has been in the hearts of many alum. The anniversary of the founding of the greatest school in Richmond is coming up in 2011, LET’S MOVE TO THE ABBEY.

Well, with this news, I suspect there are two possibilities:
a) The Abbot knows NOTHING about market research, solidifying one’s power base, or seeking partisanship when considering a tough decision . . . (of course, one has to ask: does he care?)

or

b) he is a genius at marketing and the recent poorly planned, poorly-timed press release is merely the proverbial “floating the trial balloon”.

Well, Dear Abbot, if you have read these posts and wonder how your alumni base feels about this decision, I think you’d have to agree this is an unpopular decision.

If you notice, MOST of the comments are from recent graduates (perhaps b/c they are most comfortable with message boards?). If the youngest of our alumni feel this strongly against the move, imagine how the Classes of 1955-1985 are going to react?

IF BHS is dependent upon alumni contributions, I’d suggest you continue to gather feelings, attitude and opinions before you make such an autocratic decision.

The school may be yours in name and deed, but it is ours in terms of tradition, passion and heritage. You need to listen to your graduates!

Ask us! We deserve to be heard.

(the best argument I’ve read against the change is the impact it will have on the Catholic community of SGHS/BHS, an important relationship indeed!)

Dave Hillgrove Class of 1975

i think this move will ruin everything Benedictine stood for, for over 100 years. There are many traditions and memories within those wall and we all left. Benedictine will never be as a saw it when i came in 01. i walked in a fell in love with the school just like everyone before and after me. We need to keep the tradition going and that wont happen if we move the school from sheppard street.  I greatly feel it will ruin our relationship with St. Gerudes and everything we have with them. So please if you find it in your heart make the right decision and leave Benedictine where it is on good old sheppard street were i hope to return to and eventually have my children walk through the same walls as i once did. Please dont kill what we all stand for.

I have already written a letter expressing my concern with this move. As an alumnus who still has great interest in and regular contact with the school, I wa greatly disturbed by this news. I have many fond memories of the school, and though I will never cease to support my alma mater, I can only say that destroying the school that I called home for four years, and still call home, would both offend me and many of my fellow Cadets. Furthermore, by moving the school out of the fan, where it has been since 1911, attendance will only drop. Losing direct contact with St. Gertrude’s, stripping the school of the opportunities that only such a central location can offer, and relegating almost 100 years of history and tradition to the dustbin can only be damaging in the long run. Imagining my school without the Bell Tower, without Memorial Gymnasium, without St. Benedict’s is almost impossible. I beleive I speak for a majority of the alumni community when I humbly beg all who may read this to work hard to keep Benedictine on Sheppard Street for as long as the doors of that school remain open.
Joe Parrott, BHS ‘04

My father and I both attended Benedictine High School.  It’s an honor to say that we both experienced some of the same things, and can both understand truly what it means to be a Benedictine graduate.  Years down the road, if my son decided to enroll at Benedictine, I would want it to be the same experience my father and I had.  Moving the school would destroy everything I hold so dear to my heart.  I currently attend VMI, so being present on Monday is out of the question.  I hope that all Benedictine graduates will fight for all the traditions and memories we shared together.

As an alumnus of Benedictine and a third generation cadet, I am greatly distraught over the decision to move.  This school prides itself on its various traditions, all of which would be lost in the move to the Abbey.  Coach Rut Court, the bell tower, Memorial Gymnasium, and countless others would all be lost.  This move will also destroy the relationship with St. Gertrude; no longer will we be able to have the sponsors program, joint masses, or common clubs seeing as we will be 30 minutes away.  The museum district is the only location for the school because it is convenient to all of the surrounding counties as well as the city.  Benedictine will not survive the move to the Abbey, at least not the Benedictine that we all know and love.

i’m considering sending my son to Benedictine in two years.  i have seen dozens of Catholic schools across tha nation make a move such as this, and without sacrificing quality, uniqueness, or tradition.  i trust the order to make the right decision. the building does not make the institution.

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