The sense of community at the College provides a setting in which students are readily recognized for their accomplishments and are encouraged to realize their fullest potential. Students are also able to enjoy the security and the support that can be engendered only by personal relationships. Classes, clubs, societies, sports, and performing arts groups are small enough to assure participation. The College furnishes an opportunity for a fuller self-awareness and for achieving a responsible knowledge of society. While most of our students come from about 40 states, the presence of international students on the campus provides an opportunity for students to become acquainted with various cultural backgrounds as well.
Most students find friends from cultures both similar to and divergent from their own.
The campus lies in the center of the city of Salem, in southwestern Virginia. The city of Salem, along with the entire Roanoke Valley, was recognized in 1988 as an All-American Community. Salem is situated just off Interstate 81, a few miles north of the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Roanoke Regional Airport is an hour's flight from New York or Atlanta and only 35 minutes from Washington, DC and Charlotte, North Carolina. With a population of about 25,000, Salem is a city of diversified industry and business.