Shenandoah University celebrated the opening of its Hub for Innovators, Veterans and Entrepreneurs (HIVE) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Oct. 25, during which the university officially announced the name of the building that houses the university’s state-of-the-art technology hub and innovation accelerator.
The Hazel-Pruitt Armory, home of the HIVE, is named in honor of two longtime supporters – the family of William A. Hazel, Sr. and Cecil Pruitt, Jr. – whose contributions played significant roles in helping Shenandoah realize its vision for the historic building. The name also pays homage to the building’s history, as it served as an armory and local headquarters for the Virginia Army National Guard for nearly 70 years before it was vacated in 2009.
Shenandoah acquired the property as the Virginia Army National Guard 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment prepared to move to its current facility in Frederick County. SU began renovating the armory building in 2022, transforming the historic facility into a future-focused space fit to house its advanced technology programs and serve as a community resource for small-business owners.
This building has deep historic meaning to the Winchester community, and now the Hazel-Pruitt Armory has been renovated and reimagined to ensure that it will continue to serve the common good through the programs of the HIVE. The HIVE is gearing up to be a regional epicenter where Virginia startups and corporations go to realize opportunities to pioneer new technologies, and where diverse citizens go to gain new skills that prepare them to be leaders in tomorrow’s workforce. It will prioritize making the Northern Shenandoah Valley region a leader in immersive technologies.”
Shenandoah University Provost Karen Abraham, Ph.D.
As home of the HIVE, the Hazel-Pruitt Armory is the centerpiece of innovation at Shenandoah and will help drive local economic development, and its programming enhances the overall goal of increasing student and faculty enrollment and retention while creating future-of-work technological programs for internal and external stakeholders.
Hazel-Pruitt Armory features new spaces for the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning – SU’s state-of-the-art virtual reality, augmented reality and extended reality design studio – and classrooms for the university’s cybersecurity, engineering and virtual reality design programs, among others. The building also allows for the expansion of Shenandoah’s Veterans, Military and Families Center, which will provide the university’s military-affiliated students with comprehensive educational support and opportunities in high-demand technology fields.
The HIVE’s Emerging Media Lab and Makerspace provide Shenandoah students, faculty and staff with access to technologies such as 3D printing and digital design, as well as maker tools and electronics prototyping. A future goal for this space includes expanded access to community members. The Center for Trust offers SU students cutting-edge research opportunities in the fields of cybersecurity, data analytics and blockchain technology, and the Center for Transformative Learning will advance SU’s faculty capacity and provide learning opportunities in the region.
The Collaboratory, a central component of the HIVE that is partially encased in glass walls designed to reflect the Hazel-Pruitt Armory’s valley and ridge home at the top of Virginia, empowers faculty-and student-driven innovation and problem-solving capacity to assist in designing futures.
Plans for the HIVE include the Center for Entrepreneurial Thinking, a community technology incubator that will provide programming, mentoring, investor introductions, networking opportunities and workspace for small-business owners and entrepreneurs.
Funding for the Hazel-Pruitt Armory and HIVE included grants from the Industrial Revitalization Fund from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, as well as generous gifts from the Hazel Family Foundation and Cecil Pruitt, Jr., among others.
The family of William A. Hazel, Sr. has generously supported Shenandoah University for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1986, with a contribution to the university’s Capital Fund, followed by support for the School of Business, Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre and Children’s Literature Conference. The Hazel family was also a founding member of the President’s Leadership Circle, a group that fosters Shenandoah’s educational, economic and cultural vitality.
Cecil Pruitt, Jr. has been a member of the Shenandoah community for four decades, and his commitment to the university began with a generous gift to the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre Gala in 1998. He strengthened that commitment by establishing the Pruitt Foundation in 2004, through which his charitable donations helped support the creation of Shenandoah’s Brandt Student Center and the sustainability of the Business Symposium. In October 2023, Shenandoah University named the Pruitt Health & Life Sciences Building in his honor.
“I am so thankful for the generosity of our donors and partnerships that made this project possible,” said Shenandoah University President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. “We are so thankful for a generous grant of the Industrial Revitalization Fund from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, an appropriation from the Virginia legislature, as well as a grant from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. These funds helped to make the renovation of the HIVE possible and will ultimately benefit our community with job creation through businesses and startups supported by the HIVE.”
