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Baseball Field Named in Honor of Kenneth R. Perry
Upgrades to Perry Field honor service and dedication of former Virginia Wesleyan Board member
News Release | November 2, 2016
The baseball field at Virginia Wesleyan College is receiving significant enhancements this fall—including upgrades to the dugouts, backstop, stands and a new press box—thanks to the generosity of longtime VWC benefactors Joan and Macon Brock. The College will recognize Joan’s father and former Board member, Kenneth R. Perry, by naming the field in his memory.
“Joan and Macon Brock have been instrumental to the progress of Virginia Wesleyan throughout our history,” said VWC President Scott D. Miller. “We are appreciative of this most recent support and it is fitting and proper that we honor Mr. Perry in this way.”
A contribution from the Brocks of $500,000 makes possible a new 370-seat grandstand; a climate-controlled press box with scorer’s table; a rebuild of the existing dugouts, including new benches, helmet and bat racks, and protective netting; a VWC-branded home-plate halo; relocation of the bull pens; four-foot black vinyl fencing with spectator-friendly sightlines; practice screen replacement; new pole and net backstop; and surrounding landscaping. Earlier, the Brocks’ generosity provided a new irrigation system as well as grading and re-sodding of the field.
“Virginia Wesleyan has some of the most attractive NCAA Division III facilities in this region,” said Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Joanne Renn. “Improvements to Perry Field will increase our ability to attract top talent, better accommodate spectators, and raise the profile of Marlin baseball.”
The strength of Virginia Wesleyan College today can be traced in significant ways to the leadership and support of Joan and Macon Brock. Many aspects of the College have benefited from their genuine interest in students, programs and facilities. Most recently, the College announced the formation of the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
“Joan and Macon are well known for their community leadership, their generosity and vision, and they are among the closest friends of Virginia Wesleyan College,” said President Miller during his State of the College Address on Aug. 23. “The Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences promotes teaching and research at an uncommonly high level for a small college.”
Through an endowment created by the Perry and Brock families, Dr. Chris Haley will serve as the Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
In 2006, the College named a residence hall complex after the couple—Joan and Macon Brock Village—in recognition of their generous support of student scholarships, residence hall improvements, athletics programs, and other programs. The couple has also long supported Virginia Wesleyan’s Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, for which Dr. Craig Wansink currently serves as the Joan P. and Macon F. Brock Jr. Director.
Joan Brock served on Virginia Wesleyan College’s President’s Advisory Council from 1996-1999, the Board of Trustees from 1999-2006, and was Chair of the Board of Trustees from 2001-2004. She received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on behalf of the College in 2010.
Mrs. Brock’s service and commitment to Virginia Wesleyan College continues a long family tradition. Her uncle, Douglas McIntyre, served as the College’s first registrar and was a member of the faculty for 25 years. Kenneth R. Perry—Joan’s father, for whom the baseball field is named—served on the Board of Trustees from 1991 until his death in 2004 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2002, the first year the College presented honorary degrees.
Upgrades to Perry Field are slated for completion by the season’s start in February 2017. A formal dedication ceremony will be forthcoming.