Washington and Lee University is constructing a new student wellness center, which will house both the Student Health Center and University Counseling Services upon its completion. The university expects the building to open by fall term 2025, according to The Columns.
The facility will be called The Lindley Center of Student Wellness in remembrance of alumna Lindley Spaht Dodson, ’99.
Dodson worked as a pediatrician in Central Austin, Texas. She was killed in 2021 in a hostage situation while working at Children’s Medical Group, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
The Spaht family donated $4 million to be used for the construction of the wellness center. The Class of 1996, the Class of 1999 and The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation contributed to the facility as well, according to The Columns.
Eliza Spaht, ’26, Dodson’s niece, said the wellness center perfectly embodies her aunt’s values.
“We wanted Lindley’s legacy to live on through the matters she cared about, worked toward and embodied,” she said. “The W&L community will benefit greatly from the new wellness center, which is exactly what Lindley would have wanted.”
Construction began on Lindley Center of Student Wellness in April. The building is situated between the lower tennis courts and the stairs connecting the Woods Creek Apartments to the law school’s Sydney Lewis Hall.
The center will be handicapped–and ambulance–accessible. It will also include treatment spaces, impatient rooms and counseling offices designed to provide care for W&L students, according to the Columns.
Some students living in the Woods Creek Apartments say construction has caused some minor inconveniences, including noise and increased traffic.
“It makes everything loud and they start early in the morning so then it kind of riles us all up,” stated Meklit Tilahun, ’27, a resident at the Woods Creek Apartments.
Last academic year, the construction delayed pedestrian and car traffic, according to the university’s summer construction update. Now that the facility’s foundation and underground utilities are installed, the construction’s impact on traffic has been minimal, according to the update.
Students say the new, centralized resources will be helpful. Currently, the counseling center is housed in the Early Fielding building, which is on the opposite side of campus as the health center on Generals Lane.
“I’m actually really excited for the new health center because it’s something W&L needs,” said Chace Thompson, ’27, “I’m looking forward to having a health center on campus that is able to provide for our community in big ways.”
Thompson added that he likes that the new health center is more accessible and hopes that this will make campus safer.
Spaht said combining services for mental and physical health is representative of what Dodson cared about.
“After my family lost Lindley, our eyes were opened to the severity of the mental health epidemic,” she said. “We love Lindley and miss her more than words can express, and the Lindley Center will help carry on what she believed in by helping the W&L community with mental health endeavors.”
According to the late summer update of campus construction, the Lindley Center will provide holistic services for student wellness while continuing the passion and legacy of its namesake.
“Everyone loved [Lindley] and now wants to support her legacy by continuing her passion for helping people,” Spaht said.
