Shenandoah University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences (including the Division of Education and Leadership and the Division of Applied Technology), School of Business, Shenandoah Conservatory, Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy, Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing, and the School of Health Professions (Athletic Training, Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies and Physical Therapy). Shenandoah University is one of five

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

-affiliated institutions of higher education in the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United Stat ...

History

Rev. Abram Paul Funkhouser and Rev. John (Jay) Paul Fries founded the school as Shenandoah Seminary in 1875. At the time, it was located on a 10-acre campus in

Dayton, Virginia Dayton is a town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. The population is 1,530 as of the 2010 census. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Dayton is located at (38.416323, -78.939440). The ...

, and classes were initially held in a two-room lo structure.Shenandoah College Will Sell Old Campus
. ''Associated Press''. The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia). May 15, 1960. p. 2D.A College Moves 70 Miles
. ''The Daily News Leader'' (Staunton, Virginia). November 17, 1960. p. 4. The school had 11 students enrolled in its first year. Shenandoah Seminary became a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

in 1924, changing its name to Shenandoah College the following year. Shenandoah Conservatory became a separate corporation in 1937 and began granting four-year degrees. In 1960, Shenandoah College and the Shenandoah Conservatory moved to the 126-acre Winchester campus and began offering four-year degrees in 1974 (at which time the college and conservatory corporations were merged). It sold its Dayton campus for $107,875. Shenandoah obtained university status on January 1, 1991, and today the student body represents 47 states plus the District of Columbia. The university, as of fall 2021, has 252 full-time and 202 part-time faculty members. The student body represents 48 foreign countries. Over 70 percent of full-time faculty have an earned doctorate (Ph.D. or similar) in their fields or other terminal degree.

Name

According to the university's official history page, the name Shenandoah is derived from the Native American legend of Zynodoa, a brave warrior whose life of strength and courage and his appreciation of beauty resulted in having a river and a valley named for him. Popular myth further ascribes translation of the word "Shenandoah" to mean "daughter of the stars."

Locations

The university operates in six locations: :* Winchester :* Downtown Winchester :* Health Professions Building on the campus o
Winchester Medical Center
:* Shenandoah River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield :* Scholar Plaza, Loudoun :* Inova Center for Personalized Health, Fairfax The main location of campus is in Winchester near

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

, and the Health Professions Building is located near the Winchester Medical Center. The Scholar Plaza, Loudoun, site in

Ashburn, Virginia Ashburn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, its population was 43,511, up from 3,393 twenty years earlier. It is northwest of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washingt ...

, is home to graduate programs in business, education, leadership studies, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant studies, as well as the accelerated-second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Shenandoah's educational site at the Inova Center for Personalized Health in

Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

, is the location for doctoral-level programs in pharmacy. ICPH, Fairfax, is also where the university offers graduate programs and postgraduate certificates in nursing and supports an online master's degree in public health. There are also a number of satellite offices and facilities located throughout Winchester. In 2013, Shenandoah University accepted stewardship of 195 acres of land along the

Shenandoah River The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...

, now known as the Shenandoah River Campus at

Cool Spring Battlefield Cool Spring Battlefield is a historic American Civil War battlefield and national historic district located near Berryville, Clarke County, Virginia. It encompasses 17 contributing buildings, 26 contributing sites, and 11 contributing structures. ...

. Purchased by the Civil War Trust in 2012, stewardship of the property transferred to the university in spring 2013 to protect and preserve the former battlefield site. The property now serves as an outdoor classroom and living laboratory for the university community and the general public.

Academics

Shenandoah offers more than 200 areas of study at the

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

-degree levels, as well as through undergraduate and graduate certificates, across six schools. Its programming includes Virginia's first bachelor's degrees in virtual reality design and esports management, as well as the state's oldest music therapy program (offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels). *College of Arts & Sciences *School of Business *Shenandoah Conservatory *Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy *Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing *School of Health Professions Shenandoah University no longer offers a tenure track for new faculty members. Instead, new faculty members undergo a 5-year probationary period, after which they are eligible for 3-year, renewable "career faculty contracts."

Athletics

The Shenandoah athletic teams are called the Hornets. The university is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Old Dominion Athletic Conference The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference. Of its 15 member schools, all but one are located in Virginia; the other full member is in North Carolina. The conference also has an associate member in Nort ...

(ODAC) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Hornets previously competed in the

USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia. H ...

(USA South) from 1992–93 to 2011–12. Shenandoah competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. The university announced the creation of a Marching Band in June 2021, which debuted during the Fall 2022 semester.

Partnership relations

Shenandoah University has agreements with many international colleges and universities, and also participates in the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Business Education Initiative The Business Education Initiative (BEI) is a British study-abroad programme for students from Northern Ireland. It was run initially by the Department for Employment and Learning but, since 2006, is delivered by the British Council in association ...

and Irish-American Scholars program in conjunction with universities and colleges in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Notable alumni

Kate Flannery Kate Destiny Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series ''The Office'', which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Sh ...

, actress, played Meredith Palmer (2005–2013) in the television comedy ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' *

Harold Perrineau Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Stevens ...

, actor, played Link in

The Matrix Reloaded ''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is a sequel to ''The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laure ...

and

The Matrix Revolutions ''The Matrix Revolutions'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the third installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, released six months following ''The Matrix Reloaded''. The film stars ...

Carter Beauford Carter Anthony Beauford (born November 2, 1958) is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open-handed drumm ...

, American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

* Tiffany Lawrence, a former Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 65th district. *

Wendy Gooditis Gwendolyn Wallace Gooditis is an American real estate agent, educator, and politician, known as Wendy Gooditis. A Democrat, Gooditis was elected in November 2017 to represent Virginia's 10th House of Delegates district in the Virginia House o ...

, an American real estate agent, educator, and Democratic politician. * Carl Tanner, an American operatic tenor * Richard Zarou, a contemporary composer of concert and film music and the host of the new music podcast ''No Extra Notes'' *

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer. Early life He was born on May 23, 1925, in Crimora, Virginia. He attended school in New Hope, Virginia, and graduated from high school the ...

, Bluegrass music legend

References

External links

Official website

Official athletics website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1875 Music schools in Virginia Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Private universities and colleges in Virginia Education in Winchester, Virginia Buildings and structures in Winchester, Virginia 1875 establishments in Virginia