Virginia Union University is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

historically black Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

university in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. It is affiliated with the

American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...

History

Pickford Hall, Virginia Union University

The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Richmond Theological Institute in 1865 shortly after Union troops took control of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, at the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, for

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom ...

to enter into the ministry. The college had the first academic library at an HBCU, building the library in 1865 the same year the college was established. Its mission was soon expanded to offer courses and programs at college, high school, and preparatory levels, to both men and women. This effort was the beginning of Virginia Union University. Separate branches of the National Theological Institute were set up in Washington, D.C., and

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, with classes beginning in 1867. In Washington, the school became known as

Wayland Seminary Wayland Seminary was the Washington, D.C. school of the National Theological Institute. The institute was established beginning in 1865 by the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS). At first designed primarily for providing education and tra ...

, named in commemoration of Dr.

Francis Wayland Francis Wayland (March 11, 1796 – September 30, 1865), was an American Baptist minister, educator and economist. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington ...

, former president of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and a leader in the anti-slavery struggle. The first and only president was Dr. George Mellen Prentiss King, who administered Wayland for thirty years (1867–1897). Famous students there included Dr.

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...

and Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. Beginning in 1867, Colver Institute was housed in a building long known as Lumpkin's Jail, a former " slave jail" owned by Mary Ann Lumpkin, the African-American widow of the deceased white owner. It became Richmond Theological Institute (formerly Colver and joined with Wayland Seminary of Washington in 1899 to form Virginia Union University at Richmond. In 1932, the women's college

Hartshorn Memorial College Hartshorn Memorial College was a school for African-American women in Richmond, Virginia, from 1883–1932, when it merged into Virginia Union University. History Hartshorn Memorial College was created in Richmond, Virginia, in 1883 as a colleg ...

, established in Richmond in 1883, became a part of Virginia Union University. Storer College, a historically black

college in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

founded in 1867, merged its endowment with Virginia Union in 1964.

Academics

The university is divided into four main schools: *Evelyn Reid Syphax School of Education and Interdisciplinary Studies *School of Arts and Sciences *Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology *Sydney Lewis School of Business

Theology program

Virginia Union University's Theological training program is called "The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University". The school of theology has produced preachers such as Dean John W. Kinney, Dr. Miles Jones, Dr. A.B. James, and Dr. James Henry Harris. The school is a member of the Washington Theological Consortium.

Student activities

Fraternities and sororities

All of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations are currently at Virginia Union University. These organizations are:

Athletics

Virginia Union competes in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

in the Eastern Division of the

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black co ...

. The school has varsity teams in men's basketball, football, cross country, golf, tennis and track and field, and in women's basketball, bowling, cross country, tennis and track and field, softball and volleyball. In 2018, both Virginia Union University's DII Men & Women's Basketball Teams won the CIAA Championship. Virginia Union plays basketball and volleyball in the Barco-Stevens Hall, built as the Belgian Building for the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purc ...

. The building, which has stone reliefs depicting the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, was one of thirteen facilities designated as "unique" by ''NCAA News'' in 2005. The building was awarded to the university in 1941 and moved to its present location in 1943. The basketball team began using the facility in early 1947.

Affiliations

It is affiliated with the

. American Baptist Home Mission Societies
Colleges and Universities
abhms.org, USA, retrieved October 22, 2022

Notable alumni

File:Charles S. Johnson.jpg,

Charles S. Johnson Charles Spurgeon Johnson (July 24, 1893 – October 27, 1956) was an American sociologist and college administrator, the first black president of historically black Fisk University, and a lifelong advocate for racial equality and the advance ...

File:Robinson spotswood.jpg, Spottswood William Robinson III File:Douglas Wilder 2003 NIH.jpg,

Douglas Wilder Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstructi ...

File:BenWallaceCloseup.jpg, Ben Wallace File:Donald McEachin portrait 116th Congress (cropped).jpg, Donald McEachin

References

External links

Virginia Union UniversityVirginia Union University athletics
{{authority control University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historically black universities and colleges in the United States Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Private universities and colleges in Virginia Universities and colleges affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA Seminaries and theological colleges in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Baptist Christianity in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1865 Education in Richmond, Virginia Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools African-American history in Richmond, Virginia 1865 establishments in Virginia