Virginia Union University

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Virginia Union University
Seal of Virginia Union.jpg
Former names
Colver Institute (1865–1886) [1]
Richmond Theological Institute (1886–1899)
Wayland Seminary (1865–1899)
Hartshorn Memorial College (1883–1932)
MottoThe Lord Will Provide
Type Private historically black university
Established1865;159 years ago (1865)
Endowment $29 million
President Hakim Lucas
Students1,700
Location,
Virginia
,
United States

37°33′45″N77°27′4″W / 37.56250°N 77.45111°W / 37.56250; -77.45111
Campus Urban, 84 acres (34 ha)
Colors Maroon and Steel
  
Nickname Panthers
Sporting affiliations
NCAA Division II  CIAA
Website vuu.edu
VirginiaUnionUniversityLogo.png
Virginia Union University
Location1500 N. Lombardy St., Richmond, Virginia, United States
Area11 acres (4.5 ha)
Built1899
ArchitectJohn H. Coxhead
Architectural styleRichardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No. 82004590 [2]
VLR No.127-0354
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 26, 1982
Designated VLRJune 16, 1981 [3]

Virginia Union University is a private historically black university in Richmond, Virginia.

Contents

History

Pickford Hall, Virginia Union University Pickford Hall, Virginia Union University.JPG
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, at the end of the American Civil War, for African-American freedmen to enter into the ministry. [4] The college had the first academic library at a historically black college or university (HBCU), building the library in 1865 which was the same year the college was established. [5]

Its mission was soon expanded to offer courses and programs at college, high school, and preparatory levels, to both men and women. [6] 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, with classes beginning in 1867. In Washington, the school became known as Wayland Seminary, named in commemoration of Francis Wayland, former president of Brown University and a leader in the anti-slavery struggle. The first and only president there was George Mellen Prentiss King, who administered Wayland for thirty years (1867–1897). Famous students there included Booker T. Washington and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. [6]

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. [7]

In 1932, the women's college Hartshorn Memorial College, [8] [9] established in Richmond in 1883, became a part of Virginia Union University. Storer College, a historically black Baptist college in West Virginia founded in 1867, merged its endowment with Virginia Union in 1964. [10]

List of presidents
NameTerm
Malcolm MacVicar 1899–1904
George Rice Hovey 1904–1918
William John Clark 1919–1941
John Malcus Ellison*1941–1955
Samuel Dewitt Proctor 1955–1960
Thomas Howard Henderson 1960–1970
Allix Bledsoe James 1970–1979
David Thomas Shannon 1979–1985
S. Dallas Simmons 1985–1999
Bernard Wayne Franklin 1999–2003
Belinda C. Anderson 2003–2008
Claude G. Perkins 2009–2016
Joseph F. Johnson 2016–2017 (acting)
Hakim J. Lucas 2017–present
*first alumnus and African-American to serve as president of the university

Academics

The university is divided into four main schools: [11]

Theology program

Virginia Union University's Theological training program is called The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. James Henry Harris, the early American civil rights advocate, was a graduate. The school is a member of the Washington Theological Consortium. [12]

Student activities

There are over 20 student organizations, including several fraternities and sororities.

Athletics

Panthers Cheer Squad VUUCheerleaders.jpg
Panthers Cheer Squad

Virginia Union competes in the NCAA Division II in the Eastern Division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. 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. [13]

In 2018, both Virginia Union University's DII Men & Women's Basketball Teams won the CIAA Championship. [14] 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 building, which has stone reliefs depicting the Belgian Congo, 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. [15]

Affiliations

It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. [16]

Notable alumni

NameClass yearNotabilityReference(s)
Roger Anderson NFL player
James Atkins 2002Former NFL player
Mamye BaCote 1961 Virginia House of Delegates (2004-2016)
Darius Bea attended two years Negro league outfielder and pitcher [17]
Bessye J. Bearden 1900s Journalist and social activist; mother of artist Romare Bearden
Leslie Garland Bolling 1924Early 20th century wood carver
Simeon Booker 1941award-winning journalist and the first African-American reporter for The Washington Post
Michael Brim 1988former National Football League player
Roslyn M. Brock 1987Chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Homer S. Brown judge, civil rights leader, and state representative in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Henry Allen Bullock 1928Historian, winner of the Bancroft Prize
Tamarat Makonnen 1994Film director, producer and writer
Emmett C. Burns, Jr. Maryland House of Delegates (1995–2006)
Terry Davis 1989Former NBA player [18]
Robert Prentiss Daniel 1924President of Shaw and Virginia State universities for more than 30 years in total [19]
Will Downing attendedR&B Singer
AJ English 1990former Professional Basketball Player [18]
Walter Fauntroy 1955Civil rights leader, minister, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, from Washington, D.C.'s At-large district and was a candidate for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination
Anderson J. Franklin Professor of Psychology at the School of Education at Boston College [20]
Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr. 1948first African-American to reach the rank of admiral in the United States Navy
Abram Lincoln Harris 1922 Economist; chair, Economics Dept. Howard University (1936–1945); professor, University of Chicago
Pete Hunter 2002former National Football League player
Cornelius Johnson 1967Former NFL player
Eugene Kinckle Jones 1906Member of the Black Cabinet under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Dwight Clinton Jones 1967Mayor of Richmond, Virginia (2009–2016)
Charles Spurgeon Johnson 1916first black president of Fisk University
Lyman T. Johnson 1930integrated the University of Kentucky
Leontine T. Kelly 1960a bishop of the United Methodist Church
Henry L. Marsh 1956first African-American mayor of Richmond, Virginia and member of the Virginia Senate from the 16th district
Benjamin Mays 1916-1917, transferred to Bates College President of Morehouse College, mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bai T. Moore Liberian author and poet
Delores McQuinn 1976 Virginia House of Delegates (2009-present)
Charles Oakley Professional basketball Player [18]
Chandler Owen 1913Writer, editor and early member of the Socialist Party of America.
Wendell H. Phillips member, Maryland House of Delegates (1979–1987)
Samuel DeWitt Proctor 1942President of VUU and president of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he made close acquaintance with then student body president Jesse Jackson
Randall Robinson Attorney; founder of TransAfrica
James R. Roebuck, Jr. 1966member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 188
Spottswood William Robinson III 1937Prominent civil rights attorney, dean of Howard University Law School, first African American to be appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Frank S. Royal 1961chairman of VUU's board; director of public companies; former president of the National Medical Association [21]
Herbert Scott 1974 National Football League player, 2-time All-Pro, 3-time Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys [22]
Clarence L. Townes Jr. 1948businessperson, politician, and civic activist from Richmond, Virginia [23]
Wyatt T Walker Activist, civil rights motivator, musician, Theologian who gave letter to Martin Luther King from Coretta; close confidant and preacher
Ben Wallace 1996Professional Basketball Player, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Champion, Member of Basketball Hall of Fame; Detroit Pistons [18]
Douglas Wilder 1951first African-American governor of Virginia (1990–1994) and Mayor of Richmond (2005–2009)
N. Scott Phillips 1983member, Maryland House of Delegates

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