Virginia Union University

Virginia Union University
Former names	Colver Institute (1865–1886); Richmond Theological Institute (1886–1899); Wayland Seminary (1865–1899); Hartshorn Memorial College (1883–1932)
Motto	The Lord Will Provide
Type	Private historically black university
Established	1865; 159 years ago
Endowment	$29 million
President	Hakim Lucas
Students	1,700
Location	Richmond, Virginia, United States; 37°33′45″N 77°27′4″W / 37.56250°N 77.45111°W
Campus	Urban, 84 acres (34 ha)
Colors	Maroon and Steel;
Nickname	Panthers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – CIAA
Website	vuu.edu
	Virginia Union University
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Virginia Landmarks Register
Location	1500 N. Lombardy St., Richmond, Virginia, United States
Area	11 acres (4.5 ha)
Built	1899
Architect	John H. Coxhead
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	82004590
VLR No.	127-0354
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 26, 1982
Designated VLR	June 16, 1981

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

History

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
Name	Term
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]

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. 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

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

Name	Class year	Notability	Reference(s)
Roger Anderson		NFL player
James Atkins	2002	Former 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	1924	Early 20th century wood carver
Simeon Booker	1941	award-winning journalist and the first African-American reporter for The Washington Post
Michael Brim	1988	former National Football League player
Roslyn M. Brock	1987	Chairman 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	1928	Historian, winner of the Bancroft Prize
Tamarat Makonnen	1994	Film director, producer and writer
Emmett C. Burns, Jr.		Maryland House of Delegates (1995–2006)
Terry Davis	1989	Former NBA player	^[18]
Robert Prentiss Daniel	1924	President of Shaw and Virginia State universities for more than 30 years in total	^[19]
Will Downing	attended	R&B Singer
AJ English	1990	former Professional Basketball Player	^[18]
Walter Fauntroy	1955	Civil 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.	1948	first 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	2002	former National Football League player
Cornelius Johnson	1967	Former NFL player
Eugene Kinckle Jones	1906	Member of the Black Cabinet under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a founder of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Dwight Clinton Jones	1967	Mayor of Richmond, Virginia (2009–2016)
Charles Spurgeon Johnson	1916	first black president of Fisk University
Lyman T. Johnson	1930	integrated the University of Kentucky
Leontine T. Kelly	1960	a bishop of the United Methodist Church
Henry L. Marsh	1956	first 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	1913	Writer, editor and early member of the Socialist Party of America.
Wendell H. Phillips		member, Maryland House of Delegates (1979–1987)
Samuel DeWitt Proctor	1942	President 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.	1966	member of Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 188
Spottswood William Robinson III	1937	Prominent 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	1961	chairman 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.	1948	businessperson, 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	1996	Professional Basketball Player, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Champion, Member of Basketball Hall of Fame; Detroit Pistons	^[18]
Douglas Wilder	1951	first African-American governor of Virginia (1990–1994) and Mayor of Richmond (2005–2009)
N. Scott Phillips	1983	member, Maryland House of Delegates

References

^ "Nathaniel Colver". encyclopediavirginia.org. Encyclopedia Virginia. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
^ Raymond Pierre Hylton, Virginia Union University, Arcadia Publishing, USA, 2014, p. 7
^ Wheeler, Maurice, et al. “A Brief History of Library Service to African Americans.” American Libraries, vol. 35, no. 2, 2004, pp. 42–45. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25649066
^ ^a ^b "Virginia Union University (1865– )". Online Encyclopedia of Significant People and Places in African American History. Blackpast.org. January 10, 2010. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
^ William H. Brackney, Congregation and Campus: Baptists in Higher Education, Mercer University Press, USA, 2008, p. 174
^ "A Guide to the Hartshorn Memorial College Reunion Collection 1976–1980". L. Douglas Wilder Library Archives. February 7, 1980. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
^ "Virginia Archives Month October 2007: Images in Celebration". Library of Virginia Archives. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
^ Hylton, Raymond. "University History". About Virginia Union. Virginia Union University. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
^ "Virginia Union University | Schools". Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
^ "Member Institutions". Washington Theological Consortium. Archived from the original on June 22, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
^ "Men's Sports / Women's Sports". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
^ "VUU men's, women's basketball teams win CIAA Championship". www.nbc12.com. March 4, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
^ "Facilities: Barco-Stevens Hall". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
^ American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Colleges and Universities Archived October 26, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, abhms.org, USA, retrieved October 22, 2022
^ Zabitka, Matt (July 30, 1952). "UC's Doc Bea Shoots Pool to Sharpen Batting Eye; Triple Off Satchel Paige Brought Words of Warning" Archived June 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Chester Times. p. 16. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "NBA/ABA Players who attended Virginia Union University". DataBase Sports. Archived from the original on September 20, 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2006.
^ Guthrie, R.V. (1998). Production of Black Psychologists in America: 'Even the Rat Was White' (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. pp. 155–212.
^ "Anderson J Franklin Boston College". Boston College, Lynch School of Education. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
^ "Meharry board chair to retire after 30 years". Nashville Post. January 10, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
^ Ellis, Josh (May 30, 2012). "The Ultimate 53: Herb Scott Can't Be Forgotten". Dallas Cowboys.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012.
^ Hylton, Dr Raymond Pierre (2014). Virginia Union University. Arcadia Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-4671-2248-1. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024.

External links

[1] "Nathaniel Colver". encyclopediavirginia.org. Encyclopedia Virginia. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.

[nris-2] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[register-3] "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2013.

[4] Raymond Pierre Hylton, Virginia Union University, Arcadia Publishing, USA, 2014, p. 7

[5] Wheeler, Maurice, et al. “A Brief History of Library Service to African Americans.” American Libraries, vol. 35, no. 2, 2004, pp. 42–45. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25649066

[blackpast.org-6] "Virginia Union University (1865– )". Online Encyclopedia of Significant People and Places in African American History. Blackpast.org. January 10, 2010. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.

[7] William H. Brackney, Congregation and Campus: Baptists in Higher Education, Mercer University Press, USA, 2008, p. 174

[8] "A Guide to the Hartshorn Memorial College Reunion Collection 1976–1980". L. Douglas Wilder Library Archives. February 7, 1980. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

[9] "Virginia Archives Month October 2007: Images in Celebration". Library of Virginia Archives. Archived from the original on January 3, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

[Hylton-10] Hylton, Raymond. "University History". About Virginia Union. Virginia Union University. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.

[11] "Virginia Union University | Schools". Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.

[12] "Member Institutions". Washington Theological Consortium. Archived from the original on June 22, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009.

[13] "Men's Sports / Women's Sports". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

[14] "VUU men's, women's basketball teams win CIAA Championship". www.nbc12.com. March 4, 2018. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2021.

[15] "Facilities: Barco-Stevens Hall". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

[16] American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Colleges and Universities Archived October 26, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, abhms.org, USA, retrieved October 22, 2022

[17] Zabitka, Matt (July 30, 1952). "UC's Doc Bea Shoots Pool to Sharpen Batting Eye; Triple Off Satchel Paige Brought Words of Warning" Archived June 25, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Chester Times. p. 16. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

[baskref-18] "NBA/ABA Players who attended Virginia Union University". DataBase Sports. Archived from the original on September 20, 2006. Retrieved June 17, 2006.

[19] Guthrie, R.V. (1998). Production of Black Psychologists in America: 'Even the Rat Was White' (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. pp. 155–212.

[20] "Anderson J Franklin Boston College". Boston College, Lynch School of Education. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.

[21] "Meharry board chair to retire after 30 years". Nashville Post. January 10, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.

[22] Ellis, Josh (May 30, 2012). "The Ultimate 53: Herb Scott Can't Be Forgotten". Dallas Cowboys.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012.

[23] Hylton, Dr Raymond Pierre (2014). Virginia Union University. Arcadia Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-4671-2248-1. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 30, 2024.

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v t e Colleges and universities in Virginia
Public	Christopher Newport University College of William & Mary Eastern Virginia Medical School George Mason University James Madison University Joint Forces Staff College Longwood University Marine Corps University Norfolk State University Old Dominion University Radford University Richard Bland College University of Mary Washington University of Virginia University of Virginia's College at Wise Virginia Commonwealth University VCU School of Dentistry VCU School of Education VCU College of Health Professions Virginia Community College System Virginia Military Institute Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VT-WFU School Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Virginia State University Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Private	Appalachian College of Pharmacy Appalachian School of Law Art Institute of Virginia Beach Atlantic University Averett University Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond Bluefield University Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing Bridgewater College Christendom College DeVry University Divine Mercy University Institute for the Psychological Sciences Eastern Mennonite University ECPI University Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Emory and Henry University Fairfax University of America Ferrum College George Washington University Virginia Campus Hampden–Sydney College Hampton University Hartland College Hollins University Jefferson College of Health Sciences John Leland Center for Theological Studies Liberty University University of Lynchburg Mary Baldwin University Marymount University Patrick Henry College Randolph College Randolph–Macon College Regent University Roanoke College Shenandoah University Southern Virginia University Sweet Briar College Union Presbyterian Seminary University of Management and Technology University of the Potomac University of Richmond Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Union University Virginia University of Lynchburg Virginia Wesleyan University Washington and Lee University
Defunct	Art Institute of Washington Blackstone College for Girls Cordoba University Eastern College Elizabeth College Fauquier Institute Frederick College Gibbs College Marion College Richmond Professional Institute Saint Paul's College Stratford University Sullins College University of Northern Virginia Virginia Intermont College Westwood College
Complete list

v t e Historically black colleges and universities (List)
Public institutions	Alabama A&M Alabama State Albany State Alcorn State Arkansas–Pine Bluff Bishop State CC Bluefield State Bowie State Central State Cheyney Coahoma CC Coppin State Delaware State Elizabeth City State Fayetteville State Florida A&M Fort Valley State Gadsden State CC Grambling State Harris–Stowe Hinds CC Jackson State Kentucky State Langston Lincoln, Missouri Lincoln, Pennsylvania Maryland, Eastern Shore Mississippi Valley State Morgan State Norfolk State North Carolina A&T North Carolina Central Prairie View A&M Savannah State Shelton State CC South Carolina State Southern Southern–New Orleans Southern–Shreveport Tennessee State Texas Southern UDC/UDC-CC UVI Virginia State West Virginia State Winston-Salem State
Private institutions	Allen Arkansas Baptist Barber–Scotia Benedict Bennett Bethune–Cookman Claflin Clark Atlanta Dillard Edward Waters Fisk Florida Memorial University Hampton Howard Huston–Tillotson Interdenominational Theological Center Jarvis Christian Johnson C. Smith Knoxville Lane LeMoyne–Owen Livingstone Meharry Miles Morehouse Morehouse School of Medicine Morris Brown Morris Oakwood Paine Paul Quinn Pensole Lewis Philander Smith Rust Selma Shaw Simmons College (Ky.) Southwestern Christian Spelman Stillman St. Augustine's Talladega Texas College Tougaloo Tuskegee Virginia Union Virginia University Voorhees Wilberforce Wiley Xavier (Louisiana)
Defunct institutions	Bishop Booker T. Washington Carver Central Mississippi College Collier-Blocker Concordia Alabama Daniel Payne Frelinghuysen Georgia Baptist Gibbs Guadalupe Hampton Haygood Seminary Immanuel Lutheran Jackson Johnson Kittrell Lincoln Junior College Louisville Municipal Luther Miner Teachers College Mississippi Industrial College Morristown Mount Hermon Female Seminary New Orleans University Roosevelt Rosenwald Saint Paul's SCSU Law School Storer Straight Suwannee River Terrell Law School Turner Volusia County Western
Law Schools	David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC) Florida A&M University College of Law Howard University School of Law North Carolina Central University School of Law Southern University Law Center Thurgood Marshall School of Law (Texas Southern)
Consortia	Atlanta University Center Florida's Black Junior Colleges Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southwestern Athletic Conference Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference HBCU Athletic Conference

v t e Washington Theological Consortium
Members	Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius The Catholic University of America School of Theology and Religious Studies Howard University School of Divinity John Leland Center for Theological Studies Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies Reformed Theological Seminary–Washington D.C. Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University United Lutheran Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary Wesley Theological Seminary
Associate members	Paulist Fathers House of Mission and Studies Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation
Affiliate members	Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies
Educational institution	Museum of the Bible

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Lists by county	Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle Of Wight James City King and Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York
Lists by city	Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson (no listings) Portsmouth Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia Beach Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester
Other lists	Bridges National Historic Landmarks
Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	United States
Geographic	MusicBrainz place
Other	SNAC



Former names	Colver Institute (1865–1886)^[1] Richmond Theological Institute (1886–1899) Wayland Seminary (1865–1899) Hartshorn Memorial College (1883–1932)
Motto	The Lord Will Provide
Type	Private historically black university
Established	1865; 159 years ago (1865)
Endowment	$29 million
President	Hakim Lucas
Students	1,700
Location	Richmond , Virginia , United States 37°33′45″N 77°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


Virginia Union University
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Landmarks Register

Location	1500 N. Lombardy St., Richmond, Virginia, United States
Area	11 acres (4.5 ha)
Built	1899
Architect	John H. Coxhead
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	82004590^[2]
VLR No.	127-0354
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 26, 1982
Designated VLR	June 16, 1981^[3]