Virginia Union University













































































































Virginia Union University
VirginiaUnionUniversityLogo.png
Motto The Lord Will Provide
Type
Private, HBCU
Established 1865
Affiliation
American Baptist Churches USA & National Baptist Convention
Endowment $29 million
President Hakim Lucas
Students 1,700
Location
Richmond
,
Virginia
,


United States


37°33′45.8″N 77°27′3″W / 37.562722°N 77.45083°W / 37.562722; -77.45083Coordinates: 37°33′45.8″N 77°27′3″W / 37.562722°N 77.45083°W / 37.562722; -77.45083
Campus
Urban, 84 acres (33.99 ha)
Colors
Maroon and Steel
         
Athletics
NCAA Division II
Nickname Panthers
Affiliations Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Website www.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 #
82004590
[1]
VLR # 127-0354
Significant dates
Added to NRHP July 26, 1982
Designated VLR June 16, 1981[2]


Virginia Union University (VUU) is a historically black university located in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It took its present name in 1899 upon the merger of two older schools, Richmond Theological Institute and Wayland Seminary, each founded after the end of American Civil War by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. In 1932, Hartshorn Memorial College, a women's college, merged with VUU. VUU's 84-acre (34 ha) campus is located at 1500 North Lombardy Street in Richmond's North Side.




Contents






  • 1 Background


  • 2 History


  • 3 Governance


  • 4 Academics


    • 4.1 Theology Program




  • 5 Student activities


    • 5.1 Fraternities and sororities




  • 6 Athletics


  • 7 Notable alumni


  • 8 References


  • 9 External links





Background


The university was founded in 1865 to give the newly emancipated freedmen an opportunity for education of the mind in an ethical, religious environment. A historically black university, Virginia Union University embraces the uniqueness and contributions of the African Diaspora, celebrating the value of cultural and intellectual diversity. However, enrollment is open to all students without regard to racial background.


The university provides comprehensive undergraduate liberal arts programs and graduate education for Christian ministries. To this end, a guiding principle of the university's educational program is a strong focus upon moral values and ethics, and students are encouraged to engage in activities that promote self-actualization.



History



























































University presidents
Name
Term
Malcolm MacVicar
1899–1904
Dr. George Rice Hovey
1904–1918
William John Clark
1919–1941
Dr. John Malcus Ellison*
1941–1955
Dr. Samuel Dewitt Proctor
1955–1960
Dr. Thomas Howard Henderson
1960–1970
Dr. Allix Bledsoe James
1970–1979
Dr. David Thomas Shannon
1979–1985
Dr. S. Dallas Simmons
1985–1999
Dr. Bernard Wayne Franklin
1999–2003
Dr. Belinda C. Anderson
2003–2008
Dr. Claude G. Perkins
2009–2017

*first VUU alumnus and African-American to serve as President of the University



Pickford Hall, Virginia Union University


The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school in 1865 shortly after Union troops took control of Richmond, Virginia, at the end of the American Civil War. Approximately 4 million former African American slaves, or freedmen, were to become citizens. Many had been deprived of formal education and prevented from becoming literate by Southern state laws. Southern states were in economic upheaval after the war.


Members of the ABHMS proposed a National Theological Institute to educate freedmen wishing to enter the Baptist ministry.[3] Soon the proposed mission was 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, with classes beginning in 1867. In Washington, the school became known as Wayland Seminary, named in commemoration of Dr. Francis Wayland, former president of Brown University 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 and Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. [3]


In Richmond, the efforts were more difficult. Beginning in 1867, Colver Institute, a VUU predecessor school, 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. In 1899, the Richmond Theological Institute (formerly Colver Institute) joined with Wayland Seminary of Washington to form Virginia Union University at Richmond.


In 1932, the women's college Hartshorn Memorial College,[4][5] 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.



Governance


The current president is Hakim Lucas, who was appointed in August 2017. Lucas is in litigation involving his former employment at Bethune-Cookman University surrounding the financing and construction of a dorm.[6]



Academics


The university is divided into four main schools:[7]



  • 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, Dr. James Henry Harris. The school is a member of the Washington Theological Consortium.[8]



Student activities



Fraternities and sororities


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































































Organization
Symbol
Chapter
Chapter symbol

Alpha Kappa Alpha
ΑΚΑ
Alpha Eta
AH

Alpha Phi Alpha
ΑΦΑ
Gamma
Γ

Delta Sigma Theta
ΔΣΘ
Beta Epsilon
BE

Kappa Alpha Psi
ΚΑΨ
Alpha Gamma
ΑΓ

Omega Psi Phi
ΩΨΦ
Zeta
Z

Phi Beta Sigma
ΦΒΣ
Lambda
Λ

Sigma Gamma Rho
ΣΓΡ
Tau
T

Zeta Phi Beta
ΖΦΒ
Nu
N

Iota Phi Theta
ΙΦΘ
Theta Omicron
ΘΟ


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.[9]


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.[10]



Notable alumni





Charles S. Johnson





Spottswood William Robinson III





Douglas Wilder





Ben Wallace























































































































































































































































































Name
Class year
Notability
Reference(s)

James Atkins
2002
Former NFL player


Mamye BaCote
1961

Virginia House of Delegates (2004-present)


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)


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

Former NBA player
[11]

Robert Prentiss Daniel
1924
President of Shaw and Virginia State universities for more than 30 years in total
[12]

Will Downing
attended
R&B Singer


Continental Floyd
2007

Songwriter, Hip Hop recording artist, and Record producer (did not graduate)


AJ English

former Professional Basketball Player
[11]

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

Dr. Anderson J. Franklin

Professor of Psychology at the School of Education at Boston College
[13]

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

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)


Howard S. Jones (inventor)
1943

Inventor, microwave systems hardware; 31 U.S. Patents


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
[11]

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


Dean John W. Kinney


Dean, Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University


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
[14]

Herbert Scott
1974

National Football League player, 2 time All-Pro, 3 time Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys
[15]

Wyatt T Walker

Activist, civil rights motivator, musician, Theologian who gave letter to Dr. Martin Luther King from Coretta; close confidant and preacher


Ben Wallace
1996
Professional Basketball Player, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, NBA Champions; Detroit Pistons
[11]

Douglas Wilder
1951
first African-American Governor of Virginia (1990-1994) and Mayor of Richmond (2005-2009)


S. Dallas Dance

Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools



References





  1. ^ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.


  3. ^ ab "Virginia Union University (1865– )". Online Encyclopedia of Significant People and Places in African American History. Blackpast.org. Retrieved May 12, 2012.


  4. ^ "A Guide to the Hartshorn Memorial College Reunion Collection 1976-1980". L. Douglas Wilder Library Archives. February 7, 1980. Retrieved November 30, 2013.


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


  6. ^ "Virginia Union president accused in lawsuit of accepting improper payments at past job". Richmond Times Dispatch. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.


  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2015-09-12.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)


  8. ^ "Member Institutions". Washington Theological Consortium. Retrieved September 1, 2009.


  9. ^ "Men's Sports / Women's Sports". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Retrieved November 30, 2013.


  10. ^ "Facilities: Barco-Stevens Hall". Virginia Union University Athletics website. Retrieved November 30, 2013.


  11. ^ abcd "NBA/ABA Players who attended Virginia Union University". DataBase Sports. Archived from the original on 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2006-06-17.


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


  13. ^ "Anderson J Franklin Boston College". Boston College, Lynch School of Education. Retrieved November 30, 2013.


  14. ^ "Meharry board chair to retire after 30 years". Nashville Post. January 10, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2018.


  15. ^ 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.




External links







  • Virginia Union University

  • Virginia Union University athletics


  • Virginia Union University at Curlie

  • Bells For Peace - The Belgian Pavilion















Popular posts from this blog

Y

Mount Tamalpais

Indian Forest Service