Randolph–Macon College
| File:Circular-Color HRZJ.jpg | |
| Motto | Believe in the Moment of Connection |
|---|---|
| Type | Private college |
| Established | 1830 |
| President | Robert Lindgren |
Academic staff | 97 |
| Undergraduates | 1,146 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Suburban 110 acres (0.45 km²) |
| Colors | Lemon Gold and Black |
| Nickname | Yellow Jackets |
| Website | www.rmc.edu |
Randolph-Macon College is a private, co-educational liberal arts college located in Ashland, Virginia, near the capital city of Richmond. Founded in 1830, the school has an enrollment of about 1,125 students.
The college offers bachelor's degrees in education, business, international relations, and computer science, in addition to the liberal arts. Its computer science department is one of the oldest in the country; in the 1960s when the program was established, many academics believed computer science to be more appropriate for a commercial trade or secretarial school, rather than a traditional 4 year institution.
History
Randolph-Macon was founded in 1830 by the Virginia Methodists, and is the oldest Methodist-run college in the country. It was originally located in Boydton, near the North Carolina border but as the railroad link to Boydton was destroyed during Civil War, the college's trustees decided to relocate the school to Ashland. The college was named for statesmen John Randolph of Roanoke and Nathaniel Macon. (The original site of Randolph-Macon features a historical marker and ruins of the classroom buildings.)
The college has a historical relationship with Randolph College (formerly known as Randolph-Macon Woman's College) in Lynchburg, Virginia. The former woman's college was founded under Randolph-Macon's original charter in 1893 by the then-president William Waugh Smith; it was intended as a female counterpart to Randolph-Macon. Randolph-Macon became co-educational in 1972 and Randolph College became co-educational in 2007 and the two schools are now governed by two separate boards.
In 1892, two preparatory schools — both called Randolph-Macon Academy — were founded. The only one which remains today is Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia. Randolph-Macon Academy is today the only co-educational military boarding school in the country affiliated with the United States Air Force Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC).
Athletics
Randolph-Macon's sports teams are known as the Yellow Jackets and play in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The school's main rival in men's sports over the past century has been Hampden-Sydney College. The football game between Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney is 113 years old and bills itself as the "Oldest Small-College Rivalry in the South." Randolph-Macon won the first contest 12-6 in 1893. The Yellow Jacket football team is coached by 4th year man, Pedro Arruza. Most recently, the Women's Basketball team placed second nationally in Division 3 in the 2004-2005 season. The men's basketball team has been ranked #1 in the country by D3hoops.com, most recently as 2003. Travis Beazley, a 2006 graduate, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 38th round of the 2006 draft and is currently playing for the class-A Lancaster JetHawks.
Men's sports: baseball, basketball, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis
Women's sports: basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball
Notable alumni
- Macon Brock, co-founder of Dollar Tree
- Members of the rock band Carbon Leaf, Barry Privett, Terry Clark, Carter Gravatt
- J. Rives Childs, U.S. Diplomat and noted Casanova scholar
- Beth Dunkenberger, (1988), head coach of Virginia Tech women's basketball team
- Randy Forbes, U.S. Congressman
- Jordan Wheat Lambert, introduced Listerine to the marketplace
- Gregg Marshall, (1985), head coach of Wichita State men's basketball team
- Walter Hines Page, journalist, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- Brian Partlow, head coach of Arena Football League's Austin Wranglers
- Hugh Scott, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Senator
- Gregory R. Smith, child prodigy, human rights activist
- Claude A. Swanson, U.S. Senator, Navy Secretary
- Walter Leak Steele, U.S. Congressman
- Syd Thrift, former Major League Baseball player, scout, and general manager
- VADM John W. Craine Jr. USN(ret.), President; SUNY Maritime College
Notable Faculty
- David Seth Doggett - a Professor in the 1860's, later a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
External links