Randolph College history

In 1891, on 20 acres of rough, hilly, land in what was then Campbell County, William Waugh Smith built the foundation for his vision—a dream that was years in the making.

14, 1893, with 11 other faculty members by his side, Smith opened the doors of the partially finished building (eventually called Smith Hall and later Main Hall) to the first class of 36 pioneering women.

In 1902, R-MWC was the first women’s college to be admitted to the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Southern States.

In 1916, it became the first women's college in the South to earn a Phi Beta Kappa charter.

In 1953, R-MWC officially separated from the Randolph-Macon Board of Trustees, and held its first meeting on March 27.

In 1961, R-MWC became the first college in Lynchburg to allow students of all races to enroll.

In 2004, the College’s Board of Trustees began a multi-year strategic planning process.

In August 2006, only a few weeks into the academic year, Randolph-Macon Woman's College announced that it would adopt coeducation and change its name.

R-MWC officially became Randolph College on July 1, 2007, and John E. Klein began his presidency in August of that year, just days before the College welcomed its first fully coed class.

The last class to have the option to receive diplomas from Randolph-Macon Woman's College graduated on May 16, 2010.

He began his tenure in July 2013 after the retirement of Klein.

In 2014, the College began a partnership with the National Gallery, London, as part of the sale of the “Men of the Docks” painting by George Bellows.

The College will begin its new TAKE2 curriculum model in the fall of 2021.