Randolph-Macon College

Infobox University
name = Randolph-Macon College


motto = "Believe in the Moment of Connection"
established = 1830
type = Private college
president = Robert Lindgren
city = Ashland
state = Virginia
country = USA
campus = Suburban 110 acres (0.45 km²)
undergrad = 1,146
faculty = 97
nickname = Yellow Jackets
colors =Lemon Gold and Black color box|#FFCC00 color box|#000000
athletics =NCAA Division III, ODAC,
15 varsity teams
website = [http://www.rmc.edu/ 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 over 1,200 students.

The college offers bachelor's degrees in education, political science, 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.)

In 1847, Randolph-Macon College established a relationship with the Hampden-Sydney College alum John Peter Mettauer. The relationship led to the formation of the Randolph-Macon Medical School, and in 1951 the school was closed. [ [http://www.markeroni.com/catalog/display.php?code=VA_F_069 Landmarks Visited Catalog: Randolph-Macon Medical School ] ]

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 Pedro Arruza, who recently completed his fourth season by going 8-2. This was a turn around from 2-8 the previous year, marking the largest change in the NCAA regardless of division. The football team plays its home games at Day Field.The women's basketball team placed second nationally in Division III in the 2004-2005 season. The men's basketball team has been ranked #1 in the country by D3hoops.com, most recently in 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, and 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
* Dr. John H. Gibbons, Science Advisor to President Bill Clinton
* 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
* The Honorable William D. Heatwole - Twenty-fifth Judicial District Judge in VA

Notable faculty

* David Seth Doggett, a professor in the 1860's and later a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South

References

External links

* [http://www.rmc.edu Official Website]