Virginia University of Lynchburg (VUL) is the oldest university in the city of Lynchburg, Virginia. The school was built in 1886 and incorporated in 1888. It has undergone several name changes and acquired its current name in 1996. The institution’s entire campus is designated as a historic district with The National Register. It was designed by famed African American architect Romulus Cornelius Archer Jr.
The local government of Lynchburg writes of the school, ” The university offered African Americans a chance to build their self-reliance and education during the difficult period of Jim Crow laws. Unlike other related institutions, VUL was taught “of the Negroes, by the Negroes and for the Negroes,” independent of white control and white funding, showcasing how the school took charge of their education and the apostle of “self-help.” The college was first meant to educate ministers but later offered college preparatory classes, collegiate classes, a theological course, and teacher-training classes.”
VUL writes of its own history, “Through a century, Virginia University has survived post-reconstruction disenfranchisement of African Americans in the south, the emergence of Jim Crow Laws, the great depression of the late 1920s, and our struggle for equality in the 1960s. In each instance, her graduates have emerged as courageous leaders who have led our people on through the storms.” also writing, “Professor G. W. Hayes, the second president (1890- 1906), gave to the institution its philosophy of “SELF-HELP”.
The school offers 9-degree programs (Associates and Bachelors) with the most popular being its fully online Doctor of Healthcare Administration.
In 2024, its accrediting body TRACS placed VUL on financial probation until all reporting requirements were met. VUL is proud to report that all requirements as outlined by the accrediting body were met and the institution remains accredited through June 30, 2031.
VUL’s mascot is the dragon. It participates in several collegiate sports like Men’s basketball, football, and indoor and outdoor track and field. The women’s sports include basketball, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball.
Notable Alumni:
Anne Spencer: Famed Harlem Renaissance Poet, Civil Rights Activist, per her Wiki, “Spencer is a widely anthologized poet, and was the first Virginian and one of three African-American women included in the highly influential Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (1973). As a civil rights activist for equality and educational opportunities, she and her husband Edward, with close friend Mary Rice Hayes Allen and others, revived the chapter of the NAACP in Lynchburg, Virginia, which they were also responsible for establishing in 1913. In association with James Weldon Johnson, the branch became fully active with ninety-six members as of July, 1918.[2] The Spencers’ home became an important center and intellectual salon for guests and dignitaries such as Langston Hughes, Marian Anderson, George Washington Carver, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., James Weldon Johnson, and W. E. B. Du Bois.”
John Chilembwe: Civil Rights leader responsible for the Chilembwe Uprising to resist colonialism in his native country of Malawi. Per his wiki, “Chilembwe organised an unsuccessful armed uprising against colonial rule, and was killed shortly thereafter by colonial forces. Today, Chilembwe is celebrated as a hero of independence in some African countries, and John Chilembwe Day is observed annually on 15 January in Malawi.”
Lawrence Carter: Civil Rights historian, per his wiki, “He is Professor of Religion, College Archivist and Curator at Morehouse College as well as the Dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse.”
Dr. Vernon Johns: Civil Rights Pioneer
