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Distinctions
College Distinctions
Randolph-Macon College is, by date of charter, the oldest Methodist-related college founded by Methodists in continuous operation.
Randolph-Macon College is the founding institution of what became a Randolph-Macon "system" of five colleges and preparatory schools. Of the four other institutions, Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg and Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal continue in operation, but are no longer formally tied to Randolph-Macon College. Randolph-Macon College in Ashland became coeducational in 1971.
Among Randolph-Macon's current or past alumni are three state governors, four United States ambassadors, a U.S. Senate minority leader, and 12 college or university presidents
Randolph-Macon College has been a
Phi Beta Kappa
institution since 1923. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most respected undergraduate honors society in the United States. For more than 200 years the society has pursued its mission of fostering and recognizing excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
Randolph-Macon is the only college in the nation with a direct affiliation to the
Agora Archeological Excavations
in Athens, Greece. The director of the excavations, Dr. John M. Camp, II, serves on the Randolph-Macon faculty and leads travel/study courses for Randolph-Macon students in Athens during January Term and the summer months..
Randolph-Macon is ranked by
U.S. News & World Report
as one of approximately 160
"national caliber liberal arts colleges,"
which are highly selective schools that award more than half of their degrees in the liberal arts and provides superior academic experiences for the academically ambitious student.
Since 1920, when statistics were first kept, a higher percentage of Randolph-Macon graduates have gone on to earn PhDs than that of any independent college in the state of Virginia.
Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney College play in the oldest small-college football rivalry in the South.
Three buildings on the Randolph-Macon campus are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
(Washington and Franklin Hall, Pace-Armistead Hall, and the Old Chapel).
Randolph-Macon was the first college in the nation to move from a Latin/Greek based curriculum to one that was based on the English language. After experimenting with this concept in the 1830's, the college, under the leadership of Professor Thomas Price, created America's first School of English in 1869. When Professor Price left Randolph-Macon to join the faculty at the University of Virginia and then Columbia University, these two universities also adopted his innovation. From Columbia, Professor Price's idea spread to Amherst and then Dartmouth and eventually to practically every American College and university in the United States.
Randolph-Macon was the first college in the South to build a gymnasium and the first in the nation to require physical education for a degree.
Randolph-Macon was the first college in the nation to require laboratory work in connection with science courses for a degree and is the founding college of
Chi Beta Phi
, the national science honorary, which was organized on the Ashland campus in 1916.