The Symbols of the College

The Simpson Mace

With a shaft of oak and maple, the Simpson Mace is a symbol of academic authority at Randolph-Macon College. Dr. W. Schuyler Miller carried it for the first time on September 16, 1988, as the faculty processed to the fall convocation and dedication ceremony for the McGraw-Page Library. The names of all Randolph-Macon presidents are inscribed on the mace.

Dr. and Mrs. Grellet C. Simpson presented the mace in honor of Dr. Thomas McNider Simpson, Jr., Class of 1901, a Randolph-Macon professor of mathematics and dean of the faculty, and the 16 members of the Simpson family who attended the College between 1894 and 1984. Grellet Simpson, Class of 1930, was a professor of English and dean of the faculty at Randolph-Macon.

The Presidential Medallion

Susannah Wagner, a registered British silversmith of Ashland, Va., created the Presidential Medallion in 1998 using a silver representation of the College’s seal created by the Franklin Mint.

The chain and frame around the seal are silver; the oak and maple leaf insets within the chain are gold. The medallion, which symbolizes the Office of the President, was a gift to the College from Dr. and Mrs. John B. Werner of Richmond, Va. Dr. Werner was a trustee emeritus and a member of the Randolph-Macon Class of 1953.

In 2026, it was refurbished to include the names of all of the College’s Presidents on its chains.

The College Seal

The official College seal depicts Randolph-Macon’s first building, a four-story brick structure built in 1832, which still stands today on the school’s original campus in Boydton, Virginia. Encircling this image are the words “Sigillum Collegi Randolph-Maconensis in Virginia”—“Seal of Randolph-Macon College in Virginia.” The seal appears on all Randolph-Macon College diplomas and other official documents of the College.