Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia, United States. Founded on March 5, 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Originally established as the Farmville Female Seminary, a female seminary, normal school, and college, later becoming widely known as Longwood or Longwood College. The university became coeducational in 1976 and officially attained university status on July 1, 2002.
Longwood University comprises three undergraduate academic colleges: the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economics, and the College of Education and Human Services. Academically advanced students may also choose the Cormier Honors College while graduate students and working professionals are admitted into the College of Graduate and Professional Studies.
In early April 1865, armies under the command of Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant marched past the north end of campus on Lee's retreat to Appomattox just days before the end of the American Civil War. At the south end of campus lies the former Robert Russa Moton High School, site of the 1951 student strike that became one of the five court cases culminating in the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision.
History
Early history (1839–1884)
Longwood was founded on March 5, 1839 as the Farmville Female Seminary Association. Led by Solomon Lea, a Methodist minister who had taught at Randolph–Macon College, the school flourished. Lea left to become the first president of Greensboro Female Seminary (now Greensboro College) in his native North Carolina, and several presidents and name changes followed in the subsequent decades. Led by a number of Methodist ministers, the school offered English, Latin, Greek, French, and piano.
As was common among female seminaries during the Reconstruction Era, Farmville Female College, as the institution was then known, fell into a period of deep financial difficulty. The decade following the Civil War saw many seminaries around the South shutter their doors. The college was given new life on June 5, 1875, with a new charter granted and the college renamed Farmville College. Paul Whitehead, a minister from nearby Nelson County, Virginia, who had been president of Wesleyan Female College at Murfreesboro, North Carolina, was appointed president. Under Whitehead, enrollment grew by nearly half, topping 100 students in 1876. Whitehead resigned in 1872 to return to full-time ministry.
Normal School (1884–1949)
Farmville College was reinvented once again on March 7, 1884, as the State Female Normal School—the brainchild of William Henry Ruffner, the first Virginia State Superintendent of Instruction. Modeled after the French École normale supérieure, which had been developed in the late 18th century as a model for teacher preparation, the State Female Normal School is one of the oldest of several normal schools in the state.
In 1902, Joseph L. Jarman was named president of the State Female Normal School, a post that lasted an astounding forty-four years. Jarman reshaped the physical campus from a single Victorian structure to a row of colonnaded Jeffersonian brick buildings that forms the core of today's campus. The academic program was also overhauled: the two-year teacher training program that had been in place since the college's founding was replaced with a four-year college academic program with permission to grant degrees. Jarman instituted the Honor Code, which survives to this day, and the student government. Through still several name changes—State Female Normal School (1884), State Normal School for Women (1914) and State Teachers College (1924)—Jarman shaped the institution into one of the most well-respected teacher preparatory colleges in the state.
During Jarman's presidency, the college purchased in 1928 the nearby estate of the Longwood House, which would become the namesake of the institution in years to come.
Longwood College (1949–2002)
With an expanding curriculum and growing class sizes, State Teachers College was renamed a penultimate time to Longwood College, its namesake being the nearby estate purchased by the Jarman administration. Longwood—with a focus still very much on teacher preparation—expanded its academic degrees, and in 1954 was authorized to issue graduate diplomas. The campus grew quickly in the ensuing years—three dormitories were constructed perpendicular to the core four Jeffersonian buildings: Wheeler, Cox and South Cunningham dormitories all arose between 1959 and 1963.
In 1964, the issue of coeducation arose but the Board of Visitors rejected the notion. The tide swung four years later, when Longwood began to admit male summer school transfers, and then junior and senior transfers in 1971. Men were admitted as day students in 1973, by order of the Virginia Department of Education until Longwood went fully coeducational in 1976.
In 1981, Janet Greenwood became the first woman president in the modern history of Longwood. She served until 1987.
William F. Dorrill, president from 1988 to 1996, was instrumental in increasing Longwood's international population and expanding study-abroad opportunities for students and faculty through partnerships with numerous educational institutions around the world.
A fire burned the Rotunda building on April 24, 2001. The building was undergoing extensive renovations at the time, and no one was injured in the blaze, though the Rotunda and much of Grainger Hall required rebuilding.
A popular myth holds that whenever the college changed its name, a fire broke out on campus.
November 24, 1923: Just before the school changed its name to State Teachers College, a fire destroyed the dining hall that sat behind iconic Ruffner Hall. March 9, 1949: Weeks before the school changed its name to Longwood College, a fire destroyed White House Hall, a building next to the Rotunda (currently where part of Main Tabb sits) and a mirror image to Grainger Hall. White House Hall housed an auditorium that was destroyed in the fire, but then-President Dabney Lancaster opted to wait two years for a new auditorium could be completed instead of rebuilding White House Hall. Tabb Hall was eventually expanded to connect directly to the Rotunda. April 23, 2001: Just before the college changed its name to Longwood University, the Rotunda caught fire during renovations. Grainger Hall, which had been connected to the Rotunda at the time, suffered severe water damage and also had to be rebuilt.
Longwood University (2002–present)
Virginia Governor Mark Warner signed legislation designating Longwood a university on April 2, 2002, one year to the day after The Great Fire that burned the Rotunda and significantly damaged Grainger Hall. Then-president Patricia P. Cormier said at the time that a "university is a better reflection of the type of institution that Longwood is today. We are a comprehensive entity with a broad array of undergraduate majors and minors as well as graduate programs." Since becoming a university, Longwood has expanded its physical campus and academic offerings.
The John H. and Karen Chichester Science Center opened in 2005. Longwood's Health and Fitness Center, which opened in 2007, was the first higher education building in Virginia to be awarded the gold level of LEED certification. A new 41,983-square-foot Center for Communication Studies and Theater opened in 2009 to house the rapidly growing communication studies major. That building is adjacent to Bedford Hall, home of the art program, which was expanded and renovated in 2012. Three residence halls were renovated between 2007–14: Wheeler Hall (2007), Cox Hall (2008) and Stubbs Hall (2014).
Two residence halls and a commons building opened in 2013 at Lancer Park, an off-campus apartment complex. The residence halls house about 450 students, in addition to the 264 students who were already living there in apartments and townhouses. Longwood has managed the complex since 2006.
In keeping with campus tradition, in 2004 three major campus buildings were named for former university presidents. The dining hall was named Dorrill Dining Hall for William F. Dorrill, president from 1988–1996; the library was named Greenwood Library for Janet D. Greenwood (1981–1987); and Lancer Hall was named Willett Hall for Henry I. Willett Jr. (1967–1981).
Since receiving university designation, the academic profile has expanded, notably through the addition of programs in nursing, environmental science, athletic training, animation, and cybersecurity, among many others.On March 23, 2013, Longwood's Board of Visitors introduced W. Taylor Reveley IV as the university's 26th president. Reveley's father, W. Taylor Reveley III, was the president of the College of William & Mary, and his grandfather W. Taylor Reveley II was president of Hampden–Sydney College.
On September 23, 2015, the Commission on Presidential Debates named Longwood as the host for the 2016 United States vice presidential debate, which occurred on October 4, 2016.
Longwood University Coat of Arms & Armorial Bearings (2026) On June 22, 2026, Longwood announced that the university had been formally granted an official coat of arms and heraldic insignia by the College of Arms in the United Kingdom. The grant made Longwood one of only three colleges and universities in Virginia to receive official armorial bearings from the College of Arms, alongside College of William & Mary and Hampden–Sydney College. Developed through a petition process that began in 2024, the design incorporates symbols associated with the university’s history, mission, and longstanding connection to Joan of Arc, including fleurs-de-lis, a sword, and heraldic coronets. Additional elements reference Virginia, education, citizen leadership, and Longwood’s traditions. The letters patent conferring the arms were presented at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., on June 16, 2026, and the completed heraldic achievement was adopted as part of the university’s official visual identity.
Academics
Longwood University is a small, highly residential public university that offers more than 100 majors and minors across three main academic colleges. It requires every student who graduates to complete an internship, directed research or guided field experience in their field of study.
One of the centerpiece hands-on learning opportunities available to students is LU@YNP, an annual interdisciplinary program held at Yellowstone National Park that exposes participants to public issues in and around the park. In addition, students have the opportunity to study abroad at one of many faculty-led intensive study trips to places like Costa Rica, Thailand, and Greece.
Longwood is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences
Individual program accreditationsLongwood Theatre programNational Association of Schools of Theatre.Longwood Music departmentNational Association of Schools of MusicNursing programCommission on Collegiate Nursing Education
The largest college at Longwood, the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences houses the core of the liberal arts offerings at the university and offers 18 majors with dozens of minors and concentrations.
The English and Modern Languages department at Longwood University awards the annual John Dos Passos Prize For Literature, founded in 1980. Notable past recipients include Graham Greene, Tom Wolfe, Shelby Foote, Paule Marshall, Ernest J. Gaines, E. Annie Proulx, and Sherman Alexie. The 2014 Dos Passos Prize winner was Ruth Ozeki.
The college is named for John Randall Cook '52 and Waverly Manson Cole, who endowed the college in 2006.
College of Business and Economics