Randolph-Macon Woman’s College was founded over 115 years ago in a world largely opposed to the “dangerous” idea of educating women. William Waugh Smith, then president of the all-male Randolph-Macon College, had the courage to disagree, and set about making plans for a "college where our young women may obtain an education equal to that given in our best colleges for young men and under environments in harmony with the highest ideals of womanhood." With no backing from his trustees, Smith took his cause to the road, eventually winning support of the Rivermont Land Company,... which donated 20 acres of bucolic land in the quiet town of Lynchburg. Thanks to the generosity of 150 local residents, Smith was able to raise the $100,000 necessary to officially found Randolph-Macon Woman’s College on March 10, 1891. The college welcomed its first class of 36 students and 12 professors in 1893. From the start, R-MWC was a standout among Woman’s colleges of its day, particularly in the South. Until 1903, R-MWC was the only southern institution of higher learning for women that offered four years of study. And in 1916, it became the first Woman’s college south of Washington, D.C.
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