| Shenandoah University | |
| Motto: | The Big Little University Rising |
| President: | Tracy Fitzsimmons |
| Country: | United States |
| Pushpin Map: | Shenandoah Valley#USA Virginia#USA |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Shenandoah Valley##Location in Virginia##Location in United States |
| Coordinates: | 39.166°N -78.158°W |
| Campus: | Small city |
| Undergrad: | 2,461[1] |
| Nickname: | Hornets |
| Endowment: | $68.4 million (2020)[2] |
| Colors: | Red and blue |
Shenandoah University is a private university in Winchester, Virginia. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students across more than 200 areas of study in six schools and colleges. Shenandoah University is one of five United Methodist Church-affiliated institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia.[3]
Rev. Abram Paul Funkhouser and Rev. John (Jay) Paul Fries founded the school as Shenandoah Seminary in 1875. At the time, it was located on a 10-acre campus in Dayton, Virginia, and classes were initially held in a two-room lo structure.[4] [5] The school had 11 students enrolled in its first year.[5]
Shenandoah Seminary became a junior college in 1924, changing its name to Shenandoah College the following year. Shenandoah Conservatory became a separate corporation in 1937 and began granting four-year degrees.
In 1960, Shenandoah College and the Shenandoah Conservatory moved to the 126-acre Winchester campus and began offering four-year degrees in 1974 (at which time the college and conservatory corporations were merged). It sold its Dayton campus for $107,875.[6]
Shenandoah obtained university status on January 1, 1991, and today the student body represents 48 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The university, as of fall 2023, has 265 full-time and 189 part-time faculty members. The student body represents 42 foreign countries. Over 70 percent of full-time faculty have an earned doctorate (Ph.D. or similar) in their fields or other terminal degree.
According to the university's official history page, the name Shenandoah is derived from the Native American legend of Zynodoa, a brave warrior whose life of strength and courage and his appreciation of beauty resulted in having a river and a valley named for him. Popular myth further ascribes translation of the word "Shenandoah" to mean "daughter of the stars."[7]
The university operates in five locations:
The main location of campus is in Winchester near Interstate 81, and the Health Professions Building is located near the Winchester Medical Center. The Loudoun site in Ashburn, Virginia, is home to graduate programs in business, education, leadership studies, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant studies, as well as the accelerated-second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. There are also a number of satellite offices and facilities located throughout Winchester.
In 2013, Shenandoah University accepted stewardship of 195 acres of land along the Shenandoah River, now known as the Shenandoah River Campus at Cool Spring Battlefield. Purchased by the Civil War Trust in 2012, stewardship of the property transferred to the university in spring 2013 to protect and preserve the former battlefield site. The property now serves as an outdoor classroom and living laboratory for the university community and the general public.
Shenandoah offers more than 200 areas of study at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral-degree levels, as well as through undergraduate and graduate certificates, across six schools. Its programming includes Virginia's first bachelor's degrees in virtual reality design and esports management, as well as the state's oldest music therapy program (offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels).
Shenandoah University no longer offers a tenure track for new faculty members. Instead, new faculty members undergo a 5-year probationary period, after which they are eligible for 3-year, renewable "career faculty contracts."[8]
See main article: Shenandoah Hornets.
The Shenandoah athletic teams are called the Hornets. The university is a member of the NCAA Division III ranks, primarily competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Hornets previously competed in the USA South Athletic Conference (USA South) from 1992–93 to 2011–12.
Shenandoah competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball.
The university announced the creation of a Marching Band in June 2021, which debuted during the Fall 2022 semester.[9]
In fall 2023, football safety Haley Van Voorhis became one of the first women to play a position other than kicker in an NCAA football game, at any level.