Richard Bland College

HISTORY OF RBC POLITICAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH OF RICHARD BLAND COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY IN VIRGINIA 1958-1972 by DR. JAMES B. MCNEER The need for a two-year college in Southside Virginia was enhanced by the interest of and support generated by The College of William and Mary. Even though William and Mary was not the first four-year insti­tution approached by interested citizens in the Petersburg area, it was the one that agreed to support a local branch college. The establish­ment of Richard Bland by William and Mary would serve as a base for William and Mary exerting an influence on the direction of higher education in Virginia, reaching from south of Richmond to the North Carolina line and east to the Atlantic Seaboard. This political goal of William and Mary coincided with the desire of certain citizens in the Petersburg area to make available to high school graduates an inexpensive, state-supported, commuter institution near their homes. Only Virginia State College, a four-year, black, state-supported institution existed in Southside Virginia at the time of the creation of Richard Bland College. BORN OF INNOVATION 1960 Richard Bland College (RBC), Virginia’s selective, two-year, residential, liberal arts transfer institution, was born through innovation. In 1959, years before the Virginia Community College system was imagined, Frank Ernst – a Gateway region native, entrepreneur, and retired executive of Hopewell’s Allied Chemical Plant – proposed the creation of an institution grounded in the liberal arts tradition with opportunities for specialized training in in-demand fields such as engineering to the State Council of Higher Education. After discussions with Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, Ernst found a willing partner in the College of William & Mary, the second-oldest university in the United States, who founded Richard Bland College in 1960. RBC has since offered multiple certificates and university-parallel two-year degrees. SEIZE YOUR POTENTIAL AT RICHARD BLAND COLLEGE By attending Richard Bland College and earning an Associate Degree, you will have completed the first two years toward the Baccalaureate Degree. Richard Bland College has guaranteed transfer agreements gwith four-year colleges and universities across the Commonwealth that will enhance your educational opportunities. The Board of Visitors of William & Mary has authorized Richard Bland College to confer Associate degrees designed for transfer to four-year institutions in Virginia and throughout the United States. Mission and Vision Our Mission Our mission is to provide education, information resources, services, and facilities that advance learning, teaching, research, and creative activity. As an academic department of the College, the RBC Library educates our RBC community in the effective discovery, evaluation and use of information providing diverse information resources, technologies, and study spaces, and collaborating to provide research, writing, and academic support services. Our Vision The Richard Bland College Library will be an innovative hub where knowledge is accessed, produced and shared, and where high-impact instruction is modelled and implemented in state-of the art classrooms. The sum of what we provide—education, information resources, learning and creative spaces–will demonstrably contribute to student engagement, learning outcomes and retention, as well as student and faculty success. The RBC Library will be the place where the College’s unique and distinctive Archives and Special collections are appropriately conserved and promoted to the campus community and beyond, enhancing the profile of the College, and demonstrably contributing to RBC Advancement.