University of Richmond

University of Richmond – Richmond, VA

When I arrived at the University of Richmond, I was not surprised by the incredible beauty of the campus or the serene feeling that I was in a forest or an arboretum, but I did learn a few secrets. I found out that it once was two separate schools, the Richmond College for men and the Wentworth College for women, and the site they are on now was an old abandoned amusement park. A benefit to this day is that they have separate Academic Deans and their own Student Governments with equal numbers of leadership opportunities for men and women. The two campuses are connected by the Taylor Commons, their Student Union, and a picturesque lake in the middle of campus with living and academic buildings on each side. Another unique opportunity at Richmond is the Jepson School of Leadership, one of the first dedicated schools of leadership in the country. Students combine a major from Jepson with other majors or minors and 240 hours of internships and service learning hours to offer a very unusual experience when one enters the workforce. The Spiders have a great location two hours from Virginia Beach and two hours from the Blue Ridge Mountains, and conveniently located near Richmond with fabulous restaurants, museums, 6 Fortune 500 companies and an Amtrak station with trains to D.C. and New York City.