Bridgewater College

ABOUT UNIVERSITY

Bridgewater College, located in Bridgewater, Virginia, is a private liberal arts institution founded in 1880 by Daniel Christian Flory under the original name "Spring Creek Normal and Collegiate Institute." It was chartered in 1889 as Bridgewater College and became the first four-year liberal arts college in Virginia to admit both men and women from its inception. The college awarded its first Bachelor of Arts degree in 1891. In 1895, Walter B. Yount became the institution’s first president, followed by John S. Flory in 1910, who had also been an early graduate and faculty member. Bridgewater College is recognized as the first senior coeducational liberal arts college in Virginia and was among the few of its kind in the southern United States to receive accreditation during that era. The oldest part of the campus includes five brick academic buildings constructed before 1911 and is part of the Bridgewater Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. As of today, the college serves approximately 1,800 students. A tragic event occurred on February 1, 2022, when campus police officer John Painter and campus safety officer J.J. Jefferson were shot and killed while responding to a report of a suspicious person. The assailant, Alexander Wyatt Campbell, a former student, was apprehended after a manhunt and later sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 2024. In another significant development, the college has also taken steps to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) by returning sacred funerary remains and items that had previously been donated. These efforts are part of a broader movement in higher education to honor Indigenous rights and historical accountability. Bridgewater College continues to uphold its legacy of inclusion, education, and community responsibility.