Celebrating 150 Years
Community support has been essential to Shenandoah’s 150 years of excellence.
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150 Years: A Sesquicentennial Celebration
For 150 years, Shenandoah University has been a cornerstone of higher education in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Founded on February 12, 1875, in Dayton, Virginia, Shenandoah took a bold step in 1960 by relocating 75 miles north to Winchester, at the top of Virginia, enabling it to grow and thrive.
Throughout a century and a half, Shenandoah has remained committed to providing innovative, high-quality, student-focused education with the community at the heart of everything it does.
Join all of us at the university as we honor our past and embrace our future.
150th Celebration Merch
Heritage Hill Albarino &
Twin Stars Norton
Drink a toast to our 150th celebration with Shenandoah University Heritage Hill Albarino 2023 and Shenandoah University Twin Stars Norton 2023.
Bold Moves Coffee
In 1960, our university made a bold move—relocating from our 1875 founding location in Dayton to Winchester, Virginia. This coffee honors our daring transition with a rich, robust blend that fuels forward momentum.
Buzzy’s Birthday Blast
This custom-made icefeatures Red Fox Creamery’s vanilla ice cream swirled with chunks of made-from-scratch birthday cake and red and blue star-shaped sprinkles that pay homage to Shenandoah’s meaning: “descendents of the stars.”
150th Tervis Tumbler
Enjoy your hot coffee or ice cold sodas in style in our 150th commemorative tumbler. The tumbler holds 16 oz of your favorite beverage and features the university’s sesquicentennial logo.
Historical Markers on Campus
A series of 10 wayfinding signs, dotted around Shenandoah University’s main campus, tells Shenandoah’s story from 1875 to today. These signs were created as part of a class project in Shenandoah’s Past: A Practice in Public History during the spring of 2024, sponsored by the James R. Wilkins, Sr. Charitable Trust, and erected in 2025 as part of Shenandoah’s 150th anniversary celebration year. By following this map and reading the signs, you can immerse yourself in Shenandoah’s past, experience its present, and look forward to its future with us!
Then And Now
Movement & Growth
Always moving forward
Shenandoah has always welcomed change. Since establishing itself in Winchester in 1960, it has consistently added to its footprint by building and renovating spaces on main campus, as well as expanding into downtown Winchester, the campus of Winchester Medical Center, Loudoun County, and Clarke County, Virginia.
Funkhouser to Fitzsimmons
Presidents set the tone
From the moment A.P. Funkhouser established the school that would one day become Shenandoah, it was clear that Shenandoah’s leaders would define its trajectory. This illustrious list includes presidents such as Dr. Forrest S. Racey, who oversaw Shenandoah’s move from Dayton to Winchester; Dr. James A. Davis, during whose tenure Shenandoah became a university; and Shenandoah’s current president, Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons, who has guided the university’s consistent growth. She is also the first woman to serve as the university’s president.
Longest- Serving Faculty Member
Teaching history while making history
Professor of History Warren Hofstra, Ph.D., joined Shenandoah in 1977, and today, he’s engaged in the cutting edge of his field, helping to develop projects like “The Great Experiment,” a virtual reality experience that allows users to step into the Electoral College debates of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Healthy Developments
Decades of care and growth
In 1962, Shenandoah took over the Winchester Hospital’s School of Nursing, which offered an associate’s degree. (The top photo is from the 1980s.) Since those early days, Shenandoah’s nursing program has seen extraordinary growth: its entry-level degree is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and the school offers an array of master’s and doctoral programs in advanced practice nursing, including Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwifery. The program also includes an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing for people who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field.
The Wilkins Building: An Evolving Space at the Heart of Campus
Wilkins Administration Building sports different looks over the years
The Wilkins Administration Building began its life within the first decade of Shenandoah’s relocation to Winchester as a student center. In 1990, a north end addition brought with it office space for admissions, financial aid, business and the president. The brick facade was completed in 2002, and by 2006, Brandt Student Center, located near Wilkins, opened on main campus.
Lasting Musical Traditions
Music has been part of Shenandoah from its earliest years
Adding James H. Ruebush to the staff in 1887 (the same year as the top photo) stimulated the growth of a strong music tradition at Shenandoah, which remains to this day, with a variety of music program offerings, ranging from performance and music education to music therapy and varied music technologies. Performing groups are also integral to the Shenandoah experience.
Buzzy Gets a Makeover
Our mascot as hero
Shenandoah’s mascot, Buzzy D. Hornet has had many different faces and designs over the years, with his most recent makeover in 2015, with a few tweaks here and there since. The top photo is Buzzy in 2003, while the bottom photo is today’s Buzzy, who can be seen spreading Shenandoah spirit at campus and community events all year long.
Healthy Developments
Team is an ODAC powerhouse
While baseball has long been part of the Shenandoah athletics scene (see the top photo from 1922), the team has been able to shine in the modern era, winning Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships in 2015, 2018, 2019 (bottom photo) and 2022. In 2009, before joining the ODAC, the team made its first trip to the NCAA Division III World Series. The team also has a permanent home at Bridgeforth Stadium in Jim Barnett Park, adjacent to Shenandoah’s main campus.