Qualla: Radford University

Radford University: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vejlenser, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 1910, Virginia carved out a college specifically for women, and tucked it into a double bend of the New River between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny Mountains. The State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford was a frankly practical institution: its purpose was to train teachers for Appalachia, where one-room schoolhouses outnumbered classrooms with running water. More than a century later, Radford University still occupies that same bend in the river - 211 acres of red-brick Georgian buildings, two quadrangles, and a long sloping lawn that runs down toward the railroad tracks and the water beyond.

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Image: Vejlenser | CC BY-SA 4.0

Radford University: A College Built for Women, Then Bigger

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vejlenser, CC BY-SA 4.0. For its first thirty-three years, Radford trained women for the schoolhouse - first as a normal school, then renamed the State Teachers College at Radford in 1924. The school's center of gravity sat squarely in the Appalachian region it served. Then, in 1943, came an arranged mar...

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Image: Vejlenser | CC BY-SA 4.0

Radford University: The Campus on the Bend

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vejlenser, CC BY-SA 4.0. The main academic complex sits in a tidy 76-acre core - administrative halls, residences, classrooms, and dining wrapped around a central lawn and two quadrangles. The Georgian brick anchors the architectural mood, but newer buildings have crept in: a College of Business and Econ...

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Image: Vejlenser | CC BY-SA 4.0

Radford University: Highlanders and a Planetarium

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Caballero1967, CC BY-SA 4.0. Radford named its teams the Highlanders in honor of the region's Scots-Irish heritage, and they compete in the Big South Conference. Sixteen NCAA varsity sports run out of the Dedmon Center, which opened in 1981 with a sixth-mile indoor jogging track, an arena, and a constellatio...

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Image: Caballero1967 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Radford University: Notable Hokies and Highlanders

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit H. B. Smith, Public domain. Radford's alumni roster bends toward sport, teaching, and one Paralympic gold. Frank Beamer, who would later coach Virginia Tech for nearly three decades and win 238 games, came through Radford first. Lynne Agee picked up more than 600 wins as a women's basketball coach. Track an...

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Image: H. B. Smith | Public domain

Radford University: Why the River Matters

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Vejlenser, CC BY-SA 4.0. The New River matters more than the name suggests. It is, in fact, one of the oldest rivers in North America - flowing north, unusually, from North Carolina up through Virginia and into West Virginia, where it eventually joins the Kanawha and then the Ohio. At Radford it takes a ...

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Image: Vejlenser | CC BY-SA 4.0