Christopher Newport University

In 1960, the city of Newport News joined with the Commonwealth of Virginia to create Christopher Newport College (CNC), which opened its doors in 1961 and at the time was located in the old John W. Daniel School building. The college was founded as an extension of the College of William & Mary and offered extension courses that had already been available in the area for some time.

In 1964, the college was moved to its current location, a 75-acre (300,000 m2) tract of land seized by the city via eminent domain. That same year, the college's first permanent building was dedicated as Christopher Newport Hall.

The site chosen was very controversial. Since at least the early 1900s, it had been home to an African-American community that had, over time, prospered and grown more middle-class. In the 1950s and 1960s, white city leaders used eminent domain to seize stable Black neighborhoods for whites-only schools three times. As a local Black surgeon wrote to the local Daily Press newspaper: "Does it not seem more than coincidental that, with the hundreds of undeveloped acres in the city, the sites recently chosen by the city for condemnation are sites owned by Negroes?"

The future site of CNC, known as Shoe Lane, was located adjacent to the whites-only James River Country Club, whose members included much of the city's powerful elite. At a council hearing on the proposed site, civil rights attorney W. Hale Thompson testified that the city's goal "was to eliminate the possibility of Negroes building homes in that area." University president Anthony Santoro later called the choice of the site an "egregious wrong" and said "the city has to own up to the fact that this was a deliberate attempt to get rid of a Black community, because there were many places that the school could have been built."

Originally, CNC was treated as an off-site department of William & Mary, and its chief executive was called a director. By 1970, the title had been changed to president. In 1971, CNC became a four-year college; however, it remained an extension of William & Mary until 1977 when it became an autonomous four-year institution. In 1992, CNC was granted university status under the leadership of its fourth president, Anthony R. Santoro, who oversaw the building of the first residence hall. In 1996, CNU made plans to become more competitive. Those plans included the expansion of university property, several new buildings, and residence halls, as well as overhauling academic programs and the admission process.

Presidents

William G. Kelly, 2023–present

Adelia Thompson (interim), 2022–2023

Paul S. Trible Jr., 1996–2022

The School of Business is accredited by the AACSB. The Luter School offers degrees in management, marketing, accounting, and finance, and includes a Masters in Financial Analysis program. Alan Witt, Class of 1976 graduate and former CEO of PBMares, was named dean of the Luter School of Business on August 17, 2021.

Department of Fine Art and Art History

The Fine Art Department, located in the Mary M. Torggler Fine Art Center, offers a degree in fine arts with concentrations in art history and studio art.

Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center

First open in fall 2021, the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center serves not only as Christopher Newport University's Department of Fine Art and Art History academic building, but also as a fine arts center for the surrounding area of Hampton Roads, Virginia. According to their website, the Torggler Center, "seeks to enrich the cultural landscape of the commonwealth of Virginia by presenting exceptional visual arts programming that empowers creative expression, critical thinking, lifelong learning and cultural dialogue". The Torggler Center hosts rotating exhibitions, community classes, university classes, and alumni centered galleries.