Randolph-Macon College

Randolph-Macon College

Randolph-Macon College, founded in 1830 in Ashland, Virginia, operates one of the oldest endowments in American higher education. The pool has been shaped by multi-generational donor relationships, most notably with the Brock family, whose gifts established the Brock Venture Fund and Brock Commons, and the Birdsong family, who funded Birdsong Hall. President Michael E. Hill, appointed in 2025, now oversees the college's financial strategy alongside Board Chair Sue Schick. The endowment's deployment spans real estate, public equities, and an unusually explicit venture capital sleeve for an institution of its size. The Brock Venture Fund provides students with hands-on experience while directing capital into late-stage, expansion, and seed-stage companies. Campus property holdings form a distinct real asset component, including the RMC Horse Farm two miles from campus, the Spotswood Village residential block, and several income-producing commercial buildings in Ashland such as Duke Hall and Payne Hall. The portfolio's venture strategy is listed as covering both early- and late-stage deals, though specific portfolio company names remain undisclosed. With over 1,600 students and 50 fields of study, the college's financial infrastructure includes membership in the National Association of College and University Business Officers, aligning its investment governance with peer endowments. The board includes trustees with commercial real estate and operating business backgrounds, such as Timothy P. O'Brien, a partner at MeriStar Holdings. President Michael E. Hill was appointed in 2025, succeeding President Emeritus Robert R. Lindgren, whose tenure included the expansion of the college's relationships with the United Methodist Church's Virginia Conference. The endowment's structural differentiator is its integration of a student-run venture fund within an NCAA Division III liberal arts college. Rather than outsourcing venture allocation entirely to fund-of-funds, the Brock Venture Fund creates a direct co-investment learning laboratory, blending educational mission with financial return objectives. This architecture links donor capital, campus operations, and investment committee oversight into a single governance model uncommon among peer institutions in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.