Hollins University - List of Firsts

List of Firsts

• first chartered women’s college in Virginia
• first college in Virginia to name a woman president, Matty Cocke, 1901
• the nation’s first women’s intramural sports team established at Hollins, 1917
• Presser Hall, 1926, the first of numerous music buildings nationwide donated by the Presser Foundation of Philadelphia
• first exhibition gallery in the Roanoke region, 1948
• Hollins Abroad-Paris among the first abroad programs in the country, 1955
• first women’s college in Virginia to offer coed graduate programs, 1958
• one of the first writers in residence programs in America was established at Hollins, 1959
• with the 4-1-4 calendar, Hollins established one of the first Short Terms to be used for innovative classes, research, independent study, internships, and study abroad, 1968
• first liberal arts college in region to network all residence halls, a port per pillow, 1992
• first graduate program focusing on the writing and study of children’s literature established, 1993
• Wyndham Robertson Library named the first National Literary Landmark in Virginia, 1999