Sweet Briar College

History

Sweet Briar plantation

The college is named after the former plantation of Elijah Fletcher and his descendants. Fletcher was a 19th-century teacher, businessman and mayor of Lynchburg, Virginia. He married Maria Antoinette Crawford in 1813 and purchased the Sweet Briar property from her aunt and uncle, using slave labor to run both the plantation and his household. The plantation was initially known as Locust Ridge; Crawford supposedly renamed it "Sweet Briar" after the roses which grew on the land. Their daughter, Indiana Fletcher, was born in 1828 in Lynchburg.

Indiana attended the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, Doane Academy, and later toured Europe with her brother and sister. She met James Henry Williams, a student at Union Theological Seminary in 1858, and after reuniting in Virginia following the American Civil War, they were married in 1865.

Their daughter, Maria Georgiana "Daisy" Williams, was born in 1867. At Elijah Fletcher's death, Indiana inherited the plantation. James Williams gave up his initial career as a clergyman to maintain the property. Daisy Williams died at the age of 16 in 1884. Both James and Indiana Fletcher-Williams were devastated at her death, and James expressed a wish in his own will that a school might be established in honor of Daisy. William died in 1889, leaving his entire estate to his wife, and Indiana's brother Sidney also gave her additional property upon his death in 1898. When Indiana died in 1900, she bequeathed Sweet Briar plantation to become a school for young women.

By his death in 1858, Elijah Fletcher enslaved over 110 people. After the emancipation in 1865, several formerly enslaved people and descendants of enslaved people continued to work for pay and live at Sweet Briar, including Martha Penn Taylor, who worked for three generations of the Fletcher-Williams family, and Signora Hollins (who was Indiana Fletcher's childhood playmate). Some descendants of the people enslaved by the family still work at the college, and others hold family reunions on campus.

Indiana Fletcher Williams' bequest and official opening

In 1901, with the assistance of then Virginia state senator Carter Glass, the Virginia General Assembly issued a charter to Sweet Briar Institute as indicated in the will of Indiana Fletcher Williams. The will stated that the land of Sweet Briar plantation must be used as a "school or seminary to be known as the "Sweet Briar institute," for the education of white girls and young women. It shall be the general scope and object of the school to impart to its students such education in sound learning, and such physical, moral and religious training as shall, in the judgment of the directors, best fit them to be useful members of society".

In 1906, Sweet Briar College officially opened with 51 students and granted its first AB degrees in 1910. In 1932, Sweet Briar's study abroad exchange program with the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, was established. In 1948, the renowned Junior Year in France (JYF) program was launched, followed by a number of other study abroad programs.

Civil Rights era changes

Legal action to alter Indiana Fletcher Williams' will was required to admit African-American students, as it had limited the purpose of the college to the education of solely white women. On August 17, 1964, wishing to eliminate "white" from the charter and comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sweet Briar filed a bill of complaint with the Amherst County Circuit Court. The request was initially denied at the state level, with the Commonwealth's Attorney General stating that the will was "plain, unambiguous, conclusive, and binding".

After several years of unsuccessful state litigation, the college filed a complaint with the federal United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. On April 25, 1966, Judge Thomas J. Michie issued a temporary restraining order that prevented enforcement of the racial restriction. On July 17, 1967, a three-judge Charlottesville court confirmed permanence of the restraining order. The first African-American student, Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, was admitted to the college in September 1966.

Distinguishing features and early decades

Sweet Briar long held a robust academic reputation. During its first decade, Sweet Briar ran a "sub-college" department to prepare students for college-level work. The original board of trustees appointed in Williams' will maintained that the college would be the academic equivalent of Smith, Wellesley and Mount Holyoke. The difference in Sweet Briar's curriculum was the inclusion of "hands-on" or "practical" courses, as well as physical education, in accordance with Williams' directive that the school produce "useful members of society". This forward-thinking approach evolved into the college's core mission, where students have direct access to their disciplines while gaining real-world and classroom learning experience. During the first few years of the college, this concept quickly gave way to a more traditional liberal arts curriculum.

2015 closure attempt

On March 3, 2015, the college's board of directors, following a unanimous vote on February 28, 2015, announced the college would close on August 25, 2015, due to "insurmountable financial challenges". They cited declining enrollment and an endowment insufficient to cover potentially large-scale changes needed to boost enrollment, like coeducation. Another possible factor presented by the board was a declining interest in the traditional women's college model. Sweet Briar had explored merging with other stronger institutions including the University of Virginia, but nothing came of it.

The board announced that academic activity was to cease on August 25, 2015, the college's pending closing date. Some professors said they received termination notices stating their last day of work would be May 30, 2015; the last day of employment for most was June 30, 2015.

Between 2011 and March 2015, Sweet Briar's endowment had dropped from $96.2 to $84 million, as the college drew on endowment for operating expenses. Most of the college's endowment is restricted, meaning the money must serve designated purposes, such as scholarships or faculty chairs. According to Standard & Poor's (S&P), which rates the college's bond debt, only $19 million was unrestricted, $18 million temporarily restricted, and $53 million permanently restricted. Sweet Briar is burdened with about $25 million in debt owed primarily to bondholders, and the college faced the possibility of default and an accelerated lump-sum payment of the entire amount.

College Board representatives explained that with insolvency inevitable—even though the college was still technically solvent—the Board felt the responsible course was an advance announcement of the closing. That would let enrolled students transfer at the beginning of a new academic year and prevent an entering first-year class from having to transfer after only one semester. It would also allow the college to honor financial obligations and provide severance to faculty and staff.

A group of Sweet Briar alumnae, students, faculty, and supporters united to save the college from closing through legal action, social media and a fundraising campaign, "Saving Sweet Briar". Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. asserted that the financial decline cited as the reason for closing was overstated or illusory, and sought the resignation of interim President James F. Jones and the board of directors. In a return statement, the President and the Board declined resignation, saying that doing so would "further destabilize an already fragile situation", and that allegations against them were "wrong and unfair".

Revitalization

Sweet Briar's board is historically elected annually in the spring, however Saving Sweet Briar and plaintiffs in the litigations appointed an entirely new board in July 2015. In a conference call vote, the new board unanimously installed Phillip Stone as the new president and formally rescinded the previous board's announcement that the school was closing.

Stone announced in newspaper interviews that he did not regard this as an interim or one-year appointment, and that in years to come he intended to increase enrollment beyond Sweet Briar's highest past student count. Stone invited most faculty and staff members to remain in their positions; the settlement included paying six months' severance to any who elected to depart. The settlement required Saving Sweet Briar to deliver $12 million by September 2015 to help cover 2015–16 operating costs. The group met and exceeded its target, providing $12.143 million by September 2. In November 2015 the college finances proved strong enough that the board decided not to draw on the promised $16 million which the court had made available from the endowment, reserving the option to do so later if necessary.

On April 23, 2016, the Board of Directors announced that Stone would be stepping down as the president to allow the Board to appoint a permanent leader. On February 6, 2017, the college announced that Meredith Jung-En Woo would become the 13th president of the college, to be instated on May 15, 2017.

Under Woo the college announced a radical departure from the traditional academic curriculum at Sweet Briar for the fall 2018 semester, restructuring it to remove historic academic departments and replace them with three "centers": Engineering, Science and Technology in Society; Human and Environmental Sustainability; and Creativity, Design and the Arts. The traditional general education requirements was replaced with a new core curriculum program based around women's leadership.

Semesters changed from a 15-week system to "3-12-12-3"-week semesters, with the three-week terms allowing for focus on opportunities such as intensive classes, study abroad, and research opportunities.

In January 2016, the college announced that it had received more than 1000 applications for the 2016–2017 academic year and that it did not plan to touch the $16 million of restricted funds initially planned to be released from the endowment by the attorney general.

Presidents

Mary K. Benedict (1906–1916)

Emilie Watts McVea (1916–1925)

Meta Glass (1925–1946)

Martha B. Lucas (1946–1950)

Anne Gary Pannell (1950–1971)

Harold B. Whiteman Jr. (1971–1983)

Nenah Elinor Fry (1983–1990)

Barbara A. Hill (1990–1996)

Elisabeth Showalter Muhlenfeld (1996–2009)

Jo Ellen Parker (2009–2014)

James F. Jones Jr. (interim president, 2014–2015)

Phillip C. Stone (2015–2017)

Meredith Jung-En Woo (2017–2023)

Mary Pope Maybank Hutson (2023–present)

Academics

The college offers 17 majors, 21 minors, 3 preprofessional programs (pre-law, pre-medicine, and pre-veterinary), 2 certificate programs (arts management and equine studies), teacher licensure in 10 areas, and 1 graduate degree (Master of Arts in Teaching).

Sweet Briar offers the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science degrees for undergraduate students. It is the second women's college to offer an ABET-accredited engineering degree.

Sweet Briar has a student/faculty ratio of 9 to 1, with 84% of classes having fewer than 20 students. For 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked the college tied for No.29 in Most Innovative Schools and tied for No.35 in Top Performers on Social Mobility, both out of 210 national liberal arts colleges.

The college offers several study abroad programs, most with a focus on foreign language, such as its Junior Year in France (JYF) program. Other programs include the Japanese Studies Program at Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts, Wake Forest/Southern Atlantic States Association for Asian and African Studies (SASASAAS) Program in China-Beijing, Intercollegiate Center of Classical Studies in Rome, the American School of Classical Studies Summer Program at Athens, the National Security Education Program (NSEP) in multiple countries, and other programs in different locations. With approval, students earn credit for international internships.

Sweet Briar offers several academic fellowships and grants for its existing students, including:

Sweet Briar College's Honors Program offers fellowships to students to support independent-research projects under the supervision of faculty mentors. Projects may be interdisciplinary and include multiple mentors.

The Student Research and Creative Endeavors Grants provide up to $500 to offset costs associated with student research or creative projects. Grant applications may be from individual students or teams of students.

Undergraduate admissions

In 2026, Sweet Briar accepted 71.7% of undergraduate applicants, with admission standards considered challenging and with those enrolled having an average 3.54 high school GPA. The college does not require submission of standardized test scores but they will be considered if submitted, Sweet Briar being a test optional school. Those enrolled that submitted test scores had an average 1210 SAT score (25% submitting scores) or average 24 ACT score (9% submitting scores). Sweet Briar does not have an application fee; it is free to apply. Applicants are required to submit GPAs, to submit recommendations, and to complete a college preparatory program. Submission of high school class rank is not required, but will be considered if submitted.

Rankings

For 2026, Sweet Briar is ranked tied for No. 164 out of 207 National Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report, tied for No. 56 in Best Undergraduate Teaching, tied for No. 78 in Top Performers on Social Mobility, and tied for No.113 out of 292 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs where a doctorate is not offered for its ABET-accredited program.

Architecture

The college's architecture is dominated by the work of Ralph Adams Cram, who also lent his architectural expertise to the campuses of Princeton University and West Point, among others. Although Cram's forte was Gothic Revival, he designed Sweet Briar in the Colonial Revival style, using red brick buildings with white balustrades and arcades.

Twenty-one of the thirty campus buildings were designated as the "Sweet Briar College Historic District" by the National Register of Historic Places. Sweet Briar House, which traditionally houses the college president, is among these buildings.

The campus property includes the Sweet Briar plantation burial ground (known as the slave cemetery), where upwards of 60 slaves are buried.

Archaeologists have uncovered many slave artifacts on campus. A slave cabin from the 1840s, which was also used for early college employees, is behind Sweet Briar House.

Many of the college's faculty and staff live on campus, in homes that they rent or privately own. The land these homes are on belongs to the college.

Campus life

Sweet Briar is a residential campus, and nearly all students live on campus. There are seven standard dormitories and additional independent living options for upperclasswomen in the Green Village and Patterson House. The college has over 50 clubs and organizations.

Like other women's colleges in the United States, Sweet Briar College has many traditions. The most prominent is the annual Founder's Day, when students, faculty and staff walk to Monument Hill to place daisies at Daisy Williams's grave site and memorial.

Athletics

Sweet Briar athletic teams are the Vixens. The college is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) since the 1982–83 academic year.

Sweet Briar competes in nine intercollegiate varsity sports: Women's sports include cross country, equestrian, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and tennis. Fencing is a Sweet Briar club sport.

Students also participate in recreational sports through the Sweet Briar Outdoor Program (SWEBOP), which organizes a number of trips throughout the year. These include hiking, fly fishing, caving, rock climbing and weekly kayaking and skiing.

Riding

The college is known for its horseback riding program, which focuses on show and field hunters, hunt seat equitation, and show jumping. The school has seven riding teams. These include a jumper team, a hunter show team, a JV hunter show team, an American National Riding Commission (ANRC) team, a field team and an Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) team. As part of its program, students can study for an Equine Studies Certificate with a focus in training or equine management.

Sweet Briar hosted the 23rd Annual ANRC Intercollegiate Equitation Championship judged by Victor Hugo Vidal & Dacia Funkhouser in 2000, and the 37th Annual ANRC Intercollegiate Equitation Championship judged by George H. Morris in 2014.

Sweet Briar's accolades include four ODAC titles (1987, 2012, 2015, 2016), nine ANRC team national championship titles (1978–1980; 1986–1990; 1999), and 10 ANRC team reserve national championships titles (1981–1985; 2000–2002; 2004–2005). Sweet Briar students have been individual national champions nine times, and individual reserve ANRC national champions seven times. In 2006, Sweet Briar's IHSA team won their region (Zone 4, Region 1) and placed second at Zones, qualifying the team for the Nationals Competition. The team placed third overall. In 2008, Sweet Briar's IHSA team again won their region and proceeded to the Nationals, where team members collected individual ribbons.

Notable

Alumnae

Irene Beasley, entertainer

Colleen Bell, former United States ambassador to Hungary

Janet Lee Bouvier, mother of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

Kate Campanale, former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Verda Colvin, justice, Supreme Court of Georgia

Elaine Dundy, author and actress

Katherine Emery, actress

Sally Miller Gearhart, educator and writer

Lendon Gray, Olympic dressage rider

Angelia Lawrance Morrison Harris, First Lady of North Carolina

Molly Haskell, feminist film critic and author

Marie S. Klooz, lawyer and pacifist

Felisha Leffler, current member of the Vermont House of Representatives

Marguerite McKee Moss, socialite

Diana Muldaur, actor and former president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Anna Chao Pai, geneticist and professor emerita at Montclair State University

Anne Poulet, art historian

Carolyn L. Rose, archaeological conservator for the Smithsonian Institution, one of the first ethnographic conservators in the United States

Faculty

Carrie Brown, former Margaret Banister Writer-in-Residence, English professor, novelist

John Gregory Brown, English professor, novelist

Previous faculty

Adeline Ames, botany professor

Marion Elizabeth Blake, classics professor

Lincoln Pierson Brower, entomology and ecology research professor, advocate and world expert on monarch butterflies over six decades

Seth Clabough, English professor, novelist

Paul D. Cronin, director of Riding Emeritus, author of Schooling and Riding the Sport Horse

Cornelius Eady, poet

Connie Myers Guion, professor of physics, professor and head of the chemistry department at Sweet Briar College 1908–1913 who later earned an M.D. from Cornell University's Weill Medical College

Mary Harley – campus physician 1906–1935, taught physiology and hygiene classes

Elizabeth Friench Johnson – assistant professor of Modern Languages, 1917 to 1922

Iren Marik, classical pianist

Constance Merritt, former Margaret Banister Writer-in-Residence

Eugenie Maria Morenus, taught mathematics and Latin

Elsie Murray, taught psychology 1919–1922

Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

Barbara A. Perry, Carter Glass Professor of Government, author

Eva Matthews Sanford, history professor