Christopher Newport University
Overview
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
located in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, United States. CNU is the youngest comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The institution is named after Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the Susan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent...
, who was a pirate (or privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
) and captain of the Susan Constant
Susan Constant
Susan Constant, captained by Christopher Newport, was the largest of three ships of the English Virginia Company on the 1606-1607 voyage that resulted in the founding of Jamestown in the new Colony of Virginia.-History:Susan Constant was rated at 120 tons. Her keel length is estimated at 55.2 feet...
, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown
Jamestown
-Saint Kitts and Nevis:*Jamestown, the name of a former town on the edge of Morton Bay on Nevis in the late 17th century-United Kingdom:*Jamestown, Rossshire, Scotland*Jamestown, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland*Jamestown, Fife, Scotland...
in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent English settlement in North America.
In 1960 the city of Newport News joined together with the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
to create Christopher Newport College (CNC), which opened its doors in 1961 and at the time was located in the old John W. Daniel
John W. Daniel
John Warwick Daniel was an American lawyer, author, and Democratic politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and represented Virginia in both the U.S. House and then five terms in the Senate...
School building.
