Virginia universities report historic targeting of Black communities

More research from Virginia’s Uprooting Commission will explore the use of eminent domain for campus expansions in majority-Black neighborhoods

By Louis Hansen

The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO

Richmond, Va. - As Virginia’s public colleges and universities expanded to accommodate a growing demand for higher education, several had a target for their sprawl – majority Black neighborhoods.

Three universities — Old Dominion, Longwood, and Christopher Newport —were among the most disruptive developers in Black communities, acquiring hundreds of properties over decades, according to a new survey by a state commission. 

All but one of Virginia’s 16 state colleges and universities dug through property transactions, university records and newspaper clippings to offer an initial assessment of their displacement of Black communities. Ten schools acknowledged encroaching on Black neighborhoods, sometimes with the use or threat of eminent domain.

Five other universities reported no acquisitions, and Norfolk State University is still conducting research.

The self-reporting is a good first step, but more research needs to be done, said Del. Delores McQuinn, D-Richmond, chairwoman of the Uprooting of Black Communities commission. 

McQuinn said the work needs to continue – not to punish or embarrass institutions, but to find a reckoning for displaced families and seek proper redress. Many families still feel pain and anger from being pushed from their homes and apartments by universities decades earlier, she said.

“It is an effort to really look at history,” McQuinn said Thursday after a committee hearing. “Even in 2025, there’s a pause for a moment: let’s look into this and see what we can do to repair some of the damage that has been done.”

The initial research comes as diversity programs are under attack. President Donald Trump’s administration has removed stories about Black, Asian and Latino history from government and military websites and removed mentions from national parks.

The Virginia commission was launched last year following an investigative series by The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica that chronicled the acquisition of properties in Black neighborhoods surrounding Christopher Newport University, Old Dominion University and others.

In reports to the Uprooting commission, ten schools acknowledged using eminent domain or making at least some property purchases in majority-Black neighborhoods. Longwood, ODU, CNU and the College of William & Mary, which originally operated Old Dominion and Christopher Newport, reported extensive acquisitions.

Radford, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth, VMI, Virginia Tech, Virginia State and the Virginia Community College System reported at least some purchases in Black communities.

Five universities reported no targeted land purchases: George Mason, James Madison, the University of Mary Washington, UVA Wise and the educational component of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

Some universities acknowledged the disruptions to Black families, and have addressed the histories with formal proclamations, events and scholarships.

Longwood University in Farmville reported that it acquired about 70 parcels in an area known as the triangle, including 11 through condemnation. The university vowed to stop using eminent domain in 2014 and formally apologized for its inaction during Massive Resistance. The university initiated scholarships and a partnership with the Moton Museum to recognize Black history in Farmville and Prince Edward County. 

ODU expanded through the Lamberts Point neighborhood in Norfolk, acquiring more than 160 properties beginning in the 1960s. In the 1990s, the school sought to improve relations with the community and established scholarships for minority students from the neighborhood.

A joint committee of officials from CNU and the city of Newport News is researching the school’s expansion into the neighborhood around Shoe Lane beginning in the early 1960s.

The Uprooting Commission received $200,000 from the General Assembly this year to study the impacts of displacement and consider restorative justice for affected families. The panel expects to hire a researcher this year to assist.

Reach Louis Hansen at louis.hansen@vcij.org.