Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia. It was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College for Women, a residential women's college with a focus on liberal arts and leadership, as well as co-educational residential undergraduate programs within its University College structure. MBU also offers co-educational graduate degrees as well as undergraduate degree and certificate programs for non-traditional-aged students. The university is the oldest institution of higher education for women in the nation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), and it is home to the only all-female corps of cadets in the world. History Located in Staunton, Virginia within Augusta County, the university was founded as the Augusta Female Seminary in 1842 by Rufus William Bailey. Among the first students was Mary Julia Baldwin. In 1863, Baldwin was named principal and headed the school through the Civil War, although most schools in the area had closed due to the war and economic hardship. The school was renamed Mary Baldwin Seminary in 1895 in honor of Baldwin. In 1923, the name changed to Mary Baldwin College when the school became a four-year institution. In 1963, Mary Baldwin became racially de-segregated, officially ending its policy of admitting only white women. Men were admitted as day students and graduate students starting in the mid-1970s, and the school began accepting residential male students in 2017. When Staunton Military Academy (SMA) closed in 1976, its grounds and buildings were purchased by Mary Baldwin, expanding the campus from 19 acres to 58.5. In 1977, Mary Baldwin became the first college in Virginia to launch an adult degree program. Cynthia Haldenby Tyson was appointed as the eighth president in 1985. That same year, the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) was established to allow academically gifted girls to earn bachelor's degrees. The Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership was established as the only all-female cadet corps in 1995. In 2001, the university established the Shakespeare and Performance graduate program after the American Shakespeare Center opened the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton. After 18 years as president, Cynthia Haldenby Tyson retired and Pamela Fox, dean of Miami University's School of Fine Arts, was named the ninth president in 2003. In May 2015, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the institution to Mary Baldwin University, effective August