It is named after Christopher Newport, captain of one of the ships which carried settlers of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.

In the 1950s and 1960s, white city leaders used eminent domain to seize stable Black neighborhoods for whites-only schools three times.

"[4] The future site of CNC, known as Shoe Lane, was located adjacent to the whites-only James River Country Club, whose members included much of the city's powerful elite.

At a council hearing on the proposed site, civil rights attorney W. Hale Thompson testified that the city's goal "was to eliminate the possibility of Negroes building homes in that area.

"[4] University president Anthony Santoro later called the choice of the site an "egregious wrong" and said "the city has to own up to the fact that this was a deliberate attempt to get rid of a Black community, because there were many places that the school could have been built.

"[4] Originally, CNC was treated as an off-site department of William & Mary, and its chief executive was called a director.

[6] In 1992, CNC was granted university status under the leadership of its fourth president, Anthony R. Santoro, who oversaw the building of the first residence hall.

Those plans included the expansion of university property, several new buildings, and residence halls, as well as overhauling academic programs and the admission process.

In 2022, U.S. News & World Report found that Christopher Newport University admissions were "selective" with an acceptance rate of 89%.

[11] The Luter School offers degrees in management, marketing, accounting, and finance, and includes a Masters in Financial Analysis program.

Alan Witt, Class of 1976 graduate and former CEO of PBMares, was named dean of the Luter School of Business on August 17, 2021.

The women's soccer program made history by clinching the school's first-ever NCAA Division III national championship on December 12, 2021.

CNU sports club programs include ice hockey,[14] equestrian, dressage, cycling, fishing, lacrosse, martial arts,[15] rock climbing, rugby, scuba diving, silver storm dance, soccer, swimming, table tennis, tennis, ultimate frisbee, hurling, rowing, and volleyball.

All on-campus students receive a mailbox and access to a full-service Post Office located on the second floor of the DSU.

Four large conference rooms named for past U.S. Presidents are located around a central lobby area at the top of the steps.

The building provides offices for Student Life, The Captain's Log, Auxiliary Services, Study Abroad, and others.

McMurran Hall houses the Departments of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, History, English, and Government.

It also includes spaces for students to interact, 50 faculty offices, a large lecture hall, 50 classrooms, and research labs.

[17] The Paul and Rosemary Trible Library expanded beginning in 2016 to add another floor to the back portion of the facility.

The $42 million facility serves as a new landmark on campus and is at the head of the Great Lawn opposite Lewis Archer McMurran Jr. Hall.