[3] Fuqua School was initially founded in 1959 as Prince Edward Academy in response to pending integration, part of a strategy known as massive resistance.

[3] According to Lino Graglia, the rural nature of Prince Edward County meant that, unlike in Washington D.C., white parents seeking segregated education were forced to build a private school instead of moving to the suburbs.

In a 1982 interview with the Los Angeles Times, headmaster Robert Woods said that the school had an open admissions policy, but that no blacks had been admitted since they were less intelligent than whites.

[8][9] Its association with "old money" and discrimination in the past still causes some tension in the Farmville community, especially among non-whites and students of the local public schools.

[9] By the early 1990s, with aging technology, a very small alumni contribution base, and an increasing debt, Prince Edward Academy was nearing financial collapse.

[2] Fuqua said that his donation was intended to "close the door" on Prince Edward County's history of racial division and earmarked a portion of his gift to minority scholarships.