As the fall of Petersburg became imminent, on Evacuation Sunday (April 2), President Davis, his Cabinet, and the Confederate defenders abandoned Richmond and fled south.

Because of the worthless Confederate currency and high inflation, the medical school sold its ambulance horse for enough money to continue operation.

Descendant of Thomas Jefferson, Pulitzer Prize winner and editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginius Dabney was named the first Rector of VCU and went on to write Virginia Commonwealth University: A Sesquicentennial History.

[13] In the 1980s, and under the leadership of VCU President Edmund Ackell, a major overhaul of the university's governance system and administrative structure was initiated.

[15] In 2013, VCU was awarded a $62 million federal grant to oversee a national research consortium of universities, hospitals and clinics to study what happens to service members and veterans who suffer mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions.

[18] The Clinical and Translational Science Award made VCU the only academic health center in Virginia to join the CTSA network.

In 2022, VCU received a $104 million gift, the largest in university history, to support a new Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health.

[22][23] Ahead of the 2018-19 budget, $4.2 million was allocated to increase adjunct faculty funding from $800 to $1,000 per credit hour, about $1,000 less than what the coalition was demanding.

The Monroe Park Campus houses most of VCU's general education facilities, and is situated on the eastern end of the Fan district, a historic, late 19th-century neighborhood adjacent to downtown Richmond.

[37] As part of the contract, VCU is not allowed to open any other degree-granting arts or design programs in other Middle Eastern countries.

VCU is not the only US campus in Education City, and it, along with the other universities, are the subject of criticism of their implicit acceptance of Qatar's alleged ties to extremism and human rights concerns.

[43] VCU received a $104 million gift, the largest in university history, to support a new Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health.

The university also offers a wide range of study options with 225 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral degrees in the arts, sciences and humanities.

Student teams from these schools take on a product development or design challenge posed by one of the center's industry partners.

In the medical field, VCU has had four professors elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Institute of Medicine, most recently Steven Woolf in 2001.

Blackbird published poems by many poets, including: Seyed Morteza Hamidzadeh, Julia B. Levine, Sarah Rose Nordgren, Dave Smith, Sofia Starnes, Inge Pedersen, Wesley Gibson, Andrew Zawacki, Elizabeth King, Kiki Petrosino, Negar Emrani, Kaveh Akbar etc.

Performers such as Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Burr, Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Roy Buchanan, B.

Notable Broadway performances such as Wicked, The Lion King, Les Miserables, and Cats have been past visitors of The Altria Theater.

Opened in spring 2010, the newly renovated Cary Street Gym[114] includes the 18,000-square-foot fitness center, a rock climbing wall, two pools, racquetball and basketball courts, a track and an aerobics mezzanine.

[120][121] VCU also provides a free Security Escort service (RAM SAFE) to students and faculty to assist them in reaching their destination and have stationed more than 370 Emergency Reporting Telephone Systems in various areas throughout campus.

[122] Having competed at the NCAA Division I level for little more than 30 years, Virginia Commonwealth University has sponsored a broad-based program of intercollegiate athletics.

The Men's tennis team holds 12 CAA Championships, 18 NCAA tournament appearances, and 17 years of finishing in the top 25 rankings in the country.

[125] Also under coach Paul Kostin, VCU's women's tennis team has 3 CAA championships, 12 NCAA appearances, and 8 years in the top 25.

Bradley LeCroy is VCU Baseball's head coach, and the school plays its games at The Diamond (Richmond, Virginia).

The VCU Rams currently play at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, where they hold the 11th highest Home Court winning percentage in Division I basketball with a winning percentage of .8579[130] In the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, VCU qualified as an at-large bid, having to play in the newly formatted tournament's "First Four" against USC.

In the sweet sixteen, VCU defeated tenth-seeded Florida State 72–71 on a last second bucket in overtime to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time in school history.

Led by future WNBA Draft Pick Quanitra Hollingsworth, that team finished the season with a mark of 26–7 overall and a 15–3 conference record.

[135][136] The Rams' intra-city rivalry with University of Richmond ("Black & Blue Classic"),[137] is bound to heat up now that the two schools are playing in the same conference again for the first time since 2001.

The following year, the Rowdy Rams procured funding from the SGA and sponsorship from VCU's Athletic Department, solidifying themselves as an official organization.

Patch Adams is a medical doctor, author, activist, and clown; Christopher Poole is an internet entrepreneur and founder of 4chan, which revolutionized internet communication; David Baldacci is a best-selling author and speaker; William Gifford is the CEO for Altria, the largest producer of tobacco products in the United States and partial owners of Juul.