The school was founded in 1904 and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It was named for Henry G. Davis and his son-in-law Stephen B. Elkins, who were both members of the United States Senate from West Virginia. The Senator, the college newspaper, was founded in December 1922.
Athletics
The school's athletic teams, known as the Senators, compete in NCAA Division II, primarily in the Mountain East Conference. The Senators had been members of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from the league's founding in 1924 until its demise in 2013, after which the school joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. In 2019, the Senators joined the MEC, thereby reuniting with most of their historic rivals. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, and indoor & outdoor track. All of these sports compete in the MEC except for lacrosse, which remains in the G-MAC because the MEC sponsors that sport only for women. Women's sports include triathlon, acrobatics & tumbling, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor & outdoor track, and volleyball. Acrobatics & tumbling and triathlon, neither of which the MEC sponsors, compete as independents.
Enrollment
The college enrolls 805 students, with a 12:1 student/faculty ratio.
Campus buildings
1890-1924
Halliehurst Mansion
Graceland Mansion
The Icehouse
Gatehouse
1925-1976
Liberal Arts Hall
Charles E. Albert Hall
Boiler House Theatre
Memorial Gymnasium/Martin Field House
Jennings Randolph Hall
Benedum Hall
Eshleman Science Center
Walter S. Robbins and Elisabeth Shonk Robbins Memorial Chapel
Hermanson Center
Graceland Inn & Robert C. Byrd Center for Hospitality & Tourism
Darby Hall
Roxanna Booth Hall
Gribble Hall
Presidential Center
International Hall/Moyer Hall
1992–Present
Booth Library
Charles B. Gates Jr. Memorial Tower
Madden Student Center & William S. Robbins Centennial Tower
The McDonnell Center for Health, Physical Education and Athletics
, at Davis & Elkins College, provides instruction and performances, folklife programs, and a home for significant collections of field recordings, oral histories, photographs, instruments, and Appalachian art. "We teach. We share. We celebrate the wonder and diversity of the heritage arts." Augusta Heritage Center is best known for intensive week-long workshops that attract several hundred participants annually. Thousands more attend its public concerts, dances, and festivals. Augusta's full-time staff, plus volunteers, seasonal staff, and work-study students, produce a variety of workshops. These world-renowned workshops and festivals have brought together master artists, musicians, dancers, craftspeople, and enthusiasts of all ages. at Davis & Elkins College provides an 18-credit undergraduate minor in Railway Heritage Tourism Management. The curriculum includes course work, independent study opportunities, an internship, and an opportunity to study abroad, all focused on preparing students for a career in restoring and presenting all aspects of America's railroad heritage. The Center for Railway Tourism also provides information and resources for the railway heritage community nationwide to help it assess and meet the interests and needs of a fast-changing national population made up of growing numbers of millennials, racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women. Other programs address literacy, STEAM education principles, evolving heritage strategies, and techniques for increasing the general public's awareness of the many ways railroads have influenced American life and culture.