Give It Your Best Shot!

No one seems to know whose foamy face graced last edition’s Get the Picture, which featured an image of a student participating in 1989 Devil-Goat Day shenanigans. But we hope classes of the early ’60s will help us identify these spirit-filled freshmen who were pictured in the 1964 Battlefield. The yearbook caption reads, “Freshmen arm themselves with pots, pans, and pins to rid themselves of beanies.” We know that before 1971, first-years were required to wear beanies − red for devils and green for goats − or suffer a consequence, usually a chore assigned by the upperclassman who caught them bareheaded. So, in addition to names, please tell us more about what it took to shed the beanies at the end of freshman year. Just who are these students and why are they wielding pots and pans? If you know, please send an email with Get the Picture in the subject line to ntrenis@umw.edu. Or, write us at UMW Magazine − Get the Picture  1301 College Ave., Fredericksburg, VA … [Read more...]

The Anderson Center

UMW Ups Its Game With New Arena

In 1976, when Ed Hegmann first came to Mary Washington, colleagues boasted of the “huge new gym.” But when the new athletic director and men’s basketball coach got his first glimpse of Goolrick, its 23-foot ceilings, and seats for a mere 400 fans, he didn’t have the heart to tell them it wasn’t up to snuff for intercollegiate play. Thirty-five years later – after decades of patient, diligent lobbying and watching thousands of volleyballs played off the low ceiling – Hegmann finally got the arena he has dreamed of for his Eagles – the William M. Anderson Center, a sleek 52,000 square-foot multi-use convocation center that was dedicated Aug. 25. The building’s namesake, who served as Mary Washington’s president from 1983 to 2006, was on hand for the ribbon cutting, as was a crowd that included President Richard V. Hurley, former and current Board of Visitors members, athletes, alumni, faculty, staff, and Anderson’s family and friends. Hegmann, who is chair of the Department of … [Read more...]