UMW Warms Up Winter

Members of the University of Mary Washington community kept the gifts coming this winter, before – and after – the holidays. Students, staff, sports teams, clubs, and others gave blood, painted porches, and participated in an array of service projects designed to brighten the season for many Fredericksburg-area families.   Here are some ways UMW helped out in December: • Members of club sports teams and the ELS Language Center arranged Toys for Tots collections, gathering games, books, and playthings as Christmas gifts for children in families facing financial hardships. • The One Note Stand a cappella group asked those who came to its wintertime concert to bring nonperishable food items for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, and the Department of Athletics collected more than a ton of food for the organization. • COAR conducted its annual Head Start Gift Box Drive, packing new toothbrushes, scarves, gloves, books, and toys for underprivileged children into … [Read more...]

Army Major Tackles Animal Diseases

As a child, Karyn Havas ’01 wanted to help sick animals the way some kids long to fight fires or put away bad guys. She thought veterinary medicine meant spending days with cuddly creatures like her pet guinea pig − not the study of diseases like brucellosis or Rift Valley fever. Havas got a job at a dairy farm while in high school in Pennsylvania. There was nothing cuddly about it, and she loved it. After graduation, she chose to study biology at the University of Mary Washington and spent summers and breaks working on a horse farm and in an animal hospital. Those educational and work experiences, Havas said, solidified her desire to become a veterinarian. Havas set goals and made plans. “I always have a plan,” she said with a laugh. After graduating from UMW, she completed Cornell Veterinary School on an Army scholarship. In 2011, she earned a Ph.D. in veterinary epidemiology from Colorado State University. Today she is a major in the Army, putting her skills and education to … [Read more...]

CONDOLENCES

Barbara Westerman Newlon ’49, who lost her husband Betsy Hopkins Hays ’60, who lost her husband Julia Shumaker Bailess ’62, who lost her mother Kathleen Sprenkle Lisagor ’62, who lost her brother Pat Mackey Taylor ’62, who lost her husband Carole LaMonica Clark ’70, who lost her father Barbara Forgione Tansey ’70, who lost her husband Karen Seiler di Stefano ’81, who lost her father Diana Royer ’81, who lost her husband Marcia Guida James ’83, who lost her father Lee Ann Graves ’86, who lost her mother Gregory Wassenberg ’90, who lost his wife Marcie Pierson Brandriff ’97, who lost her father Kimberly A. Rainbow Dalton ’98, who lost her father Erin Broome Highton ’00, who lost her father Erica M. Wood ’16, who lost her mother … [Read more...]