On Campus

Scholar Finds Refuge, Shares Experience

An international law professor and women’s rights activist seeking refuge in Fredericksburg is sharing her knowledge and experience with Mary Washington students. Leila Asadi, who fled Iran to escape the possibility of being jailed for speaking against the government, is serving this semester as UMW Iranian scholar-in-residence. Asadi feared legal retaliation after she worked to quash a proposed law that would negate the rights of married Iranian women. She also reported about gender-related issues to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Asadi came to Fredericksburg through the Scholar Rescue Fund program, part of the nonprofit Institute of International Education. UMW is committed to safeguarding human rights and helping scholars who face persecution; it provides Asadi room and board. In addition to teaching a seminar on human rights and Islam, Asadi is assisting with student research and continuing her own studies of women’s rights in Iran, including human … [Read more...]

Dahlgren Campus a Partnership

When the University of Mary Washington dedicated its Dahlgren Campus Center for Education and Research, the University’s third campus, on Friday, Feb. 17, the theme was cooperation. UMW built the state-of-the-art facility so it and other state colleges and universities can easily collaborate with the Navy, state government, and business leaders to bring advanced science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) training to the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren and to professionals in the area. At the opening ceremony, William J. Howell, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, said the center will bolster Virginia’s STEM education initiatives, and it will build the area’s workforce and economy. “The campus will contribute much to the future vitality of the region,” Howell said. Four Virginia universities – George Mason, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth, and Virginia Tech – and the Naval Postgraduate School offer graduate engineering courses at the 27-acre Dahlgren campus. … [Read more...]