UMW dedicated its third campus in late February in Dahlgren, Va. President Richard V. Hurley cut the ceremonial ribbon as members of the UMW Board of Visitors looked on. Photos by Norm Shafer
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. As of early January, approximately 140 students in 19 classrooms had participated in teleconference lectures broadcast on flat screens. The Naval War College offers its Fleet Seminar Program at the center, and Germanna and Rappahannock community colleges plan to offer courses there later this year.
The two-story, 42,000-square-foot facility off U.S. 301 in King George County, Va., was designed for education, but it also accommodates business and professional events with meeting spaces, an executive conference room, and a multipurpose room that seats more than 200 people.
The building is LEED Silver-certified, which means it meets stringent requirements for environment-friendly design, construction, and operations. The living roof is covered with plants and soil that catch storm-water runoff. Underneath, rooms are heated and cooled geothermally. Low-maintenance landscaping surrounds the building, and the parking area reserves prime spots for low-emission vehicles and carpoolers.
Among those speaking at the February dedication were Rep. Rob Wittman; Capt. Gary Shoman, commander of the Joint Warfare Analysis Center; Rosalyn Hobson Hargrave, associate dean for graduate studies at the VCU School of Engineering and chair of Virginia’s collaborative Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program initiative; and Dale Sisson Jr., vice chair of the King George County Board of Supervisors. Sisson recognized fellow King George board member Joseph W. Grzeika ’83, who serves on the UMW Board of Visitors, for his efforts toward realizing the center.
Mark J. Safferstone, executive director of the Dahlgren campus; Daniel K. Steen ’84, BOV rector; and President Richard V. Hurley spoke on behalf of the University.
“UMW can serve as a catalyst and convener to bring the players together and forge creative solutions to regional problems and challenges,” Hurley said. “I believe that the Dahlgren Campus Center for Education and Research is an important and living symbol of this commitment.”
