Books by UMW alumni Holy Nation: The Transatlantic Quaker Ministry in an Age of Revolution By Sarah Crabtree ’01, assistant professor of history at San Francisco State University Early American Quakers have long been perceived as retiring separatists, but in Holy Nation, Sarah Crabtree transforms our historical understanding of the sect by drawing on the sermons, diaries, and correspondence of Quakers themselves. Situating Quakerism within the larger intellectual and religious undercurrents of the Atlantic World, Crabtree shows how Quakers forged a paradoxical sense of their place in the world as militant warriors fighting for peace. – University of Chicago, July 2015 A Want of Vigilance: The Bristoe Station Campaign, October 9-19, 1863 By Bill Backus ’10 and Robert Orrison In the months after Gettysburg, Gen. Robert E. Lee looked for the chance to strike out at Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade. The authors trace a game of cat and mouse between the armies’ camps around … [Read more...]
Second Act
Amphitheatre project to kickoff soon
One of the tangible signs of the success of the Mary Washington First campaign is the amphitheatre renovation and improvement project. The $3 million effort was supported by Donald B. and Josephine McPherson Heslep ’56, who pledged $1.25 million, Robert S. and Alice Andrews Jepson ’64, who pledged $1 million, and other generous donors. These architectural plans show the stage restored to its 1953 appearance, when the grove was a center of campus life. The seating will mimic an earlier era – about 1923 – in harmony with the wooded site and national preservation standards. New, accessible pathways of stabilized granite and aggregate will blend with the natural setting. The site will be lighted by a combination of inconspicuous path lighting fixtures and standard campus lampposts. A level aisle across the center of the seating area will allow wheelchair access. Terraces of groundcover along the seating area will be available for picnicking and small group … [Read more...]
Putting Mary Washington First
President Richard V. Hurley never lost sight of his goal for UMW: That it be one of the nation’s premier public liberal arts and sciences universities. His term in office began just as the country emerged from a shattering economic recession, a time when public funds for higher education dwindled. College students and their parents were also affected, with fewer resources to channel toward tuition and expenses. The five-year, $50 million Mary Washington First campaign is vital to the future of UMW, helping students and faculty stretch to their fullest potential. Money raised allows the university to do things it otherwise couldn’t: Extend more scholarships, endow more professorships, and enhance research and internship opportunities. As of mid-March, more than $47.5 million had been raised with more than three months remaining in the campaign. All of these help UMW attract high-caliber students and faculty, and position itself to keep improving well into the future. You’ll read … [Read more...]
Scholarship Success
Mary Washington First campaign results in help for students
For years, UMW has maintained highly competitive tuition while providing students a superior academic value. UMW Magazine is not the only source saying so; rankings institutions – Kiplinger’s, U.S. News, and Princeton Review among them – have placed UMW among the best academic values in the United States. The Mary Washington First campaign began in 2011, four years after the start of the Great Recession, when state budgets for higher education had been slashed across the nation. Virginia was hit especially hard: According to the Center on Budget and Policy, the commonwealth’s 2015 funding for public colleges and universities remained nearly 25 percent below pre-2008 figures. In that period, the average Virginia public college tuition rose nearly $3,000. Since the Mary Washington First campaign began, generous donors have created or pledged to fund more than 80 new UMW scholarships. That advances one of the top goals of the campaign: Increase student support while strengthening the … [Read more...]
Investing in Students
Scholarships attract and reward top scholars
By Neva Trenis ’00 Psychology student Jenny Freud ’16 had long known she wanted to go to graduate school. She applied to 11 – fewer than the recommended dozen – and was invited to interview at five. But costs rose quickly with application fees, cross-country flights, food, lodging, and the requisite professional outfit. So when she learned that she had received the James C. ’87 and Deborah S. Llewellyn Scholarship in Psychology, she was thrilled. And relieved. “I’m so thankful to the Llewellyns for doing this,” the inaugural recipient said. “There are so many of us [students] who are benefiting from the generosity of alumni.” The Llewellyn psychology scholarship is a result of the Mary Washington First campaign, which began in 2011 and is well on its way to the $50 million goal before it ends this summer. Rising sophomore, junior, and senior psychology majors with a minimum 3.0 GPA are eligible to apply for the aid. Deborah and James Llewellyn ’87, both high-level human … [Read more...]
Launching Education
UMW is committed to study abroad
By Edie Gross Aicha El Mahmoudi ’17 had plenty to adapt to during her first few days in Bilbao, Spain. The six-hour time difference. A full course load of finance, marketing, and Spanish classes. Streets teeming with rapidly conversing pedestrians who walked everywhere and dressed to the nines, even on their way home from the gym. But dinner each evening with her host family was perhaps the greatest challenge for the University of Mary Washington junior. “I found myself not wanting to sit down to dinner with them because I couldn’t understand what they were saying,” said El Mahmoudi, whose Spanish-language skills were more suited to a Latin American dialect than the euskara batua spoken in the Basque Country. That reluctance didn’t last. Not long into her spring 2016 semester abroad, El Mahmoudi declared dinner conversation with her host family her favorite part of the experience so far. “The first week was definitely hard. Everything was so different,” said El … [Read more...]
Swimmers Go All-America
Two individual swimmers and a women’s relay team earned All-America honors at the 2016 NCAA Division III Swimming Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, in March. Steph Hallock ’16 came in 11th in the women’s 50-yard freestyle and 15th in the 100-yard freestyle, earning All-America honors for both. Dallas Tarkenton ’17 achieved the status with an eighth-place finish in the men’s 100-yard butterfly. Hallock was on the women’s 200-yard medley relay team, with teammates Katie Fago ’16, Hannah Hagy ’16, and Anna Corley ’17. That team finished 13th, earning All-America honors. UMW swimmer Shannon Coryell ’17 also competed in the invitation-only event in Greensboro. … [Read more...]
Athletics Gala to Feature Wong
Jin Wong ’97, assistant general manager of the World Series-winning Kansas City Royals, will speak at the third annual UMW Athletics Gala on May 19 at the Jepson Alumni Executive Center. Wong, a business administration major and former All-American center fielder for Mary Washington, exemplifies UMW Athletics’ mission for student-athlete excellence. UMW President Richard V. Hurley, who is retiring in June, also will attend. The event begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails and silent auction bidding; dinner and the program start at 7. A live auction will end the evening. Seats are $130 each or $1,000 for a table of 10. A portion of each ticket purchase is tax-deductible, and proceeds will benefit Mary Washington student-athletes. For information, contact Philip Pierce at 540/654-1153 or by email at ppierce@umw.edu. … [Read more...]
UMW Dedicates Rosner Arena
The arena in the William M. Anderson Center has a new name in honor of Ron Rosner, a Fredericksburg-area businessman and longtime benefactor of University of Mary Washington athletics. The Ron Rosner Arena was officially named in December during a halftime ceremony at a men’s basketball game. Rosner gave $500,000 to fund the Ron Rosner Athletic Endowment, supporting UMW’s student-athletes and the community. Rosner is founder and chairman of the board of the Rosner Automotive Group, and he’s long been a supporter of UMW and the community. At Mary Washington, he has sponsored lectures by National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths and husband-and-wife journalists Jennifer Griffin of the Fox News Channel and Greg Myre of National Public Radio. “The community has been so generous to me,” Rosner said. “The University of Mary Washington is a great asset to the region and an integral part of the community. I hope my gift will help bolster the university’s already strong athletics … [Read more...]
Women Take CAC Championship
The University of Mary Washington women’s basketball team blazed through another stellar season, winning 24 games including the Capital Athletic Conference Championship. Along the way, UMW head coach Deena Applebury earned her 300th career win. It was the Eagles’ sixth CAC championship and the eighth trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament under Applebury, who has coached at UMW since 2003. The program has made 10 NCAA appearances altogether. The Eagles advanced only through the first round of the NCAAs, losing 67-56 to Maryville College of Tennessee in March. But the season saw some great moments for the UMW women, including hard-fought wins over conference rivals St. Mary’s, Christopher Newport, and Marymount. … [Read more...]