Note: Reunion for classes ending in 0 and 5 has been rescheduled to Sept. 5-7, 2020, health guidelines permitting. Scenes from Homecoming Events from fall 2019 to March 2020 … [Read more...]
Books by Alumni
The Rightful King Blake Thews ’96 Warren Publishing, fall 2019 The author’s debut novel is a fantasy that should appeal to fans of Game of Thrones. It’s the first book in the Fire and Shadows series. Other books of note Practical Steps to Digital Research Deborah Bradford Stanley-Bloom ’72 ABC-CLIO/Libraries Unlimited, September 2018 High Risk Clients: Evidence-based Assessment & Clinical Tools to Recognize and Effectively Respond to Mental Health Crises Paul B. Brasler ’92 Pesi Publishing & Media, August 2019 Leadership: Strategic Thinking, Decision Making, Communication, and Relationship Building Kathleen Riopelle Roberts ’92 and Ann Martin ALA Editions, fall 2019 There’s No Manual: Honest and Gory Wisdom About Having a Baby Beth Newell and Jackie Ann Ruiz ’06, Avery, Feb. 4, 2020 … [Read more...]
Legacy
In January, students gathered for the James Farmer Tribute, part of UMW’s yearlong celebration of the late civil rights leader. Students planned and executed the event and honored Farmer with songs, dance, poems, and remembrances. Bilqiis Sheikh-Issa ’23 wrote the following poem and delivered it that night. She is a campus leader and is active in the multicultural community. Legacy By Bilqiis Sheikh-Issa This blood in me has a history. A story. This body of mine is a work of art. Created and sculpted and made by my ancestry My name is that of a Queen who reigned supreme over her Queendom. A strong Black woman they could never tear down So I keep my head high to show that you can never take that away from me. You can never break me Because I’ll always come back. Power is in my lineage. Strength is written into my DNA I come from a line of women who put their blood and sweat and tears into this soil. This Holy Earth and made it strong. They put the world on their backs and … [Read more...]
Give It Your Best Shot
Who are these spirited students posing with a previous incarnation of Sammy D. Eagle? It was September 1988, and the occasion was the dedication of Mary Washington’s brand-new ballfield. The photo was by Barry Fitzgerald. Can you tell us the full names of Ton, Shel, and Bec? Go online to magazine.umw.edu and click on “Get the Picture” to leave a comment. Or send an email with “Get the Picture” in the subject line to magazine@umw.edu. You may also write to: UMW Magazine – Get the Picture, 1301 College Ave., Fredericksburg, VA 22401-5300 … [Read more...]
You Got It!
Linda C. Ryan recognized herself on the left, with Roberta Pilk McDonald, center, and Annie Reynolds Kusnitz at commencement in 1972. Linda remembers that all majored in dramatic arts. She wrote, “Thank you for the good memories.” Board of Visitors member Martha “Marty” Abbott ’72 also spotted Roberta and let us know. … [Read more...]
Condolences
Elizabeth “Betsy” McNeal Brann ’54, who lost her husband Ellen West Grenfell ’55, who lost her husband Patricia Plymell ’55, who lost her husband Susanne Borke Grasberger ’56, who lost her husband Lois Gaylord Allen ’59, who lost her husband Carolyn Hickman Bowman ’59, who lost her husband Rebecca “Becky” Paris Spetz ’61, who lost her husband Carolyn Powell Piotrowski ’62, who lost her husband Patricia Mackey Taylor ’62, who lost her sister Donna Sheehan Gladis ’68, who lost her mother Dale Cole Carter ’73, who lost her husband Kathryn Swart ’75, who lost her sister Susan Tart Morosko ’78, who lost her mother and stepson Anne F. Hayes ’79, who lost her mother Karen Snyder Boff ’81, who lost her mother-in-law Colleen McCahill Turley ’81, who lost her father Elisa Devorshak Harvey ’81 and Christina Devorshak ’91, who lost their father Jennifer Rees Schulze ’97, who lost her father and her mother-in-law Thomas E. Myrick ’03, who lost … [Read more...]
In Memoriam
Sara Nervilla Boggs ’42 Katharine F. Nutt ’42 Margaret Lewis Draper Eckenrode ’43 Marjorie Martel Balius ’44 Susie Walder Wanner ’44 Anna Roberts Ware ’44 Virginia Lipsy Brooks ’45 Amy Charlotte Thomas King ’45 Mavis Bradder Larson ’45 Lois Coleman Bowman ’46 Joyce Weed Butler ’46 Dorothy Mae Kiger ’46 Alta Clark Cline ’47 Mary Nuckols Haydon ’47 Jean Wilkerson Hopkins ’47 Frances Cox Etienne ’48 Mabel Royar Loflin ’48 Una Hayes Fleischmann ’49 Alta Towe Fogelgren ’49 Dawn McElrath Gill ’49 Ginny Downer Williams ’49 Virginia Dowler Dickhoff ’50 Jane Lee Dreifus Martin ’50 Patricia Teasley Mulligan ’50 Margaret Fox Vaden ’50 Jacqueline “Jackie” Lightner Haney ’51 Miriam Kay Oleinik ’51 Norma Resnikoff Sater ’51 Mildred “Millie” Jones Bonner ’52 Barbara “Bobbie” Burgess Goldsten ’52 Charlotte Wilkinson Larson ’52 Elizabeth Ranney Moran ’53 Mary Bird Dellett ’55 Lena Sheetz French Fuller … [Read more...]
Obituary
John Pearce
John N. Pearce, former senior lecturer in historic preservation and director emeritus of the James Monroe Museum and Center for Historic Preservation, died Oct. 14, 2019, after a long illness. During 27 years of service at Mary Washington, Pearce taught courses in the Department of Historic Preservation, played a key role in developing the museum studies curriculum, and expanded and enhanced the James Monroe Museum. Pearce served on the boards of the Fredericksburg Area Museum, the Memorial Foundation of Germanna Colonies in Virginia, and the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation. His many honors included the History Award from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, for his lifetime contribution to American history. He contributed articles to numerous publications and authored American Painting 1560-1913, published in 1964 by McGraw-Hill. A son and a daughter survive him. … [Read more...]
Alumna Has Devoted Her Life to Service
Florence Overley Ridderhof ’50 learned two lessons early on that have guided a lifetime of serving her community and the world. Growing up in a house on Cornell Street in Fredericksburg, she learned from her mother that it wasn’t enough to talk about a need; you had to try to find a solution. And on the Mary Washington campus in the late 1940s, her psychology professors taught her not to judge or generalize about people. Those principles, instilled in Fredericksburg, helped Ridderhof bring about a meaningful change in the region’s attitudes about domestic violence. In the 1970s, when a local elected leader publicly stated that what a man did in his home was his business, Ridderhof and a group of like-minded women helped open the area’s first domestic violence shelter – and ultimately changed a community’s perspective. Today, Empowerhouse operates a 10,000-square-foot facility serving scores of women and children across five Fredericksburg-area localities. Ridderhof … [Read more...]
Marine Corps Led Alumna to Extraordinary Career
When Karen Laino Giannuzzi ’71 arrived at her office at Camp Lejeune in 1977, she found pink curtains hanging from the windows and a sign posted on her door: “Woman Commanding Officer – Do Not Use Bad Language.” Then a captain, she was taking her first command, Lejeune’s Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic, at a time when there weren’t many women in the Marine Corps, let alone female officers. She could lose the froufrou décor, but it wasn’t uncommon for male colleagues to test how tough she was. Not long after she arrived, one young Marine thought it would be funny to drop his trousers in front of her. He did not enjoy the disciplinary process that followed, she said. “A lot of men hadn’t seen a woman Marine,” recalled Giannuzzi, who was the first female officer in the field of signals intelligence and electronic warfare. “I was first of a lot of things. Every time you went to a duty station, you might be the only woman there, … [Read more...]