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
May 20, 2020 by
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
May 20, 2020 by
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
May 20, 2020 by
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!
May 20, 2020 by
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...]
Paxton’s New TV Show Tackles Downsizing
May 20, 2020 by
Matt Paxton ’97 helps downsizers and their families rediscover misplaced treasures in Legacy List With Matt Paxton, which premiered on public television in January. In it, downsizers create “legacy lists” of items they know exist somewhere in a house but that they can’t find. Paxton and a team of experts save those items before moving day. Each episode tells a different family’s story, interspersed with information about the items. NextAvenue.org said Paxton’s show is a cross between Antiques Roadshow and Finding Your Roots. Paxton hosted A&E’s Hoarders and understands the complicated relationships people have with possessions and one another. Legacy List takes a lighter look at what items are truly important, sometimes monetarily but always personally. … [Read more...]
Theater Alum Wins Scholarship
May 20, 2020 by
At New York’s Plaza hotel last November, Leslie Odom Jr. of Hamilton fame announced the six winners of the coveted Princess Grace Award in theater. Among them was Alicia Austin ’16. The scholarship will support Austin’s final year of graduate theater design studies at the Yale School of Drama. Yale nominated Austin for the honor, which provides professional support throughout the recipient’s career. The dozens of past recipients include actor and singer Odom, playwright Tony Kushner, Tony-award-winning theater director Anna D. Shapiro, and film director Jon M. Chu. The Princess Grace Foundation-USA identifies and assists emerging artists by awarding scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. … [Read more...]
Becker Is a Facebook Superadmin
May 20, 2020 by
Dee Dee Weinstein Becker ’86, a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based marketing and PR specialist who owns consulting firm Becker Communications, has been named a Facebook “power administrator.” The designation grew from Becker’s experience as a Virginia Tech Hokie mom; her daughter is a 2018 graduate. Becker is lead admin for the group Virginia Tech Parents (16,500 members), moderator of Grown and Flown Parents (136,000 parents), and creator/admin of University Parent Group Admins (more than 300 admins representing more than 180 university parent groups). Facebook has twice invited her to speak on panels at communicators’ summits, one at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters and another in New York City. A psychology major in her Mary Washington days, Becker keeps in touch with classmates on the private Facebook group Our Mary Washington College Friends. … [Read more...]
Artist’s Solo New York Exhibit Defies Conventions
May 20, 2020 by
Visual artist Taylor Anton White ’18 had his first solo New York show earlier this year, with the exhibit Free_Hotdog.pdf running January through March at Monica King Contemporary in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. White’s works are “mixed-media compositions in the artist’s signature exuberant and multifaceted style,” the gallery said in a press release. In naming the exhibit an “editors pick,” Artnet News described White’s works as straddling “the disparate modes of communication that we rely on, with a healthy dose of humor that is just as cerebral as it is visually enticing.” White is an Iraq War veteran who served nine years in the Marine Corps before earning a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in studio art at Mary Washington. He lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. … [Read more...]
Condolences
May 20, 2020 by
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...]