January 16, 2025
Dear UMW Neighbor,
We’re excited for the spring 2026 semester at UMW, as classes are back in session this week, and this year marks the 100th anniversary of Devil-Goat Day.
This friendly campus competition started in 1926, when the junior class adopted the green goat as a class symbol. The seniors then selected the red devil as their mascot in competition, and Devil-Goat Day was born as an annual conclusion to the spring semester. We certainly have much to celebrate this year.
We also invite you to cheer on the hometown college team by joining us at an upcoming Eagles game. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams continue their conference schedules, with the men’s team ranked in the NCAA Division III top 10. Hear more from the coaches about their teams’ success in a recent interview with Town Talk. Swimming and diving celebrated senior day on January 10, and our track and field athletes are quickly completing their spring indoor schedule, with three school records broken just this past weekend. As a reminder, regular season home games and swim meets are free.
We move forward with work to install new locker rooms at the Battleground Athletic Complex, and the Fairfax parking lot has been reserved for materials for the Ball Hall accessibility projects and adjacent foundation work on the Fairfax, Tyler, and Hamlet Houses. The corner of campus at William St. and Sunken Road has been cleared for site work for the new theatre, with demolition of Marshall Hall and Russell Hall starting now. During this initial stage of the demolition, we’ve also partnered with the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank to donate refurbished AC units from the two buildings. At the other end of Sunken Road, the goats continue their landscaping work.
Our students have exciting work to return to as well. At Mary Washington, they have unparalleled opportunities for internships and undergraduate research. In February, we partner with the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce for the Internship Expo and this semester’s Career and Internship Fair on February 19. Summer will include the Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute and the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Institute. Plus, high school students can apply now for the Summer Enrichment Program to experience a week on our beautiful campus with courses and enrichment sessions led by our faculty and staff.
High school seniors still have a few more weeks to apply for regular decision admissions, and as our friends and neighbors, you can share the code UMWFAM with them for an application fee waiver via the Common App. If you are looking for a class for yourself, consider the Business Acumen Series from Continuing and Professional Studies, and look for additional offerings from our Center for AI and the Liberal Arts. In addition to the more than 100 undergraduate majors, minors, and areas of study, we also offer an online MBA, a M.Ed. and just announced this fall to begin in the coming year, a Master of Science in Nursing with tracks for nurse educators and nurse practitioners.
As is our tradition, following the first week of classes, the spring semester kicks off with a day of service and MLK Week events. The 2026 William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series starts in January, and in honor of the America250 and VA250 celebrations, will feature several historic figures involved in the American Revolution and Independence of the United States. Scholars interested in the era can continue their exploration and research at the James Monroe Museum, which also administers The Papers of James Monroe, with generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In addition, Gari Melchers Home and Studio offers free admission Sundays in January. The UMW Galleries reopen with two new exhibitions January 20. The spring schedule for music is already available as well, with recitals beginning in January, along with celebrations for Black History Month in February. Learn more about upcoming celebrations from the James Farmer Multicultural Center, and mark your calendar for the Multicultural Fair on April 11.
Visit our Fredericksburg campus, and you’ll quickly see why UMW is consistently ranked in The Princeton Review as a green college, for internships, and for making an impact, as well as by U.S. News as one of the top 10 public liberal arts colleges in the nation. With our location here in Fredericksburg, in a notable college town in the nexus between Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., we are at the intersection of opportunity, history, and innovation.
I invite you to take a few minutes to browse the links below to find out more about how you can enjoy the many academic, cultural, and athletic events offered by our UMW community.
Go Eagles!
Troy D. Paino, J.D., Ph.D.
President