August 16, 2024
A new academic year has arrived, and we are excited to update you on campus projects and programming. We are looking forward to commencing another year of learning, encouraging and engaging our students, and focusing on our ASPIRE values to support our collective and individual successes and sense of community.
Our orientation leaders, residence hall assistants, student-athletes, and others are already on campus working hard to prepare for the fall semester. New students will move in on August 21, followed by a host of new student programming and beloved traditions. Our returning students arrive on campus through August 25, with classes beginning on August 26.
UMW continues to receive national recognition as a premier public liberal arts and sciences university, showcasing academic excellence, as well as a campus connected to a city that offers opportunities for internships and service learning. Money Magazine recognized UMW among the “Best Colleges in America” based on quality, affordability, and the future earning potential of our students. Fiske Guide to Colleges 2025 included UMW on its annual list of the “best and most interesting” out of 300 universities and colleges in the United States. UMW is also included on its short list of inexpensive public colleges and universities based on current tuition and fees. Thanks to the dedicated work of our landscape and grounds crew and the many who have planned and planted seeds for our beautiful campus over the years, UMW has also been named a Tree Campus nine years in a row. Our Comprehensive Campus and Building Planning Committee is developing a 10-year plan for UMW – a plan to acknowledge the University’s evolution and to address the optimization of our physical facilities and resources, as well as the ecological landscape of our three campuses.
Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announced that Virginia has, once again, been named “America’s Top State for Business.” We are proud to acknowledge that UMW is the only four-year degree-granting institution in the fastest growing region of Virginia. Just this summer, more than 100 employers hired UMW interns and we expanded our grant funding for students and employers via V-Top grants. We host our next Career Fair on September 26.
Our Fredericksburg campus has been busy this summer. We engaged students in traditional summer courses and the Student Transition Program provided new admitted students a summer residential experience to take courses. The Irene Piscopo Rodgers ’59 Summer Science Institute offered a 10-week long, multi-departmental program for college students, including full room and board and the opportunity to work alongside faculty members and conduct research, while the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Summer Institute (AHSSSI) offered students five weeks to research, collaborate, and practice possible professions. NEST 2024, a five-day, pre-arrival program for new admitted students, provides an opportunity to form bonds with peers, explore UMW, and connect with the greater Fredericksburg community through community service projects and the Summer Enrichment Program welcomed 70 high school students for a week-long residential program.
In addition, UMW unveiled five markers on campus as part of the Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail, a collective project with the City of Fredericksburg. These five new markers tell pieces of Mary Washington’s story, highlighting students, individuals, and historical occurrences following the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. The Fredericksburg trail became part of the national U.S. Civil Rights Trail this past February. I encourage you to visit the markers at Combs Hall, Ball Circle, and Monroe Hall, where James L. Farmer, Jr., the late civil rights icon and Freedom Rides leader, taught Mary Washington students the history of civil rights for more than a decade.
The fourth and final phase of the Underground Utility Project concluded this month. This comprehensive project will have replaced more than 5,000 linear feet of waterlines and steam pipes throughout the campus, enhancing heating and hot water for buildings. Renovations and repair work continue on a variety of buildings such as water damage and HVAC repairs in George Washington Hall, water damage and roof rafter repairs in Monroe Hall, and reupholstering projects and structural repairs in Simpson Library. Maintenance and repair work on Goolrick Pool will conclude later this year. More information about ongoing construction and renovations projects is available on our website.
Finally, earlier this month, we welcomed students to a new high school experience on our Stafford Campus, with the opening of the Academy of Technology and Innovation at the University of Mary Washington (ATI-UMW). This one-of-a-kind public high school focuses on computer and data science, teaching excellence, and career readiness for up to 100 ninth graders from partner school districts. This professional development school model will also utilize the expertise of UMW professors and create formative teaching experiences for UMW students within the College of Education, supporting lifelong learning and intellectual growth.
I invite you to join me in supporting our students in their creative and intellectual programs and endeavors, whether through theatre productions, musical performances, research project presentations, athletic competitions, art exhibits, and more.
Sincerely,
Troy D. Paino, J.D., Ph.D.
President
Check out what’s going on at the University of Mary Washington!
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