January 9, 2025
Dear UMW Neighbor,
It’s hard to believe that it is already January, but we look forward to a spring semester brimming with new experiences, goals, and celebrations. And, we warmly welcome our faculty, staff, and students back to campus for classes that resume on January 13.
We are proud to announce that UMW is in the top 10 public liberal arts colleges in the 2025 U.S. News and World Report rankings of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. This ranking is based on academic quality, graduation and retention rates, social mobility, graduate indebtedness, and college graduate earning potential. These outcomes are a direct result of the achievements of our top-notch students and the expertise, hard work, and dedication of our faculty and staff. It follows a collection of lists, including a top 25 ranking for UMW Theatre in The Princeton Review, a best bang for the buck in Washington Monthly, a best college mention in Money Magazine, and numerous top 100 liberal arts colleges rankings nationally, but this specific category in U.S. News and World Report is distinctive for our liberal arts and sciences mission.
With recent grants from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and national organizations, as well as the attainment of significant fundraising milestones, we are poised to offer a variety of new and expanded academic offerings for UMW students. From enhanced student experiences for study abroad, internships, independent research, etc., to academic programs to recruit, train, and retain future teachers from a broader more diverse background and within the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), our students will greatly benefit from the generosity and support of our many alumni, family members, donors, legislators, and more.
We are also making great strides to establish and strengthen partnerships with other institutions and employers. Most recently, we’ve developed pathways for undergraduate students to pursue graduate degrees at an accelerated pace with UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce and George Mason University. We continue to host competitive innovation challenges for middle school, high school, and college students with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) at the UMW Dahlgren Campus in King George. And, the Academy of Technology and Innovation at the University of Mary Washington (ATI-UMW), a one-of-a-kind public high school located at the UMW Stafford Campus, offers students personalized learning pathways rooted in key computer and data science skills and a liberal arts and sciences curriculum.
We’re happy to announce that, once again, the beloved William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series returns to the stage this spring. This compelling lecture series features a wide and diverse range of figures of historical and cultural significance, presented by renowned biographers, a number of them Pulitzer Prize winners. The lectures are open to the public free of charge and most often include question-and-answer sessions and book-signings. We are most grateful for the initial endowment from John Chappell to fund this series, as well as the ongoing support from many community leaders and organizations, alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and students.
The beauty of our campus does not go unnoticed and it comes as no surprise that UMW ranked 91 out of 511 colleges and universities throughout the world in The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2025 Edition. We are so very grateful for the faculty, staff, and students who take great pride and care in preserving our grounds.
In addition, there are a variety of ongoing construction projects on campus, providing much-needed modifications and enhancements to our facilities. We have completed the preliminary design for the $11.25M appropriations funded, campus-wide accessibility improvements project for enhancements to academic, residential, and athletic facilities, including ramps, elevators, restroom modifications, and more. Additional funding received from the General Assembly for deferred maintenance totals approximately $17.5M and is initially being used to repair the roof of Monroe Hall and to provide masonry and structural repairs at Simpson Library. And finally, the preliminary design phase for the new theatre building has been completed with plans to begin construction later in 2025.
As we look ahead this semester, Spring Break will be held the first week in March with classes resuming on March 10. UMW faculty, staff, and students will utilize this time for community service projects, travel abroad, experiential learning opportunities, research project work, etc. On April 5, we will host the 35th Multicultural Fair, an annual event devoted to enhancing multicultural awareness through craft vendors, musical and dance performances, children’s activities, food vendors, and more. This event offers free admission and is open to the community. We encourage you to celebrate our many wonderful and varied cultural and ethnic traditions, foods, customs, and more during this cherished event. And, as we close the semester, we will join our graduating students and their families in celebrating their achievements at Commencement on May 10 on Ball Circle.
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.
Sincerely,
Troy D. Paino, J.D., Ph.D.
President