Shining and Convergent Moments

Adorned with UMW's presidential chain of office,
William J. Frawley delivers his first address
after being installed as the institution's
seventh president. (photo: Robert A. Martin)

The mission was clearly defined, and it was punctuated by a series of elegant, educational, and entertaining events.

Mary Washington had not inaugurated a new president in a quarter century. So, when William J. Frawley was installed on Sept. 30 as the institution’s seventh president, his shining moment was preceded and followed by events executed with finesse, flair, and a festive air.

“UMW is at the very point of celebrating a century of excellence, a distinguished and durable past, and is also about to embark on a new century of excellence,” Frawley, a linguist, said in his inaugural address, delivered to more than a thousand people gathered in Ball Circle on a chilly Saturday morning.

Emma, Maria, and Christopher
Frawley enjoyed their ringside
seats for Saturday's ceremony.

The celebration of Frawley’s inauguration began on Wednesday evening, Sept. 27, with a stirring inaugural concert featuring the University-Community Symphony Orchestra. Frawley was introduced in an opening photo montage about the history of Mary Washington. The images of former presidents and campus scenes were accompanied by the orchestra’s majestic rendition of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.

The concert, which served as an encore to the orchestra’s European trip last spring, spotlighted two talented staff members from UMW– oboist Michael Morley and soprano Kathryn Ahearn – and set the tone for the rest of the week.

The Eagle Pipe Band led the
platform committee into the
installation ceremony.

The next evening, former ambassador and former Frawley colleague Edward W. Gnehm, Jr. presented a lecture titled “Iraq – A View From the Neighborhood.” Ambassador Gnehm, an expert on Middle East politics and international relations of the Persian Gulf region, spent a long and distinguished career at the U.S. Department of State, then served as Ambassador to Jordan from 2001 to 2004; to Australia from 2000 to 2001; and to Kuwait from 1991 to 1994. He talked about the crisis in the Middle East, especially in regard to Iraq, and answered questions from audience members.

A musical revue on Friday, the eve of President Frawley’s installation, showcased UMW’s myriad talented performers. These included the UMW Jazz Ensemble, directed by Doug Gately; Una Voce, the Fredericksburg Singers, and the UMW Chorus, all conducted by Jane Tavernier; highlights from Operafest, directed by Tavernier and Kathryn Ahearn; the Native American Chamber Ensemble, directed by Craig Thomas Naylor; Encore, directed by Stephen J. Burton; and the UMW Eagle Pipe Band, directed by Raymond Scott.

In keeping with the
inauguration's multicultural
flair, several multicultural
groups which included
Fumika Ueta '08, performed at
a festival following
Saturday's installation
ceremony.

Pipe Band members, who played for the inaugural procession and recession, were on campus bright and early the next morning – along with faculty members, local residents, Board members, administrators, and delegates from other institutions throughout the country. Platform guests included Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen. John Chichester, and Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak. Also providing remarks and well wishes were Alan J. Merten, president of George Mason University; and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president of The George Washington University.

The UMW Wind and Percussion Ensemble performed “Fanfare and Intrada,” a piece commissioned for the inauguration and composed by Music Professor David Long. Mary Washington’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Claudia Emerson, professor of English, delivered Art of Science, a poem she wrote especially for President Frawley’s inauguration.

Gov. Tim Kaine welcomed
President Frawley to Virginia
and praised his leadership
abilities.


Stephen Joel Trachtenberg,
President of The George
Washington University, talked
at the installation ceremony
about his institution's loss
being Mary Washington's gain.

J. William Poole, rector of the Board of Visitors, presided over the event. He and the outgoing rector, Mona D. Albertine ’71, presented Frawley with the ornate chain of offi ce after the new president was sworn in by the Hon. James W. Haley, Jr., judge on the Virginia Court of Appeals.

In his address, Frawley said his own hopes and dreams are merged with those of the institution. He spoke about convergent moments, when two disparate things come together in a powerful and instructive way. He described the University of Mary Washington as currently experiencing such a moment, marking the juncture of yesterday and tomorrow as it prepares to celebrate its nearly 100-year-old past while embarking on a new century of excellence.

“The events of today can make sense only as constituted by the confluence of tomorrow and yesterday,” Frawley said. “Having been offered the opportunity to lead the institution at this crucial convergent moment leaves me with both excitement and a little bit of stage fright. I see my extended family with people they have never before met, my old friends and new ones, my past teachers and my present ones.”

Frawley asked how a university can fulfill its responsibilities to individuals, the state, and the nation. He answered his own question with four lessons. First, he said, it is essential to avoid sweeping generalizations through “sloganeering” or “eduspeak.” Instead, he asked that UMW be led by guiding principles that outline specific actions for the future. He asked that the administration avoid “the endless grand overhauls.”

Physics professor Bulent
Atalay, the University's most
senior faculty member, spoke
at the installation ceremony
on behalf of his colleagues .

His second lesson was that the university should support the notion of trying out the thoughts of others. “It could just be that if you try on other people’s ideas for size and fit, you may see that they, and not you, are correct,” Frawley said. “If, in doing this vigorous ‘trying on,’ we then come back to our original positions, our pasts, we will have done so responsibly, through a series of changes of mind that allow us to see our old ideas again as if they were new.”

His third point was that the university has to continually evaluate whether the activities of the institution are delivering on their promises. He said, “If activities work and we know it, they should be advanced and supported; if they do not work, and we know it, we should have the courage to acknowledge the problems and fix them or stop the activities altogether.”

Frawley’s final lesson was that making the future requires teaching to the future. He said, “I would press the university not to teach so much for the moment, but to take the risk of teaching at least a decade out.” He added, “Drive the future. Don’t merely ratify the past. The worst that could happen would be that we would be wrong and thereby allow a well-made person and mind to do its regular work of self-repair and replication.”

After the pomp and pageantry of the morning, partying was the prevailing predilection that evening. Several hundred people packed the inaugural ball, which was spread out over three venues – Brompton, a tent on the grounds of Brompton, and the Jepson Alumni Executive Center. The University’s new president danced with his wife, Maria, and his daughter, Emma, while his son, Christopher, also took a few twirls. Students especially seemed to enjoy the festivities. Declaring the inaugural ball an awesome party, many are eagerly anticipating the next big event – Mary Washington’s 100th birthday.

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