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For Immediate Release: July 1, 2004

MARY WASHINGTON CELEBRATES ITS FIRST DAY AS A UNIVERSITY

Fredericksburg, Va. - Mary Washington College officially became the University of Mary Washington today. To celebrate the new name, the institution held a flag-raising ceremony, complete with punch and cake for campus employees.

"This is a grand day, not only for our institution, but for the entire greater Fredericksburg region and the Commonwealth of Virginia," said President William M. Anderson, Jr. "I'd like to thank everybody for working so hard to make this day possible. We enter this era with great confidence, knowing that our past has brought us to this point, where we can become not just another university but a great university."

Dr. Anderson and Board of Visitors Vice Rector Mona Albertine, a graduate of the class of 1971, made brief remarks before unfurling a flag with the university's new logo on it.

"This is a new day for a very old institution," said Vice Rector Albertine. "When I was here as a student in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mary Washington College was seen as one of the foremost institutions of higher learning in the Commonwealth of Virginia . Today, the University of Mary Washington is seen as one of the finest institutions not only in the state of Virginia , but in the entire country."

The logo is part of the university's new graphic design package, approved earlier in the day by the Board of Visitors. It incorporates the columns found on the Fredericksburg campus with the University of Mary Washington name. The Baltimore consulting firm Barton Matheson Willse & Worthington (BMWW), created the new university identity and branding plan after conducting extensive research, including holding several focus groups with students, alumni, faculty and administrators who talked about institutional characteristics and the visual references that they associate with the institution.

This past spring, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation approving the institution's new name as the final step of its move to university status. The new University of Mary Washington name will allow each of the institution's campuses to share a university-level administrative structure, while addressing their distinct missions. Last year, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reclassified the institution as a university, due in large part to the addition of graduate degrees at the campus in Stafford County . Also, U.S. News & World Report last year ranked the institution as sixth among Southern colleges and universities in the "Best Universities - Master's" category.

For more information about the transition in progress, contact the Office of University Relations at (540) 654-1055.

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News release prepared by: Teresa Mannix