UMW Move-In: Students and Staff Bring Sunshine to a Rainy Day

Water bubbling from fountains and a light mist of rain set the stage for hundreds of first-year students who moved into their new homes at the University of Mary Washington this week.

Upperclassmen clad in yellow T-shirts helped brighten the scene as Move-In Day volunteers, hauling room essentials into residence halls that buzzed with nervous excitement. Students unpacked, while their families helped situate, decorate and punctuate spaces inside Custis, Randolph, Virginia and Willard Halls.

Even UMW President Troy Paino got in on the act, popping from room to room with wife Kelly to greet the 600 or so new arrivals who moved in this week – and the parents and friends who’d come to help settle them in.

In all, UMW welcomes more than 1,000 new students – 700-plus first-years and 300-plus transfers – to campus for the 2025-26 academic year. They come from 15 states, plus the District of Columbia, and 18 countries. Seventy-three graduate students pursuing master’s degrees in education and business administration became new Eagles, too.

First-year UMW student Alexa Lara puts the finishing touches on her Virginia Hall room with help from her mom and dad, Azucena and Edwin Lara. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Azucena Lara embraces her daughter, first-year UMW student Alexa Lara before leaving her in her new home to begin her college career. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Alexa Lara brought along a pillow that’s been on her bed since she was born. Students and their families brought everything from the sentimental to the practical with them on Move-In Day. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Eighteen-year-old Alexa Lara of Richmond smoothed a yellow and gray floral blanket onto her Virginia Hall bed and topped it off with an animal-print pillow she’s slept with, literally, forever. “When we came here for the Open House, I got the feeling that she fell in love with this school,” Azucena Lara said of her daughter, who plans to study biology, build close connections and “find my community.”

Softball player Stephanie Csontos sailed into her Randolph Hall room before 8 a.m., sipping a strawberry slushy and unloading supplies – including a pink rug and comforter – she’d brought from home in Freehold, New Jersey. Meanwhile, suitemate Alaina Kiefer of Severna Park, Maryland, an athlete on the cross country and track and field team who plans to study historic preservation, packed a stuffed Grogu for comfort during her first days on campus.

First-year UMW student Stephanie Csontos of New Jersey moves into her Randolph Hall room on Move-In Day. Among the belongings she brought from home is her collection of Yankees gear. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Student Government Association President Amira Said and Vice President Allie Davis hold open the doors of Virginia Hall as they welcome new students on Move-In Day. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

First-year student Garrett Effley of Oakton, Virginia, gets acquainted with his new room in Virginia Hall. He and his family visited UMW four times before committing and got “really good vibes” from their conversations with Mary Washington’s Admissions team. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

More than 100 students volunteered to help families on Move-In Day. Their bright yellow “I like to move it, move it” T-shirts lit up the day for families who were grateful for their assistance. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Awaiting the arrival of his roommate, whom he’d met only online, Garrett Effley from Oakton, Virginia, had unpacked a basketball signed by his high-school teammates when President Paino stopped by his Virginia Hall room to say hi. Drawn to UMW for its small class sizes and opportunity for one-on-one time with professors, Effley planned to get out onto campus and “aimlessly explore” before the semester officially starts on Monday, Aug. 25.

Many students moved in early, thanks to athletics, student employment and pre-arrival initiatives like NEST, Soft Landings and the Honors Program City as Text, but for those who came to campus this week, there was plenty of help.

UMW President Troy Paino shakes hands with first-year student Madeleine Holman of Milton, Georgia, a member of the UMW Women’s Tennis team. Each year President Paino and his wife, Kellyl, make the rounds, visiting residence halls and welcoming students on Move-In Day. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

UMW upperclassmen came out in droves to serve as Move-In Day volunteers. This year, there were 140 volunteers, twice as many as previous years. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

First-year UMW student Josh Sewordor of Culpeper, a point guard and shooting guard for Eagles Men’s Basketball, unpacks inside his new room in Willard Hall. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Volunteers help families unpack their stuff during UMW Move-In Day. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A super-sized group of Move-In Day volunteers – 140, more than double the size of the crew in prior years – streamed in and out of residence halls. Wearing yellow “I like to move it, move it” T-shirts, they delivered suitcases and tubs, mini fridges and full-length mirrors, desk lamps and laundry detergent, bedsheets and shower shoes straight to students’ new rooms.

For that, Ryan Gipner, a tennis player from Raleigh, North Carolina, was grateful. Coach Todd Helbling had paid him a visit in his Virginia Hall room, where a pillow made in the likeness of his lab mix, Wrigley, was propped up on his bed. “It feels like a family here,” Gipner said of UMW, “and I haven’t even started going to classes.”

Hundreds of first-year students and their families arrived on campus Wednesday for Move-In Day. UMW welcomes more than 1,000 first-year and transfer students to the 2025-26 academic year. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A UMW upperclassman helps a family transfer a new student’s belongings from their car to a residence hall room. More than 100 students signed up as volunteers during Move-In Day 2025. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A dad unloads a rolling office chair outside of Randolph Hall during Move-In Day. New students moved into Custis, Randolph, Virginia and Willard halls. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A giant stuffed animal waits to be unloaded during UMW Move-In Day. Students packed – and unpacked – everything from mini fridges to shower shoes. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.