Dear UMW Community,
The colder months certainly haven’t deterred our community from springing to life. It is evident that so much is happening on and around our beautiful campus.
Our academic programs continue to flourish. Congratulations to the College of Business faculty and staff for achieving a five-year extension on the accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). This designation, one that only 6% of the world’s business schools currently have, designates UMW as one of the best institutions for obtaining a business education and developing future leaders.
Our spring months are also full of cultural celebrations, and I hope you had an opportunity to participate in Black History Month or look forward to Women’s History Month, featuring a variety of cultural, artistic, and academic offerings sponsored by the James Farmer Multicultural Center. Please join me in attending presentations, showcases, Great Lives talks, and more. In February, we proudly recognize the addition of the Fredericksburg Civil Rights Trail to the national collection of landmarks that constitute the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. Spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Chris Williams, assistant director of UMW’s James Farmer Multicultural Center, and Victoria Matthews, tourism stadium and sales manager for the City of Fredericksburg, the trail includes 21 stops in the city and on campus, with contributions from Professor of Geography Steve Hanna, Professor of Historic Preservation Christine Henry, several UMW students, and UMW’s Simpson Library Special Collections and University Archives. It’s been an important partnership with local community leaders to see this significant and historic project through to fruition. Our country’s history and influential leaders and the remembrance there of are paramount as we live, learn, and make pathways forward.
UMW’s commitment to offering learning opportunities and building partnerships with our local community expands throughout the region. The UMW Dahlgren Campus is hosting a series of Innovation Challenges focused on STEM and robotics, with the inaugural middle school event held earlier this month. On the Stafford Campus, much progress continues as we prepare to launch the Academy of Technology and Innovation at UMW (ATI-UMW) this August for up to 100 local ninth-graders, providing an innovative experience merging the high-tech skill needs of today’s economy with the robust, critical thinking of a liberal arts and sciences foundation. ATI-UMW will focus on computer and data-science skills. High schoolers also have the opportunity to engage with UMW this spring as UMW Esports hosts the 2nd annual Spring High School Showcase at the Fredericksburg Nationals Stadium in early March.
Last week, I had the pleasure of welcoming hundreds of prospective students and their families to campus at our first Admissions Open House of the semester. It is always a great honor to introduce UMW to students – our faculty, staff, and students are unmatched and our community and campus shine. Our final Open House this spring is scheduled for March 29th and we begin yield season to welcome students for the Class of 2028!
On the Fredericksburg Campus, we’ve been working through several planned and unexpected building projects. We identified acute needs going into the legislative session, with the pending purchase of the Eagle Village Mixed-Use Building providing much-needed swing space, and Simpson Library at the top of our list for maintenance funding to repair stairwells and upgraded systems. Then this spring semester, we had to pivot to address some unplanned deferred maintenance issues of aging buildings, including roof reconstruction in Monroe Hall which forced a closure of the building this semester, as well as maintenance and repairs in George Washington Hall which resulted in a closure of several floors. This understandably caused much disruption in our class schedules and work and took a toll on plans early in the semester. To all of the faculty, staff, and students most directly affected by these last-minute changes, your quick and positive response to moving offices, relocating classrooms, coordinating vendor services, and more has helped us move forward with minimal down time. And for that, I am most grateful and most appreciative to each of you for your patience and willingness to work together and to our Facilities staff who has been working non-stop to address concerns.
We are continually striving to maintain and improve our campus buildings and grounds as they are essential to supporting every facet of our campus life. The 2024 General Assembly is working on finalizing the state’s biennial budget with July 1st as the target date of implementation, so we’ll know more about capital funding soon. Until the state biennial budget is approved, we cannot finalize our fiscal year 2025 budget, including tuition and fees for the upcoming year. We also know that the FAFSA delay has caused additional uncertainty for our students and families. Financial Aid staff, along with the Admissions Office, has been carefully tracking new details, answering frequently asked questions online, and getting ready to assist as soon as more information is available. The annual scholarship application is open now.
Spring is also a time of new beginnings and fresh ideas for our campus. With spring break just around the corner, I encourage you to support one another in the many cultural programs, musical performances, presentations, athletic events, etc. that make UMW so unique. Our theatre department and students just wrapped up performances of Sam Shepard’s True West and our student-athletes continue to excel in and out of the classroom. Notably, the women’s swim team recently won the inaugural New Jersey Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship meet — and have now claimed 33 consecutive conference championships throughout its team history! And, mark your calendars now for the upcoming Spring 2024 Career & Internship Fair scheduled for March 21. Now is the time to consider internship opportunities, prepare your resume, complete career interest assessments, etc.
We also find ourselves at a time when the war in Gaza continues to draw increased scrutiny on how universities respond when global events hit close to home. I have heard from those near and far who are concerned that UMW has coddled antisemitism on campus. I have also heard warnings that efforts to appease these critics are likely to suppress free expression and diverse viewpoints on campus.
UMW’s ASPIRE values reject the dehumanization of any group based on race, ethnicity, or religion, and that includes antisemitism and Islamophobia. History is replete with the horrors that stem from such hate, and it must be confronted wherever it exists. UMW can best do this by encouraging dialogue instead of conflict, understanding instead of ignorance.
Amid a polarized society, it is rare that we respectfully engage those with whom we disagree. Increasingly we live in intellectual monolithic bubbles that threaten the future of a pluralistic democracy. If college campuses reflect this retreat from dialogue, it is the end of our educational mission.
At this moment, UMW must respond by promoting dialogue, understanding, and a renewed appreciation for our shared humanity. To do so, we will tap into resources like The Khatib Program in Religion & Dialogue whose mission is to encourage interreligious dialogue and cooperation.
I hope that you have a wonderful spring break. Whether you rest and enjoy time with family and friends, or you work, travel, or pursue research projects, etc., I hope your time is meaningful and purposeful. And, I look forward to connecting with you as the semester unfolds.
Troy Paino