Dear UMW Campus Community,
We conclude the spring semester with many historic moments. This week is the 100th anniversary of Devil-Goat Day on April 23 and the 20th year of our Research and Creativity Symposium. Our men’s basketball team had a historic season, bringing home the NCAA DIII National Championship, as the first men’s sport to do so at Mary Washington and the first in any sport since 1991. If you cheered on the Eagles at any time this season or joined in the fan fest this past weekend, thank you.
As I recently said in an op-ed, in a sports landscape increasingly defined by scale and separation, DIII still insists that place matters. That community matters. That the next play matters more than the last one. In Fredericksburg this year, our basketball team has shown how powerful that idea can be when everyone – players, coaches, campus, and city – comes together. We are so grateful for the support from our campus community, the city, and alumni, family, and fans across the Commonwealth and United States.
This past weekend also highlighted the many ways that we build and sustain this community, from the warm welcome that our campus offered during Destination UMW on Saturday and the annual Esports Tournament on Sunday, to the annual Engage with the Earth Day that concluded our weeklong ASPIRE celebration. Once again, our student leaders showed up and showed what’s best about Mary Washington.
Our work around sustainability is more than just one day, and we’ve had a Climate Action Plan task force engaged in important conversations and plan development for many years with the President’s Council on Sustainability. The task force has submitted recommendations for consideration, and we appreciate their work to pull in ideas and expertise from areas across campus. As we review the report, we want to thank co-chairs Alan Griffith and Sean Morrow, as well as members of the task force, Samira Fallah, Pamela Grothe, Sarah Kerner, Melva Kishpaugh, Katherine Stoneman, Jay Sullivan, Pamela Taggert, and John Tippett. More information about their work, recommendations, and the many university contributors is available on the President’s Council on Sustainability website.
We are also in the final phases of our strategic plan implementation process, as the steering committee has revised the narrative and enhanced the action items based on campus feedback. Look for an email and updates to campus soon.
The conclusion of the spring semester is a season of accomplishment, as we celebrated Eagle Awards last week. We also learned on Friday that two students, Val (Delaney) Cotton and Charlotte Niblett, and two alumni, Sarah Eltayeb and Morgan Hicok, have been named Fulbright Scholars for the upcoming year. In addition, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Stephen Farnsworth has been selected as a Fulbright Specialist for India in fall 2026. Congratulations to all on these international awards.
Closer to home, we are watching the Virginia budget process, as the General Assembly resumes in a special session this week. The Board of Visitors approved tuition and fees at its most recent April meeting. The Board voted unanimously to authorize a 2.6% tuition increase for undergraduate and graduate students and a mandatory comprehensive fee increase of 4% for the 2026-27 academic year. Housing rates will increase by 2.5% while the dining rate will remain unchanged. The tuition and fee increase supports state-mandated compensation actions for faculty and staff, as well as a minimum wage increase, while accounting for inflation impacting the price of goods, materials and services; and state administrative system charge increases. We know that our students and families want to understand and budget for their costs, and they need this timely information to do so.
As part of the board meeting, we celebrated the groundbreaking for the new theatre, which is beginning to take shape at the corner of William St. and Sunken Road. Many of our speakers noted how it will be an intersection with the campus and community, as well as collaboration and creativity, and become our front door to the arts. If you aren’t on campus, you can watch the project develop on the construction website. In addition, we continue to make progress on the accessibility improvement project in Ball Hall, with Bushnell Hall on the schedule next year. We’ll have many more facilities and campus improvement projects coming up this summer.
As you plan for the summer and conclude the spring semester, I encourage you to consider internship opportunities. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) named UMW to its 2026 Top Virginia Employers for Interns list early this month, recognizing the University’s efforts to establish high-impact, career-launching opportunities across the Commonwealth. A week later, SCHEV shared its Top 50 list of Virginia interns, which includes Mary Washington students Matthew Clinton, Miranda Herd, MacKenzie Martin, and Sarah Moon. Congratulations to these students and the many more who are putting their talents to work in local businesses, state agencies, and national organizations, thanks to our connections to Richmond and Washington, D.C.
You’ve all worked so hard this semester, and I wish you all the best for final papers and exams, with time for a little fun. I hope you continue to cheer on the Eagles in spring sports, as they break records, boast C2C weekly achievements, compete in Collegiate 7s National Championship, and boost each other through the culmination of class assignments, research projects, and creative endeavors.
Sincerely,
Troy Paino