{"id":47006,"date":"2026-10-15T15:43:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T19:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/president\/?p=47006"},"modified":"2026-10-16T15:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:46:19","slug":"a-message-from-the-president-october-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/president\/2026\/10\/a-message-from-the-president-october-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"A Message From The President – October 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
Office of the President<\/div>

A Message From The President – October 2026<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

Dear UMW Campus Community,<\/p>

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>

I hope you had a wonderful fall break, visiting friends and family or staying on campus to enjoy a brief break in classes and a celebration of our employees. The pause helps us appreciate all we are working toward this semester and the many colleagues, classmates, and mentors who are making it happen. UMW has become known for making an impact, recognized by our students in survey responses to The Princeton Review and repeatedly recognized in the Best Value Colleges publication<\/a>. Most recently, UMW ranked among the top five public universities nationwide for making an impact and for internships. Within Virginia, UMW is first for internships in The Princeton Review among public and private universities, and also earned the honor of a top employer for Internships in Virginia.<\/p>

If you missed this month’s Career and Internship Fair, it’s not too late to connect with opportunities. The Business Pour mocktail networking event<\/a> on Oct. 19 connects UMW students with Fredericksburg employers for an evening of recruiting for internships, part-time positions, and seasonal work. Students can connect with alumni anytime via Network Mary Wash<\/a> and learn more about opportunities through the Center for Career and Professional Development. And our amazing alumni are eager to share their advice and their success. You can start with a few of their stories on the UMW News site to learn more about their work in healthcare<\/a>, fundraising<\/a>, international affairs<\/a>, and science, including earning this year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics<\/a>, one of the highest honors in the field. <\/p>

Many of our alumni have reconnected at regional events<\/a> and will be back in the ‘burg for Homecoming later this month. Check out the full Homecoming schedule on the UMWEagles.com website<\/a>, and reserve your tailgating spot or check for on-campus promotions for tickets. As a reminder, all regular home games are free, and the Eagles compete almost every day of the week. Men’s and women’s rugby are currently ranked nationally, and field hockey, men’s soccer and women’s soccer have all been ranked nationally during their seasons. Volleyball, tennis, and swim & dive are back on the court and in the pool, and the fall sports are gearing up for a busy homecoming weekend and conference championships in November. This fall, we also announced the addition of Men’s Volleyball as a NCAA sport as well as the elevation of Cheerleading to intercollegiate status<\/a> beginning in the 2027-28 academic year. <\/p>

We have plenty of favorite fall traditions coming up later this month, from acapella groups’ “Night of the Singing Dead” to SAE’s “Scary Washington” and the annual Ghost Walk hosted by the Historic Preservation Club. <\/p>

National Transfer Student Week starts Oct. 19, and this year, Virginia College Application Week (VCAW) extends into two weeks from Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. We encourage any high school senior interested in Mary Washington to apply early, and with the code VCAW<\/a>, they can apply for free during those weeks. Please share the opportunity along with upcoming Admissions events, such as virtual webinars and the Oct. 17 Open House.<\/a> It’s the perfect time to visit campus. <\/p>

We’ll have a Sunday Open House on Nov. 8, followed by a full Saturday, Nov. 14, as our No. 1 men’s basketball team tips-off the new season with the home opener and championship banner raising. The campus community, friends, families, and neighbors are invited and can join in for a full day, with a volleyball tournament, open house, alumni receptions, UMW Theatre performance and more. <\/p>

And we’ll have plenty to celebrate going into November, including our campus civic commitment through UMW Votes and Day on Democracy<\/a>, as well as ongoing community engagement opportunities<\/a> through the Center for Community Engagement, such as this Saturday’s Pay it Forward Day on Oct. 17. It’s an excellent reminder of the power of care, compassion and connection that drives so much of what we do here, as was evident in my recent conversation with two of our deans in Student Affairs. To listen, check out the latest episode of What Matters Most podcast<\/a>,  featuring Dean Dave Fleming and Dean Melissa Jones. <\/p>

We are deeply grateful to our UMW employees for all you do for our students, our campus, and our community.<\/p>

Troy Paino<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear UMW Campus Community,I hope you had a wonderful fall break, visiting friends and family or staying on campus to enjoy a brief break in classes and a celebration of our employees. The pause helps us appreciate all we are working toward this semester and the many colleagues, classmates, and mentors who are making it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2592,"featured_media":46513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-messages-from-the-president","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Message From The President - October 2026 » Office of the President<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/president\/2026\/10\/a-message-from-the-president-october-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Message From The President - October 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear UMW Campus Community,I hope you had a wonderful fall break, visiting friends and family or staying on campus to enjoy a brief break in classes and a celebration of our employees. 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