Have you discovered all the features of Eagle Eye? The e-mail version is just a taste of what can be found inside. Click on the link at the top of the page to view the complete newsletter online. Discover more current and past articles in the “Top Stories” and “Professional Notes” sections, and see many more items that are not included in the e-mail. EagleEye has sections for “Classifieds,” an events calendar, and current news from commercial publications in “UMW in the News,” as well as UMW’s own news releases and sports news. Post your news in “What’s New @ UMW” or in “Faculty Notes.” Click on “Contribute” to find out how to post. This is a community-published newsletter and will only get better as more faculty and staff contribute to it.
Health and Flexible Benefits Open Enrollment Ends May 16
Did you know…
- If you take no action during Open Enrollment, you will remain in the same health plan, membership, or waived status and will not have a Flexible Reimbursement Account.
- You can save out-of-pocket health care and/or child and elder care costs by enrolling in a Flexible Reimbursement Account.
- You must enroll in a Flexible Reimbursement Account each plan year; Flex Accounts do not automatically roll over.
- You may now cover eligible dependent children through the end of the year in which they turn age 26.
- If your eligible child is on extended coverage, he/she will not automatically be enrolled in your health plan. You must add your child during Open Enrollment.
- Many of the rules related to dependent eligibility no longer apply?
For additional information and to make your benefits elections, please visit the Open Enrollment website (http://www.umw.edu/hr/benefits/open_enrollment1111111.php). If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Tammy Prailey in the Office of Human Resources at 654-1215 or tprailey@umw.edu.
Join us for Afternoon Tea in honor of Elizabeth Monroe!
The James Monroe Museum will be hosting an elegant full afternoon tea in our Memorial Garden on Sunday, June 5, from 2 to 4 p.m., in honor of Elizabeth Monroe, who was born in June. We’ll enjoy lovely harp music from Mary Triola; hear a few words about Mrs. Monroe from Heidi Stello, research associate at the Papers of James Monroe; and enjoy delicious munchies and tea served by costumed members of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society. Catering will be generously donated by Sodexo, Inc.
Our space is limited and reservations are required. UMW faculty and staff can purchase tickets for the reduced price of $10/person. For questions or to make reservations, call JMM Membership and Special Events Coordinator Adele Uphaus-Conner at x1123, or send e-mail to auphaus@umw.edu.
Faculty Honored at Commencement
The University of Mary Washington presented its top honors during commencement ceremonies Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7.
Teresa A. Kennedy, professor of English and chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, was presented the Grellet C. Simpson Award, the institution’s most prestigious annual award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. The recipient is routinely a senior member of the faculty.
Krystyn Moon, associate professor of American Studies, received the UMW Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Member Award, which is presented annually to an exceptional member of the faculty who has served the institution for at least two years but no more than five years.
Charles M. Murphy, assistant professor of political science, received the Mary W. Pinschmidt Award. The winner is selected by the graduating class as the faculty member “whom they will most likely remember as the one who had the greatest impact on their lives.”
Laurie B. Abeel, associate professor of education, was presented with the Graduate Faculty Award, which recognizes an exceptional full-time faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in graduate teaching and professional leadership in a graduate program. The person selected must have served in a full-time position at the university for at least two years.
Spring Issue of UMW Magazine Now Available
The spring issue of University of Mary Washington Magazine focuses on the University’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. If you would like a copy, the Publications Office is happy to send one out to you. Just contact Anna Billingsley at abilling@umw.edu or at ext. 1686, or stop by University Relations on the third floor of Eagle Village.
In the Collector’s Eye: Connoisseurship in Decorative Arts
On Sunday, May 15, Kyra Swanson, assistant curator of UMW Galleries will present a lecture on American decorative arts styles from 1680 through 1850. Style in the decorative arts often describes “a specific set of visual characteristics”. The ability to recognize a style requires the careful study and the development of a visual vocabulary upon which to draw for reference. This talk will cover the key elements to look for when examining an object in order to determine its stylistic category: line, proportion, volume, ornamentation, texture, material, color, scale. In addition, it will include discussion on the relationship of objects to the culture and society and how it affects the development stylistic elements.
Ridderhof Martin Gallery, College Avenue at Seacobeck Street; 2 p.m.; free, registration required; (540) 654-1013
Michelle M Powell
This UMW alumna, `07 M.Ed., is executive director for the National Delphic Council USA. Michelle describes the Delphic Games as the Olympics for the arts. It incorporates artistic disciplines from architecture to performance, writing to film in 6 categories and 18 sub-categories. Sixty countries participate. “UMW is my Alma Mater, and I believe the university can be a great partner and facilitator. Please take this message to those who are likely to see the vision and help us ignite the spark,” says Michelle. See the International website at www.delphic.org.
For more information, contact Michelle at artistpowell@juno.com.
Emile Lester
Emile Lester, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, has had his book published, “Teaching About Religions: A Democratic Approach for Public Schools.”
http://press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do;jsessionid=96706B2E5A1D7240FDFF52E73627E189?id=2180004
Nabil Al-Tikriti
Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history, is currently serving as a short term observer (STO) for the May 8 municipal elections in Durres, Albania. For these elections, he is affiliated with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and will be in the country from 5-12 May, 2011.
Congressman Lewis Delivers Inspirational Address
Civil rights icon John Lewis called on the University of Mary Washington class of 2011 to build a better society, urging the graduates to challenge injustices as he delivered the undergraduate commencement address on Saturday, May 7.
“You must stand up. You must speak up. You must speak out,” said Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia. “You must create a world community at peace with itself.”
Lewis, a 1961 Freedom Rider, praised the university for its three-month tribute to the Freedom Rides and to their architect, the late civil rights leader James Farmer who taught at Mary Washington. The Freedom Rides successfully defied segregated interstate bus travel and facilities in the South.
“No other college in America is pausing like you have to celebrate and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides,” he said. “I come here to say thank you, thank you.”
“The University of Mary Washington is a bright light in the education of all of our citizens about the issues of civil rights, human rights and social justice,” he said. “You have discovered that the cause of civil rights is not just the legacy of…one people, but all Americans. We all must play a role in helping to build a just and open society.”
Lewis spoke to about 5.000 people, including graduates, family members, friends and faculty, gathered in Ball Circle for the 100th annual commencement. The university awarded a total of 1,295 degrees in the May 7 undergraduate ceremony and the May 6 graduate ceremony, including 450 bachelor of arts degrees, 42 bachelor of liberal studies degrees, 92 bachelor of professional studies degrees and 459 bachelor of science degrees, as well as 252 master’s degrees.
In his remarks, Lewis recalled his upbringing in Alabama. Born to sharecroppers in 1940, he attended segregated public schools. “Whites only” signs were commonplace. “As a young child, I tasted the bitter fruits of segregation and racial discrimination,” Lewis said. When he questioned his parents about segregation, they said “that’s the way it is. Don’t get in the way. Don’t get in trouble.”
But as a teenager, Lewis was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. aired on radio broadcasts “as if he were speaking to me…to get involved.” In those pivotal moments, Lewis made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights movement.
“I got in trouble,” he said. “It was good trouble. Necessary trouble. James (Farmer) and the Freedom Riders 50 years ago got in trouble. Necessary trouble. Good trouble to bring down those signs that said ‘white men, colored men, white women, colored women.’ Those signs are gone and they will not return.”
“Your children, the only place they’ll see those signs is in a book, in a museum, on a video. We live in a better country. We’re on our way to the creation of a beloved community where we can lay down the burden of race and create a society where we can forget about race.”
Lewis was a student at Fisk University when he organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn. At 21, he “had all my hair and was a few pounds lighter” when he joined the Freedom Rides, he recalled. Lewis endured vicious beatings at the hands of angry mobs and, in all, more than 40 arrests for challenging segregation. Yet he remained a devoted advocate of nonviolence.
“You must never ever give up. You must never ever give in,” he said. “Get out there and push and pull, and do your part to create a loving community in redeeming the soul of America. You can do it. You must do it.”
During the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lewis helped organize and chair the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee that was responsible for coordinating student activism. He was a young man when he was deemed one of the “Big Six” leaders of the movement along with King and Farmer.
Farmer, who taught history at Mary Washington for about a dozen years, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Clinton in 1998. This year, Lewis himself received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, who as Lewis noted was born the year of the 1961 Rides.
In concluding his remarks, Lewis urged the graduates to make a commitment to justice, no matter how difficult the path.
“My friends, the storms may come. The winds may blow. The thunder may roll. The lightning may flash. And the rain may be beat down on our old house. Call it the house of UMW,” Lewis said. “Call it the house of Virginia. Call it the house of Georgia or California or New York. Call it the house of Alabama. Call it the American house. We all live in the same house.”
“I say to you as you leave this university, as you leave this little piece of real estate, you still have the power to change the social, economic and political structures around you. You still have the power to lead a nonviolent revolution of values and ideas in your community and around the world. If you use that power, if you use your education, use your talent, use your skills, use that power, then a new and better world is yours to build.”
“So I say to you today, walk with the wind. Let the spirit of history, the spirit of UMW, and the spirit of the Freedom Rides be your guide.”
Following the address, Daniel K. Steen, rector of the university’s Board of Visitors, conferred an honorary doctor of humane letters degree on Lewis.
He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from universities throughout the United State. He also holds a B.A. in religion and philosophy from Fisk University, and he is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986 and has served as U.S. representative of Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District since then. He is Senior Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Party in leadership in the House and is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and chairman of its Subcommittee on Oversight.
Two years ago, Lewis was visited in his office by a man who had encountered Lewis on May 9, 1961 in Rock Hill, S.C. The man, who was a Klansman in 1961, had beaten Lewis that day in South Carolina. Nearly 48 years later, the man came to apologize to Lewis and to ask for forgiveness.
“He started crying. He gave me a hug. I started crying and I hugged him back,” Lewis said. “That is what the movement was all about – to build a sense of community. We all live in the same house because we are one people.”
News release prepared by Christine Neuberger