The annual luncheon was held at the Jepson Alumni Executive Center on Saturday, April 2, 2011, with more than 200 guests in attendance. Students took the opportunity to thank their donors for their generosity, and donors enjoyed hearing about their recipients’ plans for the future.
Here is a slideshow of the day’s events.
Bookstore Announces Textbook Rental Program
Andrew Dolby and Deborah O’Dell
Andrew Dolby, associate professor of biological sciences, recently presented a research poster titled “Enzyme immunoassay detection of heat shock proteins to quantify the chronic stress response in birds” at a joint meeting of the Association of Field Ornithologists, the Wilson Ornithological Society and the Cooper Ornithological Society. The poster was co-authored by Deborah O’Dell, associate professor of biological sciences, and several undergraduate research students who are participating in the project. The meeting was held in March and sponsored by the University of Nebraska.
Claudia Emerson
Claudia Emerson, English professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will be inducted into the prestigious Fellowship of Southern Writers during its biennial meeting to be held during the April 14-16 Conference on Southern Literature.
Emerson will be welcomed into the fellowship alongside 11 other distinguished writers including Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller “To Kill a Mockingbird.” As part of Emerson’s induction, she will participate in a panel discussion of revision as an element of the writing process during the conference in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Emerson won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for “Late Wife.” She has written five books of poetry, with a sixth forthcoming. A former Virginia poet laureate who joined the UMW faculty in 1998, she holds the Arrington distinguished chair of poetry at Mary Washington. Emerson received the Donald Justice Award for poetry from the fellowship in 2009.
A highly selective organization that seeks to recognize and encourage literature in the South, the fellowship was founded in 1987 by a group of predominantly male writers that included James Dickey, John Hope Franklin, Walker Percy, Elizabeth Spencer, Robert Penn Warren and Eudora Welty.
New fellows are nominated by current members and elected by majority vote. Fellows are writers of fiction, poetry, drama, criticism and history. Most members have been fiction writers because of the powerhouse world of Southern fiction writing. However, Emerson said that is slowly changing. “As a female poet, it was harder to get in,” she said.
Members aren’t separated by their style of writing, so new ones are judged against all other Southern writers and editors, regardless of genre, Emerson said. “I’m very excited to see fellow writers and colleagues who are already in it and who are being inducted into it now,” Emerson said. “They don’t limit to creative writers necessarily.”
To be considered for membership, a writer must have been born and raised or have resided for a significant part of his or her life in the South, or have written works that in character and spirit embody aspects of the Southern experience.
Emerson said members also include historians, editors, biographers and critics, which is a unique trait for the fellowship. “It’s sort of a broader consideration of what it is to be a ‘writer’,” she said. “I’m excited and honored and always interested in being a part of something that’s trying to promote good writing.”
Emerson also is excited about attending the conference, where she will interact with many writers whom she admires. “I imagine there will be a couple of good parties where you can put on your party dress and meet people you’ve admired forever,” she said.
The fellowship holds its biennial meetings during the Chattanooga Arts & Education Council Conference on Southern Literature in Chattanooga, where the fellowship’s archives are held at the University of Tennessee Lupton Library. At their meeting, the fellows elect new members, bestow awards on established and emerging writers, and deliver readings and lectures.
Multicultural Fair Saturday, April 9
The 21st Annual Multicultural Fair, featuring multicultural entertainment, children’s activities, international and American food and ethnic craft vendors, will be held on Saturday, April 9 on Ball Circle from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more informaiton, call (540) 654-1044.
Check out the extensive entertainment schedule.
The fair, which attracts 3,000 to 4,000 people each year, exemplifies the University of Mary Washington’s commitment to enhancing multicultural awareness.
The Multicultural Student Affairs and James Farmer Multicultural Center work closely with UMW student organizations, faculty and staff in planning the festivities. The University also partners with the greater Fredericksburg community, which plays an integral role in successfully implementing the fair.
UMW Relay for Life Raises More than $66,000
The University of Mary Washington’s anti-cancer charity fundraiser Relay for Life raised more than $65,000, easily doubling the funds collected in 2010.
Having raised $32,000 last year, UMW student organizers of the relay had set an ambitious goal of $50,000 for the 2011 event.
“Though last-minute plans changed because of the weather, we were still able to blow our $50,000 goal out of the water — and had a great time doing it! Thank you to everyone who came out in support of UMW Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society,” Samantha Luffy, senior spirit chair, said in her post on UMW’s Facebook wall.
Nearly 500 students, staff and community members participated in the event, which began 3 p.m. April 2. Teams walked until 3 a.m. April 3.
Read more about the event.
Ahead of Anniversary: Freedom Riders Remember
UMW Senior Only Virginia Student Selected for 2011 Freedom Ride
UMW Announces 2011 Historic Preservation Book Prize
Winner of the SCBWI Golden Kite Award
UMW Professor Steve Watkins’ first book for young readers, Down Sand Mountain, is now available in paperback at the University owned and operated UMW Bookstore.
“It’s the fall of 1966, and twelve-year-old Dewey Turner is determined to start the school year right. No more being the butt of every joke. He’ll be cool–a Lone Wolf like his older brother, Wayne. But an accident with shoe polish dashes these hopes–and earns Dewey his worst nickname yet. He finds an unlikely friend in Darla Turkel, the only person at Sand Mountain High who is more of an outcast than he is. Through their friendship, Dewey comes to learn a whole lot about his small town, and about the world outside it, too: things about racism and segregation, secrets, and standing up for what’s right.”