Dear Colleagues, 

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend.  My family and I arrived in Fredericksburg a couple of weeks ago and have been busy getting settled into Brompton (much work still to do) and our new lives in Virginia.  We are all very excited to be members of the University of Mary Washington community, and I will be spending time this summer getting around campus to get to meet as many of you as possible.  In time you will also get to know my wife, Kelly, daughters, Sophia and Chloe, and dog, Oscar.  Kelly is an educator as well and is a strong advocate for the importance of early childhood education.  Sophia is a sophomore at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and Chloe will be a junior at James Monroe High School.  Oscar is busy getting to know his new digs, exploring the expansive lawn at Brompton, and putting the fear of God into a few squirrels.   

I explored the opportunity to come to Mary Washington because of what I knew about UMW’s mission, tradition, and location, but I decided to come here because of what I discovered about this place during the presidential search process.  It is truly special–with a strong sense of community, outstanding faculty, staff, administrators, and students, and devoted alumni.  UMW has a unique opportunity to become a national model for the growing power and relevance of a public liberal arts education in an increasingly pluralistic republic.  The current state of national and world affairs reminds us of the importance of what we do, and UMW is here to remind our state and national leaders that you cannot have a true democracy without a liberally educated citizenry. 

I am energized by the work ahead and am thrilled that I will get to do it alongside each of you.  If you see me on campus, please do not hesitate to introduce yourself to me.  It will take a while to get to know you all, but I genuinely look forward to it. 

Sincerely, 

Troy