Senior Robin Brazier leads Invisible Children chapter at UMW.
Smashing a Warlord
A Look at UMW’s Halloween Festivities
From the start of the day, students all over UMW could be seen dressed up in Halloween costumes, ranging from the classic witches and wizards…
UMW to Add Men’s Golf in 2016
The University of Mary Washington will add men’s golf as a varsity athletic program beginning in fall 2016.
Rod Wood, former men’s basketball coach and current Director of Athletic Facilities, will serve as the program’s head coach. Augustine Golf Club in Stafford County will be the home course for the Eagles and Raspberry Golf Management will become the newest partner of UMW Athletics.
“UMW is in a prime location for golf,” said UMW Director of Athletics Ken Tyler. “We’re very pleased to add men’s golf to our varsity athletic program and look forward to the many benefits it will bring to our athletic department, the university, and our community. Rod Wood is a proven coach and recruiter with a great deal of experience and connections in the sport of golf, and he will be an excellent leader for our program.”
The school will spend the next year and a half recruiting talented student-athletes and planning for the first tee shot in August 2016. The program will be immediately eligible for CAC and NCAA championships.
“It’s exciting to start a program from scratch,” said Wood. “Golf has always been a passion of mine, and I look forward to working with the students we plan to recruit.” Wood’s first coaching job was with the golf team at Robert E. Lee High School, where he coached PGA Tour Professional Kris Blanks.
The University is also looking to add women’s golf in either the fall of 2016 or 2017.
Belmont to Open Historic House
Gari Melcher’s Home and Studio at Belmont will open the historic Fannie Roots House to the public for the first time on Sunday, November 9.
Dating back to the 1880s, the house is a rare example of a post-civil war workman’s cottage. A presentation on the history of the house and restoration work will begin in the Studio Pavilion at 2 p.m. before tours of the house. The event is free and open to the public.
In 1912, the building was purchased by Willie Roots, an African-American laborer who did occasional work for Gari Melchers. Roots’ daughter Fannie, a well-known citizen of Stafford County and a civil rights activist, was born in the house and lived there her entire life. The building did not have running water, so Fannie relied on an outhouse and well. There was electricity for phone and lights, but she used a wood stove for heating and an oil stove for cooking.
Restoration on the house began in 2008 when Belmont became the steward of the property. With support from private citizens, businesses and volunteers, the house is receiving a new roof and a rebuilt kitchen chimney, among other restorations.
Work was made possible with grants from the Fredericksburg Savings Charitable Foundation, the Duff McDuff Green Jr. Fund of the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region and the Marietta M. and Samuel T. Morgan, Jr. Foundation.
The house still requires pest control, landscaping and other projects. For more information on the restoration project, contact Beate Ankjær-Jensen, Site Preservation Manager, at (540) 654-1839.
UMW to Host Ghost Walk, Oct. 24-25
The University of Mary Washington Historic Preservation Club will host the 30th annual Ghost Walk on Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25.
The haunted tours of downtown Fredericksburg will leave every 15 minutes from the James Monroe Museum at 908 Charles St.
The tours run from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday 
and from 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday. The hour long tours stop at about a dozen sites throughout historic Fredericksburg, including the Masonic Cemetery, Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop and Kenmore Plantation. Members of the Historic Preservation Club and other UMW students act out stories based on the book “The Ghosts of Fredericksburg and Other Environs” by L.B. Taylor Jr.
Reservations are highly recommended for groups over 8 and can be made in advance by email at umwghostwalk@gmail.com, or tickets can be purchased the night of the tour at Market Square. The cost is $6 for adults; $4 for UMW students, UMW staff, and military; $3 for children ages 6-12; free for children age 5 and under. For more information or to register, call the Historic Preservation Club at (540) 654-1315.
UMW to Host British National Debate Team, Oct. 23
The University of Mary Washington Debate Team will host the British National Team for a public debate on Thursday, October 23. The debate will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Monroe Hall, Room 116. The event is free and open to the public, and audience participation is welcomed.
The topic for the debate will be “This House regrets the rise of the Tea Party.” UMW will be represented by Mariah Young (’15, Chesapeake) and Thomas Pacheco (’14, Baltimore), who will debate British National Team members Kate Brooks and Alice Coombs Huntley. The British debaters will affirm the resolution, while the UMW debaters will negate.
The event is part of the 2014 British Debate Tour sponsored by the National Communication Association and the Committee on International Discussion and Debate. The University of Mary Washington was one of the host institutions selected to participate in the eight week fall tour. Other hosts include George Washington University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh and Cornell University.
The debate will be the third one sponsored by UMW this semester, following an intercollegiate tournament and an additional public debate. The team also has completed tournament competitions in Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia and Washington, D.C. After this week’s debate, the UMW Debate Team will wrap up competition for the fall semester with tournaments at Liberty University and Wake Forest University. Additionally, the team will be sponsoring another public debate in late November.
For more information on the debate, please contact Adrienne Brovero, Director of Debate, at adri.debate@gmail.com or (540) 654-2128.
U.S. Ambassador to Visit UMW
Rose Likins visits with students.
U.S. Ambassador and alumna Rose McCartney Likins will visit the University of Mary Washington on Tuesday, October 21 to meet with international relations students. Likins graduated from Mary Washington as an international affairs major in 1981 and has served as ambassador to Peru and El Salvador. In 2005, she was UMW’s commencement speaker and the winner of the university’s Outstanding Alumnus Award.
For more information, contact jkramer@umw.edu.
Harp Concert with Grace Bauson, Oct. 24
Grace Bauson
The University of Mary Washington will present “Around the World in 80 Minutes,” a music concert featuring harpist Grace Bauson on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in Pollard Recital Hall.
Bauson will guide the audience on a journey of harp music from around the world, including works inspired by Spanish guitars, Asian poetry, the vistas of Antarctica and more. The concert is free and open to the public.
A harp professor in the University of Mary Washington’s Department of Music, Bauson has performed with the American Youth Harp Ensemble in venues including Carnegie Hall, the White House, and the Kennedy Center. She has also been a featured soloist in concerto performances at the Chautauqua Music Festival and with the Kokomo and Ball State Symphony Orchestras. Her students have performed in numerous national and international tours with the American Youth Harp Ensemble.
Bauson’s instructors have included Elizabeth Richter, Judy Loman, Adelheid Blovsky-Miller and Lucile Lawrence. She holds a Doctor of Arts in Music from Ball State University.
For more information, call (540) 654-1012 or visit cas.umw.edu/music.