Becca Winicour stands on her tiptoes to snag a soy yogurt off the top shelf, as Maggie Ellis, grocery scanner in hand, consults another classmate. “I found three blueberry ones,” she said, “but they’re not even a month old.” These University of Mary Washington seniors are enrolled in a new course called Alleviating Food Waste, […]
Students Make a Difference Through ‘Into the Streets’
From left to right, Aniya Stewart, Kaylee Deardorff and Cassidy Richardson assemble lunches for Micah Ecumenical Ministries. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
On a balmy September morning, a group of University of Mary Washington students gathered on Ball Circle. Donning shirts emblazoned with a quote from author James Baldwin – “The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in” – they were ready to make a difference.
“It’s still important to volunteer and serve people in need, even in a pandemic,” said senior Elizabeth Lopez, who was among the 100-plus students who participated in Saturday’s Into the Streets. Hosted by Community Outreach and Resources, or COAR, the annual tradition provides an array of service projects, including weeding gardens, picking up trash and organizing the Eagle Resource Closet for students in need. A group also used chalk to adorn Campus Walk with inspirational messages promoting UMW’s spirit of service.
“Mary Washington students returned to campus with such a renewed sense of commitment to serve those in our broader Fredericksburg community,” said Sarah Dewees, associate director of UMW’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE). Read more.
Psychology Alum Shares Renowned Gift
Rachael Wonderlin ’11, a renowned dementia care consultant and author, returns to UMW as the 2021 Psychology Graduate-in-Residence.
Rachael Wonderlin ’11 spent hours as a teen volunteering at a skilled nursing facility. One day, a friend remarked she had a gift for working with older adults.
“I didn’t realize at the time that this was a skill,” said Wonderlin, who channeled her talents into a psychology degree from the University of Mary Washington and a master’s in gerontology.
Now a renowned dementia care consultant and author who has taught her trademarked technique to senior living communities worldwide, Wonderlin has been named the UMW Department of Psychology’s 2021 graduate-in-residence. Last Thursday, she presented a free, public lecture entitled “Everything You Need to Know About Dementia Caregiving Communication” in the Hurley Convergence Center at 4 p.m. Read more.
UMW Theatre Plans Reflective In-Person Season
UMW Theatre kicks off its 2021-22 season this week with its first live performances in more than 18 months, presenting Joan Holden’s ‘Nickel and Dimed,’ based on the bestselling book by Barbara Ehrenreich. Photo by Geoff Greene.
Mina Sollars sums up UMW Theatre’s upcoming season in a single word: revival.
“Preparing for the first in-person performances on campus in more than a year is such an honor,” Sollars, a University of Mary Washington junior, said of the lineup, which kicks off tomorrow at 7:30 with a pay-what-you-can preview performance in duPont Hall’s Klein Theatre. “We’re so lucky to be able to act onstage together once again.”
After an 18-month hiatus, UMW Theatre students, faculty and staff are once again planning an in-person season, producing plays that will be performed in front of a live audience, with COVID protocols in place. Beginning with Joan Holden’s Nickel and Dimed, this year’s shows reflect the collective pandemic-era conversation that has revolved around society, culture and politics.
“There’s no question that this seems to be an extraordinary moment to engage in the dialogue inspired by Nickel and Dimed,” Department of Theatre and Dance Chair Gregg Stull said of the play, which spotlights those who are overworked and underpaid. “Never before have we thought so much about work and what it means to make a living.” Read more.
Common Experience Encourages Critical Thinking, Connections
“We don’t need most of the fast-thinking system processes that were used thousands of years ago to survive,” said first-year student Bridget Zagrobelny (right), who learned from the PBS episode that autopilot thinking in modern life often results in mistakes and poor decisions. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Bridget Zagrobelny has heard that first impressions matter. But the University of Mary Washington freshman decided on a different strategy for making friends in college.
“We’re prone to judging others too quickly,” she said, “so it’s important to tap the brakes in our brains when we meet new people.”
She gained that insight after watching Living on Autopilot, an episode from the PBS Hacking Your Mind series exploring the mental processes at play in rational versus quick decision making, as part of this year’s Common Experience. Launched in 2015, this shared academic milestone gives incoming UMW first-year students the chance to engage in critical thinking and college-level discussions with professors, staff and peers as soon as they arrive on campus.
“We hope to challenge them to think about the material in new ways, learn about themselves and connect with their classmates,” said Assistant Professor of Biology April Wynn. As the First-Year Experience director, she oversees a variety of initiatives, including first-year seminars, living and learning communities, and peer mentorships, all designed to help freshmen successfully transition to life at Mary Washington. Read more.
We want to create an ExpertFile profile for you!
Have you recently seen your area of research covered in the media, or should it be? Do you feel your insight on newsworthy topics could add to the regional, national or global conversation? Are you willing to serve as a resource for journalists, researchers and government agencies writing about your area of expertise?
If so, UMW’s Media and Public Relations team wants to create an ExpertFile profile for you. The process is easy; to get started, we just need your bio, CV, photo and any links to recent research available on the web. The rest of the work is on us and ExpertFile, but you’ll get to review your profile in private mode and make edits before it goes public.
Once your profile goes live, you may be contacted by members of the media and other entities looking for your expertise. For those who cover topics regularly in the news, such as climate change, psychological trauma, politics and academic integrity, that might be often. For others, it might be more occasionally, when your area of expertise winds up in the news cycle.
It’s always up to you to accept or decline interview requests, but making some time for press coverage will ultimately help us get the word out about UMW and your research.
If you have questions or want us to start building your own ExpertFile profile, please contact UMW Media Relations Manager Jill Laiacona at jlaiacon@umw.edu.
If you already have an ExpertFile profile, please look out in your email for our 10-minute Content Refresh Survey, which will allow you to make you to make updates to your profile.
We want to create an ExpertFile profile for you!
Have you recently seen your area of research covered in the media, or should it be? Do you feel your insight on newsworthy topics could add to the regional, national or global conversation? Are you willing to serve as a resource for journalists, researchers and government agencies writing about your area of expertise?
If so, UMW’s Media and Public Relations team wants to create an ExpertFile profile for you. The process is easy; to get started, we just need your bio, CV, photo and any links to recent research available on the web. The rest of the work is on us and ExpertFile, but you’ll get to review your profile in private mode and make edits before it goes public.
Once your profile goes live, you may be contacted by members of the media and other entities looking for your expertise. For those who cover topics regularly in the news, such as climate change, psychological trauma, politics and academic integrity, that might be often. For others, it might be more occasionally, when your area of expertise winds up in the news cycle.
It’s always up to you to accept or decline interview requests, but making some time for press coverage will ultimately help us get the word out about UMW and your research.
If you have questions or want us to start building your own ExpertFile profile, please contact UMW Media Relations Manager Jill Laiacona at jlaiacon@umw.edu.
If you already have an ExpertFile profile, please look out in your email for our 10-minute Content Refresh Survey, which will allow you to make you to make updates to your profile.
UMW Nursing Program Helps Meet Critical Need
Rileigh Ecker ’21 earned her BSN degree through the 1+2+1 program, one of three BSN tracks that are part of the partnership between UMW, Germanna Community College and Mary Washington Healthcare. Photo credit: Courtney Morgan Photography.
Abigail Zimmerman has done her part to help curb COVID. The University of Mary Washington senior vaccinated dozens of Fredericksburg area residents as a hospital volunteer this spring.
“It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” said Zimmerman, a UMW nursing student. “I know I’m in the right place, positively impacting the lives of people around me.”
In the midst of a global pandemic and critical nursing shortage, her chosen profession is needed now more than ever. Three pathways, offered by UMW in conjunction with community partners, are helping aspiring nurses answer that call. One of these tracks even gives students like Zimmerman the chance to live on campus, while gaining clinical experience and completing coursework infused with the liberal arts and uniquely designed to inform their careers.
The pandemic changed how society views nurses, said UMW Director of Nursing Janet Atarthi-Dugan, who oversees all three pathways, made possible through agreements with Germanna Community College (GCC) and Mary Washington Healthcare (MWH). The tracks, formed in 2015, also include a BSN completion program for current registered nurses and one that provides a seamless transition for community college students planning to transfer to Mary Washington. Read more.
Alum, Sports Exec, Scores Spot in Top ‘Forty Under 40’
Mike Shane ’04 is the chief business officer for Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and Wells Fargo Center. Shane, who also spent over a decade with the Washington Nationals, was just named to Sports Business Journal‘s ‘Forty Under 40’ list.
Just like it was yesterday, Mike Shane ’04 remembers the Washington Nationals making the playoffs nearly a decade ago.
“An hour after the game ended, stands were still packed. Everyone was cheering as the players took a lap around the field, high-fiving their fans,” said Shane, who spent 13 years moving up through the organization. “From the players to the staff to the fans, that night was the culmination of so much effort, energy and passion.”
Shane, who played baseball and earned a bachelor’s degree while at Mary Washington, has seen his hard work pay off. This summer, he was named to Sports Business Journal’s (SBJ) “Forty Under 40” list. Now chief business officer for Comcast Spectacor, a sports and entertainment company that owns professional ice hockey team the Philadelphia Flyers, Shane said that from the beginning, his focus has been on helping sports fans make lasting memories.
“I love walking onto the concourse before a game and seeing kids’ faces light up as they take it all in,” said Shane, a father of three boys who brings his family to the UMW alumni baseball game every year. Read more.
Science Symposium Showcases Research That’s Making a Difference
Junior Karissa Highlander is one of 25 Mary Washington students participating in UMW’s Summer Science Symposium tomorrow. The event showcases months of student research aimed at finding solutions to real-world problems.
University of Mary Washington junior Karissa Highlander has spent the summer researching an infectious illness. But not the one scientists have been focused on for the past 18 months.
Instead, Highlander, a biomedical sciences major, has been working on new treatments for tuberculosis. Though rare in the United States, antibiotic resistant strains of the deadly disease are prevalent in developing countries. “This research could provide protection to individuals living in areas with high rates of infection.”
Her study – along with that of 24 other undergraduates – were on display Wednesday at UMW’s Summer Science Symposium. The event, held via Zoom, showcased months of student research aimed at finding solutions to real-world problems. Alongside their professors, they’ve been exploring topics like the cancer-fighting potential of over-the-counter drugs, disease-causing parasites in tropical climates, toxicity of plastics and the impact of pollutants on aquatic ecosystems.
The 10-week Summer Science Institute (SSI) gives students from six disciplines – biology, chemistry, computer science, Earth and environmental sciences, physics and mathematics – a jumpstart on projects they’ll continue throughout their college careers.
“Independent research gives UMW students the opportunity to see the impact their work can make on the scientific community at large,” said Associate Professor of Chemistry Davis Oldham. “The experiments they’re doing today – working with cells, analyzing mixtures, writing code – may one day lead to big discoveries.” Read more.