January 13, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

UMW Claims Strong Showing in Two Sets of National Rankings

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University of Mary Washington earned top spots this week in two national college rankings, ‘Washington Monthly’ and ‘The Princeton Review.’

University of Mary Washington earned top spots this week in two national college rankings, ‘Washington Monthly’ and ‘The Princeton Review.’

The University of Mary Washington took top spots in a pair of prestigious national college rankings, each released this week.

Encouraging college students to be active citizens, Washington Monthly’s 2021 College Rankings cite schools’ ability to promote social mobility, research and service. “We rate schools based on what they do for the country,” states the website for the publication, which included UMW in not one but two categories: Best Master’s Universities and Best Bang for the Buck.

Washington Monthly, which judges schools on their commitment to contributing to the greater good, recognized UMW for providing marketable degrees at affordable prices. The Princeton Review’s college rankings, based on feedback from actual students, placed Mary Washington in the top 14 percent of the nation’s thousands of four-year colleges and universities. Read more.

Move-In Day Welcomes ‘Excellent’ Class to Mary Washington

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The University of Mary Washington’s Fredericksburg campus was abuzz yesterday for Move-In Day, with members of the Class of 2025 arriving from near and far. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

The University of Mary Washington’s Fredericksburg campus was abuzz yesterday for Move-In Day, with members of the Class of 2025 arriving from near and far. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Under fickle skies – one minute sun, the next minute a downpour – members of the University of Mary Washington’s Class of 2025 streamed onto campus yesterday.

Move-In Day 2021 brought first-year students to Fredericksburg from near and far, all with high hopes for a full freshman experience. After more than a year of online learning, due to COVID-19, the undergrads breathed life back into campus. Masks, now required indoors with the Delta variant’s surge, couldn’t hide the nervous excitement of moving into new rooms, meeting suitemates … and putting together those tricky beds.

Robbie Willcox of Annandale, Virginia, used a bright orange mallet to wrestle her bed into shape, while her father scrolled through his phone for assembly directions. Willcox, whose brother, Michael, is a sophomore assigned to Eagle Landing, was sold on the school after attending UMW Theatre performances. “They were pretty impressive,” she said. “Coupled with a great community and really nice campus, Mary Washington seemed like the obvious choice.”

Like Willcox, many members of UMW’s incoming class hail from Virginia. But 14 percent come from other locales, making the trek from Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey, and also from farther afield – Washington and Wisconsin, Missouri and Montana, Colorado and California. Students also flew in from foreign countries as far away as South Africa, India and Ethiopia, but also from Ireland, Honduras and United Kingdom, even the South Pacific country of Fiji and Nepal in South Asia. Nearly 30 percent of the incoming class self-identifies as racially and ethnically diverse. Read more.

Renovated and Ready: Virginia Hall Welcomes New Students

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A 14-month renovation of Virginia Hall has left Mary Washington’s second oldest residence hall – constructed in three phases beginning in 1914 – ready to welcome first-year students. Photo by Tom Rothenberg.

A 14-month renovation of Virginia Hall has left Mary Washington’s second oldest residence hall – constructed in three phases beginning in 1914 – ready to welcome first-year students. Photo by Tom Rothenberg.

For Terrie Gladney Hoelscher ’78, Virginia Hall meant Friday night singalongs at the parlor piano, cramming into the second-floor phone booth and gliding down stairs on a mattress.

“She has good bones, and so much character,” Hoelscher said of the building she and generations of undergrads have called home for more than a century. “My lifelong and closest friendships were made and developed there.”

No doubt, a new era of University of Mary Washington students will find their own brand of mattress-gliding within these walls. A $19 million renovation completed this summer (think paint, polish and preservation) left the building awash in newfangled-ness: soothing central AC, all-keyless entry, a luxurious lounge. But the makeover took care to keep classic touches – big sunny windows, extra-wide stairwells, elegant transoms – intact.

“Everything is old but now it’s new,” said Addie Sage, a sophomore psychology major who’ll live in the 168-bed building as one of several resident assistants providing support to first-year students assigned there. Read more.

UMW Earns Spot in Top-Selling ‘Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022’

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For the 14th consecutive year, the Fiske Guide to Colleges has named the University of Mary Washington among the country’s best for delivering outstanding academics and reasonable prices.

UMW makes Fiske Guide to Colleges 2022Among top-selling publications that compare colleges, the prestigious Fiske Guide is often considered the gold standard resource. The 2022 edition, the 38th annual issue, features more than 300 of the “best and most interesting” public and private four-year colleges and universities in the nation as well as Canada, Great Britain and Ireland. Listings are based on questionnaires completed by administrators and a cross-section of students.

Along with strong academics, championship athletics and successful graduates, this year’s edition mentions Mary Washington’s beautiful campus, rich history and unique traditions like Eagle Gathering, Devil Goat Day and Junior Ring Week. The publication points to incoming students’ pledge to uphold the honor code, along with other shared experiences like a first-year seminar, common read and living-learning communities.

“Tradition is at the heart of UMW and is one of the many things that instills a sense of community here,” the publication quotes a student as saying. Read more.

UMW Physics, Math Major Wins Preeminent Goldwater Scholarship

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UMW physics and math double-major William “Henry” Mills received the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for his work using lasers to make movies that chronicle the movement of molecules.

UMW physics and math double-major William “Henry” Mills received the highly prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for his work using lasers to make movies that chronicle the movement of molecules.

William “Henry” Mills was in his late 20s when he arrived at UMW. After community college and a lackluster job, he’d begun to get serious about making the most of his life. This wasn’t the time, Mills thought, for playing it safe.

“I’d always been interested in physics,” he said. “I just never thought I was cool enough to study it.”

Oh, but he was.

For his work making movies of molecules in motion in a field called “ultrafast physics” – how cool is that? – he has received the Goldwater Scholarship, among the most prestigious undergraduate awards, with winners this year from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Brown. His research – a complex equation of quantum mechanics, high-level math and computer programming – explores the ways in which molecules rotate, shedding light on processes like vision and photosynthesis. Read more.

Student Research Fuels Professor’s ‘Costs of War’ Report

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A ‘Costs of War’ report authored by Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Jason Davidson speaks to the importance of America’s allies in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A ‘Costs of War’ report authored by Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Jason Davidson speaks to the importance of America’s allies in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, draws near, troops are finally leaving the dusty deserts and treacherous mountains of Afghanistan. The departure marks the end of America’s longest war and highlights a full-circle moment for UMW Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Jason Davidson.

“I was always really taken by, to be completely blunt, the brutality of war and its effects on people’s lives,” said Davidson, whose study, The Costs of War to United States Allies Since 9/11, is making waves, landing lately in the likes of Forbes, The Guardian and Daily Mail. “This report … brings me back to that original impulse.”

The 12-page document delves into the human and monetary toll the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken on America’s allies, who apart from their ties to the U.S., may not have had cause to be in the Middle East during the past two decades at all. The research took Davidson – and recent Mary Washington graduate Rachel McVicker ’21 – down a rabbit hole of government databases, embassy archives, parliamentary requests and personal connections.

“This process definitely taught me a lot about how to get deep into foreign country documents,” said McVicker, who majored in international affairs, with a minor in security and conflict studies – Davidson’s specialty. Read more. 

Pandemic-Era Commencement Holds A Number of Highlights

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Jasmine Williams ’20 models her decorated mortarboard. Members of the Class of 2020 waited a year for their Commencement.

Jasmine Williams ’20 models her decorated mortarboard. Members of the Class of 2020 waited a year for their Commencement.

What a year … and 52 days! But who’s counting?

With University of Mary Washington Commencement ceremonies for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 taking place today through Sunday, we are.

When UMW paused in-person learning last spring, amid a growing pandemic, campus life as we knew it was thrown off kilter. Amid the disruption, Class of 2020 graduation plans were rescheduled, then put on hold. A robust MMDC (monitor, mask, distance and clean) campaign – and a gymnastics routine of face-to-face and virtual learning – brought students back to campus in the fall. But it’s been a long road.

Racial unrest and political angst swept the nation. Weekly emails from UMW’s “COVID-19 Implementation Team” told of fast-changing news: disease progression, vaccine availability and those hard-to-pin-down Commencement plans.

Now, with a web of socially distanced, guideline-adherent measures in place, Mary Washington presents the capstone activity for two extraordinary classes. Bring on the bagpipes, brightly colored honor cords, and decorated caps … and masks!

With everything else that’s been turned on its head, we’re flipping the number ’21, too. Here – in numerical order – are 12 things to know about one unconventional Commencement, broken into nine parts. Read more.

Top UMW Students Reach Revered Phi Beta Kappa Rank

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Forty UMW students were inducted into the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, during last night’s virtual ceremony.

Forty UMW students were inducted into the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, during last night’s virtual ceremony.

Along with 40 University of Mary Washington students, President Troy Paino was inducted last night into an exclusive 250-year-old worldwide club, which used to have a secret sign and handshake. Membership is lifelong, and it has been offered to 17 U.S. Presidents and 42 U.S. Supreme Court justices.

The key to membership in this invitation-only club, Phi Beta Kappa, is academic excellence and love of learning. The five College of William and Mary students who founded this august honor society in 1776 could hardly have imagined new inductees being presented virtually via a technology called Zoom.

But that is what happened last night as photos of new members were projected onto a screen and as Dr. Paino accepted his honorary induction into “the most prestigious academic honor society in the nation.” Read more.

UMW Gets Down to Earth With Sustainability Coordinator Position

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UMW, which is listed in the 2021 edition of “The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges,” plans to hire a full-time sustainability coordinator by summer.


UMW, which is listed in the 2021 edition of “The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges,” plans to hire a full-time sustainability coordinator by summer.

By summer, the University of Mary Washington plans to have its own Sustainability Coordinator. The announcement of the new full-time position by UMW President Troy Paino in last week’s Board of Visitors meeting comes just in time for Earth Day and on the heels of Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order to reduce Virginia’s reliance on single-use plastics.

“UMW has a long tradition of prioritizing sustainability, but it’s time we take that commitment to another level,” Paino said. “We need a dedicated position to develop and implement an ambitious plan that will make UMW a national leader among green campuses.”

The effort has already begun. A “Virginia Green” dining program, paired with academic programs, like the conservation biology, and Earth and environmental science majors, will serve as a launching pad for the sustainability coordinator. So will the recent Climate of Change discussion series, along with recycling, bike-sharing and other existing eco-specific initiatives.

UMW traded plastic straws for paper ones more than two years ago, said Campus Dining Marketing Coordinator Rose Benedict, and the University is listed among the nation’s most environmentally conscious schools in the 2021 edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges. Read more.

College of Education Graduates to New State-of-the-Art Home

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A student passes by Seacobeck Hall, which is under construction as the new home of UMW’s College of Education and slated for completion early next year. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A student passes by Seacobeck Hall, which is under construction as the new home of UMW’s College of Education and slated for completion early next year. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Barbara Bishop Mann ’66 remembers making peanut butter and jelly crackers on linen-clad tables. Gayle Petro ’79 pumped pink frozen yogurt from a newfangled machine. Susan Doig ’91, M.Ed. ’06, and friends got creative, making potato skins by topping tubers with salad bar staples and cranking them through a grill-type toaster.

“A lot of bonding happened in this building,” said Doig, one of several alums who studied education at Mary Washington and returned this month to their old dining hall. They came back to add their names to a beam – also signed by COE students, faculty and staff – to be hoisted onto the roof of Seacobeck, the decades-long campus hub for generations of students.

Since meal service moved to the University Center in 2015, a $24 million renovation – in starts and stops – has brought Seacobeck full circle. Its planned re-opening early next year as the new home of the recently accredited College of Education (COE) will reflect UMW’s roots as a school for teachers, with a nod to the future of academia.

The state-of-the-art facilities will be “transformational” for students, said COE Dean Pete Kelly. Read more.