Olivia Foster (left), a 2023 alumna, will teach English in Argentina, and Emma Bathke (right), a 2021 alumna, will teach English in Germany, both via the Fulbright Student program.

The University of Mary Washington continues its Fulbright tradition with the recent announcements of grants for two alumni.

Emma Bathke ’21 and Olivia Foster ’23 will teach English overseas as participants in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

They are among 28 Mary Washington student Fulbright recipients since 2006, according to Professor of Middle East History Nabil Al-Tikriti and Professor of Biology Dianne Baker. Al-Tikriti and Baker are co-directors of the UMW Fulbright Committee, which works with student candidates to craft compelling applications.

Bathke, an international affairs major with a minor in business German, will travel to Germany in September to teach English. Until then, she’s working for the Library of Congress in the Congressional Research Service. Foster, a history major from Richmond, will teach English in Argentina beginning in March 2024. Read more.

Stephen Farnsworth (left) will head to Poland in spring 2024 to teach a graduate-level class in presidential communication under the Fulbright Scholar program. Professor Emeritus of Psychology David Rettinger will travel to Nepal as a Fulbright specialist.

University of Mary Washington Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth and Professor Emeritus of Psychology David Rettinger have received Fulbright grants to teach and share their professional expertise overseas.

Farnsworth, who directs the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at UMW, will travel to Poland to serve his third Fulbright assignment in spring 2024, during a sabbatical from Mary Washington.

At the American Studies Center of the University of Warsaw, he will teach a graduate-level course about U.S. presidential communication regarding domestic and foreign policies. He’ll also look at how presidents use direct communication and the mass media to shape public perceptions of their own characters.

Farnsworth’s Poland assignment falls under the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. It’s his third Fulbright; in 2019 he served in Malaysia as a Fulbright specialist, and in 2006-07 he held a Fulbright research chair in public policy in Canada. Read more.

As guests view the poster projects, student presenters explain methodology and answer questions. (Sam Cahill photo.)

Posters and presentations filled UMW’s Hurley Convergence Center on Friday, April 21, 2023. Complex art projects transformed the ground floor of the Cedric Rucker University Center. Music emanated from the Weatherly Wing of Seacobeck Hall, and master’s research projects on effective teaching methods stretched into the evening.

In the newly named Leigh Frackelton Classroom in Woodard Hall, a Case Competition offered bragging rights and cash awards.

It all added up to UMW’s 17th annual Research and Creativity Symposium – a campuswide celebration of all things academic – by students from all three UMW colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Education, and the College of Business.

“Essentially, every building on campus has a showcase that day,” said Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences Betsy Lewis, who leads the efforts and experience annually.

Here are some scenes from the day’s events. Read more.

First-place winner Chris Camarota, center, holds the oversized check with award sponsors and judges Craig Schneibolk, left, and Andrew Blate. (Suzanne Carr Rossi photo.)

The challenge: Take three separate California-based street-sweeping companies and combine them into one new business with the equipment, personnel, contracts and management to succeed despite potential competition from the biggest player in the industry.

That was the “case” posed in the fifth annual Case Competition, a contest in which teams of UMW business students tackle a business problem, consider obstacles and possible solutions, then present their findings orally and via projected slides. It’s a chance for them to use all their accumulated knowledge and skills, deploy their public speaking powers, and think on their feet to answer judges’ questions.

There’s a monetary reward, too – cash prizes totaling $5,000, sponsored by alumnus Andrew Blate ’04 and business partner Craig Schneibolk of the D.C.-area remodeling company Beautiful Home Services. Blate and Schneibolk started an endowed fund that eventually will cover award money for each year’s event, and they also judged this year’s contest along with business alumni Linda Blakemore ’84 and Rob Whitt ’93.

To make it to this year’s Case Competition – held Friday, April 21, 2023, in the Leigh Frackelton Classroom of Woodard Hall as part of UMW’s 17th annual Research and Creativity Symposium – each of five teams had to win a preliminary competition with fellow students in several business classes. The five teams that competed this year were well-prepared, with carefully researched solutions and polished presentations. Read more.

Bill Leighty

Bill Leighty has served two Virginia governors as chief of staff, shared moments with the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Tom Hanks and enjoyed the satisfaction of a career promoting the common good. Now he and wife Marti Leighty, a professor emerita at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, are helping students from their alma mater begin their own public service careers at the state level.

Both former members of Mary Washington’s Board of Visitors, they’ve begun the William H. Leighty ’78 and Martha Kearns Leighty ’75 Fellows Program.

The endowed fellowship will encourage University of Mary Washington juniors and seniors to intern with state legislators, public officials or state agencies. Students from any major can apply for the program, which will provide a $5,000 stipend and up to six academic credit hours for a semester-long or summer internship.

To kick off fundraising for the fellowship endowment, the Leightys have made a $50,000 philanthropic commitment. They’re also donating proceeds from Bill Leighty’s just-published book, Capitol Secrets: Leadership Wisdom From a Lifetime of Public Service, a memoir packed with anecdotes and insider details about getting things done at the highest levels of state government.

The Leightys were on campus Thursday, April 13, for a daylong introduction of the fellowship and an advance opportunity for members of the UMW community to obtain the book, which was officially released the next day. Events included a master class in public service, a panel discussion with alumni who serve at the local and state levels, and an evening reception and book-signing. Read more.

UMW senior Hannah Harris has been named Scholar of the Year by the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council. A biochemistry and English literature double major, she is headed to medical school in the fall.

In its 10 years’ existence, the University of Mary Washington’s Honors Program has frequently been recognized for excellence. But one accolade was elusive: having a student earn the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Scholar of the Year award.

That milestone is now achieved. Hannah Harris ’23 is this year’s winner of the top award for collegiate honors program students in Virginia and West Virginia. The VCHC presented the award at its annual conference, held April 14 and 15 at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

UMW Honors Program co-directors Kelli Slunt, professor of chemistry, and Mara Scanlon, professor of English, nominated Harris for the VCHC Scholar of the Year award with high confidence that she could win.

A biochemistry and English literature double major headed to medical school in the fall, Harris had lived the Honors Program ideals of academic excellence, leadership and intellectual curiosity for four years at UMW. But she faced keen competition for the award from finalists representing nine other colleges and universities.

In mid-March, Harris learned she would receive the honor – finding out on the fourth anniversary of the Destination Day event at which, as a high school senior from Botetourt County near Roanoke, she’d committed to attending UMW as an Honors Program student. Read more.

UMW students Ricky Muñoz, left, and Kaleb Dunlap, third from left, pose with Southeast Division AAG teammates at the recent World Geography Bowl in Denver. They were selected for the team based on their showings at a fall 2022 SEDAAG competition.

In the World Geography Bowl competition held recently in Denver, Colorado, UMW geography students Kaleb Dunlap and Ricky Muñoz displayed a solid strategy: Don’t buzz in on a question till you’re sure what’s being asked.

Long, roundabout questions threw some contestants for a loop, but Dunlap and Muñoz dodged those pitfalls en route to an excellent performance at the bowl, held during the American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual meeting March 23-27.

The UMW students teamed up with other undergraduates and graduate students from the AAG’s Southeast Division (SEDAAG) to place second overall in the geography trivia bowl competition. They also performed notably in the individual rankings of the 40-plus participants. Muñoz, a senior double major in geography and history from Centreville, placed sixth, and Dunlap, a junior geography major from Virginia Beach, tied for eighth.

“This is extremely respectable for two undergraduate students in the national competition,” noted Professor of Geography Dawn Bowen. In fact, among undergraduates, Muñoz placed second and Dunlap third. Read more.

The reggae/go-go sounds of Ras Lidj and Regg’Go enlivened Chandler Ballroom of the Cedric Rucker University Center, one act out of dozens that performed during UMW’s annual Multicultural Fair. (Chenin Guber photo.)

Eight-year-old Jamie Rutstein sat perfectly still while getting his face painted at the University of Mary Washington’s 33rd annual Multicultural Fair this past weekend. He barely budged or even squinted as a paint brush daubed with blue and white tickled his cheeks and forehead.

Jamie’s cool demeanor at the busy fair comes from experience, said his mom, Amanda Rutstein, a 2007 UMW alumna who manages the academic department offices in Monroe Hall. Jamie has come to the Multicultural Fair every year of his life except during the pandemic hiatus.

“It’s just a good community event and a really fun time,” Rutstein said as Jamie hopped off the face-painting chair set up on the main floor of the Cedric Rucker University Center. Mother and son headed off to explore the fair’s many craft vendors, children’s activities offered by UMW student clubs, community information tables and performances.

Though the morning’s rain moved most events indoors, the daylong Multicultural Fair, held on Saturday, April 1, nevertheless drew enthusiastic crowds. The annual springtime tradition, sponsored by UMW’s James Farmer Multicultural Center (JFMC), celebrates diverse worldwide cultures while bringing together Fredericksburg-area residents, Mary Wash students and other members of the UMW community. Read more.

Participants in the Honors Program anniversary were, from left, Sydney Baylor ’22, Piper Giannini ’21, Joey Opiekun ’20, Milen “Mili” Mehari ’19, Professor of English Mara Scanlon, Professor of Chemistry Kelli Slunt, Zaire Sprowal ’17, Marina Casto-Meirelles ’18, Kathryn Hall ’16 and Alaina Haws ’15. (Karen Pearlman photo.)

The Honors Program at the University of Mary Washington asks much from its participants. But the high-achieving, intellectually curious students admitted into the selective program say everything they do as Honors Scholars rewards their efforts many times over.

That was the overwhelming message from eight program alumni and several current participants as the UMW Honors Program celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday, March 25, with a panel discussion, video and reception at Seacobeck Hall.

Conceived as a way to recruit top achievers out of high school – and keep them engaged and enthusiastic during their full four years at Mary Washington – the Honors Program began in the 2012-13 academic year with a goal of admitting 50 qualified students. Seventy-five signed up, recalled Professor of Chemistry and Honors Program Director Kelli Slunt, and the Honors Program has exceeded expectations ever since.

“The program is thriving, and I’m just so thrilled with all the changes that have happened in the past 10 years,” Slunt told the audience gathered in Seacobeck’s Weatherly Wing. Key to that success, she said, has been the addition of Professor of English Mara Scanlon as associate director and Kasey Morello as program coordinator. Scanlon coined the program’s motto, “Be More,” and it couldn’t be more apt. Read more.

Highlander soaks up a bit of team energy before a game. The UMW women recorded a 24-7 season and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Division III Tournament. (Photo by Steve Miller.)

For senior biomedical sciences major Karissa Highlander, the University of Mary Washington has been the ideal place to be an athlete and a scholar.

Highlander has pursued a research-intensive undergraduate science career while also starting at center on a women’s basketball team that this year soared to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Recruited from Osbourn Park High School in Manassas by Coach Deena Applebury, Highlander visited campus and soaked in the basketball program’s close-knit atmosphere. But what sealed the deal was the chance to participate in UMW’s Jepson Scholars Program, allowing her to do chemistry and microbiology research on alternative treatments for antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis.

And she’s found something else at UMW – a bonus family. When a military transfer moved her parents to California halfway through Highlander’s college career, people from both her athletic and academic spheres helped fill the void. Read more.