February 21, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Charles Tate Named Excellent Eagle Employee

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Charles Tate

Charles Tate

Congratulations to Charles Tate, Student Success Coordinator, who has been selected as the Excellent Eagle Employee for the month of October. A parking spot of his choosing has been reserved for him through the end of the month.

Here is what a coworker said about him:

“Charles is such a great advocate for our students, always putting their needs before anything else.  As Student Success Coordinator, Charles has openly stated that he believes that the university has a duty to support their students from pre-admission advising through graduation – and his actions reveal this philosophy so well.

The Office of Academic and Career Services is very fortunate to have Charles on their team!”

To nominate someone who you believe is an Excellent Eagle Employee, send an email to Priscilla Sullivan (psulliva@umw.edu) with Excellent Eagle Employee in the subject line. In your email, be sure to list the person’s name, department, job title, work location (with the most convenient parking lot), and of course, the reason why you believe they should be recognized. Please spread the word to other employees about this wonderful opportunity to recognize a co-worker(s).

You may now also go to the Staff Advisory Council’s site and click on the Excellent Eagle tab to make a nomination:  http://sac.umwblogs.org/excellent-eagle/.

Richards Featured on With Good Reason

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Gary Richards, associate professor of English, Linguistics and Communication, can be heard on With Good Reason from Oct. 4 to 10 as part of an encore presentation of the “Gospel Roots of Rock and Roll.”

Here’s the description from With Good Reason: “The Broadway musical has often taken up southern themes, from Show Boat and Porgy and Bess in the first half of the twentieth century to Memphis, which hit the Broadway stage in 2009. For all their popularity, Gary Richards (University of Mary Washington) argues that these musicals nevertheless tend to have a negative view of the South and don’t reflect its diversity today.”

http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2014/10/the-gospel-roots-of-rock-and-roll-2/

Farnsworth Elected President of Pi Sigma Alpha

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Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, has been elected National President of Pi Sigma Alpha, the 700-chapter National Political Science Honor Society. The organization recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students in political science through scholarships, best paper awards and research conferences. Nine students from the Mary Washington chapter of the honor society have received national recognition in the best papers competition, and six of those winners were recognized for papers prepared in Farnsworth’s research methods class or for departmental honors projects completed under his direction. No other university in the country has had as many political science students win national writing awards from Pi Sigma Alpha as has Mary Washington.

Liss and Schiffrin Featured on CBS

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Balancing the Big StuffHolly Schiffrin and Miriam N. Liss, professors of psychology, recently published their book, “Balancing the Big Stuff: Finding Happiness in Work, Family, and Life” and discussed it on CBS’s Virginia This Morning program. They talked about the ways in which we all define “having it all” and how we can obtain it for ourselves through a better evaluation of what we want from ourselves, our families, our jobs and each other.

Check out the video: Two Mary Washington professors explain what it means to “have it all”

Welsh Festival Brings Culture and Fun to Fredericksburg

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The 25th Annual Fredericksburg Welsh Festival at the James Monroe Museum drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 people on Saturday, Sept. 20. The event features traditional music, dancing, arts, crafts, storytelling, language lessons and children’s activities.

“The day was a great success, a testament to the hard work of the Welsh Society of Fredericksburg and the James Monroe Museum’s staff and volunteers,” said Scott H. Harris, director of the James Monroe Museum. “All in all, it was a great event, part of a nexus of fun and culture between UMW and Historic Fredericksburg!”

Fredericksburg Best College Town Contest

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Kelsey_for_SocialFredericksburg is one of the nominees in USA Today’s latest 10 Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest! Join in the contest and vote for Fredericksburg at http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-college-town-weekend/. Voters can vote once a day and voting ends Monday, October 6, 2014 at 11:59 a.m. The winners will be announced on 10Best on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 11:59 a.m., then later on USA TODAY.

 

Farnsworth Featured in More Than 100 Media Outlets

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Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, was in considerable demand as a political analyst during the Medicaid expansion standoff in the Virginia General Assembly and the federal corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell. His commentary on Virginia politics appeared in more than 100 media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, on WAMU, Washington’s national public radio affiliate, and on MSNBC’s program “Now with Alex Wagner.”