December 5, 2025

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Fall Safe Zone Book Club

by

We still have some room in our Fall Book Club. We will meet twice to discuss this semester’s book: Born Both: An Intersex Life by Hida Viloria. We will meet (over Zoom) on Tuesday, October 20th and Tuesday, October 27th from 4-5:30 p.m. Registration is required, and we still have books to give to participants. Please join us!

We also still have a few seats left in our Advanced Safe Zone workshop on Thursday, October 22nd from 1-3:30 p.m. (via Zoom). The advanced training is for faculty and staff who have already completed the basic training and covers more complex topics, including bystander intervention. Registration is required.

If you would like to register for either of these events, please email Mindy Erchull at merchull@umw.edu.

If you would like more information about Safe Zone, to see the list of allies on our campus, or access LGBTQ+ inclusion resources, please visit the website at bit.ly/UMWsafezone.

Fall Safe Zone Events

by

BE YOU: UMW Safe Zone logoSafe Zone is excited to announce several upcoming programs, including our Fall Book Club. The UMW Safe Zone program offers programs that are designed to educate members of the University community about lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) issues to increase the safety and inclusion of all campus citizens. All of our programs are free and open to all faculty and staff.

We will be offering a Basic Safe Zone workshop on Wednesday, October 7th from 9-11:30 a.m. (via Zoom). This training focuses on terminology, issues related to privilege, increasing awareness and sensitivity, and how to support the LGBTQ+ population on campus. This is an opportunity for any faculty or staff member to become a Safe Zone ally. Space is limited and registration is required. All participants get cool Safe Zone swag!

We will be offering an Advanced Safe Zone workshop on Thursday, October 22nd from 1-3:30 p.m. (via Zoom). The advanced training is for faculty and staff who have already completed the basic training and covers more complex topics, including bystander intervention. Space is limited and registration is required. All participants get cool Safe Zone swag!

We will be offering our Fall Book Club as a two-part program on Tuesday, October 20th from 4-5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, October 27th from 4-5:30 p.m. Meetings will happen through Zoom. We will be reading Born Both: An Intersex Life by Hida Viloria. The first 14 people to register get a free book! Plus, all participants get cool Safe Zone swag. Space is limited and registration is required.

If you would like to register for any of these events, please email Mindy Erchull at merchull@umw.edu.

If you would like more information about Safe Zone, to see the list of allies on our campus, or access LGBTQ+ inclusion resources, please visit the website at bit.ly/UMWsafezone.

Psi Chi UMW PowerCards on Sale

by

The 2018 Psi Chi UMW PowerCards are in and available for purchase.  These cards are available for just $5 each and offer discounts at great Fredericksburg businesses that you can use for the entire calendar year!

You get to save money and help support the great activities of the UMW chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

The discounts on this year’s PowerCard include 10% off at Greens & Grains, Mercantile, Miso, and Sammy T’s as well as 15% off at Soup and Taco II, Sugar Shack, and Tropical Smoothie Cafe (to name just some of the great deals).

You can purchase a PowerCard for yourself, your club, your team, your friend, your roommate, your neighbor, or anyone else. If you’re interested,  you can purchase a card from a Psi Chi officer or member.

If you don’t know who’s a member/officer, you can contact Mindy Erchull (merchull@umw.edu), their faculty advisor, and she’ll connect you with someone.  You can also contact the chapter directly at psichiumw@gmail.com

Erchull Honored at APA Convention

by

At the recent meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), Dr. Mindy Erchull was a recipient of a Committee for Women in Psychology Leadership Award.  She was recognized as an emerging leader among women in psychology because of her pattern of scholarship, mentorship of undergraduate students and service to the profession.

Erchull and Colleagues Present Research at Convention

by

Associate Professor of Psychology Mindy Erchull recently presented a number of posters at the annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science in San Francisco.  She presented “Women’s experiences of sexual objectification and justifying beliefs predict fear of rape and rape avoidance behavior” with Leanna Papp ’14.  She presented “Is everybody doing it? Sex in the college freshman male population” with Alexandra Zelin ’11.  She also presented “Exploring the sexual double standard through ‘slut-shaming’ on Facebook” with her colleagues Miriam Liss, Leanna Papp ’14, Michelle Gnoleba ’13, Charlotte Haggerman ’14, Caitlin Robertson ’13, and Haley Miles-McLean ’13.

Mindy Erchull Awarded the Florence L. Denmark Faculty Advisor Award

by

The UMW Psi Chi officers surprised Mindy Erchull during the awards ceremony at the close of the 2014 Psi Chi Symposium when they announced that she had just been awarded the Florence L. Denmark Faculty Advisor Award by Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. This award recognizes Erchull as the one faculty advisor for the 2013-14 academic year who best achieves Psi Chi’s purpose.  This year’s officers nominated Erchull because they felt she well exemplified the criteria of ongoing service to the chapter while being motivating to members and having made contributions to the field of psychology at both local and national levels. The award will be presented to Erchull at the American Psychological Association convention in August.

Erchull & Liss Publish in Gender Issues

by

Dr. Mindy Erchull, associate professor of psychology, and Dr. Miriam Liss, professor of psychology, have published a paper in the journal Gender Issues.  The paper is entitled “Exploring the Concept of Perceived Female Sexual Empowerment: Development and Validation of the Sex is Power Scale”.

This paper is comprised of a series of three studies detailing the development of the Sex is Power Scale (SIPS).  This measure can be used to assess whether women view their sexuality as a source of personal power as well as whether they believe that women in general use sexuality as a source of power over men.