Upcoming Cultural Events

Kwanzaa | Wednesday, December 6 | 6 p.m.  |  Chandler Ballroom, Cedric Rucker University Center

Co-sponsored by the Black Student Association
As a means of unifying the African and African-American communities, Dr. Maulana Karenga established Kwanzaa, a non-religious holiday celebrating and honoring African culture and heritage throughout the world.  A seven-day celebration, Kwanzaa features candle lighting, pouring of libations, and the culminating feast and gift giving.  Please join us as we partake in the activities and rituals of Kwanzaa and enjoy a feast together.

Call for Women’s History Month 2024 Program Proposals:

We invite members of the University of Mary Washington community to submit program proposals for the annual Women’s History Month Celebration. Proposals are due by Friday, December 8, 2023.  The deadline for open-class proposals is Friday, January 12, 2024. The sponsor(s) will be notified promptly. Approved programs will be included on the Women’s History Month calendar, as well as in print and electronic publications. Preference will be given to programs and events relating to the 2024 theme, “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.”  All programs must secure their source of funding, if applicable.

The program proposal form can be found at https://students.umw.edu/multicultural/programs/womens-history-month/.   Please include as much information on the form as possible.

2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration:
January 16 – January 27, 2024

As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, we are reminded that Dr. Martin Luther King’s sacrifice was an example to all. Despite the tense opposition he and other activists faced, his vision of bending the arc of justice in the right direction for historically marginalized groups was unbreakable. Even though the work is unfinished, his nonviolent approach to organizing and activism continues to be the blueprint for generations to achieve their goals and objectives. Join the James Farmer Multicultural Center as we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

For more information, contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044 or umwjfmc@gmail.com. You may also visit students.umw.edu/multicultural. Please email us at umwjfmc@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.

Dear Colleagues:

The 2024 UMW Holiday Calendar has been finalized! The calendar includes the final holidays of 2023 and all 2024 holidays through January 2025.  The state holidays combined with the recognition leave given by President Paino amount to 21 paid holidays this year – that’s 168 hours of paid leave for full time employees!     

Reminder* As announced in July, the 2023 winter break, originally scheduled to start on Monday, December 25 now begins on Friday, December 22.

PLEASE NOTE: This calendar is based on the current 2024 state-allocated holidays and the UMW academic calendar; if there are changes to either of these, the 2024 UMW holiday schedule may need to be amended.

Best wishes in the upcoming holiday season!

Beth Williams
Executive Director for Human Resources

This time of year ushers in changes in the weather and beautiful fall foliage, as well as inspires us to recommit to our personal, academic, and professional goals as we reach the mid-way point of the semester.

UMW has a long history of offering an excellent liberal arts and sciences education taught by outstanding faculty, coupled with a deep commitment to meeting students where they are and encouraging them to embrace personal growth and self-exploration and varied learning opportunities through internships, research opportunities, career exploration, and more.

As part of Career Week, the Center for Career and Professional Development is hosting a Career and Internship Fair today.  I encourage you to find out more about full-time employment positions, internships, mock interviews, steps to revitalize your resume, obtaining a professional portrait, the value of information interviewing with alumni, academic advisors, local business owners, etc.  Visit the Center for Career and Professional Development in the Cedric Rucker University Center to learn more.

Our alumni are eager to help you connect to careers as well, so if you aren’t able to make it to the Career Fair in person, you might try a digital connection via Network Mary Wash, an online service that enables students and alumni to quickly and easily connect for internship, career, and other advice. Ask a question online, and the system will find the alumni best equipped to answer, so you’ll receive responses from those with the most relevant experience.

We’re also excited to welcome StoryCorps for on-campus recordings this week. Thanks to everyone who signed up for this national program, as sharing One Small Step is critical to bringing people of different opinions and beliefs together to showcase empathy, understanding, and encouragement with one another.  In addition, Campus Dining and the UMW Athletic Department are co-sponsoring Sodexo’s annual “Stop Hunger” food drive now through Nov. 1 which will benefit our campus pantry, the Gwen Hale Resource Center, and the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank.

Our students recently found ways to Pay it Forward on Saturday, during the annual day of service organized by COAR, and I encourage each of you to pay it forward during this week by offering a friend or family member who is a high school senior or prospective transfer student to apply to UMW for free. It’s Virginia College Application Week, and any future Eagle can use the code VCAW on the Common App to complete their application. We hope you’ll share your experience and insight too, as you know our Mary Washington the best!

This week and through the weekend, we’ll celebrate Homecoming, featuring traditions such as Bingo, the Big Ash Bonfire & S’mores, Spirit Day, athletic events, and more.  This is a terrific opportunity to reconnect with alumni, friends and family members and to celebrate what makes UMW such a welcoming, wonderful place that so many have called and do call home.

Relationships are at the heart of UMW and I was reminded of this when I recently visited with alumni and donors in New York City.  As one alum said when comparing his UMW degree to that of Ivy League colleagues, “what distinguishes my education is that I actually had teachers.”  Our faculty and staff are at the front of the classroom, serve as mentors to our students, and are committed to this place.  And, last week, more than 250 faculty and staff gathered at the annual appreciation luncheon and took time to honor and celebrate the dedication and exceptional service of five of our employees.

Homecoming isn’t the only time our campus exudes a game-day atmosphere, as election season is one for applause, particularly in the work of our student leaders in sharing information and encouraging voter registration. UMW Votes offers many educational opportunities throughout the year to learn more about getting involved, volunteering, serving as an election officer, and more, and as a result, UMW has been named one of 25 Voter Friendly Campuses, showcasing our recruitment efforts in social media, events, and voter registration. Mark your calendar for Election Day on Nov. 7 and join in the Day on Democracy on campus.  This fundamental process fosters engagement in citizenship and an understanding of the important aspects of living in a community.

Our campus also has a full calendar of upcoming events, from the Cultural Awareness Series organized by the James Farmer Multicultural Center, which highlights our wonderful collective and unique histories, cultures, and customs.  Please join me in recognizing Disability Awareness Month, the GSMA Celebration and upcoming Asian Cultural Celebration, Jewish Cultural Celebration, and Native American Cultural Celebration, as well as the opening of Park Dae Sung: Ink Reimagined in the galleries. We are also planning a forum on Nov. 1^st led by our faculty experts and community partners on “The Middle East Crisis: Extending Compassion and Recognizing Grief in Our Own Community.”

Throughout the coming weeks, I encourage you to intentionally look for and create opportunities to come together as a community, supporting one another as colleagues, classmates, roommates, friends, etc. so we can share our similarities and celebrate our differences.

Sincerely,

Troy Paino

The following update is from the Student Health Center.

Virtual visits for the Student Health Center continue through the end of the week as repairs to the office will be needed through the weekend. We anticipate resuming in-person care on Monday, Oct. 30. As previously communicated, the SHC remains open for phone calls at 540-654-1040 and available by email at healthcenter@umw.edu. In addition, students who prefer to seek in-person care may also be referred to local urgent care providers, with a list available online. Afterhours services are also available via Fonemed, by calling the same SHC number and pressing 2 to register your health concern with Fonemed.

If you are experiencing an emergency, please contact UMW Police: 540-654-1025 regular calls or 540-654-4444 emergencies (X4444 from any campus phone).

Join us online for our next Mary Talk!

We will hear from Kimberly Young, associate provost for career and workforce at UMW. Young will discuss Life After Mary Washington, our focused initiative to embed the principles of career readiness and workforce development into the fabric and culture of the UMW experience.

Young will share the 10 competencies that the University has adopted as a framework for preparing students to translate their campus experiences into career-relevant, resume-building skills. In addition, she will share how these competencies are an effective framework for alumni, too–whether firmly planted in careers or contemplating career transitions as they evolve as leaders and professionals.

Wednesday, November 15
7:30-8:30 p.m. (Eastern)
Online (via Zoom)

Register to watch the Talk and receive a link to the streaming video, which can be watched live or at a later time. You also will have the opportunity to submit questions.