With their Mary Wash blue regalia, caps decked out just for the day and smiles shared with family and friends, nearly 1,000 graduates traversed Campus Walk this morning for the University of Mary Washington’s 115th Commencement.

Followed by the faculty who’d guided them through the past four years, the Board of Visitors, President Troy D. Paino and the Eagle Pipe Band, the members of the Class of 2026 made their way to Ball Circle, where the three-hour ceremony unfolded. The chilly air warmed throughout the morning as family, friends and supporters cheered for the graduates’ hard work, perseverance and commitment to earning a degree with the power to enlighten their careers and their lives.

“The classes weren’t easy; it was challenging,” said Aidan Ramirez, an economics major from Stafford, Virginia, who chose Mary Washington for its small class sizes and opportunities to receive individual attention from professors. Read more about UMW’s 2026 Commencement.

Each spring the University of Mary Washington Commencement sets the scene for years’ worth of accomplishments by students, with numerous credit hours in classrooms, labs, internships and extracurricular activities.

Eight University of Mary Washington graduates in 2026 marked the moment with a perfect 4.0 GPA, earning the Colgate W. Darden Jr. Award for Academic Achievement for completing their degrees with the highest grade-point average in the undergraduate program.

As they crossed the stage sharing in the honor – impressively becoming part of the largest group of Darden Award recipients in school history – they each get ready for what’s next through a variety of majors, minors, graduate programs and career paths. Read more about the 2026 Darden Award honorees.

When University of Mary Washington College of Arts and Sciences Dean Keith Mellinger first visited Europe nearly 25 years ago, he found himself in a restaurant in Rome, off the beaten path, eating an eggplant dish he’d never heard of before.

“I didn’t even know that I had ordered it, but it was absolutely amazing,” Mellinger said of the meal that opened his eyes to tasting unfamiliar foods during his travels. He recalled a recent trip to Bilbao, Spain, with UMW Center for International Education Director Jose Sainz, where they enjoyed pintxos – small snacks, often held together by skewers – that are popular in the Basque region. “Again, such amazing food!”

That willingness to explore new culinary experiences and food traditions is what inspired the University to introduce “World on a Plate: A Journey Through Global Cuisines,” an online course that will be held during the summer session starting June 22. Classes will examine food as cultural text – covering topics like migration, colonialism, sustainability and celebrations – through scholarly readings, public lectures and live cooking demonstrations over Zoom. Read more about ‘World on a Plate.’

With a demanding role in community service, University of Mary Washington MBA student Marty Bywaters-Baldwin is focused on helping others find their own meaningful work. And he’s using the latest technology to do it.

Chief mission officer at Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, he helped launch the CareerPath Accelerator, a tool that uses evidence-based practices and artificial intelligence to identify users’ skills and match them with suitable career paths.

“We’ve designed an interactive, scenario-based tryout where people can practice doing a job,” he said. “We then combine AI insights with support from Goodwill staff to provide career coaching or help create a plan for further training.”

As part of his MBA program at UMW, Bywaters-Baldwin is refining the CareerPath Accelerator through an independent study overseen by Associate Professor of Management Alexandra Dunn. While he combines emerging technology with a commitment to helping community members find sustainable, long-term careers, Dunn connects his work to theoretically grounded research and current developments in organizational behavior. Read more about MBA Student Connecting Classrom to Career and Community Service.

The Blate-Schneibolk Strategy Case Competition took place in the College of Business (COB) on Thursday, April 16. Now in its 10th year, the bi-annual event began with a reception in Woodard Hall’s Red Room, with opening remarks from COB Dean Filiz Tabak.

The Case Competition pits teams from UMW’s 400-level Strategic Management course against one another in a quest to sort out a “case” of a struggling business. Participants tap into the concepts and skillsets they’ve collected in class to analyze issues, plan a path to success and impress a panel of judges. The challenge gives students the type of real-world experience they’ll likely encounter in their careers, plus the top three contenders walk away with cash prizes totaling $5,000.

This semester’s case, focused on Coursera and its AI strategy, was judged by Andrew Blate ’04 and Craig Schneibolk, co-owners of Beautiful Home Services, and Jenn Cole ’06, a Markel Insurtech Underwriters director.

“The judges were impressed by the creativity of the recommended strategies, the depth of the analysis and the professionalism of the presentations. They noted that this year’s presentations were the best since the competition began,” said UMW Assistant Professor of Management Samira Fallah. “The college is proud of the excellent work of its faculty, staff and students and looks forward to making the event even bigger and stronger in the future.”

Five teams competed, each delivering a 10-minute presentation followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session with the judges.

Senior Hannah Wall, a management and entrepreneurship major, took first place, winning $2,500. Seniors Lucy Gentry, a double major in marketing, and communications and digital studies, and Maria Torres, who is majoring in business administration, came in second, taking home $1,500; and Ashlyn Diederich, Kyra Frola, Marisol Juarez, Megan Fallin and Lindsay Price finished third, winning $1,000.

“The students were extremely well prepared, professional, and did a fantastic job,” Blate said. “I firmly believe that the Case Competition is one of the best displays of the amazing job the professors and staff are doing to create not only great students but ones who are ready for success in the future.”