Category: What’s New @ UMW

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members came together last weekend on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus for Relay for Life, an annual event to raise awareness for cancer research, celebrate survivors and honor and remember those who fought cancer.

Despite wet weather, more than 400 people gathered in Great Hall on Saturday, April 21 for the opening ceremony. Many stayed throughout the night for the Survivor Lap, Luminaria Ceremony and various contests and activities.

According to The Bullet, UMW’s Relay for Life has raised more than $47,000.

University of Mary Washington students  Brendan Oudekerk, Meghan Hobbs and Sean Simons are among 18 college and university students selected for the summer 2012 College Leaders Program at the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership.

Hobbs and Oudekerk are senior international affairs and political science and economics and political science majors, respectively, and Simons is a junior political science and political communication major.

The College Leaders Program (CLP) gives students the practical skills and political knowledge to become effective advocates in government and business. CLP curriculum is focused on energizing youth leaders, promoting civic engagement and preparing future leaders to be ethical and responsible citizens in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The four-week course is held over the summer on the University of Virginia grounds.

The Sorensen Institute was founded as the Virginia Institute of Political Leadership in 1993 in hopes it would identify and bring together Virginia’s emerging political leaders. More than 1,200 Virginian students have graduated from the Institute.

Civil Rights leader and former Mary Washington professor James Farmer’s reflection lectures are now available online as part of a digital archive. Four students constructed the archive as part of Associate Professor of History Jeff McClurken’s “Adventures in Digital History 2012” seminar.

Seniors Laura Donahue, Michelle Martz and Caitlin Murphy and junior Kelsey Matthews worked with McClurken and members of the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies team to archive 13 of Farmer’s lectures from 1983. Farmer taught civil rights history at Mary Washington and was Commonwealth Professor of History at the time of the reflection lecture series.

To learn more about the project or to view the lectures, visit http://jamesfarmerlectures.umwblogs.org/.

A representative from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Recruiting Office of the Peace Corps visited the Office of Career Services on Wednesday, April 18 and presented the staff with a certificate of appreciation.

“The graduates of the University of Mary Washington have been an integral part of our legacy of promoting world peace and friendship,” the certificate states.

UMW is a sponsor of this year’s Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon on Sunday, May 20.

Don’t want to run in the race? Volunteer to staff our booth for a two-hour shift at the Fredericksburg Expo Center on Friday, May 18 or Saturday, May 19, or help at UMW’s water station during the race!

If you are interested in volunteering, contact Kelly Eury, marketing assistant, at keury@umw.edu. Please indicate which day and time, listed below, you prefer.

Friday, May 18: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 19: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 20: 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.

UMW’s water station will be at the corner of  Sunken Road and Mortimer Avenue.

For more information about the race, visit http://www.marinemarathon.com/Historic_Half.htm.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJJwZ4SY7I0[/youtube]