March 14, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Free virtual screening and panel discussion of ‘Belly of the Beast’ on March 29 at 6PM

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Belly of the Beast image Dear Colleagues:

I am writing to bring to your attention a public screening of the documentary “Belly of the Beast,” an exposé of human rights abuses in women’s prisons, highlighting modern-day eugenics and reproductive injustice. Please encourage your students to attend both the screening and the Q&A session that follows the screening.

To attend the screening, please sign up on this page: https://tinyurl.com/bellyofthebeastexpo. After signing up, you will receive information on how to watch. Please tell your students that once they register, they can watch the documentary any time Tuesday, March 23 now until Monday, March 29 with the password that comes with the registration – they don’t need to wait till next Monday’s public screening.

The public screening on Monday, March 29,  at 6pm will be followed by a Q&A session scheduled for 7:30pm-8:30pm with Cynthia Chandler, the lawyer-activist who played a key role in bringing this issue to light. Here is the link to register for the Q&A (this link is also available on the Community Foundation page).

The event is co-sponsored by UMW Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the departments of History and American Studies, Political Science and International Affairs, Sociology and Anthropology, the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region and Germanna Community College.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Surupa Gupta
Professor, Department of Political Science and International Affairs
Director, Women’s and Gender Studies Program

“Popcorn to Porn: How to Hack ‘Pandemic-Fostered’ Habit Loops” on March 30 at 5PM

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Flyer for Dr. Linda Hancock eventConcerned about stress eating, overusing alcohol, nicotine, or even porn? Tired of excessive anxiety, binge-watching, or gaming away your time but can’t seem to change? This interactive, practical discussion will review how our brains work and how we can disrupt “trigger-behavior-reward” patterns. Join us for viewing a fascinating 10 minute video and a nonjudgmental, skills/solution-focused discussion to create more exciting futures. Dr. Linda Hancock, FNP is a very engaging speaker on mental health topics, and she has spoken before at UMW’s New Student Orientation. 

Campus Recreation

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Spring 2021 Group Fitness ScheduleCome check out our new group fitness classes for Spring 2021! Running for the fun of it on Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. and Guided Meditation on Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45 p.m.

Do you want to become part of the Campus Rec Family? We are looking for Outdoor Rec Trip Leaders and Facility Attendants! Apply at careers.umw.edu applications due April 14th.

 

#UMWTogether – Social Connectedness/Community building

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Together painted on a dripping canvas.Social Connectivity 

“Social connectivity is about coming together in creative ways to minimize the distance instead of only seeing the walls that separate us.”

https://time.com/collection/apart-not-alone/

What is a creative (socially distant) way you can increase your social connectedness?

Togetherness

“We are all in this together.” -Dr. Anthony Fauci

https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/covid-19-photo-essay-we%E2%80%99re-all-together

University Dining Updates

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All University Dining locations are open to everyone: students, faculty, staff and members of the public. In addition to the reduced prices for faculty and staff at the Top of the UC, Bodacious Burgers, and “Eagle Meals to Go,” University Dining is offering free or deeply discounted items for faculty and staff once each week. Details can be found on the “Dining Tips for Faculty and Staff” tab on the University Dining website.

Passover items, such as matzo, matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, charoset, beets, and hard-boiled eggs, will be available at lunch and dinner from March 27 through April 4 at the Top of the UC. For additional information contact Rose Benedict, University Dining Marketing Manager, at rbenedic@umw.edu or 540-654-2169.

 

Read ‘THE OVERSTORY’ with our Book Club

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We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group, the Mother of All Book Clubs! This club is open to anyone with a connection to Mary Washington–alumni, parents, donors, faculty, and staff. Join us!

Our next selection is The Overstory, by Richard Powers. This book was the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction and spent more than one year on The New York Times bestseller list.

From The New York Times: “In this series of interconnected stories, the human characters are just the underbrush; the true protagonists are the trees that they encounter. Powers combines botany and storytelling in this majestic novel.”

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, April 19. You might have a small-business bookseller you like to support, or you might want to try your local library system. But if you need the book shipped, below are some links to larger online providers.

We look forward to reading with you!

All the best,

The Alumni Relations Team

 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Target

Alumna Leads U.S. Efforts Toward Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine

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Candice Long ’94 is president of infectious diseases and vaccines for Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical division, Janssen. She and the “incredible” teams she leads have been at the forefront of the effort to produce the first single-shot vaccine for COVID-19, which received FDA emergency use authorization this past weekend.

Candice Long ’94 is president of infectious diseases and vaccines for Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical division, Janssen. She and the “incredible” teams she leads have been at the forefront of the effort to produce the first single-shot vaccine for COVID-19, which received FDA emergency use authorization this past weekend.

When one of the nation’s top spots in infectious diseases opened up last June, Candice Malone Long ’94 didn’t think twice. For the chance to help when the world was facing a raging pandemic and in need of vaccines and therapeutics?

“It was an absolute ‘yes,’ ” said Long, who has spent 25 years with Johnson & Johnson, the world’s broadest and most diversified healthcare company, and its pharmaceutical division, Janssen. Her tenacity – and the work of the “incredible” teams she leads – supported a pivotal moment this past weekend with FDA Emergency Use Authorization of the first single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

Recruited to Mary Washington to play field hockey, Long burned it up in the classroom and on the turf, earning All-American status in both. As captain, she led her senior-year team to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. and joined the UMW Athletic Hall of Fame, all while earning degrees in business and history with the guidance of faculty who showed her the way.

The leadership style she employs at Janssen took shape in the liberal arts and sciences environment at UMW, she said. She learned the value of raising her hand, taking the lead in initiating discussions to seek solutions, and engaging diverse teams in setting and meeting goals with high expectations. It paved the way for her work at Johnson & Johnson, including preparing for potential Emergency Use Authorization of the company’s investigational COVID-19 vaccine. Read more.

Students Stand Together for MLK Day of Service

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“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” This quote by Martin Luther King Jr. often appears on social media around the anniversary of the civil rights leader’s birth.

“I wanted to share a message that everyone can relate to, and hopefully, it will speak out to people in need of a little encouragement,” said sophomore Grayson Collins, who spent UMW’s MLK Day of Service chalking Campus Walk with positive messages. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

“I wanted to share a message that everyone can relate to, and hopefully, it will speak out to people in need of a little encouragement,” said sophomore Grayson Collins, who spent UMW’s MLK Day of Service chalking Campus Walk with positive messages. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Charlotte Russell, a first-year student at the University of Mary Washington, reflected upon those words, which were also emblazoned on the back of her T-shirt, as she participated in UMW’s MLK Day of Service on Saturday.

“Service is such an important part of Dr. King’s legacy because it honors his life and teachings,” said Russell, who shared her own messages of encouragement with her peers through chalk drawings on Campus Walk. “Volunteering brings together people from diverse backgrounds with the common goal of helping the community.”

Typically held the last weekend in January, the annual celebration was rescheduled because of inclement weather. But neither the threat of rain this weekend nor ongoing precautions due to COVID-19 could dampen the spirit of service shown by dozens of UMW students. They spent the day – organized by UMW’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE), the student-run Community Outreach and Resources (COAR) and the James Farmer Multicultural Center – engaging in socially distanced volunteering opportunities on campus and in the Fredericksburg community. Read more.

‘Great Lives’ Lecture Series Continues with Gandhi

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Great Lives banner

The William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series continues on Thursday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. with nonviolent resistance leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, presented by Professor of Communication and Chair of the Department of Communication and Digital Studies Anand Rao. The Synergy Periodontics and Implants Lecture.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Because of restrictions on public gatherings on campus, the entire series of 18 lectures will be pre-recorded and delivered electronically, through Zoom Webinars, with closed captioning available. Although the presentations will be taped in advance, there will still be a live Q&A session following the online debut of each lecture, in which the speaker will be available to answer questions submitted by audience members.

Once called a ‘half-naked fakir’ by Winston Churchill, Mohandas K. Gandhi was more widely known as Mahatma Gandhi, the man who led India to independence in 1947. Gandhi is typically remembered as he was in his later years, in sandals and dhoti leading protests and engaging in hunger strikes as he took on the British Empire. As with all great lives, Gandhi’s is a study in contrasts, and any study of his life, and his success as a leader of India, must include an understanding of his formative years as a boy in India, as a law student in London, and as a lawyer in South Africa. It is through this analysis that we can see how he became so instrumental to both Indian independence and our own Civil Rights movement.

Other upcoming lectures include Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi, presented by Professor of Art History Marjorie Och; and playwright Lillian Hellman, presented by Professor of Theatre Gregg Stull. To learn more about Great Lives and view past and upcoming lectures, please visit https://www.umw.edu/greatlives/.