August 10, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

UMW Presents a Palette of Pandemic-Era Arts

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Soon after the University of Mary Washington Chamber Choir performed live in the James Farmer Hall atrium last March, UMW went totally online, and singing was deemed a “super-spreader” activity.

Last fall, UMW Choirs sang together again – virtually – performing In Te Domine Speravi. The new piece by composer Sarah McDonald focuses on isolation, sickness and loneliness, forming an acrostic spelling the word “quarantine.”

“Our students said it was a very real expression of how they were feeling,” said Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Christopher Ryder.

With the arts a more critical part of our lives now than ever, the Mary Washington departments of theatre, art and music have spent the last year discovering fresh ways to create, collaborate and learn while socially distanced. New technologies and classes, private lessons and virtual visits by professional artists take center stage as UMW moves forward with early-stage plans for a state-of-the-art theatre complex and an update to Pollard, Melchers and duPont halls. Read more. 

 

Giving Day Brings UMW Supporters ‘All Together’ on April 13

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Mary Wash Giving Day returns on Tuesday, April 13 with the theme of #AllTogetherUMW

Mary Wash Giving Day returns on Tuesday, April 13 with the theme of #AllTogetherUMW

There’s no time like spring at the University of Mary Washington, and there’s no day like Giving Day. Mary Wash Giving Day returns this year on Tuesday, April 13, and the University community near and far – alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents and friends – is invited to join the celebration.

This year’s theme, #AllTogetherUMW, serves as a reminder of what can be accomplished when supporters join forces for a common purpose: to benefit students through funding for academic, athletic, arts, leadership, service, career and cultural programs. And this year’s goal — 3,000 gifts to areas across the University during the 24-hour online event — emphasizes each donor’s impact on the student experience.

Also known as “Mary Wash Day,” the initiative has grown exponentially since its 2017 inception, and with 2020’s event canceled amidst the growing pandemic, UMW’s Annual Giving team is pulling out all the stops this year. Dynamic leaderboards, matching funds and social media challenges will add to the excitement as the day’s progress is tracked live.

The University has benefited from strong private support for more than a century, and donors’ gifts have provided an essential boost throughout the past year. As student need grows and UMW adapts to a rapidly changing world, Giving Day gifts are more valuable than ever. On the Mary Wash Giving Day website, on April 13, donors will be able to provide direct financial assistance to students through the General Scholarship Fund or the Technology Assistance Fund, or support the University’s most pressing needs through the Fund for Mary Washington. Gifts will strengthen diversity and inclusion initiatives, and bolster campus preservation, student life, and other areas that define the UMW difference. Read more.

Mary Washington Trio Brews Guinness World Record Opportunity

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When Mary Washington alum Ray Parrish ’91, now co-owner of Fredericksburg’s Maltese Brewing Company, decided to set the Guinness World Record for the spiciest beer, he turned to his alma mater for help. Now UMW Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 and junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki are trying to determine the heat content of Maltese’s Signal One 2.0 beer, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.


When Mary Washington alum Ray Parrish ’91, now co-owner of Fredericksburg’s Maltese Brewing Company, decided to set the Guinness World Record for the spiciest beer, he turned to his alma mater for help. Now UMW Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith ’12 and junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki are trying to determine the heat content of Maltese’s Signal One 2.0 beer, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

As children, Ray Parrish ’91 and his brother were obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records, devouring the new, hardbound volume they unwrapped each Christmas morning. It was a lifelong dream, Parrish said, to see their own names among the recordholders.

Fast-forward to last Christmas, when Parrish, now co-owner of the firefighter-founded Maltese Brewing Company in Fredericksburg, decided to look up the world record for spiciest beer. When he found none, he contacted Guinness – started in the early 1950s by Guinness Breweries ­– about establishing one.

That set off a chain reaction with Parrish, a former physics major at Mary Washington, reaching out to his alma mater, where he connected with another alum, Sarah Smith ’12. Now a visiting professor in the recently merged Department of Chemistry and Physics, Smith looped in junior biochemistry major Valerie Ebenki.

The trio’s quest? To determine the heat content of Maltese’s Signal One 2.0 beer, a pineapple IPA infused with 500 Carolina Reaper chilies, the world’s hottest pepper. The professor and student both said they came to Mary Washington for precisely these kinds of experiences – not necessarily attempts at world records, but high-impact learning opportunities where faculty and students work closely on endeavors.

“Being able to participate in real world research, proposed by an alum who is now working in the local community, is a fantastic opportunity,” said Ebenki, who’s applying skills from Smith’s analytical chemistry courses – literature searches, data collection, results interpretation – to this project. Read more.

A Climate of Change: An Earth Day Mini Series

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A Climate of Change FlyerCLEAR (Climate Environment and Resilience) is presenting “A Climate of Change,” an Earth Day mini-series of public sessions to talk about environmental issues facing the Fredericksburg region. They will happen every Tuesday in April, at 4 p.m. via Zoom. After the presentations, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Keith Mellinger will moderate a Q&A with Rebecca Rubin of the Fredericksburg-based environmental firm Marstel-Day.

Climate and Environmental Justice, 4/6

  • Delegate Josh Cole – Virginia House of Delegates, District 28, President of Stafford County NAACP
  • Qasim Rashid – Human Rights Lawyer and Author
  • Kendyl Crawford – Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, Director, Member of the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://umw-sso.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pGRsvTvsRGWXxJd_nLwXDQ

 

Climate and Clean Energy, 4/13

  • Dr. Matt Eberhardt – Deputy Superintendent, Fredericksburg City Public Schools
  • Mayor Katherine Greenlaw – Fredericksburg City Mayor
  • Robert Courtnage – Fredericksburg Clean and Green Commission
  • David Cooper – The Brisben Center

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://umw-sso.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vOzVORiLQm6D4owhPW9LtA

 

Climate and Conservation, 4/20

  • Daria Christian – Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannock
  • John Tippett – Professor, UMW
  • Alan Rowsome – Executive Director, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://umw-sso.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TAyJ4rEXRji3ySenNOVIKg

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.