March 17, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

UMW Galleries Highlight Alumni and Faculty Artists Past and Present

by

Origins

A retrospective of artwork from Mary Washington alumni and faculty past and present will be featured in one of two exhibitions hosted by the UMW Galleries, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 6. The other will honor the legacy of a former professor who was instrumental in cultivating the University’s art collection.

The exhibits, Origins: UMW Ceramics Faculty and Alumni in the duPont Gallery, and Julien Binford: A Legacy of Inspiration & Enterprise in the Ridderhof Martin Gallery, will open with receptions from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Origins, which will be on display through March 29, showcases the diverse artwork of faculty and alumni from the University of Mary Washington’s ceramics program over the past 50 years. It is also a concurrent exhibition for this year’s National Conference on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), to be held in Richmond Virginia in late March.

Julien Binford

By bringing together a variety of expressions, techniques and processes, the exhibition highlights the success of our former students and the strength of our department while illustrating the range and depth of contemporary ceramic art.  From sculptural objects and installations to functional pottery, Origins celebrates our community, and reiterates Mary Washington’s identity as an institution grounded in the liberal arts.

Julien Binford, on display through March 15, honors the legacy of former Mary Washington Professor of Art, Julien Binford. The show presents preparatory drawings that Binford created during the 1940s and early 1950s for important commissions he received from LIFE Magazine and The Greenwich Savings Bank. These works were graciously loaned by Maureen Paige (UMW, Class of 1970), a former student of Julien Binford. Also on display are artworks acquired by Binford during his tenure at Mary Washington.

PCOW: Sleep Hygiene Workshop

by

The President Council on Wellness (PCOW) is sponsoring a Sleep Hygiene Workshop facilitated by Dr. Wang and Dr. Zukor on Thursday, February 6th at 4:00pm on the 2nd Floor of the University Center. Our discussion will be on the importance of sleep, what can help us with sleep and what can interfere with our sleep. What do you do when you can’t sleep? Come join us for some great information and helpful tips. For more information, please contact us at wellness@umw.edu.

 

Teacher of the Year Shares Mission of Equity at UMW

by

Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, will speak to aspiring educators from UMW’s College of Education and the local community on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium.

Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, will speak to aspiring educators from UMW’s College of Education and the local community on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium.

Rodney Robinson was inspired to become a teacher because of his mother. Growing up in rural Virginia, segregation and poverty hindered her own education, but it didn’t stop her from finding her calling teaching young children in her home daycare.

“She always taught us that every child deserves the proper amount of love to get where he or she needs,” Robinson said.

Named 2019 National Teacher of the Year, he will share his teaching philosophies, and his support of economic and cultural equity in the classroom, with aspiring educators from UMW’s College of Education and the local community. The talk will take place next Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 6 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium.

Robinson said he took his mother’s lesson, which he shared recently with his alma mater, Virginia State University (VSU), to heart. Since 2015, he’s taught history at a juvenile detention center in Richmond, believing that access to a quality education and empathetic teachers can be keys to success for these students.

“Mr. Robinson is making a positive difference in the lives of students who need it the most,” said Pete Kelly, Dean of UMW’s College of Education. “As the National Teacher of the Year, he has an important story to tell, and I encourage everyone to come hear him speak.” Read more.

Great Lives Series Continues with Tiger Woods, D-Day Girls

by

The 17th season of the William B. Crawley Great Lives Lecture Series continues this evening, Jan. 23, with a look at PGA Champion and one of the greatest golfers of all time, Tiger Woods. This series is open to the public free of charge and no admission tickets are required. Programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium in George Washington Hall. Each lecture concludes with an audience Q&A session with the speaker and a book-signing. The sPower Lecture.

In their 2018 New York Times bestselling biography Tiger Woods, authors Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian wrote that “in 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendental star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune, living what appeared to be the perfect life. Married to a Swedish beauty and the father of two young children, he was the winner of fourteen major golf championships and earning more than 100 million dollars annually. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. As it turned out, Woods had been living a double life for years – one that unraveled in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving night car crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional lives over a cliff.”

In their book, based on hundreds of interviews with people from every facet of Woods’ life, and extensive and careful research, the authors have uncovered new and surprising details about the man behind the myth. The resulting biography—upon which Benedict’s presentation is based—presents a sweeping, revealing, and defining biography of an American icon.

The Great Lives series will continue on Tuesday, Jan. 28 with D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II, with author Sarah Rose. The Chancellor’s Village Lecture.

In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable, and every able man in England was fighting. Churchill believed Britain was locked in an existential battle and created a secret agency, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose spies were trained in everything from demolition to sharp-shooting. Their job, he declared, was “to set Europe ablaze!” But with most men on the frontlines, the SOE did something unprecedented: it recruited women. Thirty-nine women answered the call, leaving their lives and families to become saboteurs in France. Half were caught, and a third did not make it home alive.

Sarah Rose draws on recently declassified files, diaries, and oral histories to tell the story of three of these women. There’s Odette Sansom, a young mother who feels suffocated by domestic life and sees the war as her ticket out; Lise de Baissac, an unflappable aristocrat with the mind of a natural leader; and Andrée Borrel, the streetwise organizer of the Paris Resistance. Together, they derailed trains, blew up weapons caches, destroyed power and phone lines, and gathered crucial intelligence—laying the groundwork for the D-Day invasion that proved to be the turning point in the war.

Chavis Delivered Keynote Address for UMW’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

by

A civil rights trailblazer and former NAACP executive director, Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr. was the keynote speaker for UMW’s MLK Jr. Celebration.

A civil rights trailblazer and former NAACP executive director, Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr. was the keynote speaker for UMW’s MLK Jr. Celebration.

In 1961, Benjamin Chavis Jr., tired of reading tattered books, boldly marched into the whites-only library in Oxford, North Carolina. The young teen, already a NAACP member, was promptly asked to leave; instead, he stood his ground.

“He asked why,” a friend recalled to The New York Times. “A lot of us when we were told to go away would just do so, but Ben would always challenge, always ask why.”

Chavis’ persistence resulted in blacks being able to borrow books from the Oxford library. It also led to a lifelong career fighting for justice and equality. Just two years after the library incident, he became a statewide youth coordinator for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now a civil rights icon himself and the NAACP’s former executive director, Chavis delivered the University of Mary Washington’s MLK Jr. Celebration keynote address on Wednesday in the University Center’s Chandler Ballroom. The event was sponsored by the Office of the President.

Hosted by the James Farmer Multicultural Center (JFMC), this weeklong celebration recognizes the life – and assassination – of Dr. King. Events include an MLK Jr. Kids Day, a documentary on his life and legacy, a Day of Service for the UMW community, and a visual and performing arts event honoring King and other champions of social justice. Read more.

PCOW: January 29th Sleep Event

by

The President’s Council on Wellness (PCOW) is sponsoring a Faculty and Staff CommonHealth of Virginia event this month called, Getting Your ZZZs on Wednesday, January 29th from 11am to Noon in the UC Capital Room 314.

A goodnight’s rest can be determined by many different aspects and circumstances. The CommonHealth program (which is a free-state employee wellness program) mentions that “Our bodies have a powerful internal drive to sleep, and sleep is critical to our heart health and well-being.  Not only does sleep give our hearts a break by reducing heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones, it also boosts learning, memory, and our immune system. NIH (National Institute of Health) recommends 7-8 hours of sleep daily for adults, and studies suggest that sleep is just as important for survival as eating, drinking, and breathing.” Come join us as we find out tips for good sleep hygiene, getting the best night’s sleep, and what signs might show up for sleeping disorders. If you have any questions, please contact us at wellness@umw.edu.

Mindfulness Course & Jump Start Program Begins Soon

by

Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation Course

Learn the practice of mindfulness in a 7-week, non-credit course led by Bill Brooks, a certified meditation teacher through the Meditation Teacher Training Institute. This experience is $15 and participants who attend six or more sessions will receive that money back in the form of a UMW bookstore gift card. Our lives are often overly stimulated. What would happen if we gave ourselves a few minutes each day to stop, and be fully silent and still – to meditate? Research has shown that the practice of mindful meditation can lead to a calm and focused mind. Such a practice helps to reduce stress, enhances self-awareness, and offers a greater sense of inner peace and connectedness with life. This 7-week introductory course is being offered to UMW faculty, staff, and students. It will answer the basic question: What are we doing when we meditate? You will learn about meditation through instruction, discussion and guided practice. Specific training will be provided on obstacles to meditation and how to work with them. Upon completion of this course, you will have the tools and experience needed to continue an independent practice of mindfulness meditation.

Spring 2020: Mondays *New day of the week, different from previous semesters!
6pm-7:30pm
February 10 – March 30 (Excluding Spring Break on March 2)
Leidecker Center, Trinkle B-39
Cost: $15 (but get that money back if you attend 6+ sessions!)
Sign up on our registration site under “Courses”.

 

Jump Start Program

For Your Information: A new collaborative program between Campus Recreation, the Talley Center for Counseling Services, the Student Health Center, and the President’s Council on Wellness is beginning January 27. This is a student-focused program. Learn more about the Jump Start Program in case you know a student who may benefit from this program:

This 5-week program is designed to provide students a slow, guided introduction to fitness facilities and programs at UMW. Students will have the opportunity to be introduced to exercise in a less intimidating way by a peer who works for Campus Rec, socialize with others, and get assimilated in a new environment with other UMW students who have similar levels of exercise-familiarity. The group is limited at 12 people, so please register when you are ready to commit.

Students from the Talley Center and Health Center can be referred to the Jump Start Program by their clinician. Otherwise, the program is available for any UMW student to join for $15 per 5-week session. Students can sign up at campusrec.umw.edu under “Courses” or at the Fitness Center front desk.

Once a week, for five weeks, students will meet with their Jump Start Program leaders (two Campus Recreation fitness instructors, Brenna and Sasha) who will spend 60 minutes doing an activity, learning a lesson and having a discussion surrounding the topic of the week. Each lesson will include a worksheet with fitness education.

President Paino: UMW Positioned to Think Big

by

Mary Washington President Troy Paino charged the faculty and staff to “think big” at the All-UMW Assembly on Tuesday. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Mary Washington President Troy Paino charged the faculty and staff to “think big” at the All-UMW Assembly on Tuesday. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

On the cusp of a new decade, the University of Mary Washington is poised to meet the changing needs of a student body that will become even more diverse. President Troy Paino delivered that message Tuesday at an All-UMW Assembly, while also sharing accomplishments, updates and reflections.

Monday’s launch of UMW’s Farmer Legacy 2020 celebration gave him a sense of optimism, Paino told faculty and staff in Dodd Auditorium, but he expressed concerns over how the upcoming election and polarized politics may impact campus life in the coming year. As a public university, UMW must encourage civil debate, he said, asking faculty and staff to reflect on the values of the late Mary Washington history professor and civil rights icon Dr. James Farmer and the University’s yearlong commitment to action in his honor. “We have to remind ourselves of our roles as mentors and advisors to these young people,” he said, noting that many UMW students will be voting in a presidential election for the first time.

Mary Washington is serving a more diverse and underrepresented student population than ever before, Paino said. In an effort to make the external environment more inclusive and reflective of our values, he said, the University will begin exploring and executing the recent recommendations made by the Campus Environment Committee, including a name change for Trinkle Hall.

“We need to look back to understand who we are, but we also can look forward in terms of who we aspire to be,” Paino said. Read more.

Launch Party Ignites Farmer Legacy 2020 Celebration

by

A wreath on the James Farmer bust on UMW’s Campus Walk recognizes Farmer’s 100th birthday and UMW’s Farmer Legacy 2020 celebration. Photo by Tom Rothenberg.

A wreath on the James Farmer bust on UMW’s Campus Walk recognizes Farmer’s 100th birthday and UMW’s Farmer Legacy 2020 celebration. Photo by Tom Rothenberg.

Nearly 500 people turned out yesterday to help UMW kick off Farmer Legacy 2020, a yearlong celebration of Dr. James L. Farmer Jr., the day after what would have been his 100th birthday.

The hourlong launch party packed plenty of emotion, from student accounts of life-changing experiences they’ve gained through UMW – and learning about Farmer’s legacy – to a moving rendition of Happy Birthday by Mary Washington gospel ensemble Voices of Praise.

Held in the UMW University Center’s Chandler Ballroom, the celebration commenced a year of events paying tribute to Farmer, the late Mary Washington history professor who founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and made an immeasurable impact on the civil rights movement as a member of the Big Six. Fredericksburg residents, Board of Visitor members and colleagues in higher education joined UMW students, faculty and staff in recognizing Farmer and his contributions, and vowing to follow in his footsteps by dedicating themselves to civic action and inclusion.

Honorary celebration chair, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, the last surviving member of the Big Six, had to cancel plans to attend yesterday’s launch due to a recent cancer diagnosis. Attendees signed a card for him. Read more.

2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

by

2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration
Demanding Truth, Demanding Justice

The profound words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ring louder than ever today as we fight for truth, justice, and the soul of our nation. Join the James Farmer Multicultural Center in celebrating Dr. King’s work and legacy.

MLK Jr. Kids Day

Sunday, Jan. 19 | 3 to 5 p.m.  |  James Monroe High School

Children from the Fredericksburg area are invited to enjoy games, activities, and crafts to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the community MLK celebration. The event is sponsored by the Fredericksburg-area Partnership for Academic Excellence.

I Am MLK, Jr. Documentary & Discussion
Tuesday, Jan. 21 | 6 p.m. | Colonnade Room 315, University Center
A stirring documentary examines Dr. King’s lifelong commitment to civil rights and the legacy that continues today.

The University of Mary Washington Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keynote Speaker: Rev. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Chavis Jr.
Wednesday, Jan. 22 • 7 p.m. • Chandler Ballroom, University Center
Sponsored by the Office of the President

Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., entrepreneur, global business leader, educator, chemist, civil rights leader, NAACP Life Member, syndicated columnist, theologian, and author is currently the President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA): The Black Press of America. Dr. Chavis serves on the Board of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO). Dr. Chavis is also the former President and Co-Founder of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), the world’s largest coalition of hip-hop artists and recording industry executives.

A native of Oxford, North Carolina, Dr. Chavis received the Bachelor of Arts, BA, in Chemistry from University of North Carolina. He even earned his Masters of Divinity, M.Div., magna cum laude, from Duke University while serving an unjust 34-year prison sentence as a member of the Wilmington 10, who Amnesty International declared political prisoners, a case that garnered international attention and was pardoned 40 years later. He also received the Doctor of Ministry, D. Min, from Howard University and completed course requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D., in systematic theology, from Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Chavis is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.

Dr. Chavis began his career in 1963, as a statewide youth coordinator in NC for the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1993 and 1994, Dr. Chavis served as the Executive Director and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and remains an active supporter of the NAACP. In 1995, Dr. Chavis was the National Director and organizer of the Million Man March. From 1995 to 1997, Chavis was the Executive Director and CEO of the National African American Leadership Summit (NAALS). The 2010 theatrical release of the full-length movie Blood Done Sign My Name distributed by Paladin, directed by Jeb Stuart, starring Ricky Schroder, Nate Parker, and Lela Rochon depicts a true story from Dr. Chavis’ early days in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s and 1970’s in his hometown of Oxford, NC.

Dr Chavis has authored books and other publications including: An American Political Prisoner Appeals for Human Rights, Psalms from Prison, Toxic Waste and Race in the United States of America: A National Report on the Racial and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites, and FUSION: Bridging the Gap between Civil Rights and Hip-Hop with MC Lyte (2015). His areas of expertise include corporate diversity and inclusion, human rights, climate change, voting rights, bridging the gap between civil rights and hip-hop, and criminal justice reform.

Speaking Truth to Power
Thursday, Jan. 23 | 7 p.m. | Lee Hall Underground
Members of the UMW community honor Dr. King and other justice fighters through art, music, dance, and spoken word pieces.

MLK Jr. Day of Service

Saturday, January 25 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  |  Chandler Ballroom, University Center

The UMW MLK Day of Service provides students a way to give back to their community to honor the legacy of Dr. King and his commitment to strengthening communities. Many different service projects, which will be donated to various agencies in the Fredericksburg area, will be available for students to complete.  Afterwards, a discussion will take place regarding service, civic engagement, and inclusivity.

A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.  All members of the campus community are invited to participate.  Please register online at MyUMW.

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at 540/654-1044 or umwjfmc@gmail.com .