The goal of the comprehensive campaign is to raise funds to advance President Richard V. Hurley’s vision: for University of Mary Washington to become one of the nation’s premier public liberal arts and sciences universities.
“The pace of change in higher education accelerates daily, and the fiscal challenges faced by colleges and universities are daunting,” Hurley said. “In order to remain at the forefront of our competitors, affordable for our students and families, and able to attract the best and brightest minds, it is imperative for UMW to have the resources necessary for success.”
Among the fundraising initiatives, the university strives to secure private funds for endowment of scholarships, restoration of the campus amphitheater, support for the university’s three colleges, enhancement of the Fund for Mary Washington, and development of key program initiatives.
These initiatives are: the arts, athletics, leadership, study abroad, the Chappell Great Lives lecture series, libraries and instructional technology.
The amphitheater, located in a grove of trees near Sunken Road on the Fredericksburg campus, has been home to many significant UMW traditions since it was constructed in 1913. The planned $3 million restoration would return the site to its 1952-1953 appearance by repairing and reconstructing damaged and missing pieces. It would provide seating for approximately 600 people on weather-resilient benches and chairs while incorporating accommodations for ADA accessibility.
Over the past three years, in the non-public phase of the campaign, the university has raised a total of $29.2 million. Represented in that amount are seven gifts and pledges of
$1 million or more. Out of a total of about 13,000 donors, more than 120 have made campaign commitments of $25,000 or more.
Significant gifts include:
- More than $7.5 million in estate gifts for student scholarships, including one full-tuition Washington scholarship and one Alvey Scholarship, which covers tuition costs for an out-of-state student
- More than $3 million in estate gifts to support students studying abroad
- Nearly $1.4 million in gifts to support restoration of the amphitheater
- A $1 million estate gift to create special professorships in the three colleges
- More than $600,000 in pledges and gifts to support the unrestricted Fund for Mary Washington
- More than $500,000 to support the Great Lives Lecture Series.
Anne Marie Thompson Steen ’83 and Daniel K. Steen ’84 of Arlington, Va., serve as national campaign chairs. Both said they are eager to move the campaign forward. “We are fortunate to be able to partner with other Mary Washington alumni, parents, and friends,” said Dan Steen, a former rector of the UMW Board of Visitors.
The Steens join members of a Campaign Cabinet, membership of which represents a cross-section of UMW constituents from varying career paths, affiliations and locations across the country. “Together,” Steen added, “we all are committed to the $50-million campaign goal.”
For more information about the campaign or to donate, visit http://marywashingtonfirst.umw.edu.
The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of more than 5,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers. In recent years, the university has seen its academic reputation garner national recognition in numerous selective guidebooks, including Forbes, the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review’s 2012 edition of 150 “Best Value Colleges” and the 2014 edition of “The Best 378 Colleges.”
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