The
Weekly
The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper Serving the community since 1922
Ringer
VOLUME 95 | ISSUE 18
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
The Office of Disability Resources navigates moving into a new office location in Seacobeck Hall JEss kirby Editor-in-Chief Since its move from Lee Hall, the Office of Disability Resources (ODR) has made efforts to create an accessible and welcoming space in Seacobeck Hall. While the relocation has come with some challenges, ODR Director Jessica Machado says the new office is an improvement from its previous location. “We tried to make sure that we’re really thoughtful about our space, how it’s laid out [and] how people are going to be able to feel comfortable,” said Machado. “We were thinking about how wheelchair users, or anybody with any type of need, would be able to access any part of our space, including working here as a student worker.” Machado said the new space “is certainly an upgrade and it’s not perfect. We know it’s not perfect. There’s a lot of issues, but being able to have a space has definitely helped us have a more cohesive team, so we’re really grateful for that.” While the main entrance to the office is located off of College Avenue, there is also
The new Office of Disability Resources space is located in Seacobeck Hall. Emily Warren / The Weekly Ringer
an entrance within Seacobeck. “One thing that I really like about the outside entrance in is that it really is a straight shot, so you don’t have to, hopefully, find your way into the rest of Seacobeck, which is a really confusing building,” said Machado.
Machado said that being located on the ground floor is an advantage of the new office space, compared to its previous location on the fourth floor of Lee. “Being on a top level of a building is not necessarily a great thing for access,” she said. “Being able to just access it from
Creative writing faculty cite increased workload, low flexibility
Emily hemphill Staff Writer
The retirement of English and creative writing Professor Warren Rochelle at the end of spring 2020 has left a void in the English department, particularly in the creative writing program, professors say. The university administration has indicated that his position will not be filled in the near future, according to department chair and professor of English Gary Richards. “It’s been somewhat challenging for us as a team of three faculty members to even coordinate how we’re going to teach our courses each semester,” said Assistant Professor of English Ray Levy, a member of the creative writing faculty. “We need to offer a certain schedule of courses so that the majors can graduate, but it’s hard to be able to offer them.” Out of the 187 English majors at UMW, 80 students are involved in the creative writing program, according to Levy. This means that the three creative writing faculty members are responsible for offering all of the classes these 80 students need to graduate. Each of these instructors specializes in one of the three main subjects of creative writing: fiction, nonfiction and poetry. “With Dr. Rochelle’s retirement, we lost some of the flexibility that we had in being able to offer a variety of creative writing courses,” said Associate Professor of English Colin Rafferty, whose area of expertise is in creative nonfiction writing. To ensure that students have all the necessary
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News | 2
ODR navigates moving to a new office in Seacobeck.
classes to graduate on time, several sections of Intro. to Creative Writing, various mid-level genre courses and senior seminars must be on the schedule for every semester. In the past, professors had the ability to develop new classes such as a creative writing topics course. Under this category, Rochelle created a popular Fantasy and Science Fiction class, Rafferty taught a Travel Writing section and Levy attracted many students with Fan Fiction lessons. Now, due to the program’s reduced staff, students are no longer able to take these special, upper-level electives. “It makes me feel like there isn’t a lot of investment in the future of the creative writing program,” said Levy. “But I’m mostly confused because if the creative writing program is pulling in 43% of the majors, why wouldn’t you make sure that that arm of the program is staffed well? You wouldn’t want such a popular program comparatively to wither so to speak.” “It’s demoralizing,” Levy continued. “It’s always depressing when the horizon shrinks. I think people’s morale at work and mental health improves when it looks like things are growing instead of dwindling.” Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Keith Mellinger explained that the university’s decision to not hire a replacement for Rochelle was based on a “careful analysis about the best use of those resources that are freed up.” In this case, the administration has determined that three creative writing faculty members are sufficient to continue running the program. “If the time comes SEE WRITING PAGE 7
Opinion | 3 Pharmacies should address employee burnout.
the ground level, not having to rely on an elevator at all, I think is an advantage.” This office location was chosen because it can be accessed through the elevator within Seacobeck or from the outside of the building, according to Capital Outlay Project Director Gary Hobson, the project manager of the Seacobeck renovation. “The location of the ODR suite allows for it [to] be accessed by students even if the elevator is out of order,” he said. “In addition to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as to building code, automatic door operators were added to both exterior and interior doors along most common pathways.” Inside the office, the reception desk is intentionally low in height to make sure students are greeted at eye level. “We really want to be intentional about making sure that anybody can come up and have a face-to-face conversation with somebody instead of … somebody having to look down at them,” said Machado. “So, [we’re] thinking about how to treat people with respect as soon as they’re walking in the door.”
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Eagle Resource Closet awarded $1,000 Sodexo grant
jenn mcculloch Staff Writer
The Eagle Resource Closet is located on the fourth floor of Lee Hall. Kenya Carter / The Weekly Ringer
The Eagle Resource Closet has recently been awarded the Food Pantry Grant of $1,000 from Sodexo. The grant money has gone towards stocking the Resource Closet with food and items for students. According to the Sodexo website, the goal of this program is to help eliminate student hunger on campus. Money from the grant should be used to help offset the cost of food and supplies needed for the pantry. Junior history major Taylor Coleman, the coordinator of the Eagle Resource Closet, was happily surprised by the donation. “It was very exciting because I didn’t know it was coming,” Coleman said. “When it came, it was a really exciting experience
Life | 4
UMW Theatre produces Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”
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Sports | 8
Baseball begins their season with a 1-1 record.