UMW Viewbook 2023 (English)

Find what matters to you.

Have a point view?of

Express it. Get behind a cause. Dive in the deep end of trailblazing research and never look back.

What happens at Mary Washington sets the stage for the rest of your life. This is where you come into your own — where you decide what matters most to you as a student and a human being. And the world is better for it.

Open your mind wide.

As a public liberal arts and sciences university, we stand for that kind of bold knowledge-building. While we have three colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education), we approach learning by giving your mind room to roam, go on adventures, take risks, seek out intersections, chase answers, and create fresh insight. We prepare you to think around corners and solve problems you’ve never imagined, let alone studied.

Our small classes overflow with inquiry and exploration. Deep thinking and doing happen daily here. We go for collaboration over competition. You’ll work with professors who double as mentors. They’ll help you tap into your strengths and talents. This is how you set your potential free.

Every groundbreaking solution begins with free-range thinking.

One of “America’s Best Colleges”

90+ majors, minors, and programs. Study Arabic or virology. Tackle anthropology field research. Explore AI. Dive into anime or oceanography. Discover string theory. Find what sparks your soul.

Mentors that count. Our professors help you become a key player in the universal human quest to make things better. Consider them your betterment team.

13:1 STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO

<19 STUDENTS PER CLASS

100% UMW CLASSES TAUGHT BY PROFESSORS

Real research. Study the complexities of brain cancer or investigate climate variability in the Chesapeake Bay. We’re investing more than $1 million each year to support undergraduate research, thanks to an alum’s generous $30 million gift to support STEM fields.

The UMW Honors Program. Internships. Research. Creative Projects. Service. Join a community within the UMW community. Work oneon-one with a professor in the Honors Commons. Get lost in conversation in a cohort. Grab a cup of tea. You might be here awhile.

The Princeton Review

Break some new ground.

mentoring program connects you with an upperclass student to help you with anything, everything.

A few first-year seminars:

Game Theory

Imagine delving into modern true crime, perfecting the craft of storytelling, or deconstructing Disney’s America. Our first-year seminars (FSEMs) throw you and a small group into the deep end of a topic. Guided by outstanding professors, you’ll learn how to attack a problem. Mine for new solutions. Argue your position. And foster communication. Plus, our peer

Our historic preservation program (one of the nation’s few) teaches you to protect and understand history. Our digital studies program is one of the nation’s best. In our Social Good Lab, you’ll use a “Design Sprint” framework (pioneered by Google Ventures) to prototype solutions for some of our most pressing problems. Or maybe you’ll trek out to Myanmar for an internship. Or intern for the CIA in cartography. Mary Wash students do. BTW, it’s the norm for our students to present at conferences, competing — and winning — against grad students.

To live is to learn. To experience is to grow. Now, that’s what really matters.

True Crime in Modern Times

Toys as History

Cryptology

Disney’s America

International Fairy Tales

Craft of Storytelling

Travel Writing

Connecting Through Music

One of “America’s Top Colleges and Universities”

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Ready to step up? Push for change? Be a force for good?

Inspiration into action: That’s what we do at Mary Wash.

Be a student leader. Like many things at Mary Washington, COAR is student-run. Through it there are many opportunities to connect with community – for example Downtown Greens, Fredericksburg’s nonprofit urban greenspace.

Never doubt the

importance of small actions.

How you choose to spend your time and what you opt to break a sweat for matters. Our students organize goods for the Gwen Hale Resource Center. They’re

out in the community helping on Good Neighbor Day. Here, your voice matters. Your ideas matter. And you have the potential to flip the world on its head.

A short list of what matters to us:

MAKING DINING HALLS MORE SUSTAINABLE.

CONNECTING THROUGH MUSIC. BEING A STUDENT LEADER. MAINTAINING THE HEALTH OF OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS. OUR COMMUNITY VALUES.

VOLUNTEERING AT THE MOSS FREE CLINIC. BEING A GOOD NEIGHBOR. THE PERFORMING ARTS. DIVERSITY AND EQUITY. HOUSING EQUALITY. OUR HONOR COUNCIL. STUDYING HOW MENTAL HEALTH AFFECTS BODY CHEMISTRY. KINDNESS. VOTING RIGHTS AND REFORMS. WATER RIGHTS.

20,000+

That’s how many hours UMW students dedicate to community service each year.

Firsthand Experiences. First-class Teachers.

Our faculty are experts in their fields, bringing their wisdom directly to our classrooms. One of the most wellknown, James Farmer Jr., was a driving agent behind the first Freedom Ride in 1961 and later earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As one of the “Big Four” civil rights leaders and the co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), he brought this lived experience to Mary Washington in 1985, serving as distinguished professor of history and American studies.

Now his namesake, the UMW James Farmer Multicultural Center, continues

to bring people together, from the annual Multicultural Fair, which draws in 4,000+ people to experience art, music, culture, and lots of food, to keynote talks and heritage months. Together with the City of Fredericksburg they’ve helped put this work on the map, creating a civil rights trail that combines work in historic preservation, history and American studies, and geography, with community leadership and engagement.

Never stop growing your thinking/ acting/changing. It matters now more than ever.

“Courage, after all, is not being unafraid, but doing what needs to be done in spite of fear.”

- James Farmer Jr

One of the best and most interesting colleges

- Fiske Guide to Colleges

Who do wantyouto be?

Be open to change. There’s a culture of trying new things here. Take the lead in one of the 150+ campus clubs and organizations. Join our student-run newspaper, The Weekly Ringer. The Geek Alliance is dedicated to anime, video games, and Dr. Who. Claim your space on campus your way. It’s not about fitting into a mold. It’s about being the absolute best version of yourself.

We are the only public university in Virginia that doesn’t have football or Greek life. That says a lot about us, but it’s far from our full story. We surround you with the people — professors, mentors, friends, fellow campus dwellers — who inspire you to aspire to more. Mary Wash people are unconventional, big-hearted, openminded, honorable, compassionate, and passionate. They’re drawn here because each person wants to find his, her, their way to uniquely make an impact.

3,700+ STUDENTS FROM 35 STATES AND 24 COUNTRIES

This is a place of traditions — from Eagle Gathering at the start of your UMW experience to Devil-Goat Day held right before the last day of spring classes.

We see you. At UMW, we will help you make the most of everything you have to offer.

We’re one of the top producers of Fulbright U.S. student awards. That means we’re smart, world-savvy, and going places.

Make this home.

Hop on a bench – stay awhile. Bench-sitting is one of our most popular traditions. It’s our way of connecting as a community. It’s even an Urban Dictionary entry and uniquely us. Like dance breaks in one of our 14 residence halls and apartments. It’s family here.

Our hometown, Fredericksburg, has a cool, artsy downtown with lots of coffee options. Walk the Canal Path along the Rappahannock River. Paddleboard. Kayak. Tube. Get off campus and into the world.

135

STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS

56 COUNTRIES

We live by a code. We hold each other to the highest standards of honesty and integrity in all that we do and say. Always.

We’re right between (50 miles each way) D.C. and Richmond, so you’re close to résumé-making, life-changing internships, opportunities, and networking.

Our campus is gorgeous, green, and full of opportunity. See a show in Klein Theatre. Bring ideas to life in our ThinkLab maker space. Find a patch of grass to catch some sun and/ or Frisbees. Use the video green screens at the Hurley Convergence Center or record a song in the multimedia editing lab. Get creative.

Dig in.

UMW Eagles go the distance. We’re NCAA Division III and focused on the studentathlete experience. We’re a nationally recognized athletic department within the division. Our people are Scholar-Athletes, All-Americans, Paralympians, and All-Stars. We reach that level because of deep support from our coaches, staff, campus community, alumni, and parent groups. We work together to be the best versions of ourselves.

Service runs deep with Mary Wash studentathletes. Count on us to be there for the things that matter. We’re volunteering with Special Olympics, running community basketball clinics, and flexing muscle by mentoring local youth.

Find what matters to you — the next championship, a new personal best, your team — and then go for it with all you’ve got.

18

NCAA DIVISION III

SPORTS

Baseball Basketball (M/W)

Cross country (M/W)

Field hockey

Lacrosse (M/W)

Soccer (M/W)

Softball

Swimming (M/W)

Tennis (M/W)

Track and field (M/W)

Volleyball (W) +

Esports (co-ed)

Equestrian (co-ed)

Men’s rugby

Women’s rugby

20+

CLUB SPORTS

Crew. Fencing. Ultimate Frisbee. Color guard. Cheer. Even ice hockey and Quidditch.

Do what you love. Always make it matter.

This is about building a life of meaning, a life that matters — to yourself, the people you love, and the world at large. That’s what we do at Mary Wash. And why this public University should be at the top of your list.

Let’s go build your future, together.

Make each second count.

We see you — your potential, your purpose, your future. We’ll be your partners in working toward it. That’s what we specialize in at Mary Wash. Then we connect you to internships, study abroad, research projects, community engagement — the experiences that will propel you forward.

Take our theatre program. It teaches you every part of what it takes to create a performance – onstage and behind the scenes. This is where you’ll make theatre. That’s why our graduates are performing and working on Broadway. Other grads go on to lead teams

developing cutting-edge treatments for infectious diseases. They’re documentary and movie producers. Brand managers. Artists. Teachers. Nurses. They’re difference-makers — leading local nonprofits and volunteering overseas. And 89 percent of the class of 2022 are employed or pursuing grad school right now. We partner with graduate schools to offer accelerated pathways in engineering, law, and medicine. Get fueled on experience. Once you’re clear on what matters to you, nothing will hold you back. Make each moment matter.

- Southeast Region listing, Washington Monthly

$38 million+

IN FINANCIAL AID EACH YEAR

A Few Internships

U.S. Congress

Miami Dolphins

American Red Cross

National Aquarium

Madison Square Garden

Library of Congress

Walt Disney World

National Public Radio

Smithsonian Institution

U.S. Geological Survey

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

City of Fredericksburg Planning Services Division

Department of Homeland Security

“Best Bang for the Buck”

Ready to find what matters to you?

umw.edu/marywash

Connect with us.

An unconventional, absolutely friendly, be-yourself public University in Fredericksburg, Virginia, filled with dynamic, smart, compassionate people – and lots of bricks and trees.