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Area legislators sponsor bills to change college's umbrella name Date published: 1/16/2004 By KELLY HANNON Bills changing Mary Washington College's state-recognized name to University of Mary Washington have been introduced in both houses of the General Assembly. Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford, is sponsoring a bill in the Senate, while Del. Mark Cole, R-Stafford, has filed a similar bill in the House of Delegates. If passed, the bills would officially change the college's corporate name for state purposes. At the institution level, University of Mary Washington would become the school's overarching university name. It would link the Fredericksburg college and its James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies in Stafford County. Cole, a 1993 Mary Washington graduate, said House Speaker Bill Howell and MWC President William Anderson asked him to sponsor House Bill 1029. "While personally I would have preferred Mary Washington University, Dr. Anderson said their focus group data indicates that putting the university in front makes it more distinctive and sounds better and would help with their marketing, so I'll just defer to their wishes on this," Cole said yesterday from his Richmond office. So far, the House bill has six patrons. They include Del. Bobby Orrock Sr., R-Caroline, and Del. James H. Dillard III, R-Fairfax, who chairs the House Education Committee. In the Senate, Sen. Toddy Puller, D-Fairfax, is a patron of Chichester's bill. Puller is a MWC alumna. Yesterday, President Anderson said he was excited to see the introduction of both bills, and expected them to move quickly through legislative channels. "There's very, very strong support for the name University of Mary Washington, and I'm extremely pleased that we have so much support within the Mary Washington College community for the name," Anderson said. "Because the second feature of this name was it would allow us to move into the future carrying our heritage with us." In November, Mary Washington College's board of visitors unanimously voted for University of Mary Washington as the school's university name.
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