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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.
The choice conflicted with the recommendation from the college's Image and University Name Committee, which several days earlier had voted Washington & Monroe University its top choice. University of Mary Washington was a close second.
The day before the board's vote, several hundred students held a campus protest to insist "Mary Washington" be kept in the institution's umbrella title.
Survey results revealed in spring 2003 showed 65 percent of more than 2,000 college alumni preferred "Mary Washington University"--as opposed to "Washington & Monroe University"-- as an overarching school name.
A survey of current MWC students found 91 percent preferred Mary Washington University, and 90 percent of faculty members also preferred MWU.
Student Katie Leesman, chairwoman of the student Legislative Action Committee, said students seem content with University of Mary Washington.
In an e-mail, Leesman wrote, "The goal of students was to preserve the name Mary Washington in the overarching name, and we succeeded in that goal."
For students who want to lobby state senators and delegates on the matter, either for or against, the action committee is holding two information sessions next week about the bills. Next, the committee will survey students to determine if the SGA should sponsor a bill supporting the name change legislation, Leesman said.
However, MWC English professor Steve Watkins said "University of Mary Washington" sounds awkward. Watkins has argued against the need for an overarching university name, and worked with the Save the Name Committee to keep Mary Washington in the umbrella title.
"It's a foolish construction," Watkins said of U of MW. "It violates what I call in my freshmen English classes the 'sound stupid' rule."
As a bill sponsor, Cole said he's glad to shepherd in his alma mater's next phase.
"I understand that growing and changing and achieving university status is really a sign of growth so I'm certainly happy for that," Cole said. "Of course, there's always emotional ties to the way things used to be, but it's growing as an institution and we don't want to stand in the way of that."
To reach KELLY HANNON: 540/374-5436 khannon@freelancestar.com