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Senate committee OKs MWC name change Date published: 1/23/2004
RICHMOND--There's just something about Mary. The Senate version of a bill to change Mary Washington College's name to University of Mary Washington was approved by a committee yesterday, despite Sen. Edd Houck's protest that backers of the official name change are still trying to diminish the "Mary" part of the school's name. Houck had planned to introduce a bill that would change the school's name to Mary Washington University. Due to drafting delays, he was unable to introduce it before the University of Mary Washington bill--sponsored by Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford--came before the Senate Education and Health Committee yesterday morning. So Houck proposed changing Chichester's bill to read "Mary Washington University." "This is a 'Mary' thing," Houck said. "There's still this gender issue that's involved.The only thing I can surmise, somewhere in the marketing studies is that if it's 'university' first instead of 'Mary' it takes some of that gender bias out of it." MWC President William Anderson had argued that marketing studies have shown better results with the word "university" before "Mary Washington." "It says right up front what the institution is and it also carries our heritage with us," Anderson told senators. "It's extremely important that the syntax we're offering, 'University of Mary Washington,' be followed." The college's board of visitors supports changing the name to University of Mary Washington, as do a number of other groups. But most students favor Mary Washington University, on the premise that it is more syntactically correct and because it emphasizes the fact that the school is named after a woman. Houck said he was "trying to reflect there wasn't a unanimous kind of consensus on this as far as the community was concerned. "There was significant local opposition," he said. Houck also noted to the committee that most of Virginia's colleges follow a syntax similar to what he proposed. James Madison University and George Mason University were among his examples.
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