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RICHMOND--The changing of Mary Washington College's name to "University of Mary Washington" is virtually a done deal.

The state Senate approved the name-change legislation this week, and the House of Delegates is set to do so today.

The University of Mary Washington name is the one preferred by the school's administration and board of visitors.

But many students, alumni and other groups say that syntax is unwieldy and diminishes the importance of the "Mary Washington" part of the name. Their efforts to change the bill failed, but protests against the administration's syntax have not completely fallen on deaf ears.

Seven senators voted against the bill, up from two last time it was before the full Senate.

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, was one of the "no" votes.

Deeds said he knew his vote wouldn't tip the scales, so he decided to vote against the administration-endorsed name as a protest against the syntax.

"In a small way, I wanted to say the people who are opposed to this are right," Deeds said. "It ought to be Mary Washington University."

Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, who has argued all along that the college's name should be changed to Mary Washington University, said he was told by many senators that while they would not interfere with the college's board of visitors, they agreed with him that Mary Washington University sounded better.

"The most convincing feedback I had that I was right came from those senators who were voting for the bill," Houck said. "Almost all of them told me 'Edd, you're right, that's a horrible name, the syntax is terrible, it's unprecedented compared to our other institutions.' So even those who were voting for it in large, large numbers told me privately that I was really right. I told them, I'd rather be right than win."

To reach CHELYEN DAVIS: 804/782-9362 cdavis@freelancestar.com