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UMW board to review names

Board of visitors plans more name talk

By KELLY HANNON

Date published: 7/10/2004

By KELLY HANNON Former rector didn't expect loss of 'MWC'

Dori Eglevsky, former rector of the Mary Washington College board of visitors, says she was surprised by University of Mary Washington President William Anderson's decision to remove the college name from use. Eglevsky's statement came amid news that the current board will revisit Anderson's decision in September.

During the run-up to the university name launch, college officials--including Eglevsky in a Free Lance-Star opinion column--had said the Fredericksburg campus would retain its Mary Washington College moniker.

"I think people are just absolutely shocked with what seems to be such an about-face, and I have to say that it surprised me. I would've never represented something that I didn't believe was what we intended," Eglevsky said.

Her term ended June 30, a day before the school's state-recognized university name took effect.

Eglevsky said she didn't learn about the new name for the Fredericksburg campus until after the July 1 press conference. That's when Anderson announced new campus names for the undergraduate and graduate colleges: College of Arts and Sciences for the Fredericksburg campus and College of Graduate and Professional Studies for the graduate school on U.S. 17 in Stafford County.

A college press release announced the new campus names later the same day.

Campus names should go to the board for approval, Eglevsky said, unless it opts out of the decision.

"If the board sees it as a policy decision, and the board feels like they need to be involved in that determination, ultimately the board is the highest authority and I would assume that this issue will go to the board of visitors, and I would certainly encourage that so they can appreciate and weigh the merits of any suggestion of change," she said.

The board's current vice rector, Mona Albertine, agrees.

Campus names are a policy matter, Albertine said, and therefore fall under the board's purview.

"It will definitely be on the table" at the next meeting, which is scheduled for September, Albertine said.

The issue is also the subject of an online petition, which asks the General Assembly and Gov. Mark Warner to change the undergraduate-campus name back to Mary Washington College. By yesterday afternoon, 162 names had been added.

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Date published: 7/10/2004