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University of Mary Washington President William Anderson promised to keep Mary Washington College as the undergraduate campus name "forever" in a memo to "the Mary Washington College Community" circulated in 2001.
"All discussions about university status and an umbrella name have been with the assurance that the name 'Mary Washington College' must be retained forever, that the name always be highly visible for purposes of marketing the college, and that the name will always be used to refer to the undergraduate liberal arts program as it exists on the Fredericksburg campus," Anderson wrote.
After a copy of the document was faxed yesterday to the campus, Anderson declined to comment.
The document has surfaced following Anderson's announcement this month that the new name for the Fredericksburg campus would be University of Mary Washington, College of Arts and Sciences.
The decision has riled some alumni, who were concerned the name Mary Washington College would fade after July 1 when state laws including the school's new university name became official. Gov. Mark Warner signed the university name into law in March.
Students and alumni held a rally to protest the university name on campus last fall, and many contacted state representatives this spring, hoping to persuade them to vote against the new name.
One alumna who worried was Jocelyn Piccone of Kettering, Ohio. The member of the class of 1986 and past contributor to the school's annual fund received a copy of Anderson's memo after writing to the college to express her concern over the proposed name change.
She watched a potential name change unfold during her undergraduate years.
In 1985, the board of visitors unanimously voted to change the school's name to Washington-Monroe College, but no one in the Virginia General Assembly was willing to sponsor a bill to make it official.
"When you graduate from an institution, you want to maintain that name for your life span. It's on your degree," Piccone said yesterday.
She received a response letter from the director of annual giving dated January 29, 2001. A memo from Anderson, addressed to the Mary Washington College community at large, was enclosed.
"I hope that the following information helps to correct some of the mistaken impressions that have been relayed to you, either by e-mail or press reports, concerning the college's move to university status now under consideration by the Mary Washington College Board of Visitors," Anderson wrote.
The memo outlined four "mistaken impressions" regarding university status.
"Mistaken Impression #4" was "that the name 'Mary Washington College' would be eliminated or changed as part of the move to university status," the memo read.
Anderson refuted this claim, assuring recipients that Mary Washington College will remain.
"In very much the same way that separate and distinct colleges are organized in the British model at Oxford University, the board and I have made a commitment to retaining the name 'Mary Washington College' in any proposed university structure," Anderson wrote.
Area legislators who voted on the name change during this year's General Assembly session had a mixed response to the new campus names.
Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, cast one of two votes against the name 'University of Mary Washington' in the state Senate.
School officials repeatedly told him during the session that the Fredericksburg campus name would not change, Houck said.
"This was explicitly explained to me as I was being asked to support the 'University of Mary Washington.' I was expressing reservations and hesitation to getting onboard the university bandwagon and it was clearly stated to me that my fears of losing the prominence of Mary Washington would not occur because the main campus would continue to be referred to as 'Mary Washington College,'" Houck said yesterday.
House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, offered a muted response to the controversy.
"I don't have any reaction. They'll work it out," he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore John Chichester, R-Stafford, delivered a more pointed reaction.
"I never liked the 'University of Mary Washington' and never made any bones about it," he said.
Chichester sponsored the Senate version of the legislation granting university status, saying he did so after research suggested the name change would help the school.
"I introduced the legislation on the Senate side because the board of visitors had taken that position, the college had taken that position, and the alumni had allegedly taken that position," he said.
Chichester vowed to refer to the school as Mary Washington College in his public speeches.
"There are enough of us old dogs who are not going to be interested in new tricks, so it will always be 'Mary Washington College' as long as I live," he said. "I think, personally, if there's an attempt to exclude the name Mary Washington College from anything, it will be a difficult challenge.
"I think it will take a number of generations before that name is lost forever."
Chichester's bill cleared the Senate by a 37-2 margin, with only Houck and Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, opposing it. It cleared the House by a 90-7 margin, with the support of all local delegates.
The House version, sponsored by Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, passed the House on a 90-5 vote and won Senate passage by a 32-7 margin.
The university's Faculty Senate will take up the campus name matter when it meets at the beginning of the fall semester.
Faculty members are concerned it was a "unilateral" decision made without faculty input and that such decisions are a "continuing pattern" at the university, said Denis Nissim-Sabat, president of the Faculty Senate.
As for Houck, he's still questioning the need for any change to a successful formula.
With thousands of students clamoring to be admitted each year, and accolades from national publications, he doesn't understand why the school wants to erase Mary Washington College from its public image.
"They keep talking about they need to change the name because of marketing studies I keep asking the question 'Look how successful you've been as Mary Washington College. What are you striving for that you haven't already attained?' National rankings, certainly an institution of prestige and reputation and forward thinking, and I think moving to university status was just wonderful. Where's the problem?" Houck asked.
To reach KELLY HANNON: 540/374-5436 khannon@freelancestar.com