|
|
University of Mary Washington's controversial campus name changes will be discussed this weekend during an annual retreat attended by the school's board of visitors and President William Anderson.
The privately funded gathering, which begins today and continues until Sunday at The Tides Inn in Lancaster County on the Northern Neck, will focus on topics including finance, strategic planning and a review of campus facilities and fund raising. The board will also elect officers.
Campus name changes will come up during discussion of the university's new mission statement, said Mona Albertine, vice rector of the board. She said the board will not vote or pass resolutions this weekend.
Anything carried forward from this weekend's conversations will be officially addressed at the board's meeting in September, Albertine said.
Gov. Mark Warner signed the university name into law in March, and it took effect July 1. That same day, Anderson announced new 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.
But Anderson had 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 this week to the campus, Anderson declined to comment.
The July 1 news that Mary Washington College would no longer be used was a surprise to former board rector Dori Eglevsky, whose term ended June 30--the day before the announcement.
"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," Eglevsky said last week.
Campus names should go to the board for approval, Eglevsky said, unless it opts out of the decision.
Albertine said last week that she agrees.
Campus names are a policy matter, Albertine said, and therefore fall under the board's purview.
Anderson's decision has also riled some alumni, who were concerned the name Mary Washington College would fade when the university name became official.
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.
To reach KELLY HANNON: 540/374-5436 khannon@freelancestar.com