MBU News

NEWS NOTES MBU NEWS Newsmakers and events that captured attention

Kick-Start to Men’s Soccer It was a Cinderella-story start for the MBU men’s soccer club. In a preseason matchup on August 23, and with only four days of practice under their belts, the Fighting Squirrels handily defeated the Southern Virginia University (SVU) Knights 2–0 in their collegiate debut — and the debut of any men’s team in MBU’s 177-year history.

A Living Icon At 88 years old, she tells us Sí Se Puede, “Yes, we can.” Members of the MBU family met acclaimed labor rights activist Dolores Huerta at a documentary screening in Winchester about her life and work. “Dolores Huerta has inspired me immensely in my own thesis research about Mexican immigrants and what it means to be a ‘citizen’ in the United States,” said history major Katerin Collazo ’19 (pictured with Huerta).

Healthcare for the Homeless It’s a win-win. Social work majors help the homeless get access to the care and education they need, and the students also gain skills in case management that are essential to their future careers. A partnership with Augusta Health and the Valley Mission, Healthcare for the Homeless provides medical and mental health screenings; flu vaccines and basic first aid; and help arranging follow-up care.

PT Day of Service Working to help prevent falls, a leading cause of injury among older adults, physical therapy (PT) graduate students at Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences conducted fall risk screenings in October for 78 local adults aged 55 and older. In partnership with Augusta Health, they helped clients review medications, consulted on making home environments safer, and conducted balance assessments.

Rankings Rise

On the up and up. MBU continues to rise on the list of Best Regional Universities in the South, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. The university came in at No. 31 for 2019, up 12 from last year (that’s a cumulative increase of 21 spots over the past two years). MBU also rose to the No. 7 spot for Best Value in the South and No. 21 for Best Colleges for Veterans.

Election Night Live Results in real time. More than 100 students contributed to the Election Live broadcast, an annual, non-partisan effort to track, film, and report on the midterms for the MBU community, now in its seventh year. Leading up to Election Day, students campaigned hard for voter registration and participation. And those results are in, too: the voting rate at MBU rose from 21 percent of students in 2014 to 61.2 percent in 2016 (2016 voting rate for all college campuses was 50.4 percent), while the registration rate at MBU went from 68.3 to 83.8 percent. (Source: National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement)

The Numbers Are In It’s official. Fall census numbers confirmed that this year MBU welcomed the largest first-year class in university history, while also enjoying steady enrollment across all programs. Four hundred twenty-eight new first-years call the Staunton campus home, a 222 percent increase over fall 2017. Total student population came in at 1,902, a 14 percent rise in overall enrollment compared to 2017, and an 11 percent increase over a five-year period.

Family Weekend Fun Getting the #MBUfamily together. Students and their families were invited to experience campus during a special weekend of events including a Fighting Squirrels tailgate and soccer matches, sophisticated buffet dinner at Hunt, and little siblings ice cream social.

PHOTO BY JAMIE NEWMAN

Co-working It Collaborate to innovate. MBU’s master of business administration program has a new home in Staunton’s Innovation Hub, a multi-purpose complex downtown that brings together businesses, nonprofits, and spaces for conferences, co-working, and gathering. It’s meant to cultivate entrepreneurship and resource-sharing, fitting nicely with an MBA program that promotes business as a force for good in society.

Art Matters It’s in the making. At the beginning of spring semester, MBU announced the creation of the university’s fifth college, the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “The entire impetus behind this initiative was to spotlight our considerable artistic strengths at MBU, making visible to Staunton and the world our programs in theatre, music, dance, and the visual arts, including film,” said Paul Menzer, who was named dean of the new college.