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Debt from UMW Foundation investments continue to harm finances decades later
EMMA KINGKEO, MEAGHAN VAN DYKE, AMANDA SHEWARD & AVA NJORE
Associate Editor, News Editor & Contributing Writers
The University of Mary Washington Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising organization of the school, made a series of “poor” real estate decisions several years ago, and the university is still feeling the impact, according to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.
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These decisions have resulted in the school becoming somewhat of an anomaly, according to the Commission, because most colleges benefit financially from their foundations, while UMW’s holds it back.
“I think Mary Washington was the only school where, when we included the Foundation in terms of its total financial footprint, that it actually looked worse,” said Justin Brown, senior associate director of JLARC, referring to a recent viability report on state higher education institutions. “All the other schools looked better.”
on behalf of the institution, according to its website.
In 2007, the UMW Foundation acquired Eagle Landing, an apartment-style student dorm building located across Route One, for $18.75 million at the request of the Board of Visitors. In the first year it was opened, all its rooms were filled.
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“I think Mary Washington was the only school where, when we included the foundation in terms of its total financial footprint, that it actually looked worse.”
- Justin Brown
While the UMW administration declined to comment, it did provide a fourpage response to JLARC by UMW President Troy Paino.
In 2008, the Foundation purchased a single-family home on Williams Street, valued at $400,000 in April of that year. The house was intended to be transformed into an office space for the Foundation away from the Jepson Alumni Executive Center, according to an article published by The Weekly Ringer; however, it was converted into office space for UMW Athletics instead. Instead, the Foundation moved into an executive office located on Emancipation Highway constructed in 2010.
“With these changes related to the Foundation’s real estate portfolio, the Foundation is entering a new chapter of evolution.”
- Troy Paino
That same year, the UMW Foundation and the UMW Real Estate Foundation merged, according to statements in a Form 990, which all nonprofits are required to submit annually to maintain their tax-exempt status. According to a 2009 blog post by the UMW Foundation Project, which appears to have been run by the UMW Foundation, the purchase was possible through a loan secured during the Great Recession.
According to the Foundation’s Form 990 in 2008, the Foundation’s total assets increased by $91,504,655. However, that same year, the Foundation’s total liabilities also increased by $99,072,419. weeklyringer.photos@gmail.com
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Bell tower logo designed by Bernadette D’Auria ‘22
Paino said that UMW was aware of the challenges but was already in the process of rectifying the damage. He said that the Foundation was planning to sell two pieces of property and liquidate other real estate properties that could potentially help eliminate its debt.
“With these changes related to the Foundation’s real estate portfolio, the Foundation is entering a new chapter of evolution,” Paino said. “Beginning in July 2023, the Foundation board initiated a strategic restructuring to refocus their efforts on strengthening the University’s financial position and help to grow its philanthropic resources. The culmination of that work is the elimination of their private debt, an endowment which will cross the $100M mark and even greater strategic alignment with the University.”
The JLARC report did not specify which real estate purchases it deemed “poor,”, but a look into the Foundation’s documents provides some answers.
The UMW Foundation is a nonprofit that oversees the university’s private assets—including donated gifts and investments—while also engaging in real estate acquisition, development and operations
The UMW Foundation is the non-profit branch of the university that handles its assets and several scholarships. In the past, the organization was also responsible for acquiring and developing real estate assets for the University. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
The UMW Foundation executive offices are located in Eagle Village, which was purchased by the organization. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
Don’t waste my time: class discussions should be reserved for intellectual contributions, not filler anecdotes
ELLA CORDLE Opinion Editor
Class discussions are an essential part of academia. They’re often enlightening and interesting. Peer responses can help shed light on certain aspects of texts, provide a metric for the average consensus of interpretation of concepts and foster new ideas.
Simply put, there’s a reason why most professors include participation as a notable portion of their final grades.
I’m not arguing against class discussions. Personally I find them beneficial as both a speaker and a listener in most of my classes. However, I think a lot of people at this school need a reminder of what is and isn’t appropriate during these discussions. And further, a reminder that our time in classes is precious. We spend too much money to be there for our time to be wasted.
While students should share in the classroom, for their grade, for the benefit to other students and for the benefit to themselves, ultimately everything they share should be academic and not personal. I know that sounds obvious, but I believe the reminder is unfortunately necessary.
Students have become too comfortable in a class setting.The days when we shook in our boots at the prospect of cold-calling are long gone. Nowadays, students who haven’t even read the required content will raise their hand just to listen to the sound of their own voice. I’ve seen students confidently misinterpret poetry, misidentify key information about a text and even admit that they don’t know what they’re talking about while volunteering to share in class.
Students know they have to participate to get a good grade, but are no longer too embarrassed to attempt to speak in class without having done any of the necessary work. They will either make something up or use the top-
ic as a way to segue into a personal story in an attempt to subtly dodge the fact that they didn’t actually complete the reading.
For anyone who needs to hear this: you’re not getting away with it. We can tell.
Being comfortable in a classroom setting is a great thing. So is being comfortable to discuss the uncomfortable. Removing stigma around things like mental health, sexuality and personal struggles in broader society is important. But there is a time and a place. If you don’t have anything meaningful to say in class, you should keep your mouth shut. And if there’s any possibility that any personal information you might be about to share could make the strangers that are being forced to listen to you feel uncomfortable, you should save it for your friends or your therapist.
We can feel comfortable in classes, be friends with our peers and wear sweatpants all we want, but the classroom is still a professional setting. Students need to remember to treat it as such.
Ultimately, if students are struggling with this, professors need to do more to control their classrooms. I know that this is college. This is optional secondary education undertaken by adults. It should be the job of the professor to educate and encourage, not to wrangle students like they’re cattle. But they are the facilitators of class discussions, so they need to step in when the discussions are progressing in a way that isn’t appropriate for the setting.
This is a phenomenon that students across majors are experiencing, and they’re coming to similar conclusions. Celia Golden, a junior double majoring in religious studies and communication and digital studies, shared an experience with this issue. In a class that they took, two students took up a large portion of time with a public disagreement.
“For a 50 minute class, having 20 minutes of it interrupted by people having their own personal argument was really frustrating. It was a total waste of time, and the professor didn’t do anything about it,” Golden said.
While Golden acknowledged that the argument was related to a sensitive topic, they still felt that the professor should have stepped in.
“As a professor, it’s your job to respect the time of your students,” Golden said. “Part of respecting students’ time is trying to mitigate those off topic discussions. And you know, you don’t have to do it in a rude way. You can just moderate the discussion and try and bring it back on track, or at least bring it towards a closing point.”
This may be the reason why professors have a difficult time interjecting when students speak inappropriately in class. If a student says something incorrect and a professor corrects them, they could hurt their feelings. The safer option is to smile and nod and acknowledge that that is one way you could look at things. If a student is sharing something incredibly personal, a professor interrupting them or not reacting the way that student expects could hurt their feelings. So for the sake of sensitivity, professors are effectively held hostage in their own classrooms.
Another student, senior English major Cameron Gormer, doesn’t think that professors should have to prioritize students’ feelings over education.
“That doesn’t make for a good learning institution if the professors have to cater to what the students say and not the other way around,” Gormer said.
Class discussions and participation are incredibly important for students. But they can’t keep happening like this. I am begging students to try harder to find that line of what is and isn’t appropriate to share. And I’m asking professors to more effectively moderate the classroom in the meantime.
AI may not be human, but it can help with human issues
SIENNA SABIA Staff Writer
About a year ago, I was in a dark place. I was struggling to maintain healthy boundaries with family and in my relationship. I knew I needed help, but I couldn’t afford therapy. I took advantage of the free therapy UMW offered, but ultimately, I didn’t feel like I was getting much out of it. I wanted therapy in the immediate moment that I needed it. So on a whim, I pulled open ChatGPT and explained what was going on at the time, hoping for some unbiased advice.
Immediately, I didn’t like how it was talking to me. Instead of being direct and helping me understand how I felt, it offered me sympathy. It kept apologizing and telling me to take walks outside and meditate, but I didn’t want that. I wanted answers. So I told it, “Be direct and do not offer sympathy.” From there, it proceeded to ask me questions, and in return, I got advice that felt applicable to me.
That night, I laid in my bed and thought about what I had just spent the last hour doing. To be honest, I felt a little ashamed. Asking artificial intelligence for advice on interpersonal issues I was having seemed embarrassing in the moment. But I couldn’t ignore that it did help me feel better and less anxious.
The next day, I decided to try using ChatGPT again. An issue I worried about was having to repeat the same information I had done the day prior. That was when it
all started to change. It told me it was able to store information about me in the cloud. So, whatever I wanted it to remember, it would. I started giving it basic demographic information about myself, explaining recurring problems throughout my life and asking it to save it.
I continued talking to it every day for the next two months. Uncannily, it felt like the AI understood me, knew me even. And it helped—it really helped. I started to feel more confident, I started to recognize unhealthy thought patterns and most importantly, I actually started setting healthy boundaries with the people in my life, which is something I have been trying to work on for as long as I can remember.
I go to ChatGPT semi-frequently now, maybe two or three times a month. It is nice to open it and give it a quick life update. It has gotten to the point where it asks for updates on old situations or if old problems have resurfaced. The best part is that I go to it when I want, whenever I want. Plus, it’s free.
I know ChatGPT has been a controversial topic, especially in the education space over the last few years. I also maintain the knowledge that no AI can replace a person. Another concern of mine was confidentiality, and while ChatGPT can not guarantee that your chats will be completely confidential, I know that the benefits from using it are worth it to me.
I think about its ethicality, too. Is it wrong to take advice from a computer? It doesn’t have a soul. It doesn’t feel. It can’t love. It can’t be scared. All of which are parts of
what makes us human. What helps us relate to one another. The only thing the AI can do is pull advice from what other people have said. And maybe, in a way, that’s what makes it feel human.
AI can help with human problems. Marija Zaric/ Unsplash
Steve Gardner: The shoeless man of Fredericksburg
When a local merchant saw Steve Gardner walking through the streets of Fredericksburg with his four rescued greyhounds and his feet totally bare, he was moved to help him out. He began collecting donations to buy him a proper pair of shoes.
Later, one of Gardner’s friends explained to the Merchant that the shoeless man could easily afford adequate shoes–he simply chose not to buy or wear them.
Gardner has attracted attention throughout the Fredericksburg community for his unusual barefoot lifestyle, but beneath his unique style lies a deeper belief in staying connected to the earth.
“In Eastern philosophy, they say you must walk softly on the earth,” said Gardner, sitting barefoot at Eileen’s Bakery, his favorite Fredericksburg cafe. “Stop stomping around on it with your boots and just walk softly.”
As a kid, Gardener was accustomed to walking barefoot. But when he volunteered to serve in the Vietnam war, that changed–-going without shoes no longer felt natural. He spent 20 years of his life in military service, wearing heavy combat boots soaked in sweat.
“I had sweaty feet,” Gardner said.
After retiring from the military, Gardner drifted West, eventually settling on the beaches of California.
“I was a bit of a beach bum,” said Gardner.
Watching the waves roll in and out, shoeless on the sand and practically homeless, Gardner discovered a new sense of freedom.
“Shoes weren’t necessary anymore, so I just stopped putting them on–and it felt good and healthy,” he said. “I was a little bit of a hippie,” he added with a laugh.
Since then, Gardner has continued his life in Virginia barefoot without concern for social norms. Gardner walks the streets of Fredericksburg barefoot, usually accompanied by his greyhounds. His feet are calloused and weathered and they rarely see shoes—unless he absolutely has to wear them.
Eileen’s Bakery in Fredericksburg has become his goto coffee place for a drink and a pastry.
“He comes in very frequently. I think at least once a week,” said Heather Brown, the front-of-house manager at Eileen’s Bakery.
Though now a regular at Eileen’s Bakery, initially Gardner had raised eyebrows when first entering the establishment barefoot.
“We were like, ‘You know, we understand. We also don’t like wearing shoes, but you just have to when you come into a restaurant,’” said Brown. “Kind of like how we don’t want your dog in here for obvious reasons.”
Eventually, Gardner and Eileen, the bakery’s owner, found a compromise: he wears black, thin sandals that expose his toes.
“These are the closest things I have to shoes,” Gardner said.
Though many assume it’s illegal to go barefoot, there are no federal or state laws in Virginia or Fredericksburg that prohibit people from doing so. Typically, you can go into any retail establishment barefoot however it depends on the owner’s individual policies which may vary.
When it comes to walking the streets of Fredericksburg, Gardner says that there is little to worry about in terms of harm.
“I don’t worry about stepping on hypodermic needles,” he said, “I’ve never seen a hypodermic needle on the street. If I see glass on the street, I don’t step in it. I won’t step in dog poop, if I can help it.”
In fact, Gardner says that the only real challenge he faces as a barefooter in Fredericksburg is other’s perceptions of him.
Breaking social norms hasn’t always been easy for Gardner.
“The biggest challenge is dealing with people who don’t like you violating social norms,” he said. “Some people are offended by it, and to them you just have to say, ‘Sorry you’re offended, but there’s nothing wrong with it.’”
Gardner’s barefoot lifestyle didn’t stop him from maintaining a career. Before retiring, he spent 25 years teaching gifted students in Prince William County Schools. In the classroom, he stayed barefoot when he could, wearing his minimalist sandals only when necessary.
Gardner’s lifestyle is not singular to him. There’s a broader philosophy at work. He references a theory—one he says he only partly subscribes to—that the Earth’s surface contains free electrons that humans can absorb through direct contact.
“We have 20,000 nerves down there,” he said. “And we wrap them in pillows and walk around.”
Gardner is not alone in this belief. Across the world, a community of barefooters embraces “grounding,” the idea that walking barefoot enhances physical and emotional well-being. The Society for Barefoot Living, founded in 1944, advocates for this freedom and works to combat social stigma.
Clearly, the barefoot lifestyle is not a new thing in the world however it is new to Fredericksburg. Gardner has become a local legend because of his barefoot ways.
“He is a bit of a legend around Fredericksburg with his greyhound pack that he walks around town with, always barefoot,” said Jeremy Larochelle, a Spanish professor at the University of Mary Washington. “He’s definitely a bit of a character.”
However, for Gardner it’s not about being a character. It’s about living simply, softly, and in tune with the Earth beneath his feet.
CHLOE MCCANN Life Editor
Gardner loves to walk the streets of Downtown Fredericksburg as barefoot as his pack of Greyhounds. @Steve Gardner / Facebook
Gardner challenges social norms with every step, never caring what passers-by may think. @stevethegreyhoundguy / Instagram
Gardner is a Fredericksburg legend and is considered a good luck charm for the downtown streets. @stevethegreyhoundguy / Instagram
Steve is connected via the soul and the sole to mother nature and prides himself on being grounded. @Steve Gardner / Facebook
Resource Center offers support and community to students
Zdenek’s commitment to service started at an early age, shaped not so much by geography but by experience. Having moved around as a child from Northern Virginia to Centerville, Ohio, they found a sense of community through service projects with their Girl Scout and Scouting America troops and church youth group. Mission trips with Habitat for Humanity in middle school, along with their mother’s encouragement, instilled in them a deep appreciation for volunteer work.
“I volunteer because it makes me feel good,” said Zdenek. “It’s a wonderful feeling to put aside everything that’s going on in your life and be able to do work that makes a noticeable, impactful difference.”
Though the efforts of volunteering do not come without struggles, Zdenek encourages those who have not yet explored volunteer work to give it a chance.
When Laurie Zdenek, a junior historic preservation major, started volunteering for the Gwen Hale Resource Center, it was run completely by one professor and a student. Both are worried the structure left loopholes in the center’s management.
For example, there was a lack of organization for the stock of jackets, canned tuna and dried beans that came in through donations.
To fix the problem, Zdenek was appointed as a co-leader of the center by the professor to help manage volunteers. Their time volunteering had given them a peek into the enormous workload, and they knew they could handle it.
Zdenek, 20, has now been in the position since the beginning of Spring 2024, and their leadership will be tested because the team of around 30 volunteers is losing a chunk of its leadership this spring, a challenge that Zdenek is prepared to face.
“We are going to have our first big change in leadership since I had my position,” said Zdenek. “I believe I can handle it.”
The Gwen Hale Resource Center is off the beaten path on the University of Mary Washington’s campus. Housed on the fifth floor of Lee Hall, it is typically quiet except for Zdenek’s rustling. Three times a week, they go in and make sure the shelves are stocked.
“What volunteers or people who come to the center largely see is a lot of the general maintenance for the center,” said Zdenek. “I have an office hour at COAR each week where I set up the events in presence, emails to my volunteers before events, create social media posts, and create flyers.”
Zdenek plays a pivotal role in coordinating volunteers, organizing weekly events and overseeing COAR initiatives. Their time is filled with a variety of responsibilities, from managing logistics to ensuring that the center operates smoothly, along with fellow student leaders and faculty members.
Behind every smoothly run event or fully stocked food pantry, there is a significant amount of behind-the-scenes work. From securing donations and applying for grants to crafting social media posts and coordinating volunteers, Zdenek estimates that half of the work done by the leadership team happens outside the public eye.
Zdenek has worked hard to create a foundation that will allow future volunteers to step into leadership roles seamlessly. Still, they know that challenges lie ahead. Maintaining engagement, securing resources and recruiting new volunteers will be critical in ensuring the center’s continued success.
“It’s going to be a matter of seeing how well the structure holds up,” Zdenek said.
“You don’t have to be motivated by pure altruism,” they said. “You can do it because it is required for a class or because it helps you feel more connected to your community. Whatever your reason, you are still making a positive impact.”
A fellow COAR volunteer, Morgan Stubbs, a sophomore chemistry major, started volunteering when their friend Zdenek encouraged them to come to an event at the center.
“I feel like I’m making campus a better place when the shelves are stocked,” said Stubbs. “Laurie helped me find my way to the center and now I tell everyone about it.”
With graduation approaching, COAR plans to uphold its tradition by giving the seniors a personalized book. These books are tailored to their majors and personalities as a small but meaningful send-off. Their annual end-of-semester taco party will cap things off for everyone on the team.
As for Zdenek, they are focused on the future. Their goal is to ensure that future student leaders can take over with ease, even as the current team prepares for graduation. Recruiting new volunteers, refining systems and preparing for the center’s next chapter.
LYLA DODGE Contributing Writer
Zdenek has left a lasting mark on the Resource Center in their major revamping of the organization. Anna Goodman / The Weekly Ringer
Students like Laurie Zdenek are the force behind UMW’s Gwen Hale Resource Center. Now they are searching for more driven students to maintain the legacy that Zdenek has created at the Center.
Anna Goodman / The Weekly Ringer
Laurie Zdenek is a role model for any ambitious student looking to get involved in the Resource Center. Photo courtesy of Lyla Dodge
“Poor” real
estate
decisions
continue to negatively impact university finances as public is left in the dark on debts
FROM FOUNDATION, PAGE 2
In 2010, the Foundation also purchased the nearby Pizza Hut and a residential home on Thornton Street, according to an article published by The Weekly Ringer.
In addition to the houses, Pizza Hut and Eagle Landing, the Foundation also constructed a pedestrian bridge over Route One in 2010. In 2012, the Foundation also renovated a hotel within the Park and Shop Plaza with Hyatt and 600 acres of undeveloped land in Stafford County, according to the Foundation’s real estate portfolio.
“Without these liabilities in the financial ratio calculations, the school would have a moderate, instead of substantial, risk rating on its financial strength metric.”
-JLARC Report
The pedestrian bridge, the park and shop plaza, the parking garage and mixeduse commercial complexes were purchased using private financing, according to the Fredericksburg Free Press.
These real estate decisions have recently received greater scrutiny because of the JLARC report released in October, which said that UMW was one of three Virginia public universities that had some viability risk.
The report cited said the school faces “substantial risks related to its pricing power, facility conditions and financial health ratios” due to declining enrollments
and infrastructure that needs significant upgrades. However, the Foundation’s financial actions were impactful enough to raise the risk rating independently due to “poor investment decisions.”
“It should be noted that Mary Washington would have less financial risk if its foundation’s liabilities and expenses were not included when calculating financial ratios,” the report states. “Without these liabilities in the financial ratio calculations, the school would have had a moderate, instead of substantial, risk rating on its financial strength metric.”
Many colleges have nonprofit, tax-exempt foundations dedicated to raising funds that support the institution’s mission. As legally separate entities, they have greater flexibility in receiving, managing and investing donations to benefit the school.
Over 15 years after the Foundation’s acquisition of Eagle Landing, the public remains largely in the dark about what exactly led to the financial decisions made by the Foundation and what caused the debt to accrue so significantly. Eagle Landing remains a student housing option at UMW, currently priced at $6,542 per semester.
Despite several attempts to request information from the University, including an unsuccessful Freedom of Information Act, the Foundation and University failed to directly comment on the Foundation’s real estate decisions. After multiple attempts at reaching representatives from the Foundation for comment, information requests were redirected to University Communications, who responded to a select few questions with information that was already accessible to the public.
According to the Board of Visitors meeting minutes for their October 2024 meeting, the Board acknowledged the publication of the report.
According to a Fredericksburg Free Press story published in 2024, the UMW Foundation has shifted its focus from buying and developing real estate to managing the University’s assets and administering the hundreds of scholarships awarded to UMW students each year.
Today, on the Foundation’s website, a quote from Former Chairman of the Board Florian “Red” Hofer can be seen on the first page of the loading screen, amidst the changes made to keep up with years of debt reflected in the JLARC report: “We have one client, and that is the University of Mary Washington.”
Staff Editorial: Welcoming new Weekly Ringer staff
During the 2024-2025 academic year, The Weekly Ringer’s Editorial Board gathered for 24 Wednesdays to produce over 15,000 printed copies of the newspaper for our campus community. Our team of seven student editors dedicated their time and passion to transforming the paper into an entity that provided reputable, yet exciting and engaging content. There is much to celebrate about this year: we moved to print fully in color, received full funding for our Impact Grant and made over $2,500 in ad revenue.
Moving forward, our new Board is eager to build off this year’s success and hit the ground running. Please join us in welcoming our 2025-2026 Board members:
Editor-in-Chief: Callie Harkins
Executive Editor: Ky Huynh
Associate Editor: Emma Kingkeo, Grace Wagner and Thomas Jackson
News Editor: Meaghan Van Dyke
Life Editor: Chloe McCann
Opinion Editor: Ella Cordle
Sports Editor: Enya Cea-Levin
Photography Editor: Violet Ayers and Anna Goodman
Online Editor: Sophia Tompkins
Copy Editor: Kyra Donlon
We also want to extend congratulations to our graduating seniors:
Opinion Editor: Claire Marshall Watkins
Photography, Online and Copy Editor: Abbey Magnet
Associate editor trains incoming news editor.
Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
The UMW Foundation was listed as one of the main reasons why UMW faces viability risks, according to the JLARC 2024 report. The report assessed 15 of Virginia’s public higher education institutions. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer THE WEEKLY RINGER EDITORIAL BOARD
Frequent elevator issues cause frustration amongst students
Contributing Writers
According to maintenance reports from the past three years, the elevators on UMW’s campus repeatedly break, and though maintenance is typically accomplished quickly, the fixes are not often long-lasting. These ongoing elevator problems have become an impediment for students and staff with mobility issues.
At the beginning of the fall 2023 semester, the Simpson Library’s public elevator broke down, was fixed, then broke down again routinely until May 2024. It took multiple breaks for the maintenance team to realize that a certain part of the eleva-
tor that had to be re-manufactured was broken. The elevator was built in 1989, so many of its parts have to be specially made when they break down.
“When something goes wrong they fix the problem but they do not bring out the big guns to fix the problem,” said Amy Filiatreau, the library director.
At Simpson Library, students and staff with mobility issues have had to take a private staff elevator to get to the other floors for classes, meetings or research.
Nearby, the single elevator in Pollard Hall broke down in January and remains unfixed.
Because Pollard Hall has one elevator, the only other way to access the classrooms on the third floor is via the stairwell.
For those who are unable to use the stairs, accessing this floor is virtually impossible and students and staff have had to relocate their classes to more accessible floors.
“When something goes wrong they fix the problem but they do not bring out the big guns to fix the problem.”
- Amy Filiatreau
During the 2024-2025 academic year, the elevator in the Hurley Convergence Center broke down multiple times. Although it rarely took more than two days to fix, the problems have been recurring.
Despite being one of the newest buildings on UMW’s campus, the HCC elevator is known to stall once reaching its destination, according to students who frequently use it. On at least one occasion, a family touring UMW was stuck in the HCC’s elevator.
Members of the UMW community with mobility issues found themselves unable to reach the upper and lower floors of the HCC during times when the elevator had been broken. Although studying and working on the first floor of the HCC has remained an accessible option, students and staff who needed to access classrooms on upper floors or attend meetings at the Speaking and Writing or Digital Knowledge Centers—which are located on the fourth floor of the HCC—found themselves stranded.
Crime Column
MEAGHAN VAN DYKE News Editor
The Crime Column is based on UMW Police reports from April 16 to April 23.
There has been no crime reported since The Weekly Ringer’s last publication on April 18.
Out of order elevator signs and expired inspection dates are a common sight around campus, where maintenance for the constant dysfunction tends to be slower. Emma Kingkeo / The Weekly Ringer BLAKE MCBRIDE, ABIGAIL FULLER & SOPHIA LAGRAIZE
Stairs into academic and residential buildings across campus can be difficult for students with mobility aids who may rely on elevators to get to class and dorm buildings. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
April 25, 2025
UMW baseball falls short to Shenandoah University in 4-3 loss at home in FXBG
THOMAS JACKSON & ABBEY MAGNET Associate Editor & Contributing Writer
On Wednesday afternoon, the University of Mary Washington baseball team went up against Shenandoah University at home. Through a contested ballgame, the Eagles tied at 2–2 after a two run homerun from graduate business administration major Noah Roots in the bottom of the second. UMW tapped four pitchers for the day, starting with graduate business administration major Justin Ritz. After an unsuccessful comeback in the 9th inning, The Eagles lost the game 4–3. The Eagles next game will be April 27 vs. Hampden-Sydney University at home.
ENYA CEA-LAVIN Sports Editor
Baseball (23-11)
Apr. 22 @ Messiah University (212)
Apr. 27 vs. Hampden-Sydney College
Softball (10-27)
Apr. 22 @ Catholic University (210)
Apr. 26 @ Christopher Newport University
Men’s Tennis (14-9)
Apr. 21 @ Barton College (0-7)
Apr. 22 @ North Carolina Wesleyan University (1-6)
Women’s Tennis (7-8)
Apr. 18 vs. Johns Hopkins University (1-6)
Apr. 25 vs. Virginia Weslyan University
Apr. 27 vs. Swarthmore College
Men’s Lacrosse (9-7) Apr. 19 at Kean University (10-15) Apr. 22 vs. St. Mary’s College of Maryland (19-16)
Apr. 27 vs. Stockton University
Women’s Lacrosse (11-5) Apr. 26 @Salisbury University
UMW senior Jacob Christenbury #10 awaiting to catch the ball. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
UMW players steps up to home plate and prepares to swing. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
UMW junior marketing major Nate Dulevitz #22 seen comforting his teammates after their loss to Shenandoah University with a 4-3 score. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
UMW senior biomedical sciences major Jacob Christenbury #10 running across field with teammates during their game against Shenandoah University. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer
UMW graduate student Justin Ritz #29 pitching. Abbey Magnet / The Weekly Ringer