University of Mary Washington Top Questions

see above

Mary Washington has a strong commitment community service-- Students Helping Honduras, started by alumnus Shin Fujiyama, is one of the biggest clubs on campus. The whole school comes out every year to support the annual Walkathon, which raises money to send down to an orphanage and community in Honduras. Freshman year, everyone leaves the doors to their rooms open. After that, people seem to figure out who is in their group of friends and stick more to hanging out with them.

I'm involved in the Young Women's Leadership Program, a group in which we mentor 7th graders. It's a great way to make friends because you have to instantly trust the other girls in your group. It was a nice release, just a place to talk about your week. Students frequently leave their doors open. I met my closest friends through many of my activities and my classes. One big tradition is Devil-Goat Day, a day of food and competitions. People party quite frequently, but there's plenty to do without drinking. There are movies and plays on the weekends on campus, and frequently concerts off campus.

Off campus, it is amazing to go downtown and look at the old shops and eat delicious food or you can go down to the river or to Central Park. On campus, watching movies is fun, playing board games has been highly underrated. On weekend nights, yeah you can find a party, but you can also avoid them if you want to. The school isn't a huge party school, but there are definitely ways to find parties and to have fun. There is no greek life as of yet at my school. It is fun to go lay outside on the lawns during the nice weather and tan while you study or you can swim in the fountain. The school plays 2 different $1 movies every weekend, and those are always worth checking out. We also have random free/cheap concerts and comedians and that is always fun. There is ALWAYS somethign to do on campus to satisfy everyone's interests.

Although most students are involved in clubs or other organizations on campus, big and small, there are students who choose to attend class and keep a part time job as their main focus and still continue to make and keep a large social circle of friends. It really is easy to make friends no matter what you do or dont do with your time on campus throughout the 4 year stay. Outside of classes our school brings many important guest speakers throughout the year, one a week at least, for free to enlighten the community. Academic departments throw parties and meetings to highlight the special interest of their students. There are parties off campus as 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students live off campus in surrounding neighborhoods. Our campus is wet, so if you are 21 you can drink in the dorms on campus, which does happen. UMW has apartments across the street which house upperclassmen and is a very popular place to have friends over for food and drinks. Old town Fredericksburg is a 10 block walk from campus and is open and welcome to students for coffee, food and concerts. Fred. and UMW have a large music scene where students and locals alike join together to give free shows every weekend.

There are a lot of clubs on campus, and there is a day every year where they all line Campus Walk so students can come by and sign-up. They could be anything from club soccer to the Women of Color, are all student run, and can apply for some money from the school (say $500 a year if you're lucky and a larger club). Sport wise we have some very good sports teams (Men's and Women's Tennis, Rowing, ect.) that are nationally ranked every year. Many people attend the basketball games of both sexes, as well as the soccer and to a lesser extent lacrosse. There is a wonderful, new tennis complex with 6 indoor courts and 12 outdoor courts. And though our tennis teams, specifically the women's, have been ranked in the top 20 for the last 2 years (this year we were 6 and made it to the Elite 8), they have very few fans outside family. This is the case with many of our teams outside the big three. In addition, the administration got rid of our Rowing Teams at the beginning of this year, though we finished the previous season ranked #7 in the nation. The problem was legitimate (loss of their training waters), but the bigger issue was that the administration made almost no attempt to reconcile the problem until a wealthy relative of one of the players stepped in. They were completely content to simply get rid of a program that was not as "popular" as say basketball, regardless of how hard the players worked and how much better they were on a national level (our Men's Basketball Team struggles to make the tournament each year). And as i mentioned before, though basketball is pretty popular, there are only two sets of bleachers in the gym (on one side), and no football or other team to rally around. The biggest activity among the students is drinking. Not to say that this isn't the case all around the country, but on Friday/Saturday nights a good portion of the student body regardless of class, is at one of the sporting houses or other upperclass houses drinking. And of course the cops come around about an hour and a half into the party to break it up anyway. And drinking is not simply reserved to the weekends, as the sports players in my hall were obserdly intoxicated on at least 2 weekdays every week as well. Though i was a Junior living with an RA, they were all freshmen. This may not bother you, which is fine, but the housing situation will. This year there are over 150 students who don't have housing yet for next fall (4,000 students go to Mary Wash, though a great deal of them live off campus), and will probably have the same fate as the students in their situation this past year, who were placed in a hotel until Residents Life 'forced triples' (putting three people in a room designed for two, which by the way are already "cozy" to begin with"). Registration of housing is much worse than for classes, and the dorms themselves are old and many have 'roach' problems.

First off, we don't have any 'official' fraternities or sororities, but that's changing. Also, we don't have a football team, but our basketball and soccer teams are pretty big. Most people end up getting involved in clubs, and we've got a lot of different stuff on campus. For example, SHH (Students Helping Honduras) is one of the biggest clubs on campus. We started SHH, and now universities all over the country have chapters too, so it's a pretty big deal. We have a LOT of guest speakers too, ranging from mathematics and the light spectrum to classics and politics, and they happen all the time, so that's definitely something to get in to. Also, there's people planning and organizing events and dances all the time, you just have to look for flyers that people put up (and they're everywhere, we have like 3 huge bulletin boards on campus, and people put event info sheets on the dining hall tables all the time).

NOTHING goes on on campus. you have to find a scene that suits you at a house or an apartment off campus if you want to go to a party. occasionally a good performer/show comes on campus but not nearly often enough.

Activities are great if you do them. People complain but its because they don't try. Im involved in groups and clubs, particularly political things and the campus is active politically. I mad friends from every walk of life from both parties through politics. There is alot to do if you want to do it. Not a big party school but better than the rep suits it. People go out all the time there is something every night you want to party but you dont have to every party to make friends. Parties are not huge, but fun house parties happen every week. They do get busted alot but its never a big deal you just move onto the next party. You are so close to DC...GO! People waste time when they could volunteer travel, walk around the historic places. Great place to run, bike, hike, fish, kayak.... many complain but they don't try.

UMW offers a lot of interesting things to do - you just have to be proactive and keep your eyes open for opportunities. They have speakers and live music on campus sometimes, but I seldom went to those since I live off campus and have a strong group of friends on my own. There is a lot to do downtown, like hear live music or go to bars. If you don't want to drink, there are a lot of programs on campus like Friday Night Dry that offer activities, like water pong, for students who don't want to drink (though I've met very few students who don't drink). There are no frats -- well there is one that's "underground" but they are pretty dumb. They throw a few good parties throughout the year, though. Around Devil-Goat Day in April (our biggest event! games, moonbounce, class competitions, tons of fun) they through a party called The White Party where they rent out a local bar and everyone dresses in white and dances. It's kind of fun. Anyway, except for the aforementioned "frat," there is no Greek life at MW which is really nice since Greek life is stupid -- why pay for your friends when I can have mine for free? But social groups kind of break up in a frat/sorority way, like with the athletic teams or certain groups, like PRISM. The school stays relatively cliquey. But they all mold and mesh really well so it's not a huge deal. When I lived on campus, I wished they had offered more legitimate kinds of activities, like things that weren't so lame. And I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY TORE DOWN THE UNDERGROUND!!! The Underground was this AWESOME coffeehouse underneath Lee Hall where students could hang out, study, socialize, get coffee, etc. They also held live music there. Now there isn't a good place for students to just chill. HUGE mistake taking that away. Real dick move.

The most popular clubs are probably the political groups, service oriented groups, and religious groups. We have several very active service groups who are involved in a wide range of projects. I am involved in COAR or Community Outreach and Resources, which is the largest on-campus community service group on campus. They have more than 15 weekly programs that get students involved in actively volunteering in the Fredericksburg Community. COAR also provides on-campus events for the community (like a Trick-or-Treat for kids and a Spring Egg Hunt). There is also a group on campus called Students Helping Honduras that fundraises large amounts of money and organizes trips down to Honduras over all student Holidays. Athletic events have definitely become more popular and fun to go to since I've been a student at Mary Wash. Guest Speakers are always around and are usually pretty popular, depending on the field. I've seen Madeline Albright, Senator Webber, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, several big comedians, and several big authors on academic works. We have a very active Theatre department that puts on several plays, musicals, and short acts on-campus that are very cheap for students. We also have several Acapella groups that bring other groups on-campus to perform. The dating scene, unfortunately, is a little slow. There is a pretty big guy-girl ratio gap...maybe 45-65. So if you're looking for guys, the pickings are pretty slim. I met my closest friends from activities on campus that I started doing with people I met in my dorm freshmen year. It's all linked... If I'm awake on a Tuesday at 2am, I'm studying or writing a paper. On weekends, I'm probably watching a movie or at a party. I'd say on average people party one night a week. There are people who party every night of the week, and those that don't at all, so you can find where you fit in. Frats don't exist, except for the underground one that puts on pretty fun parties at a local "club" if you can call it that. If I didn't want to go out, I could catch a late cheap seats movie for a dollar and then go to the Washroom to chill out and eat some food at late night. Off campus, downtown often has fun stuff to do, like big parades or concerts. Oh yeah, did I mention I saw Plain White T's and Lupe Fiasco on campus too this past year??

If you want something to happen at UMW, be it a protest or a poetry slam, all you have to do is go to the student activities office with a plan, and they'll help you to make it happen. During the warmer months, there is usually an activity planned for every Friday and Saturday night. The school also funds a guerilla art group on campus in its effort to erect spider webs in academic buildings and fill the fountain with rubber ducks.

there is no dating scene. at 2am on a tuesday night i'm outside my room in the lounge playing games or trying to write a paper with people on my floor. devil goat day happens each year and its awesome. there are no fraternities or sororities. and on a saturday night you wont have too much fun if youre not out at one of the two parties going on. central park is the best. i honestly dont know what students did before it was built, it has everything to do in it.

Although UMW has the reputation of everyone leaving for the weekend, almost everyone stays. The people are what makes this university, what drives the social life. There may not be as many opportunities to get shit faced as there are at say, Tech, but if thats what you wanted from college, you probably could have done that somewhere that didn't charge tuition. The lack of frats and sorors actually makes it a happier place, and so the partying is much more of a hangout/chill with your friends then a 'get plastered with creepy strangers.' I'm a guy, and even I prefer it that way.

-Most popular teams: Mens and womens (A) rugby (B) baseball / softball (C) lacrosse (D) basketball (E) swimming. -Every student for the most part leaves their doors open all day, unless they're drinking in the room haha. If they aren't open, they most certainly are unlocked, and a community atmosphere is very prevalent. This is one thing that I loved about UMW and its dorm life, although the actual dorm facilities sometimes leave things to be desired (higher shower heads!) -Athletic events are popular for the sports-minded kids. Rugby, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse are all popular events to go see. -Dating isn't as popular as the stereotypical college "hook-ups", but it's not uncommon to know kids that date. -Last weekend before I left for school I went to a few parties where everyone had a great time. I think drinking on the weekends is one of the more stereotypical college things to do, and UMW has its fair share of this for sure.

Not a lot of social life, but that's one of the reasons I chose the school.

not much activity, nice because no pressure, not very much school unity because not a D1 school...boring at times, town does not like college, is a perfect example of a suitcase school

Theatre, unfortunately, is not the most prevalent thing to do on campus, though we tried our best to get as many people as possible in the seats. At 2am on a Tuesday, you can usually find me wandering around campus talking to people. Frats are not important - hell, there aren't any of them. Devil Goat Day happens every year, as does the Multicultural Fair and tons of other stuff.

UMW does have a lot of social activities, and my best advice for people would be to get involved in them. One of the biggest organizations is SHH, which is Students Helping Hondoras." And there are a lot of volunteer opportunities through Circle K and Rotaract. Perhaps because of the university's small size, it is very easy to get involved in activities and then to acquire leasership positions in them later on. We don't have a football team, and we have Division 3 sports, so sports are not that popular. We don't have a Greek life--UMW just approved the first co-ed fraternity this year. A lot of partying can go on in the freshman dorms during Fridays and Saturdays, though I am told that in the upperclass dorms a lot of people will go home. As far as the dating scene goes, you don't stand much of a chance, since the student body is only 1/3 male. UMW has a strong honor system, so students can feel free to leave their dorm doors open or leave stuff in public and still expect to find it when they return. Sometimes people feel that the honor system is more based off of fear, however.

Noted above