Anonymous wrote:^well, ok, I took a few classes there. I wasn’t enrolled full time. But we all called it GW.

And we called it Mary-Wash, or M-dub. Seems like a silly reason to avoid renaming to MWU. For what it’s worth, the prevailing argument with current students at the time was that it should continue to be MWC, just with university status. Like W&M.

Oh my goodness, it is not necessarily about the word "Mary" in the university's name. It is about the vibe on campus which is much more progressive than other state universities. Overall, that is. Before you come at me, I do realize I am generalizing but I am not wrong.

It is an excellent school with an amazing campus. But when kids go to visit and tour any school there is a feeling they get and they are looking at fit. OVERALL UMW will appeal to certain students more than others just like every single other university does.

^well, ok, I took a few classes there. I wasn’t enrolled full time. But we all called it GW.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Thank you for reaching out.
Absolutely false. It was named the Women's College of the University of Virginia. Only after men were admitted and other colleges added, was it decided to be called the University of Mary Washington, and it was done not by the board but by the Virginia Assembly in 2004.

Actually, it was Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and then MWC until it became a university. Between '70 and '04, it was coed and called Mary Washington College. "University of" is usually followed by a location or specialization. Why not Mary Washington University like JMU, GMU, CNU, GWU? Because they were struggling with male enrollment and were looking at changing the name away from anything referencing Mary Washington. Washington & Monroe University was the number one contender at the time. You did help prove the point that they were struggling with marketing and male enrollment.

UMW is a lot easier to say than MWU.

Do you feel similarly about GWU?

Yes. That’s why I (and many) call is GW. And I went there.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Thank you for reaching out.
Absolutely false. It was named the Women's College of the University of Virginia. Only after men were admitted and other colleges added, was it decided to be called the University of Mary Washington, and it was done not by the board but by the Virginia Assembly in 2004.

Actually, it was Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and then MWC until it became a university. Between '70 and '04, it was coed and called Mary Washington College. "University of" is usually followed by a location or specialization. Why not Mary Washington University like JMU, GMU, CNU, GWU? Because they were struggling with male enrollment and were looking at changing the name away from anything referencing Mary Washington. Washington & Monroe University was the number one contender at the time. You did help prove the point that they were struggling with marketing and male enrollment.

UMW is a lot easier to say than MWU.

Do you feel similarly about GWU?

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Thank you for reaching out.
Absolutely false. It was named the Women's College of the University of Virginia. Only after men were admitted and other colleges added, was it decided to be called the University of Mary Washington, and it was done not by the board but by the Virginia Assembly in 2004.

Actually, it was Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and then MWC until it became a university. Between '70 and '04, it was coed and called Mary Washington College. "University of" is usually followed by a location or specialization. Why not Mary Washington University like JMU, GMU, CNU, GWU? Because they were struggling with male enrollment and were looking at changing the name away from anything referencing Mary Washington. Washington & Monroe University was the number one contender at the time. You did help prove the point that they were struggling with marketing and male enrollment.

UMW is a lot easier to say than MWU.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

The students call it Mary Wash. There’s no calculated attempt to downplay “Mary.”

Anonymous wrote:Changing the name from "College" to "University" is NOT The problem with the name. The problem is that your average 17 yr old boy does not feel any pride in telling his friends that he's thinking of attending "MARY" Washington whatever (college or university). It is what it is. They need to re-brand it. It is never going to appeal to 1/2 of the high school students they need to be targetting. I say that as a feminist whose DD goes there.

It is a pretty university. The classes are small. Professors actually TEACH. Professors actually know the students. It is conveniently close to DC/NoVA (which we like). But, the name isn't working for most male high school students. And that is on top of the decline in interest of studying liberal arts generally. So, it's a double whammie.

I don't think there is going to be a sudden resurgence of people getting political science, English, or history degrees. So, what can UMW do to market itself? At the very least, go all-in on calling itself "UMW" (not Univ. of Mary Washington). But, even better to rename it and possibly have it be a satellite branch of UVA or VCU or even GMU.

Just regarding the bolded - there are PLENTY of people majoring in those subjects. My DC attends VT and their liberal arts college is thriving. STEM is not the end-all, be-all.

Changing the name from "College" to "University" is NOT The problem with the name. The problem is that your average 17 yr old boy does not feel any pride in telling his friends that he's thinking of attending "MARY" Washington whatever (college or university). It is what it is. They need to re-brand it. It is never going to appeal to 1/2 of the high school students they need to be targetting. I say that as a feminist whose DD goes there.

It is a pretty university. The classes are small. Professors actually TEACH. Professors actually know the students. It is conveniently close to DC/NoVA (which we like). But, the name isn't working for most male high school students. And that is on top of the decline in interest of studying liberal arts generally. So, it's a double whammie.

I don't think there is going to be a sudden resurgence of people getting political science, English, or history degrees. So, what can UMW do to market itself? At the very least, go all-in on calling itself "UMW" (not Univ. of Mary Washington). But, even better to rename it and possibly have it be a satellite branch of UVA or VCU or even GMU.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

False, the legislature did it to switch from "college" to "University". No one cares about the name Mary Washington. to wit, "The General Assembly of Virginia changed the college's name to the University of Mary Washington in 2004 to reflect the addition of graduate and professional programs to the central undergraduate curriculum, as well as the establishment of more ..."

Actually it was a huge deal at the time. They were even considering naming it something entirely different to remove Mary from the name, but the current students at that time campaigned against it.

-MWC alum, class of 2004

+1
And there was an enormous outcry from students and alumni about changing it from MWC to UMW. Most did not want the name change.

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Anonymous wrote:My child was admitted to UMW. The merit aid for out of state was so stingy that he chose a private college in PA for considerably less.
He liked umw, but unless you are from VA, it didn't make much sense over other comparable privates.

I'm happy to hear that! I don't think any VA publics should be offering a dime of merit aid to out of state kids. Plenty of smart kids in VA.

Agree 100%. That's not "stingy," that's prioritizing the students the school is meant to serve.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Exactly. And IMO, it backfired. I attended MWC in the late 80s and there were a lot more male students than there are now - still more women, but the ratio wasn't nearly as extreme. So clearly, men didn't mind the fact that a woman's name was so prominent. I think they should have continued leaning into the SLAC aspect by keeping "college" in the name. It's too small to refer to as "university," even if it has grad programs.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Thank you for reaching out.

Absolutely false. It was named the Women's College of the University of Virginia. Only after men were admitted and other colleges added, was it decided to be called the University of Mary Washington, and it was done not by the board but by the Virginia Assembly in 2004.

And, why so snarky?

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Anonymous wrote:If you just walked around May Washington without knowing anything about it, you could get the impression it is a SLAC. I think the name has hurt it. It is easier to transition to coed from an all male school than from an all female school.

Hampden-Sydney College is all male and Sydney is in recent decades a female leaning name.

I don’t think the name makes a difference.

Hampden Sydney is not a “female leaning name”, whatever that means. Poor comparison.

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Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

They did. Why do you think they called it University of Mary Washington vs. Mary Washington University? It was to take away the prominence of Mary.

Thank you for reaching out.
Absolutely false. It was named the Women's College of the University of Virginia. Only after men were admitted and other colleges added, was it decided to be called the University of Mary Washington, and it was done not by the board but by the Virginia Assembly in 2004.

Actually, it was Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and then MWC until it became a university. Between '70 and '04, it was coed and called Mary Washington College. "University of" is usually followed by a location or specialization. Why not Mary Washington University like JMU, GMU, CNU, GWU? Because they were struggling with male enrollment and were looking at changing the name away from anything referencing Mary Washington. Washington & Monroe University was the number one contender at the time. You did help prove the point that they were struggling with marketing and male enrollment.