College of Arts and Sciences Archives - Giving to Mary Washington

University of Mary Washington senior Nathaniel Huff ’24 attended 19 professional theatre performances in the span of three weeks – more than most patrons see in a year – on the UMW Theatre in London trip last summer.

A theatre major, Nathaniel grew up in a small town with limited access to his chosen field. He said that going abroad exposed him and his classmates to a wide variety of plays and musicals, including several world premieres.

“There is no doubt that the productions I witnessed are influencing my work and giving me ideas on how to engage with the creative process,” said Nathaniel, who is currently directing a play he discovered at England’s National Theatre for his senior project.

UMW senior Nathaniel Huff received the Beyond the Classroom Education Abroad Scholarship to go on the UMW Theatre in London trip last summer. Alumna Mary T. Bradley MacPherson ’71 has sponsored a challenge, which will unlock $10,000 for study abroad if 200 gifts are made to Beyond the Classroom in the month of November. Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Huff.

Nathaniel (back row, third from right) saw 19 productions during the three-week trip, including the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’ (a fictional account of Shakespeare’s son) in Stratford-upon-Avon. Photo courtesy of UMW Theatre.

Nathaniel’s participation in the six-credit course, which also took students to the Globe Theatre and other Shakespearean sites, was made possible by UMW’s Beyond the Classroom Endowment (BtC). The initiative, founded three years ago, supports experiential learning such as study abroad, undergraduate research, internships, and travel to academic conferences. Now, the Beyond the Classroom Education Abroad Scholarship, first awarded last year, has given students like Nathaniel the funding to study overseas.

“BtC was started to provide access to those learning experiences that make such a critical difference in the education and lives of our students,” said College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Dean Keith Mellinger. According to UMW’s Center for International Education, one in three students study abroad while attending Mary Washington. “These opportunities set our students apart from others in a very crowded and highly competitive work environment,” Dean Mellinger said.

Generous donors have raised more than $600,000 for the initiative, which is already being used by UMW students. The long-term goal, Dean Mellinger said, is creating a $1 million endowed fund, which will generate tens of thousands of dollars for students each year.

Mary T. Bradley MacPherson '71 (right) with President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová. Photo courtesy of Mary T. Bradley MacPherson '71. — Mary T. Bradley MacPherson ’71 (right) with President of Slovakia Zuzana Čaputová. Photo courtesy of Mary T. Bradley MacPherson ’71.

Mary T. Bradley MacPherson ’71 has sponsored a challenge, which will unlock $10,000 for study abroad if 200 gifts are made to Beyond the Classroom in the month of November. The timing coincides with International Education Week, Nov. 13-17. Donations made on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28, will also count toward the total.

“It’s enriching to see how other cultures live and to be exposed to different perspectives,” said Mary, who majored in American Studies at Mary Washington. Her liberal arts education prepared her for a career promoting organizational capacity building, educational exchange, and entrepreneurship, which brought her to 45 countries across the globe. Since 2010, she led the Slovak-American Foundation, strengthening business partnerships between the two countries, until the nonprofit ceased this year after reaching its final goals.

Mary T. Bradley MacPherson, as a junior at Mary Washington, in the Battlefield Yearbook. Photo courtesy of UMW Special Collections and University Archives.

A longtime CAS Advisory Board member, Mary has supported BtC since its inception and said she hopes her challenge will inspire her fellow alumni to give. “A small amount of money goes a long way in helping students have life-changing experiences.”

That’s true of sophomore Grace Gower ’26, a historic preservation major who went to France last summer for a course taught by UMW Professor of Historic Preservation Andréa Livi Smith and offered through the MICEFA consortium of French universities.

A Paris native, Dr. Smith led Grace and her classmates through the urban and architectural history of the City of Lights, touring museums, cathedrals, city parks, catacombs and world-famous sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, which Grace captured through photography.

“The Beyond the Classroom Endowment helped pay my tuition fees for the course when my family was in a bit of a rough patch,” said Grace, who plans to pursue a career in historic preservation and urban planning. “I’m very grateful that it relieved some of the costs so I could take advantage of this unique opportunity.”

UMW sophomore Grace Gower (fifth from left) received the Beyond the Classroom Education Abroad Scholarship, which enabled her to go on a faculty-led UMW in France trip to study historic preservation in Paris. Here, she and her classmates visit the gravesite of Eliza Monroe Hay, daughter of President James Monroe. Hay was born in Fredericksburg and died in Paris. Photo courtesy of UMW Professor of Historic Preservation Andréa Livi Smith.

Grace’s photo of the Musee d’Orsay, an art museum in Paris housed in a former train station. Photo by Grace Gower.

Grace’s photo of the Cité de l’Architecture, an architecture museum in Paris. Photo by Grace Gower.

Learn more about Beyond the Classroom or make your gift. For information, please contact Jeremy Vaughn ’08 in the Office of University Advancement at jvaughn@umw.edu or 540-654-2063. Visit UMW’s Center for International Education to learn more about study abroad opportunities at Mary Washington.

Article by Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04

Alumna will match gifts to the Beyond the Classroom Endowment.

Long before she led the effort to modernize food safety for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Catherine O’Connor Woteki ’69 was a student lab assistant in Combs Hall.

“Doing behind-the-scenes prep work and just being able to hang around the lab was so helpful; I became much more comfortable working in a lab environment,” says Cathie, referring to her 1968 position in Mary Washington’s Biology department.

Cathie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Mary Washington, where she served as class treasurer and helped pay her way through school with summer jobs. She hopes to provide today’s UMW students with opportunities to discover their strengths and passions, just as her early experiences in the lab helped to inspire her career as an internationally known leader in science policy.

Through the end of July, Cathie and her husband Tom Woteki will match dollar-for-dollar all gifts to UMW’s Beyond the Classroom Endowment for student research and learning. The University’s College of Arts and Sciences aims to raise $1 million for this new fund to support internships, study abroad, independent research, and other high-impact learning experiences.

“About two years ago, [College of Arts and Sciences Dean] Keith Mellinger told me about his idea to create a fund that will give students more experiences outside of the classroom, such as traveling to present research, attending a professional society meeting, or completing an unpaid internship,” says Cathie, who works closely with Mellinger as a member of the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board. “After he shared his vision, I knew I wanted to help make it happen.”

A well-respected scholar who has received many awards for her contributions to science and society, Cathie was inducted into the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2017. She has held leadership positions in academia, government, and industry, including Dean of the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University, the USDA’s first Undersecretary for Food Safety, Global Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for Mars, and USDA Chief Scientist.

As the first Undersecretary for Food Safety, a position created by the Clinton administration, Cathie led the agency through a transformation of the meat inspection system. Her efforts to base the process in science led to lasting benefits for public health.

“Through the introduction of pathogen testing in meat-processing plants, we were able to illustrate a dramatic reduction in foodborne illnesses,” she explains. “The application of science to benefit people is incredibly rewarding.”

Cathie as pictured in the 1969 Battlefield

Cathie credits her Mary Washington professors with instilling confidence and providing a strong scientific foundation, putting her on the path to scholarship and leadership.

She also holds a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from Virginia Tech. “Many of my classmates in graduate school came from larger universities where they had more experience with advanced instrumentation, but when it came down to it, I was more capable than many of them,” she says. “The quality of the Mary Washington education was just that good.”

Mellinger says he relied on Cathie’s insights and guidance to narrow his focus for the endowment.

“She was instrumental in the creation of the fund, so her sponsorship of this match is perfect,” he explains. “It’s incredibly rewarding to hear that Cathie’s experiences at Mary Washington played such an important role in shaping her career. We are ever grateful that she and Tom are now creating those same opportunities for our next generation of students.”

A loyal supporter of Mary Washington initiatives, Cathie contributed to an endowed scholarship by the Class of 1969 in honor of their 50th Reunion. She says she views her match for the Beyond the Classroom Endowment as a way to lead by example.

“My classmates are enormously successful, and so many other Mary Washington alumni have gone on to do amazing things,” Cathie says. “I hope others will join me in giving back as a way of saying thank you for the education we received.”

Donate by July 30, 2021, to have your gift to the Beyond the Classroom Endowment matched dollar-for-dollar during the Catherine O’Connor Woteki ’69 and Tom Woteki Beyond the Classroom Match.

Click here to make an online gift, or mail a check to:
University of Mary Washington
1119 Hanover Street
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401
Please make check payable to UMW Foundation and note “Beyond the Classroom Endowment” on the check’s memo line.

For more information about giving, contact the Office of Advancement at umwgift@umw.edu or 540-654-1024.

Article written by Beth Waters Hunsinger ’01

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