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UMW swears in new president

UMW President Judy Hample's inauguration to take place tomorrow

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

Date published: 4/2/2009

BY JEFF BRANSCOME

University of Mary Washington President Judy Hample's inauguration tomorrow will be something like her nine-month tenure --unassuming.

Gov. Tim Kaine isn't scheduled to appear, even though he spoke at former UMW President William Frawley's inauguration in late 2006.

In fact, the most well-known dignitary will be Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell of Stafford, who gave UMW's commencement speech in 2003.

State Sen. Edd Houck of Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak, and state Education Secretary Thomas R. Morris are also scheduled to speak.

Hample said she's looking forward to the event but calls herself "just another person" at UMW.

"I'm not personally big on titles," she said. "I'm very honored to be the president of UMW, but I don't think that gives me any kind of personal, special status."

At her inauguration, she said, she'll talk about UMW's great legacy and how it will meet future challenges.

Mary Rigsby, an English professor and president of UMW's faculty senate, said the new president is off to a great start.

"I think I speak for the faculty when I say that we are relieved to have her here and looking forward to the process of getting ourselves back on stable footing," Rigsby said.

Computer science professor Ernest Ackermann said her leadership is more deliberate than Frawley's.

"I think she still has the ideas and the energy, but it's a different approach," he said.

Ackermann mentioned her efforts to develop a strategic plan, which needs to be finished in time for the school's re-accreditation in 2013.

"You get the feeling from her that she's somebody who's really experienced and really confident," he said.

The Bullet, UMW's student-run newspaper, has said in an editorial that Hample hasn't been visible enough on campus.

Efforts to interview the newspaper's editor were unsuccessful.

However, Student Government Association President Sean O'Brien said Hample cares about students and will be active on campus.

She is UMW's fourth leader in four years, he said, which is why many students want to see her around.

UMW Executive Vice President Rick Hurley became acting president after Frawley was fired in 2007 with less than a year on the job. Frawley replaced longtime President William Anderson.

"We have a president now who looks like she's going to be a very stable and effective leader," O'Brien said. "And there's a desire from a student perspective to want to see her."

Since undergoing surgery for abdominal hernias in December, Hample said, she's met with many students and all but two of UMW's academic departments.

She will host a dessert reception for seniors on Tuesday and Wednesday at Brompton, UMW's presidential residence.

"I've been everywhere since mid-January when I came back from my surgery," Hample said. "Life is getting back to what I would characterize as normal now."

Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com

The University of Mary Washington will also host cultural diversity events before and after Judy Hample's inauguration. Events include: A lecture by Hwa Jin Shim, president of Korea's Sungshin Women's University today at 6:30 p.m. in Trinkle Hall. The lecture is titled "Korean Culture through the Lens of Traditional Costumes." Shim is also scheduled to speak at the inauguration. A lecture by Raymond Arsenault, professor of southern history at the University of South Florida, about James Farmer--a late civil-rights activist and distinguished history professor at Mary Washington College. The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. today in Dodd Auditorium. Hample's inauguration ceremony tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium. The annual Multicultural Fair, held on campus walk and Ball Circle, which will feature entertainment, food and crafts Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. NAME: Judy G. Hample AGE: 61 FAMILY: Divorced; no children EDUCATION: Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and secondary education/French from David Lipscomb University in Nashville; Master of Arts and doctorate in communication from The Ohio State University. CAREER: Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Hample left that job to become UMW's first female president in July 2008.

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Date published: 4/2/2009