Op-Ed: Celebrating UMW a decade post-graduation

by CHRIS MARKHAM

Contributing Writer

In the early spring of 2014, the University of Mary Washington was experiencing something it never before had—a winning basketball team. Being the bright-eyed and eager freshman that I was, I quickly went all-in on this buzz. Led by other members of my freshman class, we were the ones near the front of the student section clad in body paint and skin-tight morph suits during their hosting of the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games. 

That team’s run ended with a decisive loss in the Elite Eight round, but that hardly mattered. I had just seen my college’s basketball team host and win an NCAA tournament game. “I could get used to this,” I thought as a freshman.

Fast-forward one month to when UMW made the surprise move away from the coach who led them to their best season ever for the up-and-coming Marcus Kahn. The move was met by students with confusion, leading to a hesitancy to embrace Kahn. The years that followed were OK, but never matched the success of that freshman year. As a result, school spirit waned. 

It’s now been nearly a decade since I graduated college. In that decade, UMW athletics (aside from my former cross country and track team) has rarely crossed my mind or my news feed. My group chats with college friends are not centered around the Eagles’ playoff game against Salisbury or UMW’s chances against CNU in soccer. 

But this year, when UMW was consistently ranked in the national poll and their tournament run ran deeper and deeper, the chats changed. UMW was “cool” again and not for the memories we made while we were there, but instead for the things that were happening now. Basking in UMW’s success didn’t feel like living in the past or “peaking” in college. My news feed was flooded with people I never talk to anymore sharing Colin Mitchell’s game-winner, including ESPN. With each post I saw about it, my pride in my alma mater grew. I felt connected with these people and the school more than I had in the last decade since graduating.

UMW doesn’t carry the aura (to use a Gen Z term) that a large Division I school does. My father graduated from the University of Virginia, so I grew up with a ‘V’ in my face everywhere I went. I love UMW, but I cannot say my son will grow up bleeding blue and gray. It’s just not that kind of school. Still, he watched every minute of UMW’s championship game with me and saw my emotions swing in startling ways. He could tell how important it had become to me and now, he can recreate Mitchell’s game-winner on his Little Tikes hoop.

Seniors—as you prepare to graduate, here’s my plea: don’t be afraid to love UMW. It’ll change in ways you don’t love. Buildings you lived in will get knocked down. The logo will change and get “mixed reactions.” But all of the reasons you love the school now will still be true when you’re gone.

So go ahead, graduate and be unabashedly proud of your school. Keep up with its teams, even though you don’t know them. Talk and post about that small school in Fredericksburg and when people ask about it, tell them what a great place it is. And when you sing “All hail, dear Alma Mater” on Ball Circle on your last day, take those final words to heart: “Our love will never die.”