University of Virginia Library

Liberate Mary Washington

As much a stepchild of the University as a
sister school, Mary Washington College in
Fredericksburg appears to be making its first
overture for liberation. With the publication
of a self-study report recommending that the
college be granted independent status from
the University, officials at Mary Washington
have been advised to "take the necessary steps
for becoming a free-standing institution."

The report was undertaken by the college
as a requirement for renewal of accreditation
by the Southern Association of Schools and
Colleges.

Mary Washington Dean James H.
Croushore offered a rationale which supports
the proposal convincingly: "With the
admission of women to the University and
men to Mary Washington, we are no longer
complementary, but competing institutions."
In the wake of coeducation, he argues, the
college is entitled to and requires a governing
board of its own. As things now stand, the
school is under the regulation of the
University's Board of Visitors.

So far so good. If the matter were one
which could be handled within the
University's infrastructure, there would likely
be no problem in implementing a severance of
ties. But because Mary Washington was
established by an act of the General
Assembly, it seems probable that an enabling
measure by the legislature would be necessary
to grant the college independence. The
success of such a proposal is uncertain.

Nevertheless, opposition in
Richmond-and we have no reason at this
time to suspect there is any-could be blunted
effectively if University officials (especially
members of the Board of Visitors) joined with
Mary Washington administrators in exploring
and publicizing the question. Those who fear
the possible erosion of one or the other
institution must be offered evidence that
whatever ties exist between the University
and Mary Washington are merely on paper.

Given the economic recession and
increasing competition among universities for
faculty and resources, Mary Washington
should be free to fend for itself, with its own
trustees and an independent status to match
its distinctly new identity.