The University of Mary Washington’s Independent Student Newspaper Serving the community since 1922
The
Ringer
Weekly
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 6
October 13, 2023
UMW ranked 19th in best theater programs
Norah Walsh Editor-in-Chief Every year, The Princeton Review releases its list of the top 25 universities for Best College Theater, and this year, UMW ranked 19th out of 389 total universities. According to The Princeton Review, the list is based on students’ ratings of their college theatre productions that are sourced from an annual survey sent out to university students. “The Princeton Review list of the Best College Theater is developed from the student’s surveys and the Princeton Review distributes,” said Gregg Stull, the chair of the department of theatre and dance and a theatre professor at UMW. “What we love about it is it’s a metric about what students on this campus feel about the theater program. This is not somebody crunching numbers and data, and we are thrilled about that because we want to be a part of students’ lives here.” The support that students receive from faculty and staff members in the department shines through in the productions they present during the academic year. “We create the opportunities, and students have to avail themselves of the opportunity,” said Stull. “When we talk to first- and second-year students, our goal is to get them out of their rooms, in our building, doing the stuff that they need to be doing in order to grow their skills.” Stull also spoke about the wide variety of opportunities that stu- Friends, family and students gather together on Jefferson Square to chat and listen to music at Rocktoberfest. dents can get involved in, whether that be acting on the stage or con- Charlie Li / The Weekly Ringer tributing to the production behind the scenes. He emphasized that these opportunities can become careers and how Mary Washington being a liberal arts college allows students to explore these options. “We want students to understand that they could build a career stitching costumes, they could build a career designing lights. All of those things are possible here,” said Stull. “And we want to introduce them to that.” sic rock, recent pop hits and modern country, and McKenna LaFontaine Students spoke about their personal experiences with faculty memthey’ve been performing since 2013. Cartwheel plays Staff Writer bers in the department. a mix of covers and original songs, and the combiFriday, Oct. 6 marked the start of UMW’s annual nation of both bands offered students and parents a Seth Drenning, a senior theatre major who most recently starred as Hercule Poirot in “Murder on the Orient Express” expressed his ap- family weekend, which is designed for friends and variety of tunes. preciation for the department faculty, highlighting Marc Williams, an family to come to campus and experience some of assistant professor in the department of theatre and dance. Drenning what their student’s campus life entails, as well as “Overall, It’s just a great enjoy a series of events hosted in celebration of famwill appear in UMW’s production of “True West” in February. bonding experience.” “My advisor and acting teacher was Marc Williams, and he really ilies coming to campus. Some of these events includputs a lot of care into you individually, assesses you as a person and ed Rocktoberfest, the Education Abroad Fair, the -Blake Bauer what your goals are, and will really push you to meet your goals,” said Chocolate Chomp Challenge, the chemistry magic Drenning. “He knows when to take a back seat and let you go with it.” show, the campus Civil War walking tour, a tour “Family weekend was a lot of fun, my parents Emily Kile, a senior theatre and English double major, commented of Brompton, various sports activities, and other came by on Friday evening and we all went to the on Gregg Stull and the influence he has had in her acting career as a events in downtown Fredericksburg. Rocktoberfest together,” said Blake Bauer, a sophThe main event on the list for the weekend was omore historic preservation major. “It was nice to professor, advisor and the director of the first show she was in. Kile recently played the role of Countess Adrenyi in “Murder on the Orient Rocktoberfest, which featured local artists perform- chat and listen to music.” Express” and will star as Nigel in “Matilda the Musical,” which opens ing on Jefferson Square on Oct. 6. Friends and family The concert kicked off family weekend with were asked to bring a blanket or chair to watch the lively tunes for parents and students alike to enjoy, Nov. 1 and will run for three weeks. two bands, Center Point and Cartwheel, perform. Center Point is a cover band that plays clasSEE THEATRE, PAGE 2 SEE FAMILY WEEKEND, PAGE 7
Friends and family come together for an insight into UMW student life
|2 INSIDE News UMW theatre
THE
RINGER
recognized for quality of performances
Opinion | 3 UMW lacks inclusive dining options on campus
Life | 4
Photo essay: UMW Faculty Art Exhibition concludes
Sports | 8
Women’s soccer beats St. Mary’s College 2-0