The University of Mary Washington’s (UMW) Civic Action Plan focuses on the establishment of the Center for Community Engagement. It builds on a long tradition of and commitment to service and community engagement which can be traced to the institution’s founding in 1908 as a state normal school for the education of teachers, as well as to the well-entrenched student run volunteer programs operated through the Community Outreach and Resources (COAR) program.

The University also has a tradition of commitment to work for social change, as exemplified by the human rights and civil rights work of our alumna Jean Donovan and faculty emeritus James Farmer. UMW’s mission is to provide a “superior education that inspires and enables our students to make positive changes in the world.”