''The Weekly Ringer'' is the

University of Mary Washington University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Established in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Fredericksburg, the institution later became known as Fredericksbu ...

's official weekly student newspaper. Founded as ''The Bullet'' in 1922, the editors of the paper changed the name to ''The Blue and Gray Press'' in 2018 and to its present name in 2022. Located in

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

, the student publication is printed every Friday, and distributed to the UMW undergraduate campus.

History

Founded as ''The Bullet'' in 1922 at

Mary Washington College University of Mary Washington (UMW) is a public liberal arts university in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Established in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Fredericksburg, the institution later became known as Fredericksbu ...

. Located in

, the student publication is printed every Friday, and distributed to the college's undergraduate campus. In the summer of 2014, ''The Bullet'' announced on its

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that the newspaper was being relaunched as ''The Blue and Gray Press.'' In an interview with ''Campus Reform'', editor-in-chief Alison Thoet criticized ''The Bullet'' as a name that "propagated violence" and said, "In this day and age, no one really cares about the Civil War," referring to the previous name's allusion to Fredericksburg's history as a major

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded fr ...

battlefield. The name change was met with some controversy among the student body, alumni, and online as the story was reported by news outlets and blogs, prompting the board to pen an open letter clarifying its reasoning: "The Blue & Gray Press is a symbol of the school it serves and the locale in which it publishes." Some alumni and students responded to the letter, criticizing the board's decision to rename the paper after nearly a century as ''The Bullet.'' "I was a proud member of the class of '88. A bit less proud now," one commenter wrote. "Shame on you. Error and hypocrisy. Abandon history for political correctness stating reasons which are wrong to begin with." "The Blue" and "the Gray" commonly refer to the two sides who fought in the United States Civil War. The soldiers of the United States of America (U.S., U.S.A., Union, North, Yankees) wore dark blue uniforms. The officers of the Confederate States of America (C.S.A., Confederacy, South, Rebels) wore gray uniforms. The

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army, Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major general ( ...

, Virginia was fought both on and near the current site of the

. The name of the paper was changed again in 2022 to ''The Weekly Ringer.''

Awards

The publication has received numerous awards from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

and the

Associated Collegiate Press The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association. It awards the newspaper, maga ...

and Newspaper Association of America Foundation. Society of Professional Journalists * Mark of Excellence – 1st Place, 2003 * Mark of Excellence – 2nd Place, 2002 Associated Collegiate Press and Newspaper Association of America Foundation * The Newspaperpacemaker Finalist Award –1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weekly Ringer, The Student newspapers published in Virginia University of Mary Washington Newspapers established in 1922 1922 establishments in Virginia