Marymount University is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

university with its main campus in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approximately 3,897 students enrolled, representing approximately 45 states and 79 countries.

History

Marymount was founded in 1950 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) as Marymount College, a two-year women's school. It was a member school of the

Marymount colleges The Marymount Colleges are a group of colleges founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), an institute with French origins which was founded on February 24, 1849. When the institution expanded to the United States, its members f ...

operated by the sisterhood in New York,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and several other states. The campus was located on the former estate of Admiral

Presley Marion Rixey Rear Admiral Presley Marion Rixey (14 July 1852, Culpeper, Virginia – 17 June 1928) was a Surgeon General of the United States Navy (1902–10) and personal physician to Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Biography The older br ...

, Naval Surgeon General and personal physician to Presidents

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

. Classes and activities were centered around the former Rixey Mansion, renamed as the university's "Main House." Marymount became a four-year college in 1973. It added

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

programs in 1979, and its first doctoral program, the clinical Doctor of Physical Therapy, in 2005. Its first male students were admitted into the nursing program in 1972, and the college became fully coeducational and changed its name to Marymount University in 1986. The university established the Center for Ethical Concerns in 1993. In October 2010, Marymount celebrated its 60th anniversary with the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for Caruthers Hall, a academic facility focused on the sciences and health sciences, and Rose Benté Lee Ostapenko Hall, a residence hall providing apartment-style housing for 239 students. The Malek Plaza is a gathering area between the two buildings and features a statue of Sister Majella Berg, RSHM, who was president of Marymount from 1960 to 1993. A sky bridge connects the new buildings to the rest of the campus. In August 2017, Marymount opened the Ballston Center. The LEED Gold Certified multi-use complex comprises a nine-story academic/office tower and The Rixey, a 12-story residential/retail building, each boasting multi-level underground parking. Ballston Center is anchored by a public plaza and the Reinsch Pierce Family Courtyard. During the tenure of current president Irma Becerra, Marymount received designation as the first Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in Virginia. The university has also restructured its academic programs into three highly-focused colleges to create broader educational and research opportunities, launched several fully-online doctorate programs and opened both the Saints Center for Service and the Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Academics and accreditation

Marymount University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award doctoral, master's and bachelor's degrees. It is

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

among "Doctoral/Professional Universities". The school grants bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, undergraduate and graduate certification and pre-professional programs in teaching, law, medicine and physical therapy through the College of Health and Education, College of Business, Innovation, Leadership and Technology and College of Science and Humanities. Marymount is a member of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, which allows students to take courses at any of the other 17 member institutions and to borrow books from their libraries.

Campuses

Main Campus

Marymount's Main Campus is located on in the North Arlington area of Arlington, Virginia. The campus includes six residence halls: Rose Benté Lee Ostapenko Hall, Rowley Hall, Butler Hall, St. Joseph's Hall, Berg Hall and Gerard Phelan Hall; three academic buildings: Rowley Academic Center, Caruthers Hall and Gailhac Hall; St. Joseph's Hall computer labs; the Rose Benté Lee Center, which includes two gyms, Bernie's Cafe, mail facilities and recreational and meeting spaces; the Gerard Phelan Cafeteria; the Emerson G. Reinsch Library and Auditorium; The Lodge; Ireton Hall; the Administration Building; the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Mary; and the synthetic-turf practice field.Marymount University Website. "Campus Map." http://www.marymount.edu/map/. Retrieved on 2009-02-16 MarymountU-4789-022022

Ballston Center

Marymount's Ballston Center is away from Main Campus in Arlington and houses the College of Business, Innovation, Leadership and Technology. The Graduate Enrollment Services office is also located here. The Center also includes the Cody Gallery, Eats Café, Coakley Family Library, computer labs, chapel, conference center and auditorium. Across the courtyard, The Rixey offers retail space as well as residential apartments for Marymount students. The Ballston-MU Metro Station is within walking distance from the Ballston Center. Additionally, free shuttle services operate between the Ballston-MU Metro Station, Main Campus, 4040 Center and Ballston Center.

4040 Center

Marymount's 4040 Center houses its physical therapy doctoral program and MedStar Clinic. The clinic, a partnership between Marymount and MedStar NRH Rehabilitation Network, provides physical therapy services to the community while allowing for an enriching environment in which Marymount physical therapy students gain valuable clinical education experience. The 4040 Center location is just minutes from Main Campus and within walking distance of the Ballston-MU Metro Station. Students travel to and from locations on free Marymount shuttles.

Athletics and recreation

Marymount's athletic teams, known as the Saints, compete in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

in the Atlantic East Conference and sponsor 22 sports. Men's sports include

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, swimming,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

. Women's sports include

, cross country,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, swimming,

and

. After nearly 29 years as a founding member of the

Capital Athletic Conference The Coast to Coast Athletic Conference (C2C; officially stylized as Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference), formerly named Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member ...

, Marymount joined with six other institutions in the region to form a new league, the Atlantic East Conference, which received NCAA approval to begin competition on September 1, 2018. In 2020, a record 50 percent of Marymount student-athletes were named to the Atlantic East Conference All-Academic Team. Additionally, six student-athletes earned a spot on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State team. Marymount also offers recreation and intramural programming throughout the year. Intramural offerings include basketball, volleyball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, kickball, wiffleball and canoe battleship. A variety of fitness classes are offered free to students, faculty and staff.

Clubs and student organizations

Marymount University has over 30 clubs and student organizations, most of which are advised by the Office of Student Transition, Engagement and Leadership. Student clubs and organizations are created based on the interests of Marymount students, and include groups dedicated to community service or philanthropy, cultural appreciation or specific academic interests. The Student Government Association, Association for Campus Events and Marymount University's student-run newspaper ''The Banner'' provide students with additional organizational management experience. In addition, students have the opportunity to engage in leadership development opportunities through participation as an Orientation Leader, Community Assistant or Peer Mentor.

Community engagement

Each year, Marymount students provide more than 16,000 hours of service in the local and global community. From tutoring children, providing health-assessment services, conducting food drives and cleaning up parks to building a chapel in the Dominican Republic or raising funds for a well in Sierra Leone, Marymount students actively seek out ways to make a difference. In 2018, Marymount University established the Saints Center for Service to implement a framework for sustainable service programming. The center supports, promotes and coordinates service opportunities across campus, leveraging Marymount University's commitment to service and providing further opportunities for Marymount's students and faculty to work together on service projects, both inside and outside the classroom.

Awards and acknowledgments

In the '' U.S. News & World Report's'' 2023 Best Colleges Rankings, Marymount University was listed among 'Best National Universities' for the first time in the institution's history. Previously, it was listed with 'Regional Universities of the South.' Marymount's newest rankings include: * #299 overall among Best National Universities * #23 nationally for Campus Ethnic Diversity * #20 nationally for Schools with the Most International Students * #2 Undergraduate Nursing Program among private institutions in Virginia Additional recognitions include: * Designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and certified by the U.S. Department of Education. *Named 2017 Educator of the Year by The World Affairs Council, Washington, D.C.

Notable alumni

*Toni Ardabell, Chief of Clinical Enterprise Operations for Inova Health System *Lieutenant General Steven Boutelle, former Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Army *Yene Damtew, hairstylist to Michelle Obama * Cindy Eckert, co-founder & CEO of Sprout Pharmaceuticals *

Tonye Garrick Tonye Garrick (born 27 August 1983), simply known as Tonye is a British-born Nigerian singer and songwriter. Her accapella song titled "''What About Us''?" was used at the Nigerian Youth Presidential debate in 2011. Born in England, Tonye was rai ...

, Nigerian singer and songwriter * Ryan Hampton,(attended, but did not graduate) writer and political activist surrounding addiction *Katherine Kallinis Berman, co-founder of

Georgetown Cupcake Georgetown Cupcake is a cupcakery based in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. that has now expanded to 6 other locations nationwide. Sisters Katherine Berman (née Kallinis) and Sophie LaMontagne (née Kallinis) opened the shop in F ...

and star of TLC's

DC Cupcakes ''DC Cupcakes'' is an American reality television series that follows sisters and business partners Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis (later Berman) as they run Georgetown Cupcake, a small cupcakery located in Washington, D.C. ) , ...

* Gregg McCrary, author and former FBI criminal profiler *Noor Rashid Al Khalifa, founder, CEO and designer of fashion brand Noon By Noor *

Rashad Robinson Rashad Robinson is an American civil rights leader. He is the president of Color of Change, an advocacy group. He has served as a board member of RaceForward, Demos, State Voices, and currently sits on the board of the Hazen Foundation. Career ...

, President of

Color of Change Color of Change is a progressive nonprofit civil rights advocacy organization in the United States. It was formed in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in order to use online resources to strengthen the political voice of African Americ ...

*Timothy Sheehan, co-founder and CEO o
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ref name="auto"/> *Michael D. Smith, current CEO of AmeriCorps and former executive director of the My Brother's Keeper (MBK) Alliance, an organization of the Obama Foundation *Dr. Beverly Stallings-Johnson, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer of The Wendy's Company *Tyler Wisler, HGTV star and interior designer *

Doreen Wonda Johnson Doreen Wonda Johnson is an American politician serving as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives from the 5th district. Elected in 2014, she assumed office in 2015. Johnson is a member of the Navajo Nation. Early life and education ...

, member of the New Mexico House of Representatives * Mia Yim, professional wrestler

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Catholic universities and colleges in Virginia Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Educational institutions established in 1950 1950 establishments in Virginia Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington