UMW’s ASPIRE Week returns the week of April 15, 2024, to celebrate campus community values. ASPIRE stands for six values – one highlighted each day of the week – demonstrating the University of Mary Washington’s dedication to providing a diverse, accepting and supportive environment that holds all of its members to the highest standards of conduct, scholarship, integrity, inclusiveness, respect and engagement.
For Student Government Association President Jaylyn Long ’24, who started ASPIRE Week her junior year as SGA vice president, it’s also about putting those values into practice, something students do in their classes and activities.
“To me, ASPIRE Week is about celebrating, but also reimagining, the way we think about and approach community values,” Long said. “It’s a week to remind us that we’re all a part of a wonderful community where we all equally invest and contribute to the community values that reflect and represent who we are as humans, students, staff, faculty and community members. ASPIRE Week is about reminding us that we all matter and belong in this community but also that we have a duty and responsibility to remind and help others see that they matter and belong here, too.”