2027 Women’s History Month Celebration
March 2027
Call for WHM 2026 Program Proposals
Fill out the following form and send it to msanford@umw.edu.
Women’s Basic Necessities Drive
March 1 – 31 | DONATION LOCATION: James Farmer Multicultural Center
Co-sponsored by UMW NAACP College Chapter, Women of Color, and the Latino Student Association
UMW NAACP CC, Women of Color, and the Latino Student Association are sponsoring a month-long drive with a local non-profit organization aiming to collect basic resources for women in the greater Fredericksburg area. We are asking for your donations for basic necessities including: food, clothes, and feminine hygiene projects. All donations will be given to the Empowerhouse, a local shelter and resource for victims of domestic violence.
Women’s History Month Major Speaker: Jayme Swain
Wednesday, March 10 | 6 pm | Chandler Ballroom A/B, Cedric Rucker University Center
Jayme Swain is President and CEO of VPM, Virginia’s home for public media, and the Virginia Foundation for Public Media.
At a transformational time for the organization, Swain oversees VPM, a network of PBS and NPR stations across Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley that connects nearly 2 million
people to insightful programming in arts and culture, history, science, news and education.
Under Swain’s leadership, VPM has strengthened its position as a trusted source of news and
information for Virginians and a powerhouse distributor of multiplatform, award-winning content
for local and national audiences. She is also overseeing the construction of VPM’s new
headquarters in downtown Richmond, which will open to the public in 2026.
Swain has launched a number of impact-driven initiatives, including the expansion of VPM
News to a multi-platform newsroom with 30 reporters, editors, multi-media journalists and
producers; the acquisition of Style Weekly, known as Richmond’s alternative source for news,
arts, culture and opinion; the expansion of original educational programming with a focus on
children in underserved communities; and an increase in digital storytelling and distribution
across the web, social media and podcasting.
As the leader of the Virginia Foundation for Public Media, she manages the stewardship and
advancement of an endowment to support VPM’s mission and vision, ensuring the future of
public media in Virginia for generations to come. Swain is a media executive with over 25 years of experience in broadcast, print and digital with top brands such as PBS, CNN, FOX Sports and U.S. News & World Report.
Swain is active in public media and the community. She serves on the PBS Board of Directors
and is chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. She is also a member of
the Organization for State Broadcasting Executives.
Locally, she serves on the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy Advisory Board
as well as the Board of Directors for Elevate Early Education (E3), the Community Foundation
for a greater Richmond and ChamberRVA. Ms. Swain is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at (540) 654-1044 or visit the James Farmer Multicultural Center website. Please email us at jfmc@umw.edu if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.