Capstone Festival

Business student presents at networking event

About

The Capstone Festival gives outstanding seniors an opportunity to present their scholarly and artistic works to the wider campus community and the public. Students may be nominated for their senior projects, honors projects, or special sponsored projects (such as VFIC Summer Science Award, Russell Scholar). Students who have done exemplary High-Impact Practice (HIP) projects (such as study abroad experiences or internships) can also be nominated to participate in the Capstone Festival. All nominations must be made by Mary Baldwin faculty. The annual nomination deadline is in March.

Students and faculty members will be able to attend presentations and the awards ceremony in Grafton Library. Family and friends of Capstone participants (and other members of the MBU community who are not on campus) will be able to join virtually.

The first annual Capstone Festival took place on May 3, 2006, as a reinstatement of a Commencement tradition from the earliest days of Augusta Female Seminary, when a Capstone Festival of sorts existed:

“All final examinations were held in public and members of the board of trustees and the townspeople attended to view students parse sentences, do intricate math problems, and recite soliloquies,” writes Professor Emerita of History Patricia H. Menk in her book To Live in Time; The Sesquicentennial History of Mary Baldwin University 1842-1992.

By the late 1800s, the practice of public recitations had disappeared.

Through our new tradition, a select group of seniors, nominated by faculty, present their senior, honors, special projects, and HIP projects to the Mary Baldwin community and the general public. The high quality and breadth of research, scholarship, creative activities, and HIP experiences on display is a testament to the legacy of those earlier years and a celebration of our future.