Don’t let our College become just another university.
The College of William & Mary is deep amidst an identity crisis. Here’s why:
- Our name: Relentlessly using “university” for more than a decade hasn’t helped us. It doesn’t make us stand out in the higher-education marketplace. It doesn’t make us sound as special as we are. “The College” tells us everything we need to know about William & Mary — it’s small, it’s friendly (collegial, even!), and it’s a place of universal study. Take it from the Royal Charter: “it shall be called and denominated, for ever, the College of William & Mary, in Virginia.”
- Our priorities: William & Mary is increasing enrollment faster than campus can handle and desperately chasing research dollars at a time when both are in decline. W&M is succumbing to the pressure to appear more like the larger public research universities that have leapfrogged us nationally, to regain some lost ground. For an institution as old, beloved and special as William & Mary, this conformity would be tragic. If we try to act like just another university, will the right kinds of students and faculty find us? What will become of our beloved community?
- Our competitive advantages: William & Mary offers a distinct, unique experience that is unmatched in public higher education. The Board of Visitors had trouble identifying our peer institutions, which tells the story all by itself. Nobody else offers both a small, intimate community of learning and a public school environment — not to mention our beautiful historic campus. In this lane, there is only us. Let’s stay there, and keep getting better.
We’d love for you to join us in this effort. Thanks for reading.