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EspañolTHE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY
(Redirected from College of William and Mary)
The 'College of William and Mary' is a small coeducational public university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the original eight Public Ivies.
William & Mary was founded in 1693 by a Royal Charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II of England. William & Mary educated U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler and other key figures important to the development of the nation, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall and 16 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In addition, George Washington received his surveyor's certificate from William & Mary.
Although arguably most known for its undergradaute liberal arts program, William & Mary has top-ranked business and law schools (the first in the United States), as well as several other highly-regarded graduate programs (including doctoral programs in Colonial History, Education, and Marine Science). W&M is also notable in higher education for the founding of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and the first to have an honor code of conduct for students.
Although considered one of the first universities in America, the school retains the traditional "College" in its name as was specified in its Royal Charter of 1693 . The institution's official name is 'The College of William and Mary in Virginia'.
A school of higher education for both native american young men and the sons of the colonists was one of the earliest goals of the English leaders of the Virginia Colony, which was initially based at Jamestown in 1607. Within the first decade, a promising start of a school was initiated as part of the progressive colonial outpost of Henricus under the leadership of Sir Thomas Dale. However, the Indian Massacre of 1622 destroyed the Henricus development, postponing the colonists' hopes for a school of higher education. It would be almost 70 more years before their efforts to establish a school of higher education would be successfully renewed.
In 1691, the House of Burgesses sent James Blair, the colony's top religious leader and rector of Henrico Parish at Varina, to England to secure a charter to establish "''a certain Place of Universal Study, a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and the good arts and sciences...to be supported and maintained, in all time coming.''" Blair journeyed to London and began a vigorous campaign. With support from his friends, Henry Compton, the Bishop of London, and John Tillotson (Archbishop of Canterbury), Blair was ultimately successful.[3]
The College was founded on February 8, 1693, under a Royal Charter secured by Blair. Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II, the College was one of the original Colonial colleges. The Charter named Blair as the College's first president (a lifetime appointment which he held until his death in 1743). The new school was also granted a coat of arms from the College of Arms.[4]
William & Mary was founded as an Anglican institution; governors were required to be members of the Church of England, and professors were required to declare adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles.[5]
The Royal Charter called for a center of higher education consisting of three schools: the Grammar School, the Philosophy School and the Divinity School. The Philosophy School instructed students in the advanced study of moral philosophy (logic, rhetoric, ethics) as well as natural philosophy (physics, metaphysics, and mathematics); upon completion of this coursework, the Divinity School prepared these young men for ordination into the Church of England.
This early curriculum, a precursor to the present-day liberal arts program, made William & Mary the first American college with a full faculty. The College has achieved many other notable academic firsts.
In 1693, the College was given a seat in the House of Burgesses and it was determined that the College would be supported by tobacco taxes and export duties on furs and animal skins. In 1694, Blair returned from England, and William & Mary opened in the original "College Building" at Middle Plantation, located on high ground midway across the Peninsula between the James and York Rivers. The College Building (the precursor to today's Wren Building) was completed in 1699 on a picturesque site comprising 330 acres. The present-day College still stands upon those grounds.
After the statehouse at Jamestown burned in 1698, the legislature moved temporarily to Middle Plantation, as it had in the past. Upon suggestion of students of the College, the capital was permanently relocated there, and Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg.
Williamsburg served as the capital of Colonial Virginia from 1699 to 1780. During this time, the College served as a law center and lawmakers frequently used its buildings. It educated future U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The College issued George Washington his surveyor's certificate, which led to his first public office. Washington was later appointed the first American Chancellor in 1788 following the American Revolution. Serving as Chancellor of the College was to be his last public office, one he held until his death in 1799.
George Wythe, widely regarded as a pioneer in American legal education, attended the College as a young man, but dropped out unable to afford the fees. Wythe went on to become one of the more distinguished jurists of his time. Jefferson, who later referred to Wythe as "my second father," studied under Wythe from 1762 to 1767. By 1779, Wythe held the nation's first Law Professorship at the College. Wythe's other students included Henry Clay, James Monroe and John Marshall.[6]
The College also educated three U.S. Supreme Court Justices (John Marshall, Philip Pendleton Barbour and Bushrod Washington) as well as several important members of government including Peyton Randolph and Henry Clay.
The College of William and Mary has a rich tradition of secret societies and is home to the nation's first, the Flat Hat Club. Although the pressures of the American Civil War forced many Societies to disappear, most had been revived during the 20th century. Some of the secret societies known to currently exist at the College are the Seven Society, Order of the Crown and Dagger, the Bishop James Madison Society, the Flat Hat Club, the Alpha Club, the Members 13, the W Society, the Williams, the Phi Society. [1]. In addition to the popular culture notion of secret societies' wealth and extensive alumni networks, William and Mary's societies are also known for their focus on the actual betterment of the College, their clandestine nature assuring the community of their solely philanthropic motives.
John Heath and William Short (Class of 1779) founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at William & Mary on December 5, 1776 as a secret literary and philosophical society. Additional chapters were soon established at Yale and at Harvard.[7], and there are now 270 chapters nationwide.[8] Alumni John Marshall and Bushrod Washington were two of the earliest members of Phi Beta Kappa, elected in 1778 and 1780, respectively.8
The colonies declared their independence in 1776 and the College of William & Mary severed formal ties to England. However, the College's connection to British history remains as a distinct point of pride; it maintains a relationship with the British monarchy and includes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher among those who have served as Chancellors. Queen Elizabeth II has visited the College twice.[9] Somewhat formal ties with royal England today is unique to W&M in U.S. higher education.
In 1842, alumni of the College formed the Society of the Alumni[10] which is now the sixth oldest alumni organization in the United States.
During portions of the American Civil War (1861-1865), William & Mary was occupied by Union troops. The Battle of Williamsburg was fought nearby during the Peninsula Campaign on May 5, 1862; on September 9, 1862, drunken soldiers of the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry set fire to the College Building, reportedly in an attempt to prevent Confederate snipers from using it for cover.
Following restoration of the Union, the College's 16th president, Benjamin S. Ewell, sought war reparations from the U.S. Congress, but he was unsuccessful. The College closed in 1882 due to lack of funds. During this time, President Ewell sounded the bell in the Wren Building every year, an act traditionally regarded as the start of the academic term.[11]
In 1888, William & Mary resumed operations under a substitute charter when the Commonwealth of Virginia passed an act[12] appropriating $10,000 to support the College as a state teacher-training institution. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (son of US President and alumnus John Tyler) became the 17th president of the College following President Ewell's retirement. Tyler, along with 18th president J.A.C. Chandler, expanded the College into a modern institution. Then, in March of 1906 the general assembly passed an act taking over the grounds of the colonial institution, and it has remained publicly supported ever since. William & Mary was one of the first universities in Virginia to become coeducational, in 1918. During this time, enrollment increased from 104 students in 1889 to 1269 students by 1932. In 1930, William & Mary expanded its territorial range by establishing a branch in Norfolk, VA. This extension would eventually become the independent institution known as Old Dominion University.
Significant campus construction continued under the College's nineteenth president, John Stewart Bryan. In 1935, the ''Sunken Gardens'' were constructed, just west of the Wren Building. The sunken design is taken from a similar landscape feature at Chelsea Hospital in London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Thanks to the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Sir Christopher Wren Building, the President's House and the Brafferton (the President's office) were restored to their eighteenth century appearance between 1928 and 1932.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited the College on October 16, 1957, where the Queen spoke to the College community from the balcony of the Wren Building. Queen Elizabeth II again visited the College on May 4, 2007.
In 1974, Jay Winston Johns willed Ash Lawn-Highland, the 535-acre historic Albemarle County, Virginia estate of alumnus and U.S. President James Monroe, to the College. The College restored this historic Presidential home near Charlottesville and opened it to the public.[13]
The building officially referred to as the "Sir Christopher Wren Building" was so named upon its completion in 1931 to honor the English architect Sir Christopher Wren attributed with the design for the College's main building by an eighteenth century author. Wren was famous for designing St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The Wren Building is based on the design of original College Building (1699) as it appeared after a 1716 remodeling. The basis for the 1930s name is a 1724 history in which Hugh Jones stated that the 1699 design was "first modelled by Sir Christopher Wren" and then was adapted "by the Gentlemen there" in Virginia; little is known about how it looked, since it burned within a few years of its completion and was remodeled by 1716. Therefore, historians have little evidence to substantiate Jones's claim that Wren actually designed the 1699 main building. The College's Alumni Association recently published an article exploring Sir Christopher Wren's potential involvement in the original College Building.[14] A follow-up letter clarified the apocryphal nature of the Wren connection.[15].
In the early 20th century, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller Jr. undertook a massive restoration project in Williamsburg—the project culminated into Colonial Williamsburg. As part of this undertaking, the Wren Building was the first major building to be restored. Following a drawing on the Bodleian copper plate (ca. 1740) and plans Thomas Jefferson drew of the interior in 1772, the Boston architectural firm of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn restored the building to its second form (1705-1859). The architectural firm subsequently designed complete reconstructions of the Capitol and the Governor's Palace, the original versions of which had burned during the eighteenth century.[16]
Two other buildings around the Wren Building complete a triangle known as "Ancient Campus": the Brafferton (building) (built in 1723 and originally housing the Indian School, now the President and Provost's offices) and the President's House (built in 1732).
The Wren Building also holds the distinction of being the oldest functional educational building in the United States. The Wren Building was known in colonial times as "The College" because, in the early years of the institution, the entire College of William & Mary consisted solely of the Wren Building. Inside its hallowed walls, all students (males only at that time) lived, ate, studied, worshiped and learned.
William & Mary is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, extablished in 1693 (Harvard is the oldest). Of the original colonial colleges, William & Mary was the "most prominent and had the best classroom and residential buildings."[17]
The College was the first to teach Political Economy; Adam Smith's ''Wealth of Nations'' was a required textbook.[18] In the reform of 1779, William & Mary became the first college in America to become a university[19], establishing faculties of law and medicine; it was also the first college to establish a chair of modern languages. Chemistry was taught beginning in the nineteenth century; alumnus and future Massachusetts Institute of Technology founder William Barton Rogers served as the College's Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry from 1828-1835.
Beginning with his 1778 ''Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge,'' alumnus and future University of Virginia founder Thomas Jefferson was involved with efforts to secularize and reform the College's curriculum. Jefferson guided the College to adopt the nation's first elective system of study and to introduce the first student-adjudicated Honor System.[20]
Also at Jefferson's behest, the College appointed his friend and mentor George Wythe as the first Professor of Law in America in 1779. John Marshall, who would later go on to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was one of Wythe's students. The College's Marshall-Wythe School of Law is the oldest law school in the United States.[21]
William & Mary has produced five Rhodes Scholars since 1988 and many students have won Fulbright, Truman and Goldwater fellowships.[22]
W&M students with at least a B+ average have a 70-75% acceptance rate to medical school and students with at least a B average enjoy an 80-85% acceptance rate to law school, rates which are double the national average. Sixty percent of W&M students go on to graduate school within five years of graduation.[23]
For the past several years, William and Mary has ranked as the 6th best public university in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.[24] And among America's public four-year, degree-granting institutions, William & Mary is ranked 2nd for its high graduation rate. [25] In the August 2007 US News rankings, it is currently ranked 33rd among all national universities (it has generally ranked in the mid 20's to very low 30's). In the last U.S. News ranking of quality undergraduate teaching, William and Mary was ranked 1st among public universities. [26] In 2006, ''The Washington Monthly'' ranking, a survey which counterbalances the ''U.S. News'' rankings with a different methodology and intent (e.g., measuring the institution as an engine of service, research, and upward mobility), ranked the College 19th among U.S. universities. [27]
In 2007, The Mason School of Business at The College of William & Mary was ranked in the top 10 undergraduate programs among public universities.[28]
William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law placed 27th in U.S. News's law school rankings.[29] and doctoral program in American colonial history 2nd [26]. In 2007, Business Week ranked the College's undergraduate business program 29th in the nation[31]. Similarly, in 2006, the Public Accounting Report ranked the undergraduate accounting program 23rd and the graduate accounting program 24th[32]. In 2007, a survey completed by more than 1,000 U.S. and Canadian faculty members in international relations, identified William and Mary as one of the top twenty-five colleges or universities for an undergraduate student interested in international relations[33]. William and Mary was one of only five schools without an international relations doctoral program to place in the top 25.
With respect to cost of attendance, William and Mary ranked 3rd "best value" among America's public colleges in the latest 2007 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.[34]
According to a 2006 survey by the NCAA, William and Mary athletes were ranked 5th for graduation rates (tied with Stanford University). Of the six sports that are individually highlighted in the NCAA report, William and Mary shows a 100 percent graduation rate in three of the sports categories (football, women’s basketball and women’s track and field/cross county).[35]
In summer 2005, Newsweek Magazine dubbed the College the "hottest small state school" based on the school's small enrollment (for a public university) and 34 percent increase in applicants since 1999[36].
The ''State Council of Higher Education for Virginia'', a state organization charged with promoting Virginia's institutions of higher education, concluded:
:''William & Mary is one of the nation's premier public universities, combining the best features of an undergraduate college with those of a research university''.[37]
William & Mary's small university environment, with only 5,635 undergraduates enrolled, distinguishes it from larger research universities, and its 12:1 student-to-faculty is lower than most top public universities. 86% percent of undergraduate classes have fewer than 40 students.23 Many applicants indicate that they were drawn to W&M's small-college environment.
William & Mary also enrolls approximately 2,000 students in the following graduate or professional schools:
★ William & Mary Law School (Marshall-Wythe)
★ Mason School of Business
★ Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
★ Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy
★ School of Education
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Nationally, W&M's acceptance rates (ranging from 31% to 37%) place it among the most selective universities in the U.S.[38] For the Class of 2007-2008 academic year, 33 percent of William and Mary's 10,845 applicants were offered admission.[39] Of those admitted to the Class of 2011, 39% are expected to matriculate.[39].
It is reported that Gateway W&M has helped ensure a record number of first-generation college students in the school's history by allowing those with lower incomes to attend the university for free. In fact, a record number of international students and first-generation college students are part of the Class of 2011. [41]
The top five overlap schools for William & Mary applicants are Cornell University, Duke University, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University. [42]
The College enjoys a temperate climate[43]. In addition to renovations on the student recreation center, (including a new gym, rock climbing wall, and larger exercise rooms)[44] the largely wooded campus has its own lake and outdoor amphitheatre. Beaches at Virginia Beach are an hour away, and Washington DC is a three-hour drive to the north.
The College's University Center Activities Board (UCAB) hosts concerts, comedians, and speakers on campus and in the 8,600-capacity Kaplan Arena.[45]
The College is known as the place where fun goes to die. The College is 52% female, and 48% male. While the odds are good, the goods are odd.
William & Mary's Honor System was first established by Thomas Jefferson in 1779. During the orientation week, nearly every entering student recites the Honor Pledge in the Great Hall of the Wren Building pledging:
:''As a Member of the William & Mary community I pledge, on my Honor, not to lie, cheat, or steal in either my academic or personal life. I understand that such acts violate the Honor Code and undermine the community of trust of which we are all stewards.''
The Honor System stands as one of the College's most important traditions; it remains student-administered through the Honor Council with the advice of the faculty and administration of the College. The College's Honor System is codified such that students found guilty of cheating, stealing or lying are subject to sanctions ranging anywhere from an oral warning up to expulsion.[46]
William & Mary has a number of traditions, including the Yule Log Ceremony, at which the president dresses as Santa Claus and reads a rendition of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Vice-President reads "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," and The Gentlemen of the College sing the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".[47]
Incoming freshmen participate in Opening Convocation, at which they pass through the entrance of the Wren Building and are officially welcomed as the newest members of the College. Freshmen also have the opportunity, during orientation week, to serenade the President of the College at his home with the Alma Mater song. The Senior Walk is similar, in that graduating seniors walk through the Wren Building in their "departure" from the College. On the last day of classes, Seniors are invited to ring the bell in the cupola of the Wren Building.
Unofficial traditions include the Triathlon, a set of three tasks to be completed by each student prior to graduation. These include jumping the wall of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg after hours, and if so inclined, running through the Boxwood Maze to the Palace itself, streaking through the Sunken Gardens, and swimming in the Crim Dell (pictured).
Another unofficial tradition, which the College administration attempts to quell each year, occurs on the last day of classes in the spring and is referred to by the students as "Blowout." On this day, it is customary to wake up early, begin drinking before one's classes, and show to up to class intoxicated and spend the rest of the day at the numerous keg parties which are always held. On this day, a student can win a t-shirt claiming they stayed sober on that day if they blow a .00 into a breathalizer, which is usually administered by a student group at the Sunken Gardens. Some students choose to "blow out" on the last day of classes of the fall semester as well, but it is not as well celebrated.
Legends include: kissing a date on the Crim Dell Bridge results in a future marriage. The crypt under the chapel can be reached via steam ducts under the campus and were supposedly used to steal bones from the grave of Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt who is entombed in the Wren Chapel. Many ghosts supposedly haunt the older sections of this school.
William & Mary has a long history of fraternities and sororities dating back to Phi Beta Kappa, the first "Greek-letter" organization, which was founded there in 1776 . Today, Greek organizations play an important role in the College community, along with other social organizations (e.g., soccer house, theatre organizations). Overall, about one-third of its undergraduates are active members of the following 14 national fraternities and 12 sororities.[48]
Formerly known as the "Indians", William & Mary's sports teams are now known as "The Tribe." The College fields NCAA Division I teams for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field. In addition, there are women's field hockey, lacrosse and volleyball squads as well as men's baseball and football. In the 2004-05 season, the Tribe garnered five Colonial Athletic Association titles, and it leads the conference with over 80 titles. In that same year, several teams competed in the NCAA Championships, and the football team appeared in the I-AA semifinals.[49] The men's soccer team has produced some notable players; the goalkeeper Adin Brown was a back-to-back NCAA First Team All-American in 1998 and 1999. The football program has produced many NFL players and coaches; all pro safety Darren Sharper, current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, kicker Steve Christie, current Denver Bronco Mike Leach, 1-AA Walter Payton Offensive Player of the Year award winner QB Lang Campbell, WR Dominque Thompson, WR Rich Musinski, Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers coach Mark Duffner, & Minnesota Vikings QB coach Kevin Rogers. The men's cross country team finished 8th at the 2006 Division I National Championships. In addition, the track team has produced many All-Americans, including Brian Hyde, an Olympian and Collegiate record holder in the 1500 meter run.
In May 2006, the NCAA ruled that the athletic logo, which includes two green and gold feathers, could create an environment that is offensive to the American Indian community. The College's appeal regarding the use of the institution’s athletic logo to the NCAA Executive Committee was rejected. The "Tribe" nickname, by itself, was found to be neither hostile nor abusive, but rather communicates ennobling sentiments of commitment, shared idealism, community and common cause.[50]. The College phased out the use of the two feathers by the fall of 2007.[51] Some students have vowed to display the prior logo on their own at NCAA post-season games.
Previously, the College's "unofficial" mascot was "Colonel Ebirt" ("Tribe" backwards), which was discontinued.[52] Prior to that, two students, one male, one female, dressed in fake buckskins. The female was referred to as squaw, while the male was usually referred to as "tribe guy". The practice ended around 1991.
:''See also: List of Presidents of William & Mary''
On July 1, 2005, Gene R. Nichol (formerly Dean and Burton Craige Professor of the Law School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) was sworn in as the College's 26th President, succeeding Timothy J. Sullivan. Nichol has encountered some controversy over his decision to remove the Wren Cross from the College's Wren Chapel and his decision not to bar the Sex Workers' Art Show[53][54]. Some have noted that legal considerations prevented him from banning a student-sponsored, student-paid event from campus.
Until 1776, the Chancellor was an English subject, usually the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London, who served as the College’s advocate to the crown, while a colonial President oversaw the day-to-day activities of the Williamsburg campus. Following the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was appointed as the first American chancellor; later President John Tyler held the post. The College has recently had a number of distinguished Chancellors: former Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger (1986-1993), former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1993-2000), and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (2000-2005). Continuing that tradition, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was installed as the College's 23rd Chancellor on April 7, 2006.
★ William Barr
★ Laurence Eagleburger
★ Michael K. Powell
★ ''Hollywoodland'', the recent L.A. film noir centering around the mysterious death of Superman actor George Reeves, is based upon a book co-authored by W&M professor Nancy Schoenberger
★ As a college student at W&M, Thomas Jefferson attended lavish dinner parties held by royal governor Francis Fauquier where he developed his early love for wine (his favorites were madeira and claret).[55]
★ There are elaborate catacombs running under the Wren Building leading to tombs under the Wren Chapel, which have been closed off due to student explorations.
★ The reigning British monarch Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip spoke at the College on October 16, 1957, as did Prince Charles in 1993 at the 300th anniversary (or Tercentenary) of the founding of the College.
★ Queen Elizabeth II made a second historic visit to the College on May 4, 2007, receiving honorary membership in the Class of 2007 and requesting a ringing of the Wren Bell. [56]
★ The Steely Dan song "My Old School" with its lyric about William & Mary was widely thought to be about the College, but apparently is about songwriter Donald Fagen's student days at Bard College.
★ Upon graduation in 1965, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate that "has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man."
★ Three people with ties to W&M, Chancellor Sandra Day O'Connor, Board of Visitors member Laurence Eagleburger, and alumnus Robert Gates were members of the 2006 Iraq Study Group.
Main articles: List of Notable Alumni from the College of William and Mary
William & Mary has produced a large number of distinguished alumni including: U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, and James Monroe; key figures in American history Peyton Randolph, Henry Clay and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Marshall; MIT founder William Barton Rogers; U.S. Military Generals Winfield Scott and David McKiernan; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, football Hall-of-Famer Lou Creekmur, and Minnesota Vikings safety Darren Sharper; major league baseball players Chris Ray, Vic Raschi and Curtis Pride; the popular entertainers Patton Oswalt, Scott Glenn, Glenn Close, Linda Lavin, Dylan Baker and Jon Stewart; creator and writer of Scrubs and Spin City, Bill Lawrence; Hong Kong actor and recording artist Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan; fashion designer Perry Ellis; and the 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
★ James L. Axtell - William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Humanities; inducted to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004)[57]
★ George Grayson - government professor, noted expert in Latin American politics, Senior Associate with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies[58]
★ Charles Hobson - author of several prominent books on Chief Justice John Marshall, and the editor of the Marshall papers (housed at W&M's law school)[59]
★ Jack B. Martin - Associate Professor and Chair of English; author of a Creek language dictionary along with Margaret Mauldin[60]
★ Mitchell Reiss - Professor of Government and Law; Director of Policy Planning (U.S. Department of State)[61]
★ William H. Starnes, Jr. - Professor Emeritus; inventor of ester thiol organic PVC stabilizers[62]
★ William Van Alstyne - Professor of Law, nationally known constitutional scholar, noted to be among the most frequently cited scholars (top forty) in the preceding half century and elected into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1994 [63]
★ Dirk Walecka - Emeritus Professor of Physics; recipient of Tom Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics from American Physical Society; former director of CEBAF/JLAB[64]
★ Lawrence Wilkerson - Harriman Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy,[65] former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and critic of Iraq War intelligence [66]
★ John McGlennon - Professor of Government and member of the James City County Board of Supervisors; author of several books on political parties and other political science topics. Unsuccessful candidate for the United States Congress in 1982 and 1984. [67]
★ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, College President and history professor
1. http://www.wm.edu/about/facts.php
2. The College gives its founding date as 1693, but has not operated continuously since that time, closing in 1882 and re-opening in 1888; v. s. Post-colonial history
3. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=2705
4. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/seventeenth.php
5. Webster, Homer J. (1902) "Schools and Colleges in Colonial Times," ''The New England Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly'', v. XXVII, p. 374, Google Books entry
6. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/wythe.htm
7. http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/frat_hist.html
8. http://www.pbk.org/about/history.htm
9. http://www.wm.edu/hermajesty/history.php
10. http://alumni.wm.edu/history/index.shtml
11. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/nineteenth2.php
12. http://swem.wm.edu/departments/special-collections/exhibits/exhibits/charter/normal/
13. http://www.ashlawnhighland.org/
14. http://www.wm.edu/alumni/WMAA/Magazine/Fall05/pages/Fall05_Wren.htm
15. http://www.wm.edu/alumni/WMAA/Magazine/Win0506/Mailbox.pdf
16. http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Autumn04/perry.cfm
17. http://www.greekpages.com/LocalsOnline/history.htm#pbk
18. http://mason.wm.edu/overview/
19. http://www.wm.edu/law/about/firsts.shtml
20. However, a biographer notes that "Jefferson would one day sharply criticize William & Mary, and eventually he designed, built, and administered the University of Virginia in open opposition to his alma mater." Thomas Jefferson: A Life, Willard Sterne Randall, , , HarperCollins, 1994, ISBN 0-06-097617-9 p. 40
21. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/eighteenth2.php
22. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/twentieth4.php
23. http://www.wm.edu/admission/?id=3154
24. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php
25. http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas/RankByVar.asp
26. http://www.wm.edu/about/rankings.php
27. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.collegechart.html
28.
BusinessWeek: Undergraduate Business Program of The Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary Among the Best in the U.S.
29. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php
30. http://www.wm.edu/about/rankings.php
31. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,72535.shtml
32. http://www.bentley.edu/graduate/banner_PDFs/pareport.pdf
33. http://www.wm.edu/irtheoryandpractice/trip/surveyreport06-07.pdf
34. http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/102273/Best_Values_in_Public_Colleges
35. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6999
36. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8939242/site/newsweek/page/2/
37. http://research.schev.edu/roie/four_year/CWM/body.asp?i=1
38. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/lowacc_brief.php
39. https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml
40. https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml
41. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=8024
42. http://www.wm.edu/news/pdf/College%20of%20William%20andMary9%20%202005%2001pdf.pdf
43. http://www.wm.edu/environment/Watershed/Weather/KeckWeather.htm
44. http://www.wm.edu/recsports/
45. http://flathat.wm.edu/story.php?issue=2006-04-28&type=4&aid=1
46. http://www.wm.edu/deanofstudents/judicial/Honor_System.php
47. http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_59339.asp
48. http://www.wm.edu/so/greeks/
49. http://www.tribeathletics.com
50. http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=5338
51. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6870
52. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=5246
53. http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6099447
54. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254142,00.html
55. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/chapters/1203-1st-hail.html
56. http://www.wm.edu/hermajesty/
57. http://www.wm.edu/history/directory.php?personid=6545
58. http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_experts/task,view/id,283/
59. http://www.wm.edu/jmp/hobson.htm
60. http://www.wm.edu/linguistics/directory.php?personid=12595
61. http://www.wm.edu/government/directory.php?personid=8963
62. http://www.wm.edu/chemistry/facultydirectory.php?personid=1228082
63. http://www.wm.edu/law/facultyadmin/faculty/van_alstyne-873.shtml
64. http://www.wm.edu/physics/faculty.php?personid=4833
65. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6966
66. http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=6479
67. http://www.wm.edu/government/directory.php?personid=8945
★ The College of William & Mary (official site)
★ William & Mary Law School (Marshall-Wythe)
★ Mason School of Business
★ Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
★ Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy
★ School of Education
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
★
★ Historical Chronology
★
★ W & M (aerial photographs)
★
★ W & M News (official publication of the administration)
★ The Royal Charter of the College
★ Earl Gregg Swem Library
★ The William & Mary Quarterly
★ Athletics department
★ W & M Washington, DC Office
★ William & Mary Alumni Association (formerly the Society of the Alumni)
★ Mason School of Business Alumni Association
★ Marshall-Wythe School of Law Alumni Association
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science Alumni Office
★ W&M Student Activities and Student Activities Board
★ The Flat Hat
★ WCWM, the official radio station
★ Student Information Network
★ The Virginia Informer
★ The DoG Street Journal
★ Student Environmental Action Coalition
★ Reveille - Women's A Cappella
★ Christopher Wren Singers
★ One Accord - Men's Christian a cappella
★ The Science Fiction & Fantasy Club
★ William & Mary Anime Society
★ Sinfonicron Light Opera Company
★ William & Mary Choir
★ American Indian Resource Center
★ Center for Conservation Biology
★ Courtroom 21 Project: World's Most Advanced Courtroom (School of Law)
★ Keck Lab for Environmental Sciences
★ Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
★ SciClone: largest academic Sun Microsystems cluster in western hemisphere
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
★ W&M in Washington Semester Program
★ The Institute of Bill of Rights Law
Wren Building in snow including statue of Lord Botetourt.
The 'College of William and Mary' is a small coeducational public university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the original eight Public Ivies.
William & Mary was founded in 1693 by a Royal Charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II of England. William & Mary educated U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler and other key figures important to the development of the nation, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall and 16 signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In addition, George Washington received his surveyor's certificate from William & Mary.
Although arguably most known for its undergradaute liberal arts program, William & Mary has top-ranked business and law schools (the first in the United States), as well as several other highly-regarded graduate programs (including doctoral programs in Colonial History, Education, and Marine Science). W&M is also notable in higher education for the founding of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and the first to have an honor code of conduct for students.
Although considered one of the first universities in America, the school retains the traditional "College" in its name as was specified in its Royal Charter of 1693 . The institution's official name is 'The College of William and Mary in Virginia'.
History
Prologue
A school of higher education for both native american young men and the sons of the colonists was one of the earliest goals of the English leaders of the Virginia Colony, which was initially based at Jamestown in 1607. Within the first decade, a promising start of a school was initiated as part of the progressive colonial outpost of Henricus under the leadership of Sir Thomas Dale. However, the Indian Massacre of 1622 destroyed the Henricus development, postponing the colonists' hopes for a school of higher education. It would be almost 70 more years before their efforts to establish a school of higher education would be successfully renewed.
Founding and colonial history
Reverend Dr. James Blair, founder of William & Mary.
In 1691, the House of Burgesses sent James Blair, the colony's top religious leader and rector of Henrico Parish at Varina, to England to secure a charter to establish "''a certain Place of Universal Study, a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and the good arts and sciences...to be supported and maintained, in all time coming.''" Blair journeyed to London and began a vigorous campaign. With support from his friends, Henry Compton, the Bishop of London, and John Tillotson (Archbishop of Canterbury), Blair was ultimately successful.[3]
The College was founded on February 8, 1693, under a Royal Charter secured by Blair. Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II, the College was one of the original Colonial colleges. The Charter named Blair as the College's first president (a lifetime appointment which he held until his death in 1743). The new school was also granted a coat of arms from the College of Arms.[4]
William & Mary was founded as an Anglican institution; governors were required to be members of the Church of England, and professors were required to declare adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles.[5]
The Royal Charter called for a center of higher education consisting of three schools: the Grammar School, the Philosophy School and the Divinity School. The Philosophy School instructed students in the advanced study of moral philosophy (logic, rhetoric, ethics) as well as natural philosophy (physics, metaphysics, and mathematics); upon completion of this coursework, the Divinity School prepared these young men for ordination into the Church of England.
This early curriculum, a precursor to the present-day liberal arts program, made William & Mary the first American college with a full faculty. The College has achieved many other notable academic firsts.
In 1693, the College was given a seat in the House of Burgesses and it was determined that the College would be supported by tobacco taxes and export duties on furs and animal skins. In 1694, Blair returned from England, and William & Mary opened in the original "College Building" at Middle Plantation, located on high ground midway across the Peninsula between the James and York Rivers. The College Building (the precursor to today's Wren Building) was completed in 1699 on a picturesque site comprising 330 acres. The present-day College still stands upon those grounds.
After the statehouse at Jamestown burned in 1698, the legislature moved temporarily to Middle Plantation, as it had in the past. Upon suggestion of students of the College, the capital was permanently relocated there, and Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg.
Williamsburg served as the capital of Colonial Virginia from 1699 to 1780. During this time, the College served as a law center and lawmakers frequently used its buildings. It educated future U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The College issued George Washington his surveyor's certificate, which led to his first public office. Washington was later appointed the first American Chancellor in 1788 following the American Revolution. Serving as Chancellor of the College was to be his last public office, one he held until his death in 1799.
George Wythe, America's first law professor.
George Wythe, widely regarded as a pioneer in American legal education, attended the College as a young man, but dropped out unable to afford the fees. Wythe went on to become one of the more distinguished jurists of his time. Jefferson, who later referred to Wythe as "my second father," studied under Wythe from 1762 to 1767. By 1779, Wythe held the nation's first Law Professorship at the College. Wythe's other students included Henry Clay, James Monroe and John Marshall.[6]
The College also educated three U.S. Supreme Court Justices (John Marshall, Philip Pendleton Barbour and Bushrod Washington) as well as several important members of government including Peyton Randolph and Henry Clay.
Secret societies
The College of William and Mary has a rich tradition of secret societies and is home to the nation's first, the Flat Hat Club. Although the pressures of the American Civil War forced many Societies to disappear, most had been revived during the 20th century. Some of the secret societies known to currently exist at the College are the Seven Society, Order of the Crown and Dagger, the Bishop James Madison Society, the Flat Hat Club, the Alpha Club, the Members 13, the W Society, the Williams, the Phi Society. [1]. In addition to the popular culture notion of secret societies' wealth and extensive alumni networks, William and Mary's societies are also known for their focus on the actual betterment of the College, their clandestine nature assuring the community of their solely philanthropic motives.
John Heath and William Short (Class of 1779) founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at William & Mary on December 5, 1776 as a secret literary and philosophical society. Additional chapters were soon established at Yale and at Harvard.[7], and there are now 270 chapters nationwide.[8] Alumni John Marshall and Bushrod Washington were two of the earliest members of Phi Beta Kappa, elected in 1778 and 1780, respectively.8
Post-colonial history
The colonies declared their independence in 1776 and the College of William & Mary severed formal ties to England. However, the College's connection to British history remains as a distinct point of pride; it maintains a relationship with the British monarchy and includes former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher among those who have served as Chancellors. Queen Elizabeth II has visited the College twice.[9] Somewhat formal ties with royal England today is unique to W&M in U.S. higher education.
Wren Building in 1859
In 1842, alumni of the College formed the Society of the Alumni[10] which is now the sixth oldest alumni organization in the United States.
During portions of the American Civil War (1861-1865), William & Mary was occupied by Union troops. The Battle of Williamsburg was fought nearby during the Peninsula Campaign on May 5, 1862; on September 9, 1862, drunken soldiers of the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry set fire to the College Building, reportedly in an attempt to prevent Confederate snipers from using it for cover.
Following restoration of the Union, the College's 16th president, Benjamin S. Ewell, sought war reparations from the U.S. Congress, but he was unsuccessful. The College closed in 1882 due to lack of funds. During this time, President Ewell sounded the bell in the Wren Building every year, an act traditionally regarded as the start of the academic term.[11]
In 1888, William & Mary resumed operations under a substitute charter when the Commonwealth of Virginia passed an act[12] appropriating $10,000 to support the College as a state teacher-training institution. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (son of US President and alumnus John Tyler) became the 17th president of the College following President Ewell's retirement. Tyler, along with 18th president J.A.C. Chandler, expanded the College into a modern institution. Then, in March of 1906 the general assembly passed an act taking over the grounds of the colonial institution, and it has remained publicly supported ever since. William & Mary was one of the first universities in Virginia to become coeducational, in 1918. During this time, enrollment increased from 104 students in 1889 to 1269 students by 1932. In 1930, William & Mary expanded its territorial range by establishing a branch in Norfolk, VA. This extension would eventually become the independent institution known as Old Dominion University.
Significant campus construction continued under the College's nineteenth president, John Stewart Bryan. In 1935, the ''Sunken Gardens'' were constructed, just west of the Wren Building. The sunken design is taken from a similar landscape feature at Chelsea Hospital in London, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Thanks to the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the Sir Christopher Wren Building, the President's House and the Brafferton (the President's office) were restored to their eighteenth century appearance between 1928 and 1932.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited the College on October 16, 1957, where the Queen spoke to the College community from the balcony of the Wren Building. Queen Elizabeth II again visited the College on May 4, 2007.
In 1974, Jay Winston Johns willed Ash Lawn-Highland, the 535-acre historic Albemarle County, Virginia estate of alumnus and U.S. President James Monroe, to the College. The College restored this historic Presidential home near Charlottesville and opened it to the public.[13]
The Sir Christopher Wren Building
The building officially referred to as the "Sir Christopher Wren Building" was so named upon its completion in 1931 to honor the English architect Sir Christopher Wren attributed with the design for the College's main building by an eighteenth century author. Wren was famous for designing St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The Wren Building is based on the design of original College Building (1699) as it appeared after a 1716 remodeling. The basis for the 1930s name is a 1724 history in which Hugh Jones stated that the 1699 design was "first modelled by Sir Christopher Wren" and then was adapted "by the Gentlemen there" in Virginia; little is known about how it looked, since it burned within a few years of its completion and was remodeled by 1716. Therefore, historians have little evidence to substantiate Jones's claim that Wren actually designed the 1699 main building. The College's Alumni Association recently published an article exploring Sir Christopher Wren's potential involvement in the original College Building.[14] A follow-up letter clarified the apocryphal nature of the Wren connection.[15].
In the early 20th century, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller Jr. undertook a massive restoration project in Williamsburg—the project culminated into Colonial Williamsburg. As part of this undertaking, the Wren Building was the first major building to be restored. Following a drawing on the Bodleian copper plate (ca. 1740) and plans Thomas Jefferson drew of the interior in 1772, the Boston architectural firm of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn restored the building to its second form (1705-1859). The architectural firm subsequently designed complete reconstructions of the Capitol and the Governor's Palace, the original versions of which had burned during the eighteenth century.[16]
Two other buildings around the Wren Building complete a triangle known as "Ancient Campus": the Brafferton (building) (built in 1723 and originally housing the Indian School, now the President and Provost's offices) and the President's House (built in 1732).
The Wren Building also holds the distinction of being the oldest functional educational building in the United States. The Wren Building was known in colonial times as "The College" because, in the early years of the institution, the entire College of William & Mary consisted solely of the Wren Building. Inside its hallowed walls, all students (males only at that time) lived, ate, studied, worshiped and learned.
Academics
History and milestones
William & Mary is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, extablished in 1693 (Harvard is the oldest). Of the original colonial colleges, William & Mary was the "most prominent and had the best classroom and residential buildings."[17]
Thomas Jefferson, Class of 1762
The College was the first to teach Political Economy; Adam Smith's ''Wealth of Nations'' was a required textbook.[18] In the reform of 1779, William & Mary became the first college in America to become a university[19], establishing faculties of law and medicine; it was also the first college to establish a chair of modern languages. Chemistry was taught beginning in the nineteenth century; alumnus and future Massachusetts Institute of Technology founder William Barton Rogers served as the College's Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry from 1828-1835.
Beginning with his 1778 ''Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge,'' alumnus and future University of Virginia founder Thomas Jefferson was involved with efforts to secularize and reform the College's curriculum. Jefferson guided the College to adopt the nation's first elective system of study and to introduce the first student-adjudicated Honor System.[20]
Also at Jefferson's behest, the College appointed his friend and mentor George Wythe as the first Professor of Law in America in 1779. John Marshall, who would later go on to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was one of Wythe's students. The College's Marshall-Wythe School of Law is the oldest law school in the United States.[21]
William & Mary has produced five Rhodes Scholars since 1988 and many students have won Fulbright, Truman and Goldwater fellowships.[22]
Graduate placement
W&M students with at least a B+ average have a 70-75% acceptance rate to medical school and students with at least a B average enjoy an 80-85% acceptance rate to law school, rates which are double the national average. Sixty percent of W&M students go on to graduate school within five years of graduation.[23]
Rankings
For the past several years, William and Mary has ranked as the 6th best public university in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.[24] And among America's public four-year, degree-granting institutions, William & Mary is ranked 2nd for its high graduation rate. [25] In the August 2007 US News rankings, it is currently ranked 33rd among all national universities (it has generally ranked in the mid 20's to very low 30's). In the last U.S. News ranking of quality undergraduate teaching, William and Mary was ranked 1st among public universities. [26] In 2006, ''The Washington Monthly'' ranking, a survey which counterbalances the ''U.S. News'' rankings with a different methodology and intent (e.g., measuring the institution as an engine of service, research, and upward mobility), ranked the College 19th among U.S. universities. [27]
In 2007, The Mason School of Business at The College of William & Mary was ranked in the top 10 undergraduate programs among public universities.[28]
William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law placed 27th in U.S. News's law school rankings.[29] and doctoral program in American colonial history 2nd [26]. In 2007, Business Week ranked the College's undergraduate business program 29th in the nation[31]. Similarly, in 2006, the Public Accounting Report ranked the undergraduate accounting program 23rd and the graduate accounting program 24th[32]. In 2007, a survey completed by more than 1,000 U.S. and Canadian faculty members in international relations, identified William and Mary as one of the top twenty-five colleges or universities for an undergraduate student interested in international relations[33]. William and Mary was one of only five schools without an international relations doctoral program to place in the top 25.
With respect to cost of attendance, William and Mary ranked 3rd "best value" among America's public colleges in the latest 2007 issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.[34]
According to a 2006 survey by the NCAA, William and Mary athletes were ranked 5th for graduation rates (tied with Stanford University). Of the six sports that are individually highlighted in the NCAA report, William and Mary shows a 100 percent graduation rate in three of the sports categories (football, women’s basketball and women’s track and field/cross county).[35]
In summer 2005, Newsweek Magazine dubbed the College the "hottest small state school" based on the school's small enrollment (for a public university) and 34 percent increase in applicants since 1999[36].
Learning environment
The ''State Council of Higher Education for Virginia'', a state organization charged with promoting Virginia's institutions of higher education, concluded:
:''William & Mary is one of the nation's premier public universities, combining the best features of an undergraduate college with those of a research university''.[37]
William & Mary's small university environment, with only 5,635 undergraduates enrolled, distinguishes it from larger research universities, and its 12:1 student-to-faculty is lower than most top public universities. 86% percent of undergraduate classes have fewer than 40 students.23 Many applicants indicate that they were drawn to W&M's small-college environment.
Graduate programs
William & Mary also enrolls approximately 2,000 students in the following graduate or professional schools:
★ William & Mary Law School (Marshall-Wythe)
★ Mason School of Business
★ Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
★ Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy
★ School of Education
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Admissions and selectivity
Nationally, W&M's acceptance rates (ranging from 31% to 37%) place it among the most selective universities in the U.S.[38] For the Class of 2007-2008 academic year, 33 percent of William and Mary's 10,845 applicants were offered admission.[39] Of those admitted to the Class of 2011, 39% are expected to matriculate.[39].
It is reported that Gateway W&M has helped ensure a record number of first-generation college students in the school's history by allowing those with lower incomes to attend the university for free. In fact, a record number of international students and first-generation college students are part of the Class of 2011. [41]
The top five overlap schools for William & Mary applicants are Cornell University, Duke University, Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University. [42]
Student life
Campus activities
The College enjoys a temperate climate[43]. In addition to renovations on the student recreation center, (including a new gym, rock climbing wall, and larger exercise rooms)[44] the largely wooded campus has its own lake and outdoor amphitheatre. Beaches at Virginia Beach are an hour away, and Washington DC is a three-hour drive to the north.
The College's University Center Activities Board (UCAB) hosts concerts, comedians, and speakers on campus and in the 8,600-capacity Kaplan Arena.[45]
The College is known as the place where fun goes to die. The College is 52% female, and 48% male. While the odds are good, the goods are odd.
Honor system
William & Mary's Honor System was first established by Thomas Jefferson in 1779. During the orientation week, nearly every entering student recites the Honor Pledge in the Great Hall of the Wren Building pledging:
:''As a Member of the William & Mary community I pledge, on my Honor, not to lie, cheat, or steal in either my academic or personal life. I understand that such acts violate the Honor Code and undermine the community of trust of which we are all stewards.''
The Honor System stands as one of the College's most important traditions; it remains student-administered through the Honor Council with the advice of the faculty and administration of the College. The College's Honor System is codified such that students found guilty of cheating, stealing or lying are subject to sanctions ranging anywhere from an oral warning up to expulsion.[46]
Traditions
Crim Dell in the heart of W&M's wooded campus
William & Mary has a number of traditions, including the Yule Log Ceremony, at which the president dresses as Santa Claus and reads a rendition of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Vice-President reads "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," and The Gentlemen of the College sing the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".[47]
Incoming freshmen participate in Opening Convocation, at which they pass through the entrance of the Wren Building and are officially welcomed as the newest members of the College. Freshmen also have the opportunity, during orientation week, to serenade the President of the College at his home with the Alma Mater song. The Senior Walk is similar, in that graduating seniors walk through the Wren Building in their "departure" from the College. On the last day of classes, Seniors are invited to ring the bell in the cupola of the Wren Building.
Unofficial traditions include the Triathlon, a set of three tasks to be completed by each student prior to graduation. These include jumping the wall of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg after hours, and if so inclined, running through the Boxwood Maze to the Palace itself, streaking through the Sunken Gardens, and swimming in the Crim Dell (pictured).
Another unofficial tradition, which the College administration attempts to quell each year, occurs on the last day of classes in the spring and is referred to by the students as "Blowout." On this day, it is customary to wake up early, begin drinking before one's classes, and show to up to class intoxicated and spend the rest of the day at the numerous keg parties which are always held. On this day, a student can win a t-shirt claiming they stayed sober on that day if they blow a .00 into a breathalizer, which is usually administered by a student group at the Sunken Gardens. Some students choose to "blow out" on the last day of classes of the fall semester as well, but it is not as well celebrated.
Legends include: kissing a date on the Crim Dell Bridge results in a future marriage. The crypt under the chapel can be reached via steam ducts under the campus and were supposedly used to steal bones from the grave of Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt who is entombed in the Wren Chapel. Many ghosts supposedly haunt the older sections of this school.
Fraternities and sororities
William & Mary has a long history of fraternities and sororities dating back to Phi Beta Kappa, the first "Greek-letter" organization, which was founded there in 1776 . Today, Greek organizations play an important role in the College community, along with other social organizations (e.g., soccer house, theatre organizations). Overall, about one-third of its undergraduates are active members of the following 14 national fraternities and 12 sororities.[48]
Fraternities: ★ Alpha Epsilon Pi ★ Alpha Phi Alpha ★ Alpha Phi Omega (community service) ★ Alpha Tau Omega ★ Beta Theta Pi ★ Chi Phi ★ Delta Chi ★ Delta Phi ★ Kappa Alpha Order ★ Kappa Sigma ★ Kappa Delta Rho ★ Lambda Chi Alpha ★ Pi Kappa Alpha ★ Phi Kappa Tau ★ Phi Mu Alpha ★ Sigma Chi ★ Sigma Pi ★ Theta Delta Chi | Sororities: ★ Alpha Chi Omega ★ Alpha Kappa Alpha ★ Chi Omega ★ Delta Delta Delta ★ Delta Gamma ★ Delta Sigma Theta ★ Gamma Phi Beta ★ Kappa Alpha Theta ★ Kappa Delta ★ Kappa Kappa Gamma ★ Phi Mu ★ Pi Beta Phi |
Athletics
William & Mary Tribe logo
Formerly known as the "Indians", William & Mary's sports teams are now known as "The Tribe." The College fields NCAA Division I teams for men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field. In addition, there are women's field hockey, lacrosse and volleyball squads as well as men's baseball and football. In the 2004-05 season, the Tribe garnered five Colonial Athletic Association titles, and it leads the conference with over 80 titles. In that same year, several teams competed in the NCAA Championships, and the football team appeared in the I-AA semifinals.[49] The men's soccer team has produced some notable players; the goalkeeper Adin Brown was a back-to-back NCAA First Team All-American in 1998 and 1999. The football program has produced many NFL players and coaches; all pro safety Darren Sharper, current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, kicker Steve Christie, current Denver Bronco Mike Leach, 1-AA Walter Payton Offensive Player of the Year award winner QB Lang Campbell, WR Dominque Thompson, WR Rich Musinski, Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, Jacksonville Jaguars linebackers coach Mark Duffner, & Minnesota Vikings QB coach Kevin Rogers. The men's cross country team finished 8th at the 2006 Division I National Championships. In addition, the track team has produced many All-Americans, including Brian Hyde, an Olympian and Collegiate record holder in the 1500 meter run.
In May 2006, the NCAA ruled that the athletic logo, which includes two green and gold feathers, could create an environment that is offensive to the American Indian community. The College's appeal regarding the use of the institution’s athletic logo to the NCAA Executive Committee was rejected. The "Tribe" nickname, by itself, was found to be neither hostile nor abusive, but rather communicates ennobling sentiments of commitment, shared idealism, community and common cause.[50]. The College phased out the use of the two feathers by the fall of 2007.[51] Some students have vowed to display the prior logo on their own at NCAA post-season games.
Previously, the College's "unofficial" mascot was "Colonel Ebirt" ("Tribe" backwards), which was discontinued.[52] Prior to that, two students, one male, one female, dressed in fake buckskins. The female was referred to as squaw, while the male was usually referred to as "tribe guy". The practice ended around 1991.
Leadership
:''See also: List of Presidents of William & Mary''
On July 1, 2005, Gene R. Nichol (formerly Dean and Burton Craige Professor of the Law School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) was sworn in as the College's 26th President, succeeding Timothy J. Sullivan. Nichol has encountered some controversy over his decision to remove the Wren Cross from the College's Wren Chapel and his decision not to bar the Sex Workers' Art Show[53][54]. Some have noted that legal considerations prevented him from banning a student-sponsored, student-paid event from campus.
Until 1776, the Chancellor was an English subject, usually the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London, who served as the College’s advocate to the crown, while a colonial President oversaw the day-to-day activities of the Williamsburg campus. Following the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was appointed as the first American chancellor; later President John Tyler held the post. The College has recently had a number of distinguished Chancellors: former Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger (1986-1993), former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1993-2000), and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (2000-2005). Continuing that tradition, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was installed as the College's 23rd Chancellor on April 7, 2006.
W&M Board of Visitors
★ William Barr
★ Laurence Eagleburger
★ Michael K. Powell
Trivia
★ ''Hollywoodland'', the recent L.A. film noir centering around the mysterious death of Superman actor George Reeves, is based upon a book co-authored by W&M professor Nancy Schoenberger
★ As a college student at W&M, Thomas Jefferson attended lavish dinner parties held by royal governor Francis Fauquier where he developed his early love for wine (his favorites were madeira and claret).[55]
★ There are elaborate catacombs running under the Wren Building leading to tombs under the Wren Chapel, which have been closed off due to student explorations.
★ The reigning British monarch Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip spoke at the College on October 16, 1957, as did Prince Charles in 1993 at the 300th anniversary (or Tercentenary) of the founding of the College.
★ Queen Elizabeth II made a second historic visit to the College on May 4, 2007, receiving honorary membership in the Class of 2007 and requesting a ringing of the Wren Bell. [56]
★ The Steely Dan song "My Old School" with its lyric about William & Mary was widely thought to be about the College, but apparently is about songwriter Donald Fagen's student days at Bard College.
★ Upon graduation in 1965, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award naming him the graduate that "has made the greatest contribution to his fellow man."
★ Three people with ties to W&M, Chancellor Sandra Day O'Connor, Board of Visitors member Laurence Eagleburger, and alumnus Robert Gates were members of the 2006 Iraq Study Group.
Recent commencement speakers
★ 2007 - Robert Gates (Class of 1965) ★ 2006 - Desmond Tutu ★ 2005 - Timothy J. Sullivan (Class of 1966) ★ 2004 - Jon Stewart (Class of 1984) ★ 2003 - Queen Noor of Jordan ★ 2002 - Lamar Alexander ★ 2001 - Madeleine Albright ★ 2000 - Brent Scowcroft ★ 1999 - John Warner ★ 1998 - Joseph Ellis (Class of 1965) ★ 1997 - Margaret Thatcher ★ 1996 - Antonin Scalia ★ 1995 - George H. W. Bush ★ 1994 - George Will ★ 1993 - Bill Cosby | ★ 1992 - James Baker ★ 1991 - Hanna Holborn Gray ★ 1990 - Douglas Wilder ★ 1989 - Glenn Close (Class of 1974) ★ 1988 - Colin Powell ★ 1987 - Roger Mudd ★ 1986 - Jeane Kirkpatrick ★ 1985 - Grace Hopper ★ 1984 - Paul Volcker ★ 1983 - Elizabeth Dole ★ 1982 - Garry Trudeau ★ 1981 - William F. Buckley, Jr. ★ 1980 - Art Buchwald ★ 1979 - Jeff MacNelly ★ 1978 - Barbara Jordan |
Distinguished William & Mary alumni
Main articles: List of Notable Alumni from the College of William and Mary
William & Mary has produced a large number of distinguished alumni including: U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, and James Monroe; key figures in American history Peyton Randolph, Henry Clay and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Marshall; MIT founder William Barton Rogers; U.S. Military Generals Winfield Scott and David McKiernan; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, football Hall-of-Famer Lou Creekmur, and Minnesota Vikings safety Darren Sharper; major league baseball players Chris Ray, Vic Raschi and Curtis Pride; the popular entertainers Patton Oswalt, Scott Glenn, Glenn Close, Linda Lavin, Dylan Baker and Jon Stewart; creator and writer of Scrubs and Spin City, Bill Lawrence; Hong Kong actor and recording artist Jaycee Chan, the son of Jackie Chan; fashion designer Perry Ellis; and the 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Notable professors
★ James L. Axtell - William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Humanities; inducted to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004)[57]
★ George Grayson - government professor, noted expert in Latin American politics, Senior Associate with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies[58]
★ Charles Hobson - author of several prominent books on Chief Justice John Marshall, and the editor of the Marshall papers (housed at W&M's law school)[59]
★ Jack B. Martin - Associate Professor and Chair of English; author of a Creek language dictionary along with Margaret Mauldin[60]
★ Mitchell Reiss - Professor of Government and Law; Director of Policy Planning (U.S. Department of State)[61]
★ William H. Starnes, Jr. - Professor Emeritus; inventor of ester thiol organic PVC stabilizers[62]
★ William Van Alstyne - Professor of Law, nationally known constitutional scholar, noted to be among the most frequently cited scholars (top forty) in the preceding half century and elected into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1994 [63]
★ Dirk Walecka - Emeritus Professor of Physics; recipient of Tom Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics from American Physical Society; former director of CEBAF/JLAB[64]
★ Lawrence Wilkerson - Harriman Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy,[65] former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and critic of Iraq War intelligence [66]
★ John McGlennon - Professor of Government and member of the James City County Board of Supervisors; author of several books on political parties and other political science topics. Unsuccessful candidate for the United States Congress in 1982 and 1984. [67]
★ Lyon Gardiner Tyler, College President and history professor
References and footnotes
1. http://www.wm.edu/about/facts.php
2. The College gives its founding date as 1693, but has not operated continuously since that time, closing in 1882 and re-opening in 1888; v. s. Post-colonial history
3. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=2705
4. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/seventeenth.php
5. Webster, Homer J. (1902) "Schools and Colleges in Colonial Times," ''The New England Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly'', v. XXVII, p. 374, Google Books entry
6. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/wythe.htm
7. http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/frat_hist.html
8. http://www.pbk.org/about/history.htm
9. http://www.wm.edu/hermajesty/history.php
10. http://alumni.wm.edu/history/index.shtml
11. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/nineteenth2.php
12. http://swem.wm.edu/departments/special-collections/exhibits/exhibits/charter/normal/
13. http://www.ashlawnhighland.org/
14. http://www.wm.edu/alumni/WMAA/Magazine/Fall05/pages/Fall05_Wren.htm
15. http://www.wm.edu/alumni/WMAA/Magazine/Win0506/Mailbox.pdf
16. http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Autumn04/perry.cfm
17. http://www.greekpages.com/LocalsOnline/history.htm#pbk
18. http://mason.wm.edu/overview/
19. http://www.wm.edu/law/about/firsts.shtml
20. However, a biographer notes that "Jefferson would one day sharply criticize William & Mary, and eventually he designed, built, and administered the University of Virginia in open opposition to his alma mater." Thomas Jefferson: A Life, Willard Sterne Randall, , , HarperCollins, 1994, ISBN 0-06-097617-9 p. 40
21. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/eighteenth2.php
22. http://www.wm.edu/vitalfacts/twentieth4.php
23. http://www.wm.edu/admission/?id=3154
24. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php
25. http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas/RankByVar.asp
26. http://www.wm.edu/about/rankings.php
27. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.collegechart.html
28.
BusinessWeek: Undergraduate Business Program of The Mason School of Business at The College of William and Mary Among the Best in the U.S.
29. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php
30. http://www.wm.edu/about/rankings.php
31. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,72535.shtml
32. http://www.bentley.edu/graduate/banner_PDFs/pareport.pdf
33. http://www.wm.edu/irtheoryandpractice/trip/surveyreport06-07.pdf
34. http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/102273/Best_Values_in_Public_Colleges
35. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6999
36. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8939242/site/newsweek/page/2/
37. http://research.schev.edu/roie/four_year/CWM/body.asp?i=1
38. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/webex/lowacc_brief.php
39. https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml
40. https://alumni.wm.edu/magazine/spgsum_2007/feature_5.shtml
41. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=8024
42. http://www.wm.edu/news/pdf/College%20of%20William%20andMary9%20%202005%2001pdf.pdf
43. http://www.wm.edu/environment/Watershed/Weather/KeckWeather.htm
44. http://www.wm.edu/recsports/
45. http://flathat.wm.edu/story.php?issue=2006-04-28&type=4&aid=1
46. http://www.wm.edu/deanofstudents/judicial/Honor_System.php
47. http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_59339.asp
48. http://www.wm.edu/so/greeks/
49. http://www.tribeathletics.com
50. http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=5338
51. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6870
52. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=5246
53. http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6099447
54. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254142,00.html
55. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/chapters/1203-1st-hail.html
56. http://www.wm.edu/hermajesty/
57. http://www.wm.edu/history/directory.php?personid=6545
58. http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_experts/task,view/id,283/
59. http://www.wm.edu/jmp/hobson.htm
60. http://www.wm.edu/linguistics/directory.php?personid=12595
61. http://www.wm.edu/government/directory.php?personid=8963
62. http://www.wm.edu/chemistry/facultydirectory.php?personid=1228082
63. http://www.wm.edu/law/facultyadmin/faculty/van_alstyne-873.shtml
64. http://www.wm.edu/physics/faculty.php?personid=4833
65. http://www.wm.edu/news/index.php?id=6966
66. http://www.wm.edu/news/?id=6479
67. http://www.wm.edu/government/directory.php?personid=8945
External links
Further information
★ The College of William & Mary (official site)
★ William & Mary Law School (Marshall-Wythe)
★ Mason School of Business
★ Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
★ Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy
★ School of Education
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
★
★ Historical Chronology
★
★ W & M (aerial photographs)
★
★ W & M News (official publication of the administration)
★ The Royal Charter of the College
★ Earl Gregg Swem Library
★ The William & Mary Quarterly
★ Athletics department
★ W & M Washington, DC Office
Alumni organizations
★ William & Mary Alumni Association (formerly the Society of the Alumni)
★ Mason School of Business Alumni Association
★ Marshall-Wythe School of Law Alumni Association
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science Alumni Office
Student organizations
★ W&M Student Activities and Student Activities Board
★ The Flat Hat
★ WCWM, the official radio station
★ Student Information Network
★ The Virginia Informer
★ The DoG Street Journal
★ Student Environmental Action Coalition
★ Reveille - Women's A Cappella
★ Christopher Wren Singers
★ One Accord - Men's Christian a cappella
★ The Science Fiction & Fantasy Club
★ William & Mary Anime Society
★ Sinfonicron Light Opera Company
★ William & Mary Choir
Institutes and special projects
★ American Indian Resource Center
★ Center for Conservation Biology
★ Courtroom 21 Project: World's Most Advanced Courtroom (School of Law)
★ Keck Lab for Environmental Sciences
★ Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
★ SciClone: largest academic Sun Microsystems cluster in western hemisphere
★ Virginia Institute of Marine Science
★ W&M in Washington Semester Program
★ The Institute of Bill of Rights Law
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