Preserving Excellence

By Julie Jackson
April 4, 2025

On Oct. 25, 2024, Billy Webster ’79, chair of Leading Lives of Consequence: The Campaign for Washington and Lee, addressed alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends during the campaign launch celebration on campus. Below is an excerpt from his remarks.

Most of us would say that W&L changed our lives in a profound and sometimes unexpected way. I say it all the time. It’s something that my children, Will ’20 and Lily ’22, say. It’s something I hope their children will say one day.

A large part of that impact on my life came from my professors. The list is long: Sid Coulling ’46, Bill Jenks ’39, Ted DeLaney ’85, John Gunn ’45, Pam Simpson and Norm Lord. I think it’s safe to say that anyone who’s gone to Washington and Lee will have at least one professor who made a difference in their lives and whose influence was carried forward long after they graduated.

Former President Ken Ruscio ’76 used to talk about the student-faculty relationship by saying students don’t major in the subject as much as they major in a professor. How true. I majored in John Evans, a superb English professor but also a friend, a mentor, a father and a confessor. I love John as if he were a part of my family. We’ve remained in touch over the last 45 years, and we’ve spoken on the phone at least every two weeks across that span of years. I know of no other institution in the United States where these kinds of relationships are commonplace.

We also know there are some folks who look at Washington and Lee and think that, as of late, it has changed too much, and perhaps there’s some truth to that. There are also some who think Washington and Lee has not changed enough, and perhaps there’s some truth to that. But as professor Sid Coulling put so eloquently and directly:

Washington and Lee, like the rest of the world, has changed. The helpful response to this fact, however, is not to lament for times past, but a willingness to understand the changes that have taken place and to make whatever additional changes may be desirable in the future.

I would add some wisdom from Dean Frank Gilliam ’17. In 1971 — several years after his retirement — Dean Gilliam was asked what he would tell alumni if he could gather them all together. And here’s what he said:

When everything is considered, Washington and Lee is as fine an institution now as it was when you were here, even though, thank goodness, it is different in many respects. I see no likelihood of Washington and Lee losing its essential distinction of excellence. I would say that if you were inclined to complain, try to analyze what has happened in education in America, and look where we are today at Washington and Lee. Many of you think you’re paying the university a tremendous compliment when you say you don’t want a single thing changed from the way things were when you were here. But if you had that institution unchanged, most of you would be ashamed of it.

By launching the Leading Lives of Consequence capital campaign, we are saying publicly for everyone to hear that we support the university’s strategic plan and the university’s priorities. We are committing ourselves to provide the essential support necessary — the change necessary — to continue to offer future generations the same, or better, educational opportunities and life-changing experiences that we were privileged to enjoy.

As stewards of this university, it is our “collective obligation” — in Dean Gilliam’s words — to see that our students get the full value of a world-class liberal arts education that is bound together by the common values of honor, civility, integrity, respect and character. We are making the necessary changes to ensure that the students of tomorrow glory in Washington and Lee in the same way that we all do.

We have the most loyal, most generous, most supportive and most involved alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends on the planet. Not only am I confident we will achieve the campaign goal, but as our campaign chairs, Warren Stephens ’79 and Phil Norwood ’69, said in the last capital campaign: ‘We’re going to crush it once again.’

Enjoy more photos from the campaign kickoff weekend at bit.ly/WLUcampaignkickoff. Watch Campaign Chair Billy Webster’s full remarks at bit.ly/WLUcampaignkickoffremarks.