Welcome Back to Campus A message to the campus community from President Will Dudley.

President Will Dudley
January 13, 2025

Happy New Year and welcome back to campus for the start of a new term. I hope you enjoyed a peaceful and restorative break.

In December, I shared highlights of the past calendar year at Washington and Lee. Taking stock of everything we have accomplished together over the last 12 months is inspiring.

The coming term will be no different.

Teaching, of course, is the heart of what we do. I’m excited to be back in the classroom myself, offering my annual seminar on virtue ethics and liberal arts education.

When I’m not enjoying philosophical conversation with my students, I’ll frequently be on the road, visiting alumni chapters around the country to garner support for our $650 million Leading Lives of Consequence capital campaign. At these events, I spread the word about the good work you all do here on campus and the many ways that members of the W&L community are making an impact in their professional lives. In just the last few weeks:  Professor Suzette Malveaux received the 2025 Clyde Ferguson, Jr. Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Minority Groups in recognition of her excellence in the areas of public service, teaching, and scholarship; Emeritus Trustee Warren Stephens ’79 was nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom; Pete Abitante ’78, former vice president of special projects for the NFL, received a 2025 Award of Excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame; Director of Athletic Training Services Josh Williamson was named the Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association (VATA) College and University Athletic Trainer of the Year; Equestrian Coach Gordon Reistrup was inducted into the Virginia Horse Shows Association (VHSA) Hall of Fame; and 12 of our students were awarded Gilman Scholarships to study or intern abroad. These are only a few of the recent accomplishments that make us proud as we enter 2025.

On campus, next week marks our annual celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The featured address will be given by Professor Melissa Harris-Perry, a scholar known for her significant contributions to political science, African-American studies, and public discourse on race, gender, and politics. Other events will include the Reflections dinner, the Remembrance Concert, a children’s celebration, a tea ceremony, and an open house in Special Collections. The full schedule of events is on our website.

Next week also brings the U.S. presidential inauguration, which is a reminder of not only Mock Convention’s accurate track record, but also our commitment to preparing our graduates for engaged citizenship. This fall, I joined the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness initiative, a group of more than 100 national leaders who are committed to fostering civic education on their campuses. In this vein, we are pleased to be hosting former Congressmen John Yarmuth (D-KY) and Dave Trott (R-MI) for a Congress to Campus event this March, which will provide a bipartisan opportunity for our students to gain insights into the issues and challenges facing our legislators.

The Mudd Center continues its series on How We Live and Die with a talk and accompanying exhibition by multimedia artist Erica Lord on Jan. 14 and a panel on the ethics of medical aid in dying on February 11.

The biannual Science, Society, and the Arts conference, which showcases student work, will take place on March 21. For the first time, our students are taking the lead in planning this event. The theme is “Unlikely Pairings,” and there will be oral presentations, poster sessions, performances, installations, and book discussions.

Our Lifelong Learning Programs will bring distinguished speakers to campus this spring. The Institute for Honor Symposium on Food, Housing and Health will feature Ertharin Cousin, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, on March 14.  And Jayne Anne Phillips will discuss her 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Night Watch,” at the Tom Wolfe Weekend Seminar on April 11.

The coming term will also offer plenty of opportunities to enjoy student performances, including the Bentley Musical “The Prom” (March 12-15), the Winter Choral Concert (March 18), and the Repertory Dance Company Concert (April 9-11).  The full schedule of performances is on the Lenfest Center website.  Meanwhile, on the heels of a record-breaking fall season that saw W&L place third in Division III for postseason performance across all sports, the winter season is heating up, with our 16th-ranked women’s basketball team leading the charge.

Finally, it is exciting to see the new Williams School building and the Lindley Center for Student Wellness taking shape in preparation for opening this fall. These two facilities are important investments in our educational mission and in student health.  They also represent the first steps in the campus-wide conversion of our heating source to low-temperature hot water (LTHW). This infrastructure project, which will be completed gradually over the next decade, represents a critical step toward fulfilling our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by continuing to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Regular updates on all of our capital projects are available on the website.

I anticipate another great term at W&L and hope you will join me in taking advantage of the many opportunities available on our lively campus. I wish you the best for the start of classes and look forward to seeing you.