Campus Culture

There is a synergy at William & Mary where each facet of the university comes together to make a better than fabulous whole. Walk across campus and you'll see a love of tradition, a love of learning and a never-ending exchange of ideas and passions. Our students give thousands of hours to community service and study abroad at a rate so high that W&M is the #1 public university for study abroad in the country. Sustainability is more moral imperative than trendy noun, and we don’t just pay lip service to diversity, we aggressively pursue it — in our students, our faculty and in our ideas.

The beginning of each academic year is marked by {{http://www.wm.edu/offices/fye/convocation/,Opening Convocation}}. Incoming students are greeted by current William & Mary students as the new arrivals walk through the Wren Building toward the Sunken Garden — the opposite path they will travel when they graduate.
Approximately half of students {{http://www.wm.edu/offices/revescenter/geo/,study abroad}} during their time at W&M, in more than 55 countries each year. In a recent course nicknamed {{https://wmblogs.wm.edu/cmbail/rock-music-oman-2020-the-crescent-of-learning/,Rock Music Oman}}, W&M students traveled with their professors to Oman for an interdisciplinary trip combining music and geology.
Meet W&M's {{https://www.wm.edu/globalresearch, Global Research Institute}}. They're a collaboration power house, bringing together students and faculty to tackle pressing global issues. This is a community of problem solvers, and it all started with two William & Mary students who challenged the status quo, and a group of faculty who helped them change it.
Leaders with the Safe Zone Ally Program hosted an event to celebrate marriage equality in Virginia where they handed out cake and took photos. Building on a core value of {{http://www.wm.edu/about/wmdifference/diversity-at-wm/,diversity}}, equity and inclusion are integral parts of all that we do.
William & Mary is a vibrant, welcoming campus and community with a truly {{https://www.wm.edu/academics/globalreach,global student body, faculty, staff and outlook}}. All in an historic campus in Williamsburg, Virginia. Wherever you are from or wherever you are going, you are welcome here.
In {{https://www.wm.edu/offices/cce/index.php, community engagement at W&M}}, students and community partners develop mutually-beneficial, community-driven projects, the value of which is immeasurable, both for the communities they serve and the students themselves.
{{https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2020/king-commemoration-speaker-turned-pain-into-purpose.php,Yusef Salaam spoke}} at W&M's 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration before a crowd of faculty, staff, students and community members. This annual observance is one of many {{https://www.wm.edu/offices/studentdiversity/events/index.php,Center for Student Diversity events}} that celebrate and educate the community about the many cultural experiences represented on our campus.
To kick off the holiday season, W&M lights a Yule log and pays tribute to all the major religions represented on campus. After live music and ceremonial readings students pile into the Great Hall to toss ceremonial sprigs of holly into the Yule log fire for good luck.
The Tribe Truck Farm is a mobile garden in the bed of a pickup truck that runs on recycled vegetable oil. Started by students, the truck is used as a tool for educational outreach and to increase dialogue about {{http://www.wm.edu/sites/sustainability, sustainability}} in the William & Mary and Williamsburg communities.
William & Mary senior Mark Williamson and Rusty Plemons (leukemia survivor) met for the first time at Zable Stadium. Williamson donated his bone marrow to help save Plemons' life through W&M's annual "Be The Match" bone marrow drive, a tradition here since 1991.
According to W&M lore, there are more squirrels per capita in Williamsburg than any other city in the USA. But don't believe us. Ask the {{https://www.facebook.com/wmsquirrel/,W&M Squirrel}}.