August 25, 2023

Welcome to William & Mary! We are so excited that you chose to spend the next four years of your life with us. We can promise you an inspiring, interdisciplinary, liberal arts and sciences education here in Arts & Sciences. 

Wait, sorry. Got mixed up. I do have to keep saying that this week, but not to you. Seriously, though, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to say those things to our entering class of students, so thank you.

Announcements and reminders 

• • A reminder that Convocation, when we welcome our new students to campus, is on Wednesday, August 30 at 7:15 in front of the Wren Building. RSVP today if you want to attend. The speaker will be alumna Carolyn “Biddy” Martin ’73, L.H.D. ’12. More details about the event are attached.
  • We spent a wonderful day with our new A&S faculty hires at the A&S New Faculty Orientation on Tuesday and Wednesday, explaining our little W&M ways to them and starting to get to know them. They are an amazing bunch of people with a wide range of fascinating interests. I look forward to having them introduced after the first A&S Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, September 5^th, when we will have a party to celebrate (?) the beginning of the new academic year. The meeting is 3:30-5; the party is 5-who knows when. Depends how raucous we get. 
  • Work and frenetic unpacking and arranging continues over on Jamestown Road in the two new arts buildings. We are very excited about the buildings’ inaugural performance of Leah Glenn’s Nine, with the Leah Glenn Dance Theatre and W&M students dancing together in the renovated PBK Memorial Hall and supported by the Sumner G. Rand, Jr. Foundation. Tours of the building and an open house at 6:00 on Saturday, September 9^th will be followed by the performance at 7:30, and a reception at 8:30. No tickets, so come early. 
  • Upcoming Arts events at W&M are posted on the Arts at W&M page. Take a look to see what else is on the calendar, and keep watching - we'll be adding new events as they come up.
  • There will be a formal dedication ceremony and reception for the new buildings during Homecoming Weekend (October 19-22). Watch out for more announcements about that. 

Updates and information 

• • People all across campus have been working really hard all week – and it’s not nearly over yet – to welcome 1638 new students, and 180 transfer students. 34% of our entering class identify as people of color; 9% are first-generation university students; 8% are legacy; 4% are international; and 62% are in-state. Please do all you can to make them feel welcome. As we all know, it can be a tough transition for some. Thanks especially to those of you who are serving as pre-major advisers. Knowing there is at least one friendly face among the faculty goes a long way towards reducing those early-semester jitters. 
  • You should all have received your salary letters a day or two ago, and a message from me explaining how we determined raises right before the letters went out. 
  • The A&S Dean team had a day-long retreat on Monday, discussing division of responsibilities within the team, ongoing work, and special projects for Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. I will be updating you on those at the September 5^th faculty meeting, so please come. 
  • The Theatre, Speech & Dance Department is in the process of transitioning into the Theatre & Dance Department. We will continue to offer an increasing number of Speech courses, and we enthusiastically welcome Terrell Taylor, our newest hire in Speech. 

Now, cross the line if you dare. 

­­­­­____________________________________________________________________________________________

It turns out that not only is it possible to use the bathroom while carrying a baby in a pouch on your chest (many of us have done that, including me), it is also possible to smoke a pipe while playing the cello. This is a photo of the extraordinarily accomplished Catalan and Puerto Rican classical cellist Pablo Casals, 1976-1973. I came across something he said the other day when someone asked him why, at the age of 80, he continued to practice the cello. He is reported to have said: “Because I think I am making progress.” Words to live by.  Have a wonderful weekend.