A message from President Rowe

by Katherine A. Rowe | July 2, 2018

President Katherine A. Rowe sent the following message to the William & Mary community July 2, 2018. - Ed.

Dear William & Mary Community,

Today I had the incredible honor of being sworn in by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam as William & Mary’s 28th president. Bruce and I, along with our two children, Danny and Beah, are thrilled to join the William & Mary family, which has welcomed us so warmly this spring.

Over the past weeks, as I have visited the campus and prepared for this transition, I have been reflecting on a simple and moving inscription on a plaque that now hangs in the Board of Visitors boardroom. The message of five words, delivered not long ago by two retiring Board members to an incoming rector, calls us to “take care of our College.” This is a charge I enthusiastically accept in becoming your president. It’s a duty that will remain foremost in my mind as we work together to build on William & Mary’s prosperity under President Reveley and move us to even greater heights.

To care for William & Mary is to honor its traditions and its transformational place in American higher education – to understand the importance of its history and its critical role in shaping the future leaders of our evolving world. And to add to that history.

To care for William & Mary is to cherish our thriving scholarly community and to fuel innovation by ensuring our mission of teaching, learning and research is inclusive of a full range of backgrounds and perspectives.

To care for William & Mary is to look for new ways to grow the resources faculty, staff and students need to ensure their success. As your president, it also means an unrelenting focus on bringing our For the Bold campaign to a triumphant close, which will propel William & Mary into its next successful era.

To care for William & Mary is a collective endeavor in which we all share. I look forward in the coming months to learning from you, hearing your William & Mary stories and immersing myself in this vibrant community.

I hope you were able to attend or watch today’s ceremony, but if you were not, you can find a link to a video of the day below and my remarks here.

This is an enormously exciting time to lead William & Mary. I am looking forward to writing our next chapter together.

Best regards,

Katherine A. Rowe
President, William & Mary