President Katherine A. Rowe sent the following message to the William & Mary community in June 2025. – Ed.

Dear William & Mary Community,

I hope this note finds you relishing summer holidays with loved ones. Here in Williamsburg, campus is humming and humid. Alumni and friends drop by. Plans are unfolding for a new academic year. The summer session is underway, and our far-flung students send updates from their internships, service trips, study abroad, and field research.

As is traditional, I am pleased to share William & Mary’s Year-in-Review video. At 332 years, the Alma Mater of the Nation continued making history. As we near the conclusion of our Vision 2026 strategic plan, William & Mary leads in addressing global challenges that will define life and work for generations to come.

In less than two weeks, William & Mary will officially open the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics. Our first new school in over 50 years will prepare students to apply a “human-centered approach” to AI. Supported by two watershed gifts (pun intended), Virginia’s first bachelor’s degree program in coastal & marine sciences will advance coastal resilience. William & Mary has established a national model for civic leadership with a curriculum that teaches respectful debate as a foundational value of our pluralistic republic. Employers showed their love for William & Mary, securing the university a spot on Forbes’ Top 20 “New Ivies” list.

The poise and grit of Tribe women’s basketball won hearts in Texas and across the nation during the university’s first-ever March Madness tournament run. The opening of the Williamsburg Bray School honored the most significant discovery in American history of this century. Campus renovations created energy-efficient, 21st-century learning and living spaces for our students.

As we look forward to Juneteenth and Independence Day, I send warm wishes for picnics and parades, enjoyed with friends and family.

Happy summer to you all,

Katherine A. Rowe
President, William & Mary