Gov. Terry McAuliffe delivered remarks at the College of William and Mary’s Charter Day Celebration on Friday, praising the school for its prestigious reputation and sharing some of his accomplishments from his first days as governor.
Charter Day commemorates the 1693 Royal charter from King William and Queen Mary, which started the school 321 years ago. Friday’s celebration attracted McAuliffe as well as William and Mary President Taylor Reveley, Chancellor Robert M. Gates, Rector Todd A. Stottlemyer and a host of other luminaries connected to the school.
“And what a college it is,” McAuliffe said of William and Mary. “As the second-oldest in the country, the College of William and Mary was established when Virginia was still a colony and America was simply a dream. And during that long history, you have built — and more importantly sustained — a reputation for being one of our nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.”
McAuliffe said he has more graduates of William and Mary in his administration than any other institution in the country, including his chief of staff, Paul Reagan. He said it is not just the graduates that set the school apart but its commitment to public service and community engagement.
“William and Mary is not an institution that rests on its laurels or is satisfied with celebrating only its past,” McAuliffe said. “It is a place that constantly grows and renews itself.”
McAuliffe praised the school for the William and Mary Promise, which provides tuition guarantees for in-state students in an effort to increase affordability for middle-class families, open more slots for Virginia undergraduates and devote more resources to maintain its faculty.
He said excellence must not be confined to four-year institutions but rather at every level of education. He reiterated a comment he has frequently made about visiting all 23 community colleges in the state. He also mentioned the need to work with state and local governments, the private sector and faith communities to expand access to Pre-K education.
“Your parents’ zip code or financial circumstances should not dictate your future,” he said.
McAuliffe said it is important to keep the state open to everyone, mentioning his executive order barring discrimination in state employment on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. He also said he would sign the Virginia DREAM Act if it makes it to his desk. That bill would offer a path to in-state tuition in higher education for undocumented people who are unlawfully in the U.S. provided they meet several requirements, including graduation from a state high school or service in the military.
Reveley also spoke during the ceremony, saying the school has been “blessed with a constellation of humans of indomitable spirit and will to excel, who’ve had at times to prevail despite crushing odds.” He also said the school has “the brains of a big research university and the heart of a small liberal arts college.”
During the ceremony, honorary degrees were presented to McAuliffe and to David J. Lutzer, who has worked at William and Mary as Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, the chairman of the Department of Mathematics and the president of the Faculty Assembly. McAuliffe received a Doctor of Public Service and Lutzer a Doctor of Humane Letters.
The Lord Botetourt Award, presented to people or institutions that embody the spirit of Norborne Botetourt, a colonial governor of Virginia and rector of William and Mary, was given to the Drapers’ Company of London. That group does charitable, ceremonial and educational work and has been affiliated with William and Mary for decades.
Several other big awards were presented during the ceremony, including the Thomas Jefferson awards and the James Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership. Read about Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy winner Stephen P. Cameron here and about James Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership winner Laura Godwin here. Other winners include Cheryl L. Dickter, who received the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, and Jacquelyn Y. McLendon, who received the Thomas Jefferson Award.
