As Others See Us

"It was my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my life, that Dr. William Small of Scotland was then professor of mathematics [at the College of William and Mary], a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communications, correct and gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind."
Thomas Jefferson, Class of 1762

"William and Mary understands the value of service to others. Over the past 302 years, you've worked to instill the students here with those same values, and the Class of 1995 is no exception ... For each of you, William and Mary has been a place of possibilities--a place where you have developed your potential and prepared for the future."
George H. W. Bush, former President of the United States

"A tradition that lives on at this premier 'Public Ivy' is a commitment to old-fashioned academic excellence."
Fiske Guide to Colleges

"...one cannot hold this office [Chancellor of the College of William and Mary] without feeling an affinity with those giants of the past who were associated with this College, and whose leadership helped to found this great country."
Margaret, The Lady Thatcher, Former Prime Minister of Great Britain
Twenty-first Chancellor of the College of William and Mary

"William and Mary can make a good case for being the most selective public college in America. Its size . . . is ideal, the envy of a good many prestigious private colleges. Its setting and its own lush campus . . . provide the stuff calendars are made of. Its academic program . . . is no nonsense, followed by impressive placement in graduate schools and jobs."
Richard Moll, author of The Public Ivys: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities

"William and Mary is a world-class example of excellence in higher education."
Former Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore

"It is our charge and our challenge to see that this jewel in Virginia's crown is preserved for generations of young people and leaders to come. William and Mary has evolved from a royal college to a private college to a state university whose national reputation brings recognition to the Commonwealth's prestigious system of higher education."
Former Virginia Governor George F. Allen

"The traditions of William and Mary that count are ones many schools take for granted--like being a school where professors still teach, and teach freshmen as well as upper-class students; where professors keep their office hours; where your teachers know your names, and they care enough to hold to high standards. Those are the traditions upon which a solid education is developed."
Former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder

"Together we have much to be proud of. Let us therefore be proud of this great culture, let us nurture it, and above all, let us open it up to as many people as possible. That is a process with which this College has been closely involved for three centuries."
His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, Heir to the Throne of the United Kingdom

"I have felt in the years since I graduated an indestructible, visceral connection to this place--a connection which is vital and real and which has sustained me through good times and bad."
Actress Glenn Close, Class of 1974

"Harvard is a pretty good school, too, but you've got to go a long way to find a school as good as this one."
Former Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger
Twentieth Chancellor of the College of William and Mary