Drapers' Company of London to receive 2014 Lord Botetourt Award
William & Mary will honor the Drapers’ Company of London with a Lord Botetourt Award during the Charter Day ceremony on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, at 4 p.m. in Kaplan Arena at William & Mary Hall.
The award is one of the university’s most distinguished recognitions. It honors non-alumni members of the William & Mary family who embody the philanthropic spirit and impact on the College of Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, who served as its rector for two years beginning in 1769.
The Drapers’ support for William & Mary students has made, and continues to make, a significant difference in the lives of young scholars and the communities they go on to serve.
The Drapers’ Company of London is a medieval English guild that is now an active philanthropic charity. For nearly 70 years, William & Mary has partnered with the Company to provide opportunities for students both from the College and from universities in the United Kingdom. The relationship has grown in recent years with the Drapers support for law and undergraduate student scholarships, as well as an exchange program between William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Bangor University in North Wales.
“The Drapers have done a vast amount of good over the centuries,” said William & Mary President Taylor Reveley, “and it’s our great privilege to honor them during our Charter Day rites.”
An ancient institution which, like William & Mary, was founded by British royal charter, the Drapers’ Company celebrates its 650th anniversary this year. The Company annually sponsors a Law School student, known as “The Drapers’ Scholar,” for postgraduate study at Queen Mary University of London as well as the Timothy J. Sullivan Scholars, William & Mary undergraduates studying abroad at select universities in the U.K.
Present to accept the award and deliver greetings will be the Master Draper, Admiral the Lord Michael Boyce, who leads the Company. Thomas Ronald Harris, junior warden, and Colonel Richard Winstanley, clerk, will accompany Boyce.