William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe sent the following message to the university community on Feb. 17, 2022. – Ed.

Dear William & Mary Community,

Charter Day weekend was particularly special this year, as we gathered to celebrate William & Mary’s 329th birthday. Our community arrived (many for the first time in months) to reunite in person, to commemorate the Asian Centennial and to reflect on the moment we are in as we build a stronger future through our five-year plan, Vision 2026.

The theme of building threads through Vision 2026. Building out — expanding our global reach; building on — educating for impact; and building towards — evolving to excel. William & Mary’s strengths will ensure we are known for innovative solutions to the most pressing issues of our time. 

Vision 2026 is the culmination of a comprehensive planning effort, begun in 2019, that invited our entire community to listen, think and strategize together to create a roadmap for the future. The planning process began with campus-wide engagement and progressed to environmental scans by expert teams. It has now reached completion through priority-setting by Cabinet.  

The pandemic intensified our need for concrete, meaningful actions within a defined time frame. And it taught us about our comparative advantages. Accordingly, Vision 2026 has two parts: strategic goals and cornerstone initiatives. 

  • The three strategic goals noted above — expand our reach, educate for impact, evolve to excel — set the direction for schools and units, who will advance them in substantive ways, as outlined by each area.  
  • The four cornerstone initiatives align distinctive expertise at William & Mary — our comparative advantages — with pressing national and global challenges. These domains, in which William & Mary can make a powerful difference to our communities and world, are datawaterdemocracy and careers

I encourage you to learn more by joining a Vision 2026 Community Conversation on March 7 at 4 p.m. ET, either via livestream or in person (Sadler Center, Chesapeake Ballroom) and by browsing the robust materials on the Vision 2026 website.

Hitting this latest milestone in planning is satisfying and I hope all those who contributed feel pride in the work that brought us here. That said, Vision 2026 is a starting place, not a finish line. I am grateful to all of you for advancing William & Mary’s promising future through continued partnership. And I look forward to all that we will build together.  

Best regards,

Katherine A. Rowe
President