College of William and Mary

The Office of Community Engagement, which envisions that students will prioritize working within and understanding community in a lifelong pursuit of social justice, used a "critical race theory-based process to inform a more inclusive leadership recruitment season and utilized a graduate intern to focus on bias reduction in the selection process." The office also used "bias-reduction strategies in all selection processes" "which [included] a first round anonymous review of applicants."

The Richard Bland College's Racial Justice & Equity Task Force held events for faculty including "- Understanding Underepresented Students@RBC," which covered topics such as "Types of Bias" and "Types of Microaggression."

The Richard Bland College's Racial Justice & Equity Task Force also held events such as "Racial Bias in Action" and "Black Hair Politics."

Additionally, the Richard Bland College's task force said, "Campus programming and training will be centered around the issue of White Allyship."

From June 2, to June 30, 2022, W&M hosted an Antiracism Book Club, where "DEI leaders from the schools of education, law and business" discussed the book "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo. The event is a collaboration between the DE&I leaders in the School of Education, Law and Business.

The Provost, deans, and faculty leadership will try to incorporate research on racial dynamics and disparities into the curricula. The “justice” requirement will be expanded.

As part of its college curriculum, W&M requires students to take COLL 350, which “enhances students’ knowledge and facilitates their critical analysis of the workings of power, privilege, and inequity in U.S. society and globally, past and present.” This course will explore race as well as one other key social category such as gender, class, disability, etc.

The Richard Bland College's Racial Justice & Equity Task Force will "move forward with outlining clear procedures for reporting actions of racial, gender, ableism discrimination in specific, multiple, intersectional, and combined forms, as such actions undermine the achievement of diversity, inclusion, and equality, which are fundamental for supporting human rights on campus."

The Global Research Institute will "host a workshop related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for all faculty and staff members. To the extent possible, this workshop will address the range of differences our team members bring to their work including race, ethnicity, culture, country of origin, gender and gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, neurological make-up (neurodiversity), religious views, political beliefs, education, marital status, language, veteran status, and worldviews."

"GRI’s Director will ask research labs to include diversity, equity, and inclusion goals as part of professional development for their staff members." Additionally, "All members of GRI’s Leadership, Programs & Outreach and Fiscal & Operations teams will complete an implicit bias quiz and at least one Cornerstone module related to diversity, equity, and inclusion." Furthermore, "GRI’s Director will ask research lab PIs and staff to complete an implicit bias quiz and at least one Cornerstone module related to diversity, equity, and inclusion."

A job posting for Prof/Assoc Professor & Department Chair of Theatre, Speech, & Dance at W&M specifies that the candidate must submit "a statement describing previous professional experience that reflects a commitment to diversity, anti-racism and inclusion."

W&M's Office of Diversity & Inclusion annually administers the Innovative Diversity Efforts Awards (IDEA) to fund projects that will advance the university’s DEI goals. In February 2023, it was announced that four diversity-related projects (a “long talk” about anti-racism, neurodiversity workshops, a symposium on Afro/Indigenous perspectives, and training on LGBTQIA+-affirming counseling) were made possible through IDEA grants.

"One Book, One Community" annual program will be focusing on race and racism in America using the book "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds.

The campus library has "The Antiracist Bookshelf" guide, which includes resources on "Addressing + Talking About Racism," "Intersectional Perspectives," "Systemic Racism," and "Whiteness."

The college's Global Research Institute has a DEI Committee "made up of six people: two GRI staff members, 2 research lab PIs and/or staff members, and two current students. This committee will be responsible for implementing the plan and reporting back on our successes and failures to the GRI leadership team."

The Global Research Institute said, as part of its DEI plan, "We will survey our students and alumni for feedback on the Institute climate at least once every three years (including a baseline survey during FY21). Results of the survey will be reviewed to identify areas for improvement."

The Richard Bland College also had a diversity audit performed.

The 13th annual Lemon Project Spring Symposium was hosted on March 24-25, 2023. This event discussed and explored the topic titled “At The Root: Exploring Black Life, History, and Culture.”

On November 4, 2021, W&M hosted an event titled "The Attack on Critical Race Theory: Interactive Panel Discussion" to discuss why CRT is so contested, “how it fits in a classroom, and attempt to identify future trends as well as where recent arguments have come from.”

William and Mary's Sociology department offers a collaborative research project called the "Social Justice Policy Initiative", which is a faculty-student collaborative project to engage in policy-oriented and community-based research and advocacy.

W&M's Center for Racial & Social Justice is a university-wide initiative housed in the Law School. The Center focuses on conducting research, educating, and engaging in antiracist and social justice work. Its work addresses "many dimensions of social justice", including ability, environmental justice, gender, human and civil rights, immigration, sexuality, and socioeconomic class.

In 2009, the Board of Visitors offered its support for the establishment of The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation. The Project is named for Lemon, a man who was once enslaved by William & Mary, and is a "multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary through action or inaction." The program will study the 300-year relationship between African Americans and W&M through five main goals and objectives: 1) expand The Lemon Project’s local, national, and global leadership roles in the universities studying slavery movement; 2) research the lives of Africans and African Americans from the 17th century to the present and share this knowledge on and off campus; 3) establish physical presence on campus; 4) engage and collaborate with colleagues across the university and the Greater Williamsburg area; 5) contribute to enriching experiences for African American students with programs and opportunities fostering belonging.

The Department of Education has an Antiracism Curriculum guide, where it provides resources for instructors on how to become an anti-racist educator and incorporate anti-racist pedagogy in practice. This antiracism curriculum page is part of the broader Faculty DEI Resources page, which collaborated with the Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation and university Office of Diversity & Inclusion to provide resources in these nine areas: antiracism curriculum, critical race theory and education, building educator cultural competence, inclusive pedagogical tools, course syllabus review tools, culturally responsive assessment tools and strategies, organizational culture and climate, current events/civil discourse in classroom settings, and STEM.

The School of Education has a DEI Weekly Newsletter.

"Moving Your Group to Action" is an "anti-racist allyship resource" for W&M student organizations provided by the Student Leadership Development and the Center for Student Diversity.

The Office of Community Engagement, Student Leadership Development, and Student Unions & Engagement created a Campus Activism & Advocacy Resources page.

On November 3, 2022, W&M Office of Diversity & Inclusion hosted the 7th annual Diversity & Inclusion Symposium "Creating an Inclusive Community; Actions Speak Louder than Words". The event was sponsored by Ernst & Young.

William & Mary’s Working Group on the Principles of Naming and Renaming submitted a final report to the college's president. The report includes "includes a list of recommendations for how the university should move forward in reviewing the names of buildings, structures and spaces on campus as well as a prioritized list of people to be considered for upcoming naming opportunities." The president has asked for "a review of Taliaferro Hall, Cary Field and Morton Hall as candidates for renaming." The college president also asked the Design Review Board to prioritize other alumni "who may be honored through future naming opportunities." So far, the college says, "Last August, the working group presented a draft set of principles and imperatives to the board for review and then a final version in September, which was approved by the board. At that same meeting, the board designated the Design Review Board as the body responsible for reviewing naming and renaming requests. The Board of Visitors also approved the renaming of two campus buildings: Maury Hall and Trinkle Hall."

The Flat Hat – The College of William and Mary’s student newspaper – recently published a story which highlighted activist Diana Kim who set out to bring light to the need to understand Asian American history. Kim set out to create a petition to “include Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) history in Virginia’s K-12 public education system.” She stated that her goal for this petition was to “aim to have the public realize the depth of APIA history and the importance of teaching it.” Kim also created the Asian Virginia Alliance in the spring of 2022 in hopes of “[providing] a community and support base for Asian Americans in Virginia.”

The College of William and Mary released a statement from the Board of Visitors that “acknowledges that William and Mary enslaved people, exploited them and their labor, and perpetuated the legacies of racial discrimination.” As research continues on this topic through the Lemon Project, W&M “commits to [continuing their] efforts to remedy the lingering effects of past injuries.”

In October of 2021, the William and Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice published an article titled "Reform, Retrench, Repeat: The Campaign Against Critical Race Theory, Through the Lens of Critical Race Theory." The article discussed a variety of topics including “the racial justice movement that surged after [George] Floyd’s murder…” as well as using CRT to “place these events in historical and theoretical context” and more.

In the Department of Anthropology's antiracism statement, the department asserts that anthropology is "a field conducted predominantly by whites in colonial and neo-colonial contexts", said that it strives to "[decolonize] the discipline", affirmed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and pledged its "continued commitment to creating and nurturing a community that in its composition undermines the institutional and societal structures of inequity which are rooted in Eurocentrism."

The Department of Geology has an anti-racism statement, in which it expresses its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, criticizes how geology is among the least diverse STEM fields in the US and that their department is "no exception", and highlighted how the department will address "environmental racism". A new course, COLL 350, centering on difference, equity, and justice will be introduced.