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 University has a goal to increase "undergraduate student enrollment from historically underrepresented and underserved populations" by implementing "new gateway initiatives to make W&M a preferred destination for underserved populations," making the "application process more inclusive and equitable," and by increasing "scholarship support for undergraduate students to promote affordability," among other strategies.

The University states it admits students "without regard for their immigration status" and "will continue to do all it can to support DACA/Undocumented students, including assisting them in accessing all available financial resources and navigating any renewal processes."

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

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

Student Affairs plans that RA and Head Staff will receive training in August, "centrally around D.E.I. introductory topics." In April/May leadership plans to "make necessary changes to curriculum and training materials... for learning around D.E.I."

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.

The University's core curriculum requires students to take COLL 350: Difference, Equity, and Justice, 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.” The course explores race as well as one other key social category such as gender, class, disability, etc.

The University's core curriculum requires students to take COLL 350: Difference, Equity, and Justice, 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.” The course explores race as well as one other key social category such as gender, class, disability, etc.

The School of Education released a "Statement on Anti-Racism," which denounced "racism in all forms." The school maintains a commitment to anti-racist pedagogy, anti-racism in the classrooms and curriculum, and anti-racism in the "life and culture of the school through policies, programmatic practices, hiring decisions, and governance representation."

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."

New Hires are required to complete "Diversity & Inclusion" training within the first 90 days of employment.

The University Advancement team states its "policies, practices, and culture will be re-examined to eliminate any implicit bias and unconscious discrimination." It also requires "staff to participate in programs designed to deepen [their] awareness and capacity to act in even more inclusive and welcoming ways."

In the "Branch Out Alternative Breaks," community engagement program, Site Leaders "research how racism impacts the issues they’re addressing on breaks and share it in their pre-trip education sessions." Furthermore, anti-Blackness and "how it could affect alternative breaks" is integrated into the program framework and Site Leader training.

The Department of Government released a statement affirming its support for "dismantling racist structures, systems of white supremacy, and institutions that perpetuate violence against Black people and that perpetuate inequality" and "challenging individual acts of anti-Black racism and white supremacy that foment violence against Black people and perpetuate inequality." Furthermore, the Faculty and Staff state they "recognize that [they] work in a university and a system of higher education that perpetuates anti-Black racism."

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.

The W&M Scholars Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving students from first-generation or limited-income backgrounds, with a special interest in "diverse" students with diverse perspectives.

The Government Department offers a student diversity fellowship in response to "Black students’ calls to address systemic racism and structural inequality in the United States and around the world, and the Department’s and College’s role in perpetuating these systems of oppression." The selected fellows, help "develop action points and benchmarks for fostering change consistent with the mission of the Government Department’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan" and is involved in a "more general commitment to being agents for equity."

The Sports Medicine Camp offers an "Ethnic Diversity" scholarship. To be eligible students must be of an ethnic minority.

The John Lewis Social Justice Award is an annual award for W&M juniors with a "demonstrated commitment to social justice issues and actions, and advocacy for human rights, including the right to vote." Awardees receive a $1500 financial scholarship and "participate in a year of formation opportunities to support their growth in social justice leadership."

The School of Education offers an Inclusive Excellence Mini-Grant, "designed to offer modest financial support to projects, opportunities, and programs that further the Inclusive Excellence goals of the School of Education" such as, "Procedural Justice, Distributive Justice, Relational Justice, and broad Climate considerations." Grants are awarded for up to $1,500 for individuals and $3,000 for collaborative efforts.

During Spring 2024, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion "selected seven projects to receive grants to support... diversity and inclusion initiatives" funded by the Innovative Diversity Efforts Awards (IDEA). The selected projects received between $500-$1,500.

The William and Mary Police Chief released a message regarding the "deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor." Chief Cheesebro stated policing "is about applying your knowledge and skills in a bias-free manner, and in fact, in a way that promotes inclusivity." He continued, "Our officers will continue to rely on our values as a department and use our training and teamwork to keep [students] and others safe in our community." He stated his direction for the police department "will always be bias-free policing."

Under the Student Assembly, The Policy Policy Project is "tasked with creating a community-driven structure that will annually look at police policies and how they affect student life, especially within the BIPOC subcommunities at W&M." Additionally, the project will work on initiatives "including, but not limited to, adjusting diversity & inclusion as well as impartial policing training, advocating for body cameras, and collecting data regarding student-police interactions."

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

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 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 was a collaboration between the DE&I leaders in the School of Education, Law and Business.

W&M's Center for Racial & Social Justice is a university-wide initiative that 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.

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.

The School of Education provides "Antiracism Curriculum Resources" for faculty and staff. Resources include "Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator," "Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Action," "Effective Teaching Is Anti-Racist Teaching," and "Racial Awareness," among others.  

The Future Faculty Development Program is a pipeline program that seeks to connect William and Mary with "those from groups underrepresented in the professorate, with a focus on historically underrepresented minorities in the United States."

In Spring 2024, the Lemon Project held its 14th annual symposium "centered on the theme of 'Taking Our Time: Healing Through Black History, Family and Communities'.”

The Student Assembly established "The Plan to Tackle Systemic Racial Injustice at W&M" which is in charge of "The Reparations Committee" and "The Academic Diversity Project," among others.

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.

William and Mary started the Lemon Project in 2009, stating it "is a multifaceted and dynamic attempt to rectify wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary through action or inaction." The Project aims to build "bridges between William & Mary and African American communities through research, programming, and supporting students, faculty, and staff."

The University released a "Diversity Statement." It expressed for the University to fulfill its "educational mission and become a place that is diverse, equitable and inclusive," that it "must acknowledge the uncomfortable truths of [its] history and consider the ways in which historical patterns of exploitation and exclusion may continue to shape [the] university."

The Civic and Community Engagement office states they are "committed to being anti-racist." Furthermore, the office "acknowledges the presence of racism both historically and presently in our community."

The University released a "Land Acknowledgement" which acknowledges "the Indigenous peoples who are the original inhabitants of the lands our campus is on today." The University recommends faculty, staff, and students read/show the acknowledgment before any major/special event or program and for the acknowledgment to be included in syllabi.

The "Hearth Memorial to the Enslaved" is dedicated to recognize, discuss, and memorialize the enslaved. The University founded the memorial because W&M's "hidden history includes a slaveholding past...for almost 170 years, the economy of the institution... was dependent upon the labor of enslaved people."

The College has renamed several buildings and departments that honored "supporters of the Confederacy or Jim Crow segregation." The school renamed Morton Hall, Taliaferro Hall, Maury Hall, Trinkle Hall, and the Lyon Gardiner Tyler Department of History.