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- University Initiatives
- Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Initiatives
One of William & Mary’s core values is belonging. As we strive to create a welcoming and caring community that supports diverse perspectives, we are embracing initiatives and programs that build unity, raise awareness, offer vital resources and set us on a path toward a more just future.
Promoting Inclusive Excellence
The university and our community as a whole have answered the call to move beyond words and take action to accelerate positive change at William & Mary. Current initiatives include:
- The Lemon Project
- Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved
- Boswell Initiative
- Legacy Garden
- National Pan-Hellenic Council Garden
- Veteran’s Initiatives
- Posse Scholars Program
- Bray School/Digges House Project
- First-Generation Students
- Neurodiversity
- Women’s Initiatives
- Center for Student Diversity
- Identity-based Alumni Engagement
- WMSURE
- Center for Racial & Social Justice
Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Matter
We work collectively to ensure that William & Mary is a place where all faculty, students, staff and alumni feel supported and their different perspectives are affirmed. Through diversity, inclusion & belonging initiatives, we can
- Enhance the student experience — Diversity fuels innovation and brings a broad range of perspectives together to solve challenging problems and promote resiliency for all
- Foster compassion & positive connections — By providing an environment that embraces and respects individual strengths and teaches empathy and collaboration, all can flourish
- Deepen understanding & communication — Encouraging civil discourse around difficult topics and contrasting viewpoints is key to educating students who have an authentic appreciation for differences
- Strengthen W&M’s academic excellence — As a leading university, we are called to educate the next generation of change agents. W&M’s complex history and academic excellence position it well to lead Virginia and the nation in addressing social injustices
Your Support Makes a Difference
Your gift will provide critical, immediate support for key diversity, inclusion & belonging initiatives and programs. Current funding priorities across the university fall into four categories:
Student Diversity & Support: to enhance the success of students both in and out of the classroom and to create a climate on campus that is inclusive and welcoming to all students. Center for Student Diversity (1946)
Lemon Project: to contribute to and encourage scholarship on the more than 300-year relationship between African Americans and W&M. Lemon Project Fund (3527)
Faculty/Research Support (including lecture series): to fund training, outreach, programs and research that work toward a more inclusive university community. Diversity & Inclusion Fund (3980)
Affinity Inclusion & Engagement: to provide support and education about a wide array of topics between individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities to build understanding, civility and respect across differences.
Giving Opportunities
- Asian Pacific Islander Middle Eastern (APIM) Operating Fund for Alumni Engagement
Supports the programming of the Asian-Pacific Islander-Middle Eastern (APIM) Alumni Association, including alumni events and regional programming. - Boswell Initiative
Supports teaching and scholarship on dimensions of LGBT life, both within the U.S. and globally. Learn more about this initiative. - Camp Launch
Supports the Center for Gifted Education’s Camp Launch program in the School of Education. - Carroll F. S. Hardy Scholarship Endowment *
Honors the late Dr. Carroll F.S. Hardy, an esteemed administrator who impacted the lives of multiple generations of William & Mary students and students from across the country from under-represented backgrounds. - Center for Student Diversity
Supports the Center for Student Diversity at William & Mary. - Diversity and Inclusion Fund
Supports the most pressing needs of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, or its successor program, at William & Mary. - Dr. Betty Shabazz Lecture Endowment *
Honors the late Dr. Betty Shabazz and supports an annual lecture in multicultural affairs. - EY Diversity and Inclusiveness Fund
Supports and promotes diversity and inclusiveness learning at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. - Hulon L. Willis, Sr. Memorial Scholarship Endowment *
Recognizes students who have made significant contributions to the multicultural community at William & Mary. - Hulon Willis Association Operating Account
Supports programs, events, and alumni engagement initiatives of the Hulon Willis Association, William & Mary’s African-American alumni affinity group. - Jorge Alberto Urcuyo Scholarship
Provides need-based scholarship support to students who are residents in the U.S. but whose immigration status or classification makes them ineligible to receive federal student aid, with a preference for those who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS). - LatinX Operating Fund for Alumni Engagement
Supports the programming of the Latinx Alumni Association (Latino/a), including alumni events and regional programming. - Legacy Garden
Honors the first three African-American residential students at William & Mary and those that came before them. Learn more about this project. - Lemon Project Memorial to African Americans Enslaved by William & Mary
Provides support for a project to memorialize the enslaved people who labored on the campus of William & Mary. - LGBTQ+ Operating Fund for Alumni Engagement
Supports the programming of the Crim Dell Association: William & Mary LGBTQ+ Alumni, including alumni events and regional programming. - Multicultural Affairs Endowment *
Supports diversity programming at William & Mary. - National Pan-Hellenic Council Garden
To provide support for costs associated with the design of a plot at William & Mary to recognize historically African-American fraternities and sororities. Learn more about the garden. - Neurodiversity Initiative
Provides programmatic support for the Neurodiversity Initiative. - Richard Cornish Library Endowment *
Supports the purchase of materials to enrich the collections of the Earl Gregg Swem Library in literature and materials by and about gays and lesbians. - Stuart Calvin, Frances Gloria, and Julie E. Williams Fund for Diversity Programming *
Supports diversity programming at William & Mary. - W&M GALA Oral History Project
Supports the documentation of stories of the lives of W&M gay and lesbian alumni, faculty, staff and students. - William & Mary Scholar Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE)
Provides operational and programmatic support for the participants in the WMSURE program.
* - Indicates an endowed fund.
To build upon existing efforts, the university aspires to create the following:
- An endowed lecture series.
- An innovation fund.
- Faculty fellowships
- Staff diversity initiatives
To learn more or support these efforts, please contact:
- Suzanne M. Armstrong ’93, Assistant Vice President of Development, Campus Initiatives
- 757-221-7647
- smarmstrong@wm.edu