Friday, Feb. 10, The College of William and Mary celebrated its 330th Charter Day in Kaplan Arena. Charter Day, originally Founder’s Day, celebrates the awarding of the Royal Charter from King William III and Queen Mary II to the College in 1693. The ceremony also honored the 300th anniversary of the Brafferton Indian School, which was originally built to “educate, clothe, house and board Native youths,” but has a complicated history that speakers addressed during the event.
College President Katherine Rowe led the event, welcoming alumni, students, faculty and members of local Native tribes. The ceremony began with a reading of the College’s land acknowledgement by president of the American Indian Student Association Matthew Solomon ’24.
Following the acknowledgement, Rowe highlighted members of the College community who received the Alumni Medallion, Thomas Jefferson Award and the James Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership for 2023. She then introduced College Chancellor Robert Gates ’65 L.H.D. ’98 and the College’s rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ’74, P ’02, ’06.
“The nation’s founders, leaders from William and Mary prominent among them, wrote a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution encompassing the noblest ideals of freedom and liberty ever to underpin a society and a government,” Gates said. “But Americans have always known those ideals were aspiration, that our reality has, from the earliest days, fallen short of what we have professed to believe.”
Gates further emphasized the slow struggles for progress within the United States, stating that despite the challenges, Americans have still tried to shape and change their reality into something admirable. He believes this effort to strive for improvement is also part of the College’s philosophy, which has great potential to uphold the aspirations he previously mentioned.
“Core to William and Mary’s ideals and to its future is the open exchange of ideas, tolerance of different points of view, the willingness to listen and to learn and the determination of all to defend the freedom of expression and diverse opinion, to seek wisdom and mutual respect and, wherever possible, in bridging differences,” Gates said. “These qualities comprise the essence of the William and Mary experience.”
Gates and Poston then aided Rowe in awarding honorary degrees to United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and alumna Barbara “Bobbie” Berkeley Ukrop ’61, a former member of the College’s Board of Visitors and William and Mary Foundation.
Rowe honored Ukrop with the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa for her commitment to the community, her partnership with the College and her exemplification of leadership in her involvements.
Following Ukrop’s honorary degree ceremony, Gates and Poston bestowed Thomas-Greenfield with the degree of Doctor of Public Service Honoris Causa for her service to the United States during her 35-year career as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service and her current role as acting U.N. ambassador.
Thomas-Greenfield delivered the Charter Day acknowledgements following the degree presentation ceremony. She began her speech with an emphasis on the importance of the Brafferton Indian School and Bray School in the College’s history.
“This is the story of America, America in all of its noble ideas and profound contradictions,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“This is the story of America, America in all of its noble ideas and profound contradictions,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
While Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged the historical significance of the Brafferton Indian School’s efforts in educating Native American people, she also shared the school’s deep history of injustice.
“Students were pushed by the school’s leaders to assimilate and become ‘civilized,’” Thomas-Greenfield said. “But we must also recognize the historic nature of this school and the power that Native Americans gained from their education. Brafferton students became translators and diplomats for their communities. And despite efforts to whitewash their culture, Native students held on to their traditions, their language and their sense of self.”
Later in her speech, Thomas-Greenfield moved towards a call to action. Specifically, she shared her belief that everyone should work in public service at some point during their lifetime, encouraging all young people in the audience to spend at least two years in the public service sector to help make the world a better, safer and kinder place.
“Service will make the world better. But it will also make you better,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “You will find, as I have, that nothing is more rewarding than a life of service to others. And regardless of the field you go into, whether it’s business or academia or engineering, know this — your responsibility to the world is not defined by your title.”
“Service will make the world better. But it will also make you better,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “You will find, as I have, that nothing is more rewarding than a life of service to others. And regardless of the field you go into, whether it’s business or academia or engineering, know this — your responsibility to the world is not defined by your title.”
Thomas-Greenfield closed her speech with a nod to Bray School public historian Nicole Brown, who currently portrays Ann Wager in Colonial Williamsburg, the sole teacher at the Bray School for 14 years (1760-1774).
“When we understand our history and our world in all of its triumphs and shortcomings, its promises and complexities, we are better prepared to write the next chapter,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “And students, I am so excited to see the chapters that you will write, the future you create. Here at William and Mary, your education is being unlocked and there’s nothing left on earth that can contain it.”
Gates, who served as the United States Secretary of Defense under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, later reflected on the significance of the conferrals of the honorary degrees.
“I mean, both incredibly deserving,” Gates told the Flat Hat. “I’ve known the ambassador for a long time, and she has served many presidents, both Republicans and Democrats. A great, great diplomat, and often given really tough assignments. And obviously, Ms. Ukrop has done so much for the College, for so many other institutions, so both very, very deserving.”
For the last segment of the ceremony, Rowe introduced Chief Lynette Allston of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia to speak in honor of the Brafferton Indian School’s tercentennial.
“Tribal leaders are aware that present day discussions of Indian boarding schools are painful subjects for Indigenous people,” Allston said. “The 18th-century Brafferton was different from the boarding schools of the 19th and 20th-centuries, yet it was a colonial effort, and like many other policies, served to undermine tribal sovereignty and Native culture.”
Allston also emphasized that the Brafferton Indian School was a place where many Native people gained agency, offering education that would later help tribal members become translators and negotiators.
“The school’s legacy faded, however Native people did not fade away,” Allston said. “We are here to commemorate and reflect on a point in history, but Virginia’s tribes are not prisoners of the past, we are forward-looking. As tribes contemplate a bright new future, we look to William and Mary to respond to the Brafferton Indian School’s legacy and to reestablish and strengthen the bonds between the university and the historically affiliated tribal communities to this campus.”
“The school’s legacy faded, however Native people did not fade away,” Allston said. “We are here to commemorate and reflect on a point in history, but Virginia’s tribes are not prisoners of the past, we are forward-looking. As tribes contemplate a bright new future, we look to William and Mary to respond to the Brafferton Indian School’s legacy and to reestablish and strengthen the bonds between the university and the historically affiliated tribal communities to this campus.”
The ceremony concluded with an original rendition of “Happy Birthday” performed by the Gentlemen of the College and an exit processional before students, faculty and alumni celebrated together in the arena’s mezzanine.
“It’s pretty exciting to have it back,” Student Assembly’s Secretary of Health and Safety Emma Herber ’23 said.
Herber helped run this year’s Royal Court voting, and said that the pandemic had previously taken this event away from the student body. She explained her excitement for returning Charter Day back to full capacity.
Herber, a student Wellness ambassador, welcomed Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin and Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources John E. Littel P ’22 on their visit to the McLeod Tyler Wellness Center earlier in the day.
Youngkin and Littel later participated in a private visit to the Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved with Rowe and College First Gentleman Bruce Jacobson, before attending the launch of the new site of the Bray School in Colonial Williamsburg.
Littel, in his capacity as a member of the Board of Visitors and former Rector of the College, also participated in the Charter Day ceremony.
Former College president W. Taylor Reveley III discussed the significance of Charter Day as a defining tradition for the College.
“It’s a celebration of this magnificent university’s longevity,” Reveley said. “William and Mary is literally one of the oldest universities in the world, not just in the United States. And that’s one of our distinguishing characteristics — we are old and we remember our past and we know how to celebrate our birthdays.”
“It’s a celebration of this magnificent university’s longevity,” Reveley said. “William and Mary is literally one of the oldest universities in the world, not just in the United States. And that’s one of our distinguishing characteristics — we are old and we remember our past and we know how to celebrate our birthdays.”
Councilwoman and Clinical Associate Professor of Law Stacy Kern-Scheerer, who received the Thomas Jefferson award, also noted her appreciation for the event.
“I thought that the ceremony was really amazing to hear from Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and Chief Allston,” Kern-Scheerer said. “And it was my first time going to Charter Day, and it was really outstanding. I was really honored to receive the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award this year, and I know it’s something that I won’t forget.”
Student Assembly President John Cho ’23 commented that this Charter Day ceremony spoke to the spirit of service and community at the College.
“It really is such an honor to be a part of a beloved tradition at William and Mary, especially this year as we celebrate the Brafferton and the Bray School,” Cho said. “I want to say a thank you to every single student who showed up to celebrate with us.”
Member of the William and Mary Foundation, Director and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios Todd Howard ’93, who attended the event as a guest of Rowe, echoed this sentiment.
As part of the Charter Day celebrations, members of the College community attended the Alumni Medallion and Service Awards ceremony on Saturday Feb. 11, hosted by the William and Mary Alumni Association.
In attendance were CEO of the William and Mary Alumni Association Matt Brandon ’92, President of the William and Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors Anna Dinwiddie Hatfield ’96, Frank Shatz, a weekly columnist for The Virginia Gazette and Gates.
Karen Burnett ’75, Jimmy Lockedmonds ’08, M.Acc. ’09 and Tamara Wamsley ’80, P ’06, P ’11 received the Douglas N. Morton ’62 Service Awards.
Forest Branden, the head coach for the cross country team, received the Coach of the Year award. Board of visitors member Steve Huebner ’76 accepted the award on Branden’s behalf.
Sherry L. “Lonnie” Peace received the Faculty/Staff Service award for her position as the moving and storage supervisor.
Finally, four alumni, Cindy S. Jarboe ’77, P ’11, Councilwoman Barb Ramsey ’75, Stewart “Stew” Sell ’56, P ’83, P ’87, P ’91 and Tom Watkins III ’74, P ’05, P ’11, received the Alumni Medallion, the highest award offered by the William and Mary Alumni Association.
“I’m very honored to be awarded the alumni medallion and it does represent a lifelong relationship with William and Mary, way back when I got here in 1971,” Ramsey said. “Its alumni and everything has had a huge significance on the success of my life.”
Adjunct Lecturer of Economics Peter Atwater ’83 spoke on this years award recipients.
“To see these four recognized is so deserving and each of them had immense success beyond William and Mary,” Atwater said. “Humbling, and it is an example to all of us.”
