Wednesday, Feb. 7 to Friday, Feb. 9, the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary will hold its third quarterly meeting for this year. Items on the agenda include the elimination of the Master of Arts degree in Physics, which has not been awarded since 1970, increasing funding for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the Martha Wren Briggs project and the conferring of honorary degrees and professorships.
According to the board’s schedule, board members will meet with members of the Cypher Society, an association of former board members and their widows, the William and Mary Foundation Board of Trustees (whose membership includes Colonial Williamsburg Foundation President and CEO Cliff Fleet ’91, M.A. ’93, J.D. ’95, MBA. ’95), the Alumni Association Board and the Annual Giving Board.
The board will meet primarily in the Grimsley Board room in Blow Memorial Hall, while the joint meeting with other board groups will take place in the Alan B. Miller Hall on Thursday.
According to the College’s website, the boards will discuss the Democracy Initiative at the joint meeting.
“W&M has played a pivotal role in the shaping of Democracy since the founding of the United States, and since 1693 our university has been a home to and educated some of our country’s most exceptional leaders – great minds, scholars, innovators, and thought leaders,” a pre-read document on the website reads. “The Alma Mater of the Nation is committed to producing scholars and graduates who bring those critical capacities to the communities where they live, work, and lead.”
The board’s Committee on Institutional Advancement will also meet at the joint meeting. During its November 2023 meeting, the board had yet to receive a final report from the Values and Rankings working group regarding the College’s actions in response to its drop in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings. College President Katherine Rowe established the group in July 2023.
“Anyone who discounts William & Mary because of our rankings misunderstands where our priorities lie — they misjudge the end game we’re striving for,” Chair of the Institutional Advancement Committee S. Douglas Bunch ’02, J.D. ’06 wrote to The Flat Hat in September 2023. “Where the rankings depart from William & Mary’s values, William & Mary will not follow.”
The Committee on Administration, Buildings and Grounds will also consider a resolution to provide $2.2 million in additional funding for the Muscarelle Museum, increasing the total budget to $46 million.
“WHEREAS, unpredictable inflation and rapid cost escalation heavily impacted the construction industry during 2022, necessitating the postponement of several components of the project in order to remain within budget,” part of the resolution reads.
The board will also grant honorary doctorate degrees to Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III and former College Rector Jeffrey B. Trammell ’73. Their formal conferral ceremony will take place at the Charter Day ceremony on Friday, Feb. 9.
“The ceremony continues the university’s observance of the Year of the Arts and will feature student performances,” a W&M News announcement reads. “The celebration began last semester when William & Mary opened its state-of-the-art Fine and Performing Arts Complex, which includes the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall and a new music building. The expansion and renovation of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, which will be part of the new Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, is expected to be completed later this year.”
Trammell served as the first openly gay board chair of a major university in the United States. Former College Chancellor and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor officiated his wedding in the Supreme Court in 2013.
The annual Charter Day ceremony will take place in the Kaplan Arena on Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., with Lonnie Bunch giving the keynote address.