Friday, Jan. 24, College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe shared the College’s 2024 financial report. She highlighted the $100 million donation from Jane Batten HON ’17, L.H.D. ’19 which helped establish the Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences.
“We are stewarding our beautiful campus for the next century as well: with the most significant transformation to our built environment since the 1920s,” Rowe wrote in an email to the College community. “The ongoing renovations will modernize learning and living communities for our students.”
Rowe attached a link to the report in the email, where the budget is divided into more specific categories and uses.
“At $621.3 million, operating revenues for the university and its affiliated foundations increased by $34.0 million — or 5.8% — over the prior year,” College Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Michael J. Todd shared on the website. “The largest dollar increase was in private funds, 22.6% ($107 million raised in FY24), as William & Mary continues to benefit from the generosity of donors, which strengthens the university’s financial foundation.”
Todd elaborated on the College’s increased state funding, largely used to support grants and research aligned with Vision 2026.
“State funds increased 5.9% for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s share of salary and benefit increases, continued investment in affordable access funding along with base support for financial aid,” Todd wrote “Grants and contracts in research, 15.1%, reflected our commitment to the goal in Vision 2026 of expanding William & Mary’s reach.”
The website also has specific details regarding investments made by the 1693 Partners Fund.
“The portfolio’s investments in Global Public Equities returned a positive 15.6% for the fiscal year, compared to the MSCI All Country World Index, its benchmark, which produced a positive 19.9%,” Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the 1693 Management Company Brian Hiestand wrote. “As of June 30, 2024, Global Public Equities represented 50.0% of the aggregate portfolio. In terms of geography, the best performing sub-asset class was Developed International Equities. The portfolio’s U.S.-focused public equity investments, with a weighting of 27.6%, returned a positive 19.2%, trailing the 23.1% return for the Russell 3000 Index.”
The webpage also has a section about Robert M. Gates Hall, which is currently under renovation. The renaming of Brown Hall to Gates Hall and the College’s finances became topics of conversation among the student body last year, with the Student Assembly proposing a referendum calling for the 1693 Management Fund to divest from companies backing Israel The referendum passed with 56.9% of the vote.
“This referendum calls for The College of William & Mary to submit an audit of their endowment to determine the extent to which it is implicated in companies that uphold The State of Israel’s system of apartheid and continued infliction of violence against Palestinians, and to immediately divest from such funds, as well as end institutional ties to such corporations,” the referendum said.
Rowe later said the College would not boycott Israel.
“As William & Mary’s Vision statement reads, people come here ‘wanting to understand and change the world – and together we do,’” Rowe wrote. “At a learning institution, we do this by holding open spaces for respectful disagreement: recognizing that we may not share the same experiences and perceptions, and committing to grow in understanding. Collective blame is antithetical to these goals. For those reasons, William & Mary will not pursue a boycott of Israel as proposed in the student referendum.”
The College announced the renaming of Brown Hall to Gates Hall in March 2024, following a $30 million donation from an anonymous donor to renovate the hall. The renaming was met with both support and criticism from the community.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to recognize Chancellor Gates,” the donor, who served on the board of the William and Mary Foundation, said. Given the divisions in our nation and world, we need leaders of his caliber, patriotism and integrity — now more than ever.”
The financial report details the College’s goals for the hall.
“Brown Hall, currently a vacant residence hall, will transform into Robert M. Gates Hall and will serve as a hub for research and teaching that spans disciplines, addressing global challenges such as economic development and inequality, geopolitical conflict, national security and conservation,” the report states. “Gates Hall will be home to the Global Research Institute, the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the Whole of Government Center of Excellence.”
The full report is available on the College’s website, including archived reports from every year since 2019.
