Thursday, Jan. 15, the College of William and Mary named 2026 to be the “Year of Civic Leadership,” inviting guests Gov. Abigail Spanberger and filmmaker Ken Burns to speak at this year’s Charter Day festivities.
Assistant Provost for Leadership and Academic Engagement Roxane O. Adler Hickey, the chair of the university’s Year in Civic Leadership Committee, explained the College’s decision to emphasize public service aligns with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States. She noted that the College significantly contributed to the founding of the nation, and this designation hopes to highlight that deep connection.
“The Year of Civic Leadership reflects a university-wide effort to both look back and look forward as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary,” Adler Hickey said. “William and Mary has played a formative role in the life of the republic, and this moment invites us to reflect on that legacy while recommitting ourselves to the responsibilities that come with it. Across the university and among our alumni, there is already an extraordinary amount of civic leadership underway, and this year allows us to elevate, celebrate and learn from that work together.”
Adler Hickey also remarked that this celebration of the semiquincentennial at the College is not merely reflective. Instead, the Year of Civic Leadership hopes to stress the importance of the development of future leaders at the College.
“As we mark the 250th, we are being intentional about learning together with humility and care, not only celebrating the past, but preparing the next generation of civic leaders,” Adler Hickey said. “By the end of the year, we hope to have fostered a shared understanding of civic leadership rooted in service, integrity, dialogue and sustained commitment to work that endures beyond the moment.”
This focus on cultivating the next generation of civic leaders is demonstrated through current efforts to bring students and the broader community together in the spirit of public service.
“The work already happening across the university is remarkable, and the Year of Civic Leadership creates space to bring those efforts together more intentionally so students and our entire community can see, engage with and learn from that work more fully,” Adler Hickey said.
The College’s emphasis on civic leadership is not new. Each year, the Office of Civic and Community Engagement hosts a cohort of approximately 15 students in its Civic Leadership Program. Throughout the year, participants take part in classes and retreats designed to prepare them for a summer project in an area of community engagement of their choosing.
Halley Stewart ’28, a member of this year’s cohort, described the program’s focus as providing students with meaningful, real-world experience.
“Overall, I’d say the program’s main goal would be to provide us with an opportunity for hands-on practice that can amount to positive social change,” Stewart said.
Stewart further reflected on her personal goals for the program and what she hopes to gain from the experience. She said that with the guidance of the Civic Leadership Program, she hopes to become a stronger advocate within her community, and hopes that completing her own project will allow her to see the impact of her values and actions on others.
“By the end of this semester, with the help of this program, I hope to develop a stronger sense of self-assurance regarding being an active contributor, rather than just a member,” Stewart said. “While I’m certainly looking forward to learning from my peers, I’m equally excited to try and find my own grounding. I’d like to leave this knowing how I can learn from the environment I embed myself in, while simultaneously seeing how my particular values and actions can positively impact them. I anticipate that working on a project around a civic issue I’m passionate about will be an eye-opening and rewarding experience moving forward.”
Alonndra Santiago ’28 is another member of this year’s cohort. She recalled that her interest in civic leadership began with her long-standing commitment to promoting inclusion in her community. In high school, Santiago worked with Best Buddies, an organization that aims to support students with disabilities. She further served as the Director of Community Inclusion for Pi Beta Phi at the College.
Santiago remembered feeling excited to have been accepted into the program. When meeting the other members of the cohort for the first time, she remarked that it was interesting to see everyone with such different interests come together with the common goal of becoming better leaders in their communities.
“We had our first meeting last semester, and it was so fun because I got to meet all these people with different backgrounds, which was really cool because not everyone in the program has the same niche or interest,” Santiago said. “Everyone has different interests, but at the same time, it all overlaps, which is really cool.”
To Santiago, the College’s decision to name this year the Year of Civic Leadership only expands upon the leadership-focused work already taking place on campus. She noted that the initiative helps frame civil service as something that extends across the entire College, rather than being limited to formal leadership roles or select groups of students.
“But for it to be like in a broader aspect, I feel like it reaches the entire school instead of just like all these people in this program,” Santiago said. “So, all these different leaders in all these different organizations — and it doesn’t even have to be like a leader of an organization — just you doing something in your day-to-day, like lifting your voice and just doing the things you’re passionate about, because leaders come in all shapes and forms.”
