The College of William and Mary is one of six inaugural U.S. universities invited to participate in the Entente Cordiale University Challenge. The annual academic competition brings together students and alumni from universities to develop research papers following a challenge-wide theme.
The Entente Cordiale University Challenge was designed to commemorate the signing of the 1904 Entente Cordiale, a series of agreements between the United Kingdom and France that significantly improved their relations.
The Entente Cordiale Day Initiative was launched exactly 120 years after the signing of the agreements with the support of King Charles III and President Emmanuel Macron.
Associate Director of International Communications Kate Hoving is supporting those who choose to participate. Hoving described the challenge as multifaceted, with a focus on the intersection between academics and global challenges.
“Entente Cordiale Day aims to become a forum where current students and future leaders meet annually in April to present to today’s global leaders their ideas, recommendations and innovative solutions to tackle the most pressing global challenges,” Hoving said.
The challenge includes a select group of leading U.S. universities this year to celebrate France’s pivotal role in the United States’ fight for freedom.
“[The U.S. universities’] purpose is also to show how alliance, sacrifice, diplomacy and shared purpose helped shape America’s birth and the Declaration of Independence itself, lessons that remain essential at a time of profound global uncertainty,” Hoving said.
Students at the College of any degree level can register as teams for the challenge, provided they meet the handbook’s requirements. To facilitate this process, each university appoints a liaison to coordinate with the challenge’s leadership in the United States, United Kingdom and France.
Sasha Rinkevich ’27 fulfills that role as the College’s challenge branch president.
Participants will work in teams of three to write and submit their paper. They can choose to consult the advice of a faculty advisor, but the work must be entirely their own.
The theme of this year’s challenge is “Artificial Intelligence, Power and Ethics.”
“Students can approach the topic from any discipline or take an interdisciplinary approach,” Rinkevich said.
Each theme has three tracks that target different disciplines.
Participant Joseph Nicholas Valdecañas said the wording of these prompts will yield a wider variety of interpretations.
The finalists’ summit, scheduled for April 2027 at the University of Oxford, will bring together the top 10 teams from the United Kingdom, France and the United States, respectively, to present their proposed solutions to a grand jury. The five best teams from each country will then be awarded the Entente Cordiale Prizes.
Hoving emphasized the role of international connection.
“I’m excited that students will be able to show how smart and capable they are and also have an opportunity to hear some European perspectives,” Hoving said.
Valdecañas echoed a similar sentiment.
“I think it’s quite fascinating to have this competition that connects both European and American thought,” he said. “I think really exploring the differences and opinions on the specific topic and how different higher education students will view it is quite interesting.”
