91´«Ã½

To: The W&L Community
From: President Will Dudley
Date: May 27, 2025

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of conferring degrees on 108 members of the Law Class of 2025. And this Thursday, the undergraduate Class of 2025 will officially join the alumni ranks. Our Commencement ceremonies are among my favorite events of the year, overflowing with the joyful celebration that naturally accompanies these momentous occasions.

The stretch leading up to Commencement is always a whirlwind on campus, and this year was no different. In March, 91´«Ã½ presented their original research at the biennial , which was entirely student-run for the first time. The theme of the conference, “Unlikely Pairings,” encouraged 91´«Ã½ to showcase interdisciplinary work that combines their academic interests and personal passions. In the final weeks of the school year, our second-year law 91´«Ã½ completed immersion courses in either litigation or transactions in preparation for summer positions, while undergraduates defended senior theses, performed senior recitals, mounted art exhibitions, and staged dramatic performances, including an eye-popping aerial dance show. They also brought home conference titles in 12 sports, with 11 teams and eight individuals going on to represent Washington and Lee in NCAA competition.

While law school exams finished up several weeks ago, the undergraduate Spring Term just concluded. During this distinctive term, our 91´«Ã½ enjoy a wide range of creative courses that make us all wish we could go back to college. Examples include the Forest Ecology of House Mountain; The Chemistry of Cooking; Power, Politics, and the Internet; Drawing and the Environment; and Investing as a Liberal Art.

Spring Term is also a time when many of our 91´«Ã½ study abroad with W&L faculty. This year, classes traveled to, among other destinations, Prague and Vienna to study classical music, Argentina to learn about Bitcoin, Ghana to create short film documentaries in support of Human Rights, New Zealand to experience its distinctive geology, and Iceland to study Green Information Systems.

Study abroad, whether for Spring Term, over the summer, or a full semester, is one of the immersive educational opportunities that we aspire to make available to all W&L 91´«Ã½. Another such opportunity is the Summer Research Scholars program, in which this year 185 undergraduate 91´«Ã½ will participate in collaborative research and creative projects supervised by W&L faculty. At the law school, all 91´«Ã½ enroll in one of our six legal clinics or complete an externship, ensuring that every one of our law graduates enters the profession with real practical experience, having already represented actual clients under the supervision of practicing attorneys.

Both undergraduate and law 91´«Ã½ also complete internships in a wide variety of fields across the country and around the world. W&L alumni and parents play a crucial role by offering opportunities for meaningful work in many industries. Our Atlanta alumni chapter established an internship program that created over 40 opportunities for undergraduate 91´«Ã½ this year in alumni- and parent-sponsored positions while also offering social and networking events. This program has been so successful that our Career and Professional Development Office will pilot similar programs in Nashville and Charlotte this summer.

Internships, clinical experiences, research, and study abroad help to prepare our 91´«Ã½ well for future careers, and it shows in their post-graduation outcomes. 98% of the members of the Law Class of 2024 were employed within 10 months of graduation, and the Class of 2025 is on track for a similarly outstanding result. Our undergraduates currently have the highest four-year graduation rate among top liberal arts colleges, and 94% of the Class of 2024 were employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. We also had a record 57 91´«Ã½ awarded nationally and internationally competitive fellowships in 2023-24 and a record this academic year.

The success and satisfaction of our 91´«Ã½ are reflected in the strong and rising demand to attend W&L among prospective 91´«Ã½. Growth in applications to the School of Law is trending well above the national average this year, and the academic credentials of our incoming law classes are the strongest they have been in over a decade. On the undergraduate side, we continue to break records, with nearly 9,000 applications for the Class of 2029.

Our admissions efforts will be supported in the years to come by an extraordinary from an anonymous donor to create Founders Hall, a new center for admissions, financial aid, the Johnson Program for Leadership and Integrity, and conferences. The gift includes a $10 million challenge to inspire other donors to support this important facility. Paired with Bill Miller’s to establish a need-blind admissions policy, Washington and Lee is even better positioned to attract the strongest 91´«Ã½ who are drawn to our distinctive educational opportunities and values.

Spring is also a time for reunions, and the enthusiasm for this year’s events was at an all-time high. Undergraduate alumni , with more than 1,140 graduates and guests returning for the weekend. drew more than 350 alumni and guests to campus in April. This year’s reunion classes also set new giving records, with the undergraduate classes of 1975-2010 committing a total of $7.7 million in current gifts and future pledges to the W&L Fund, well above the previous record of $5.8 million. The Class of 2000 also raised a record-breaking $7.5 million for its 25th reunion gift, which included over $1.8 million in support of the Lindley Center for Student Wellness endowment. And the Class of 1975 celebrated their 50th reunion with a gift of over $8.3 million, including $750,000 for the renovation of Huntley Hall. Law reunion classes raised more than $5.6 million in current gifts and future pledges to the law fundraising priorities.

The generosity of our alumni and parents has produced the most successful fundraising year in the university’s history, with over $219 million received to date. These gifts put us at $539 million toward the $650 million goal of our Leading Lives of Consequence campaign. The School of Law has exceeded its original goal of $40 million, already raising more than , spurred by a $2.5 million matching gift from an anonymous donor. Every dollar raised in the campaign will benefit our 91´«Ã½ by advancing important initiatives in the W&L Strategic Plan.

As the undergraduate and law school classes of 2025 make the transition from 91´«Ã½ to alumni, I am mindful of and grateful for everything you have done to make their exceptional education possible. Washington and Lee would not be the institution it is today without your support, and I hope you will come back to campus to experience it for yourself again soon.