Office of the President

I am writing to share the news that this will be my final year at Washington and Lee. This coming summer, Carola and I will move to California, where I will become the president of Claremont McKenna College.

Welcome to the start of the 2025-26 academic year. This is my favorite season on campus, when the slower pace of summer gives way to the energy of arriving students, and faculty and staff eagerly anticipate the coming term.

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.

Happy New Year and welcome back to campus for the start of a new term. I hope you enjoyed a peaceful and restorative break. In December, I shared highlights of the past calendar year at Washington and Lee. Taking stock of everything we have accomplished together over the last 12 months is inspiring. The coming term will be no different.

Washington and Lee is a welcoming, friendly, and mutually supportive community. Our students, faculty, and staff prize the trusting, respectful, and civil environment on our campus. We are united by our mission, diverse in our thinking, perspectives, and interests, and devoted to each other and to W&L.

Washington and Lee has been a leader for 150 years in combining the liberal arts, pre-professional education, and public service. This combination advances our mission, which commits us to developing the intellect and character of our students with the aim of preparing them to succeed in the personal, professional, and civic arenas.

Washington and Lee is civic-minded and forward-looking. Guided by its motto — non incautus futuri — the institution has always asked, at each moment in its long history, how it can best contribute not only to the success of its own students, but also to the nation and the world in which they will live.

Washington and Lee has taken care to preserve the historic character of our campus, which serves as a daily reminder that our fundamental work — providing an education that prepares young people for personal achievement and public service — has been conducted here since the 18th century.