Happy charter day, W&M
How about this venerable school?
On this day in 1693 King William and Queen Mary of what we now know as the United Kingdom issued a charter establishing William & Mary University in Virginia (US). As with many colleges and universities, W&M had a strong religious connection (Church or England, Episcopalian) at its beginning, but it became a secular institution when a group of prominent friends of the institution (James Madison and Thomas Jefferson among them) helped it de-emphasize divinity studies and establish a broad curriculum. More recently that curriculum has included special education.
Among the graduates from W&M1 are people who have made substantial contributions to special education over the years. For example, consider the late Marty Kauffman, whose birthday I’ve celebrated here on Special Education Today (22 September 2024) and for whom a research award is named (see SET 2 October 2024).
And among the members of the fine faculty at W&M are multiple people whom readers may know. Some of them—Daria Lorio-Barsten, Debbie Ramer and Betsy Talbott—are residents of our little SETland right here. Another is Heartley Huber, who will be known to alert readers because of her excellent work on understanding and supporting the development of social competence for students with intellectual disabilities and autism.2
It seems appropriate to nod to W&M on its charter day. “Here! Here!”
Footnotes
I think “W&M” is an okay abbreviation. When I was a child in the 50s in Virginia, my parents and their siblings talked about institutions of higher education around the commonwealth. There were really only four discussed, and references to W&M usually used the pet names of “The College” (sometimes “The College of Knowledge”) or “Bill and Mary.”
There are plenty of other folks currently or previously affiliated with W&M. I don’t mean to slight or disrespect them by not mentioning them here. There are even some with whom I’ve worked for years…Hey, y’all!
Thanks for the shout-out! Clearly, W&M punches above its weight, in the Commonwealth of VA and beyond...we have many esteemed graduates who are leaders in our field. I won't be able to name them all, but I do know that Tim Landrum and Kevin Sutherland earned their Masters degrees here, and Brian Boyd and Kathleen Zimmerman Tuck were grads at well--both earning BA degrees, and in Kathleen's case--a Masters too. Go Tribe!