Something Old, Something New

Iam writing this letter having just returned from Charter Day Weekend. We celebrated our 319th birthday with wonderful energy and spirit. Our new chancellor, Robert M. Gates ’65, L.H.D. ’98, the first alumnus chancellor in the “modern age,” was invested and gave a stirring speech that spoke of our beloved College and our nation today. I encourage you to make plans to attend our 320th birthday party. Charter Day is a moving ceremony that reinforces what a distinctive school we have.

There are two other hallmarks of the weekend. The first is the Alumni Medallion Ceremony where the William & Mary Alumni Association recognizes alumni who have contributed significantly to their communities and to the College. Their dedication to William & Mary illustrates in living color what we mean when we speak of a lifelong relationship. For Ruth W. Tillar ’45, it means 70-plus years of active relationship with the College, underlined by having never missed a homecoming since her graduation! With this “rose” in the center, she had a fellow honoree on one side in Henry C. Wolf ’64, J.D. ’66, whose service to the College and community was underlined by an eight-year term on the Board of Visitors including serving as rector for two years. And on the other side was Joseph S. Agee ’52, M.Ed. ’56. Joe, the coach, inspired and challenged men and women to do their very best for over 32 years! It does not get any better than this. We are so lucky to have people like this as part of our William & Mary family.

The second hallmark of Charter Day Weekend was the ever-growing intercommunication between the various boards of directors. For the previous two years, Rector Jeff Trammell has set aside a full afternoon for a joint meeting of the Board of Visitors (BOV), the Foundation Board of Trustees, and Alumni Association Board of Directors. These are meetings where President Taylor Reveley, committee chairs, and the College’s alumni, development and communications staffs discuss the College’s strategic plan. The resulting energy, understanding and appreciation serves to underscore the critically important role we each play given reduced Virginia state support and the need for all College entities to pull together in the same direction.

Lastly, I want to comment on the great team that Karen R. Cottrell ’66, M.Ed. ’69, Ed.D. ’84, executive vice president of the Alumni Association, has put together to serve our more than 88,000 alumni. You will see this expressed in an improved website that is easier to navigate thanks to our director of communications, Mitch Vander Vorst, and his team. And Mitch tells me we have just begun. We are also focused on how we can better engage alumni with a new department led by Director of Alumni Engagement Brooke Harrison. We are determined to fulfill our mission: To provide services and avenues for alumni and friends to develop loyalty to, understanding of, and lifelong relationships in the present and future of the College. Your feedback and ideas are always welcome as we strive to involve and communicate with each of you.

GO TRIBE!

Power & Promise

Charter Day 2012 was an especially momentous occasion. During the ceremony, Robert Michael Gates was invested as William & Mary’s 24th Chancellor. Like British universities, William & Mary spares its Chancellor the burdens of governance and the molestations of management. Our Chancellor focuses instead on symbolizing the continuity and splendor of William & Mary, on providing wise counsel to the campus community while gracing our most important ceremonies, and on pressing the flesh from time to time with students, faculty and alumni.

Before the American Revolution sundered William & Mary’s ties with the mother country, the College’s chancellors were Archbishops of Canterbury or Bishops of London, plus an occasional earl or two. William & Mary then had very close ties to the Anglican Church. After the Revolution, our first American Chancellor was none other than the great George Washington, who assumed the post in 1788 and held it until his death in 1799, including while he was President of the United States.

During recent times, starting in 1986, we have had a brilliant run of Chancellors — former Chief Justice of the United States Warren Burger, former Prime Minister of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, then the incomparable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, and now our own alumnus, Bob Gates, Class of 1965, who is the only person to serve as U.S. Secretary of Defense under presidents from different political parties and whose career in public service is the stuff of legend. That Secretary Gates was asked to continue heading the Defense Department despite a dramatic shift in political control of the White House was powerful testimony to his integrity, judgment and capacity to lead. All in all, Bob Gates has worked for eight U.S. presidents. When he retired from federal service in June 2011, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

William & Mary’s chancellorship is one of many treasures from the College’s storied history. The people who hold the office provide convincing evidence that William & Mary is a special place and those associated with it are making a difference for the better.

To revisit my favorite quote from Thomas Jefferson’s biographer, Dumas Malone, “Our continent has provided no greater seedbed of greatness than the one square mile of this old colonial capital, and no American institution of learning has ever surpassed the record of this little College, in Jefferson’s generation, as a nursery of statesmen.” When Jefferson completed his studies at William & Mary in 1762, two and a half centuries ago, the College was already 69 years old. Fast forward 250 years to today, and William & Mary, in its 319th year, has become one of the most time-tested and acclaimed institutions of higher education in America and one of the most prolific producers of graduates devoted to the good of their communities, states and nation. Bob Gates, Class of 1965, stands splendidly in this tradition.

William & Mary’s deep roots in American history and seminal role in the creation of the United States, coupled with its striking contemporary accomplishments, make a dynamite combination. When you mate being one of the very first colleges in North America, and having been present at the creation of our country, with the dynamism of vibrant success in our time, you get an institution of enormous power and promise.

In the closing section of his Charter Day remarks, Chancellor Gates reminded us of the College’s special role: “In the great and urgent endeavors that lie before us, I have no doubt that the graduates and scholars of William & Mary — this community of learning, listening and working through issues — rooted in the original soil and the basic principles of American liberty, have a special role, and a special obligation, to be part of the solution: as leaders, as public servants, as citizens.”

We embrace that role, for all time coming.

The portrait of the ‘Iron Lady’ returns

Meryl Streep took home an Oscar on Feb. 26 for her role as Margaret, the Lady Thatcher in the recent movie The Iron Lady. But before the former British Prime Minister was portrayed on the big screen, she was captured on canvas while serving as the first post-colonial English Chancellor of William & Mary.

Now, that portrait of the “Iron Lady” has returned to the College’s Sir Christopher Wren Building after traveling to Russia.

The oil on canvas painting by esteemed American portrait painter Nelson Shanks was displayed at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg from last June to July, as well as at the Russian Academy of the Arts from July to October. The exhibition, which featured a number of works by Shanks, was organized by the Foundation for International Arts and Education. This organization, Melissa Parris, registrar at the Muscarelle Museum of Art explained, “helps to protect and preserve the historical and cultural legacy of the countries of the former Soviet Union” through arts and exhibition programs.

“I think this is a pretty historic and important exhibition,” Parris said. ”I don’t think there’s often a solo artist show that’s in Lady Margaret Thatcher (left) sits for her portrait by artist Nelson Shanks (right). such prominent Russian museums, so in that way it’s important for the artist and for showing American art in another country. But also, for us, the College is represented all the way in Russia. I think that it’s really particularly important that, in this portrait, she’s wearing the William & Mary chancellor’s robe.”

While other objects from the museum collection have been loaned overseas before, it is the first time there has been a loan to Russia.

The portrait of Thatcher was commissioned by the College of William & Mary in 1998 and purchased with the support of alumnus J. Bruce Bredin ’36. At the time, Thatcher, who served as the College’s chancellor from 1993-2000, was a familiar face on campus.

“She went to Richmond on our behalf,” recalled Louise Kale, director of the Historic Campus. “She lent herself to fundraising appeals. She was a real presence at William & Mary, especially when you compare her to the Colonial chancellors or to George Washington, who agreed to accept the office of chancellor only after being reassured that he would not have to travel to Williamsburg. The College — everybody at the College — related to her in a personal way.” Kale was present when the artist, Shanks, initially visited William & Mary to discuss the portrait.

“He came to the Wren Building to choose the wall in the Blue Room where the portrait would hang,” Kale said. “So, the portrait was actually painted specifically for the Blue Room and specifically for the wall where the portrait is displayed today.”

After seeing where the portrait would be displayed, Shanks purchased an antique carved wood and gilded frame especially for the portrait.

“The artist was so invested in how this portrait was going to look in the setting for which it was painted,” Kale said.

The chancellor’s regalia featured in the portrait was designed in 1993, the College’s 300th anniversary, and first worn by Thatcher. The robe is made of green silk damask and decorated by gold oak leaf lace and gold ornaments.

The completed portrait was unveiled on Charter Day in 2000. The dedication ceremony was held in the Blue Room on the last day of classes in April 2001. During the ceremony, Thatcher was made an honorary member of the class of 2001.

The newly dedicated portrait, like its subject, “came and went,” in Kale’s words. In 2002, the portrait was taken to Palm Beach, Fla., for an exhibition of Shanks’ works. In 2004 and 2006, it traveled to Philadelphia, again, as part of exhibitions displaying his paintings.

“Nelson Shanks really likes to be represented by that portrait because it is spectacular,” Kale said.

Parris, too, noted the beauty of the portrait, which is the latter of two portraits of Thatcher painted by Shanks.

“It’s got such a jewel-like quality that you don’t really see in the digital images or the published image of it,” Parris said.

Preparing for the Journey

The following year, the Muscarelle Museum of Art was approached by the Foundation for International Arts and Education. As the museum’s registrar, Parris handled the “nuts and bolts” to prepare for the portrait’s journey. In the following months, Parris reviewed all their facility reports and the organization’s fine arts insurance policy. Issues that had to be addressed included environmental conditions and climate control, among other things.

“We really have to make sure that its placement isn’t going to affect it either aesthetically because it’s in some weird niche, but also so that the climate control can be maintained and it’s not getting excess heat and dryness from any heat source,” Parris said.

The next step was to actually prepare the portrait for the journey, which involved creating a microclimate frame and a crate.

Finally, on June 2, 2011, the portrait of Margaret, the Lady Thatcher, was exhibited at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, the first state museum in Russia. The exhibition, named “Nelson Shanks in Russia,” featured 50 pieces by Shanks, including portraits of American presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Shanks himself traveled to Russia for these exhibitions, teaching a master class at the Russian Academy of the Arts in Moscow. He was also featured in Russian media, being interviewed with the portrait of Thatcher in her green and gold robes over his shoulder.

APO celebrates 50 years of friendship, leadership, service

Like so many before them, the members of William & Mary’s chapter of Alpha Phi Omega are spending hundreds of hours of their time this semester tutoring, repairing houses and working with animals. But, somewhere amid all of that service, they are also celebrating.

The Nu Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service fraternity, is celebrating its 50th anniversary of its founding this academic year.

e chapter, which is one of the largest student organizations on campus, has approximately 280 members, making it one of the largest chapters in the country.

With 17,000 members at 366 college campuses throughout the country, Alpha Phi Omega is the largest Greek letter fraternity in the country. It boasts numerous notable alumni, including William & Mary’s new chancellor, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ’65 L.H.D. ’98. (see page 42.)

William & Mary’s chapter of the organization is involved in multiple service projects, said Andy Monick ’13, Nu Rho president. The group’s members tutor at Matthew Whaley Elementary School, collect tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Charities, volunteer with Dream Catchers, spend time at the Boys and Girls Club of Williamsburg, work on Housing Partnerships projects, and socialize animals at Heritage Humane Society.

The chapter’s main service project, however, is Campus Escort, which provides safe transportation to students on campus nightly between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.

During the fall 2011 semester, approximately 160 members of the chapter performed more than 4,000 hours of service, said Monick.

History

Planning for the Nu Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega started in spring of 1961 under the leadership of Jim Savedge ’63, David Greenfield ’63 and Sam Sadler ’64, M.Ed. ’71 who all worked hard to encourage their classmates to join. The chapter was chartered in December 1961.

Alpha Phi Omega, which began as an allmale organization, was an outgrowth of the Boy Scout movement, and all of its original members had once been involved in scouting, said Sadler, who served as the chapter’s chartering president.

The chapter’s first service projects ran a wide gamut, said Sadler. The members worked on trails and repaired facilities at a scout camp in James City County and served as ushers during large campus events.

The original members of the Nu Rho chapter went on after college to various careers, but all continued to serve — whether through education, law, business or local service opportunities, said Sadler.

As for him, Sadler ended up serving the College of William & Mary for more than four decades, lastly as its vice president for student affairs. Sadler said that his experience with APO helped to focus his attention on service

“By challenging us to look at the needs in our community and on the campus, it opened our eyes and encouraged us to become involved,” he said. “From its beginning, APO was an organization of students who wanted to make a difference and who were willing to work hard together to accomplish that.”

The chapter also provided students opportunities for leadership, said Sadler

Anniversary Celebration

The Nu Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega celebrated its 50th anniversary quietly in the fall semester during its general meeting.

“It was pretty low-key (pizza and cake), but it was fun spending time with each other nonetheless,” said Monick.

Sadler said he is proud of what APO has become in the time since its founding.

“None of us who were the charter members of Nu Rho Chapter could ever have imagined it would become what it is after five decades,” he said, adding that APO even went idle for a while but later “reestablished itself into an incredibly impressive organization.”

Looking forward, Monick hopes that the chapter continues its work for another 50 years and more.

“Ultimately, we hope that in another 50 years, APO will be as positive a force in students’ lives as it is for all of us now,” he said.

Though Swem Library’s Special Collections Research Center has some Alpha Phi Omega material, it is looking for more to be added to its collection. Former or current members who would like to possibly contribute items should contact University Archivist Amy Schindler at 757.221.3094 or acschi@wm.edu