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Student Life
Our community.
YOUR VOICE MATTERS HERE.
Your peers will come from different places and perspectives, and together you’ll make W&L your own. As a residential university, W&L allows students to live on campus for at least their first three years and build lasting friendships from their first days. Our Speaking Tradition encourages students, faculty and staff to greet each other on campus. It’s an honest display of the warmth and friendliness that is a hallmark of the university. Central to the W&L community is the studentrun Honor System. The nature of the Honor System and the way it is embraced by the entire campus builds a powerful culture of citizenship and responsibility. W&L’s Office of Inclusion and Engagement builds on the sense of community by fostering a culture for everyone to feel welcome and fully engage in W&L’s opportunities. The office develops programs that explore, promote and celebrate the increasingly diverse backgrounds of our students, faculty and staff. The Student Activities Office sponsors a variety of campus-wide events that create a fun and dynamic atmosphere. The Campus Unity Initiative, which is organized by students, includes everything from karaoke to speakers, movie nights to free food. Friday Underground encourages friendships through meaningful conversations over coffee and live music.
Honor. A way of life.
THE STUDENT-RUN HONOR SYSTEM HAS THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL AND ENDURING IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY.
The Honor System at W&L is based on the fundamental principle that students will not lie, cheat, steal or otherwise violate the community’s trust. The system is entirely student-run, instills a profound sense of freedom and responsibility within the community, and enriches every aspect of student life. It’s a value that endures. Just as W&L students are shaped by the Honor System during their time on campus, graduates are guided by a continuing commitment to honor in their personal and professional lives. Our alumni value their dedication to integrity, which creates lasting connections within the W&L community.
A Modern Value Rooted in History
The Honor System’s roots can be traced to at least the mid-19th century. Filed in the University Archives is a mathematics examination taken by Washington College senior S.C. Smith on June 7, 1858. That exam features Smith’s signature to his pledge: ”I have neither given nor received any assistance on the Examination.”
Less than a decade later, when he became president of Washington College, Robert E. Lee took deliberate steps to relax faculty supervision of students’ actions. In 1905, the student body assumed direct control of the Honor System by forming the Executive Committee of the Student Body, a group of elected student representatives that continues to administer the Honor System today.
— MARY VIRGINIA LONG • MAJOR: SOCIOLOGY • MINOR: LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES
Financial Aid and Scholarships
What will you do on study breaks?
ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS STUDENTS LEARN AT W&L IS THAT THERE IS PLENTY TO DO WHEN THEY ARE NOT IN CLASS.
The range of activities at W&L is limited only by our students’ imaginations. As a result, the weekly calendar of events is full of performances and lectures, athletic contests and organizational meetings, exhibits and intramural sports. With more clubs and organizations than can be listed here, students can expand their existing interests or explore something brand new. You can even start your own club with others who share your interests. We could go on and on about all the different opportunities and activities available to students, but why not find out for yourself? Come to campus and start something — or lead something!
From choir to camping.
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE FROM MORE THAN 150 CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES ON CAMPUS.
Leadership and Service
At Washington and Lee, we aim to help our students realize their potential — not just as students, but as leaders. Students find their passion and take charge of it by working as organization presidents, founding clubs, serving on university committees and volunteering in the local community.
Recreation and Fitness
Wellness programming encourages students to maintain healthy living while club and intramural sports provide opportunities for friendly competition year-round. Students benefit from indoor and outdoor facilities, including fitness centers, an indoor pool and group exercise programs. The Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains provide a scenic playground for hikers, cyclists, climbers, paddlers and fly fishers.
Spiritual and Religious Life
On campus, you will find a variety of faith-based clubs and organizations. These groups offer fellowship, study, religious holiday celebrations and community service opportunities, inviting students to gather in fellowship. W&L’s Hillel is the center for Jewish life on campus and in the community and offers Shabbat service regularly and on Jewish holidays. As primary points of worship in Lexington, there are over a dozen churches of different denominations that are regularly attended by faculty, staff and students.
Arts and Culture
There is no shortage of ways to enjoy the arts. W&L hosts more than 100 performances each year and is home to several museums and galleries. In town, Lexington supports a thriving artists’ community while Lime Kiln Theater attracts performers from across the country in a fun outdoor setting. “I made amazing friends I know will be there for years. Some were on my hall my first year; others I met through classes, social events, clubs, organizations and much more.”
— ETHIOPIA GETACHEW • MAJOR: BIOLOGY
Welcome home!
First-Year Residence Halls
First-year students live in one of two newly renovated residence halls. Floors are divided into sections of 12 to 20 students, each supervised by a student resident adviser. You will share new experiences, backgrounds and ideas with your hallmates, and they will be your first friends in college.
Upper-Division Housing Options
As a sophomore and junior, you will have a wide variety of housing options, including apartments, townhouses, fraternity and sorority housing, and theme houses. Seniors typically live off campus but may remain on campus if they choose. In theme houses, such as Casa Hispanica, Outing Club, Sankofa and Global Service House, students bond around a common organizational, cultural or personal interest and share their enthusiasm with the campus community. Each house offers a distinctive focus and amenities.
Hungry for More
W&L is committed to offering food that is fresh, skillfully prepared and hand-crafted from the highest quality ingredients. A significant portion of our food is sourced from local farmers, growers and artisans, including produce grown in W&L’s own Campus Garden. Menus emphasize fresh, local and healthy options and can accommodate specialty diets (vegetarian, vegan, etc.) and food allergies. Dining venues include an all-you-care-to-eat option, a kosher-style deli, a tea house, a pub, sorority and fraternity dining, and places with on-the-go options such as sandwiches, burgers, sushi and falafel.
TYPICALLY ABOUT 73% OF UNDERGRADUATES LIVE ON CAMPUS
TYPICALLY 75% OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATE
in service-learning experiences domestically and abroad
Learning from each other.
COLLEGE IS ABOUT MORE THAN EARNING A DEGREE.
W&L students are actively engaged in Lexington and Rockbridge County communities through volunteer service with local organizations or through a variety of school-sponsored community-based learning programs in which they earn academic credit. Some of the most popular opportunities for serviceminded students at W&L include: Volunteer Venture Pre-Orientation introduces students to contributing factors of poverty through service-learning. Campus Kitchen combats hunger by providing balanced meals for low-income members of the local community. Bonner Scholars Program provides students with a framework to be engaged in community service and receive financial support. Nabors Service League connects students with local agencies through community-wide service days and alternative break trips.
Environmental Studies Service Learning Program
offers students the chance to engage with sustainability measures in the local community while earning class credit.
Global Service and Sustainability Theme Houses
offer opportunities for service-minded students to create outreach programs and serve the community.
The Shepherd Program for Poverty and Human
Capability Studies allows students to weave together coursework, service and internship experiences across the country and around the world to supplement their major areas of study. Those pursuing a minor in poverty studies undertake capstone research projects connecting concerns about poverty and inequality with their future civic and professional lives.
Go Generals!
W&L ATHLETES EXCEL ON AND OFF THE FIELD.
Our athletes are serious students whose academic interests range widely. Student-athletes have won NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, and individual teams are annually recognized for the academic records of their members. Our athletics program not only supports our students in their academic pursuits, but also encourages them to participate fully in the life of the university. On the court or the field, W&L athletes learn leadership, sportsmanship, integrity and responsibility. Off the field, they can be found on stage, in the lab, volunteering in town or studying abroad.
NCAA Division III
W&L athletes compete in the NCAA Division III, which means our student-athletes pursue athletic excellence without sacrificing their educational experience. Division III rules permit financial aid based only on financial need and academic merit.
24
YEARS OUT OF 26
W&L has won the ODAC Commissioner’s Cup for overall athletic excellence
28%
OF THE STUDENT BODY
compete in varsity athletics
24
VARSITY TEAMS
Baseball (Men) Basketball Cross-Country Field Hockey (Women) Football (Men) Golf Lacrosse Riding (Women) Soccer Swimming Tennis Track and Field (indoor and outdoor) Volleyball (Women) Wrestling (Men)
