Made popular by the Seven Society, Order of the Crown & Dagger, which adopted I Am the College as its official poem,[3] Dean Woodbridge's verses are meant to foster unity and engender pride across the university.
The poem is commonly cited by members of the William & Mary community and can be found displayed in a number of campus buildings and offices.
I Am the College of William and Mary by Dr. D. W. Woodbridge (1945) We are the beautiful buildings, the stately trees, the statue of Lord Botetourt, the friendly campus.
We are fighting and dying in a thousand climes without a thought of personal sacrifice, that colleges like William and Mary might live.
We are intangible, but whenever you think of the College, or sing her Alma Mater you feel that we are very real.
Our people serve the College in myriad ways, ministering to all her manifold needs.
I was at her side in her darkest hours, when her friends were penniless, her faculty dispersed, her halls empty.
We weld into one harmonious whole all the diverse elements of the College and cause them to function smoothly as an educated institution of the First Order.
Into our hands is trusted the instruction of youth, humanity’s most precious possession.
We are the alumni, both living and dead, upon whose minds the imprint of the College has been planted.
We attend our Alma Mater in never ending processions and receive bountiful gifts.
We are the fathers and mothers, the brothers and sisters, the friends and well wishers of the students in residence.