Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world.

It also educated other key figures pivotal to the development of the United States, including the first President of the Continental Congress Peyton Randolph, the first U.S. Attorney General Edmund Randolph, the fourth U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott, sixteen members of the Continental Congress, and four signers of the Declaration of Independence.

"[16] Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II, the college is the second-oldest in the United States.

The college has been called "the Alma Mater of a Nation" because of its close ties to America's founding fathers and figures pivotal to the development and expansion of the United States.

On December 5, 1776, students John Heath and William Short (class of 1779) founded Phi Beta Kappa as a secret literary and philosophical society.

[21][22] Thomas R. Dew, professor of history, metaphysics, and political economy, and then president of William & Mary from 1836 until he died in 1846, was an influential academic defender of slavery.

General Charles A. Whittier reported that "thirty-two out of thirty-five professors and instructors abandoned the college work and joined the army in the field".

On September 9, 1862, drunken soldiers of the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry set fire to the College Building,[26] purportedly in an attempt to prevent Confederate snipers from using it for cover.

In 1888, William & Mary resumed operations under an amended charter when the Commonwealth of Virginia passed an act[27] appropriating $10,000 to support the college as a teacher-training institution.

W. A. R. Goodwin, rector at Bruton Parish Church and professor of biblical literature and religious education at the college, pursued benefactors who could support the restoration of Williamsburg.

In 1945, the editor-in-chief of The Flat Hat, Marilyn Kaemmerle, wrote an editorial, "Lincoln's Job Half-Done..." that supported the end of racial segregation, anti-miscegenation laws and white supremacy; the university administration removed her from the newspaper and nearly expelled her.

[35] According to Time magazine, in response, over one-thousand William & Mary students held "a spirited mass meeting protesting infringement of the sacred principles of freedom of the press bequeathed by Alumnus Thomas Jefferson."

In 1974, Jay Winston Johns willed Highland, the 535-acre (2.17 km2) historic Albemarle County, Virginia estate of alumnus and U.S. President James Monroe, to the college.

The basis for the 1930s name is a 1724 history in which mathematics professor Hugh Jones stated the 1699 design was "first modelled by Sir Christopher Wren" and then was adapted "by the Gentlemen there" in Virginia; little is known about how it looked since it burned within a few years of its completion.

[57] The corporation is composed of 17 members appointed by the Governor of Virginia, based upon the recommendations made by the Society of the Alumni, to a maximum of two successive four-year terms.

[57] The Board appoints a president, related administrative officers, and an honorary chancellor, approving degrees, admission policies, departments, and schools and executing the fiduciary duties of supervising the college's property and finances.

Until 1776, the position was held by an English subject, usually the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London, who served as the college's advocate to the Crown, while a colonial President oversaw the day-to-day activities of the Williamsburg campus.

Following the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was appointed as the first American chancellor; later, United States President John Tyler held the post.

The college's Alma Mater Productions (AMP) hosts concerts, comedians, and speakers on campus and in the 8,600-person capacity Kaplan Arena, as well as putting on many smaller activity-based events.

This popular tradition started when German immigrant Charles Minnigerode, a humanities professor at the college in 1842 who taught Latin and Greek, brought one of the first Christmas trees to America.

Entering into the social life of post-colonial Virginia, Minnigerode introduced the German custom of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas at the home of law professor St. George Tucker, thereby becoming another of many influences that prompted Americans to adopt the practice at about that time.

[120] Incoming first-year students participate in Opening Convocation, at which they pass through the entrance of the Wren Building and are officially welcomed as the newest members of the college.

Past Charter Day speakers have included former US President John Tyler, Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, and Robert Gates.

As reported by The Flat Hat, the tradition - normally performed before graduation - involves completing three activities:[122] jumping the walls of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg, streaking through the Sunken Garden, and finally swimming in the Crim Dell.

The college's Honor System is codified such that students found guilty of cheating, stealing, or lying are subject to sanctions ranging from a verbal warning to expulsion.

The President oversees a hierarchy of disciplinary authorities to enforce local laws as it pertains to William & Mary's interest as well as its internal regulatory system.

[134] The Queens' Guard was established on February 8, 1961, as a special unit of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps and was affiliated with the Pershing Rifles.

Nu Kappa Epsilon, founded in 1994 at William & Mary, is "dedicated to promoting the growth and development of musical activities at the college as well as in the Williamsburg community".

[citation needed] In May 2006, the NCAA ruled that the athletic logo, which includes two green and gold feathers, could create an environment offensive to the American Indian community.

[153] In 2018, athletic director Samantha Huge introduced a new brand kit for the department, officially retiring and de-emphasizing the script "Tribe" logo.