William & Mary enslaved people from its inception. The enslaved were an integral part of the university's day-to-day operations. Additionally, the enslaved worked on Nottoway Plantation, owned by William & Mary for several years. The profits collected from the enslaved funded scholarships for the white male student body.

William & Mary also employed free people of African descent. George Greenhow worked as a janitor throughout the antebellum years. Greenhow called himself the "the only negro educated William & Mary" because he was taught how to read and write by a student.

Henry Billups worked for the university for over sixty years, in many capacities, including as a mentor to young white male students. He rang the Wren bell alongside President Benjamin Ewell and often procured alcohol for students and faculty during prohibition. William & Mary employed Billups from 1888-1952 - a time marked by Jim Crow, segregation, and - in the wake of Brown v. Board - the Massive Resistance from the Virginia government.

In 1914, formerly enslaved author and activist Booker T. Washington addressed the university community in the Wren Chapel.

During the Spring of 2018, William & Mary erected a plaque at the Wren Building to honor the first three African Americans in residence at the university: Lynn Briley, Janet Brown Strafer and Karen Ely.

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While the Wren Building has been a central focus since its opening in 1700, women have only been admitted since 1918, becoming the first coeducational institute of higher learning in Virginia. Despite this, women have held significant leadership roles here and across the country.

Initially, women students reported to separate chains of leadership. Additionally, women were restrained by rules that didn’t apply to their male classmates. For example, women had a curfew, dress codes, and were prohibited from driving in cars with male students. The first Dean of Women for this inaugural class was Caroline Francis Tupper.

William & Mary have had two women Chancellors since 1993. The first was former UK Prime Minister Lady Margaret Thatcher. In 2005, the first woman to sit on the US Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, was appointed Chancellor; Her investiture occurred three months after her judicial retirement. Portraits of all Chancellors hang in the Wren Building.

In Spring of 2018, William & Mary announced their 28th president, Dr. Katherine Rowe. Her appointment made her the first female president. She began on July 1 and was formally inaugurated on February 8, 2019.

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Affectionately known as “the soul of the college,” the Sir Christopher Wren Building is often shortened to either the Wren Building or the College Building. The oldest collegiate building still in use in the country, the Wren Building is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Built between 1695-1700, its construction began before Williamsburg was founded and while Jamestown was the capital of the Colony of Virginia.

The Wren Building anchors the Historic Campus and remains a vital part of William & Mary - containing the Great Hall, the Wren Chapel, numerous graves, classrooms, offices, and the Department of Religious Studies.

Atop the Wren, a weathervane displays a metallic 1693 banner - the founding date of the second oldest university in the U.S.

The Historic Campus - the Wren Building, the Brafferton, the President’s House, and the Wren Yard - sits at the heart of 300+ years of education. Within the walls of Wren, generations of students have attended classes, eaten meals, recited prayers, and reveled in celebratory events. The north wing contains the Great Hall, while the south wing includes the Chapel.

As described by William & Mary professor Hugh Jones in 1724: "The Building is beautiful and commodious, being first modeled by Sir Christopher Wren, adapted to the nature of the country by the gentlemen there."

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