Why I Came to W&L

By Henry Rich ‘24

I had always wanted to go to Washington and Lee. My parents lived in Virginia for many years and were close with many W&L graduates. They always spoke highly of the school and its alumni, and their admiration rubbed off on me. Because of them, I’ve always known Washington and Lee as the best school for Southern gentlemen. 

It wasn’t until the start of my college search when I started to question my initial beliefs about the school. My college counselors warned me that not everyone’s dream school lives up to what they imagine it to be. After researching W&L and comparing it with many similar schools through an objective lens, I realized this was not the case for me. I still knew Washington and Lee was where I wanted to be.  

During my research, I noticed the similarities between W&L and the boarding school I was so fortunate to attend. Both had small class sizes and student bodies, emphasized a liberal arts curriculum, and were in the heart of rural Virginia with views of the Blueridge Mountains from campus. I loved the tightly knit community I was a part of in high school and wanted to be in a similar one in college. I also lived under a strict honor code in boarding school, which kept me and my peers honest about our work and maintained a high level of trust in the community. The honor system at Washington and Lee impressed me more than others because of the amount of student engagement, and I believed a system such as this would work the best.  

All of these things are great, and there are many other excellent liberal arts institutions with similar aspects that produce well rounded students and provide small class environments, including one on one interactions with professors. But Washington and Lee stood out to me in a few important ways. While far from perfect, Washington and Lee has more intellectual diversity and tolerance for free speech than virtually all the other liberal arts institutions I was interested in. As someone whose views have almost always differed from those of my teachers, I wanted an environment where I could speak my mind and my opinion would not be totally silenced. The university also has a longer history and many more traditions than other similar schools, which adds purpose to the school’s mission. This meant that I would not only work hard and live honorably for myself and my family, but also for those who were a part of the Washington and Lee community before me. 

There is much energy on campus to change many aspects of Washington and Lee. However, these features are what make us unique. If traditions are altered, history is forgotten, and speech is censored, Washington and Lee would no longer be the institution my parents taught me to love, and it would be unrecognizable to the alumni I grew up with.