Dudley Leaving W&L After Decade
Tenure Featured Identity Debate, Facilities Growth
Washington and Lee University President William C. Dudley will step down at the end of the academic year to become the next president of Claremont McKenna College in California, the university announced last Thursday.
He will begin his new role on July 1, 2026, marking the close of a decade at W&L defined by major fundraising, new construction and academic initiatives — as well as some of the institution’s fiercest debates in recent memory.
In a message to the university community, Dudley said next spring’s commencement would be his 10th, a natural moment to take stock.
“I take pride in leaving Washington and Lee in a strong position,” he wrote, “and in knowing that our exceptionally talented students, faculty, and staff will continue to advance our educational mission long after I am gone.”
Wali Bacdayan, rector of W&L’s board of trustees, praised Dudley’s leadership and confirmed that the board will hire a national search firm to guide the presidential search. The process, he said, will include opportunities for input from students, faculty, staff and alumni.
“Will has been an exceptional leader for Washington and Lee for almost a decade,” Bacdayan said. “From the moment he stepped on campus, he has exhibited a deep appreciation for W&L’s culture and distinctive strengths, which are encapsulated in the strategic plan that he developed in concert with the board of trustees and campus community.
“His commitment to expanding access and affordability was realized through Bill Miller’s extraordinary $132 million gift, which made the university needblind in undergraduate admissions … Will is leaving W&L in a position of strength, and we are grateful for his dedication and service.”
Dudley arrived at W&L in January 2017, stepping into an environment already primed for debate over the university’s history and identity. His predecessor, Ken Ruscio, had fielded early complaints in 2014 about Confederate iconography and the depiction of Robert E. Lee in campus material, but stopped short of major changes, saying the university needed continued study.
The issue sharpened dramatically after the Charlottesville white nationalist rally in 2017, and Dudley responded by forming the Institutional History and Community Commission, a 12-member group tasked with examining the university’s past and its public symbols. After a nine-month study, the Commission released 31 recommendations in 2018, ranging from renaming Robinson Hall to creating a naming committee and establishing a center for civil rights and racial justice.
Dudley released the report but emphasized the recommendations were not directives. Later that summer, he announced that the university name, Lee Chapel, and Lee House would remain unchanged, but the university would hire its first director of institutional history and move forward with several Commission- backed objectives within the emerging strategic plan. Those included needs-blind admissions, expanding the Office of Inclusion and Engagement, and recruiting more diverse students, faculty and staff.
The debates intensified again in 2020–2021 amid national protests after the murder of George Floyd. The board of trustees undertook a broad review, gathering input from more than 15,000 people, ultimately deciding in June 2021 to retain the university’s name but enact several other significant changes. Those included renaming Lee Chapel to University Chapel, discontinuing the official “Founders Day” celebration, redesigning diplomas without the likenesses of Washington and Lee, and committing $225 million toward strategicplan priorities, including achieving a needs-blind admissions policy.
Other decisions, such as removing portraits and plaques from University Chapel and eventually constructing a wall separating the historic chapel from the annex that houses Lee’s statue, drew strong responses, particularly from alumni group Generals Redoubt, founded in 2018 to advocate for restoring Lee’s legacy.
While the public debates over the school’s history often dominated headlines, Dudley’s presidency also included substantial growth in facilities, fundraising and curricular offerings.
W&L launched the most ambitious fundraising effort in its history in December 2024: the $650 million “Leading Lives of Consequence” campaign, at that time already more than $475 million toward its goal. The campaign’s most transformative gift, the $132 million from Miller, an alumnus of ‘72, enabled W&L to become needs-blind in its admissions process, while maintaining commitments to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need and doing so with aid packages that do not include loans — placing the university among a very small group of schools able to do all three.
Several major building projects were completed during his tenure, including the Duchossois Athletic and Recreation Center, a new academic building for the Williams School, the Lindley Center for Student Wellness, and the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning. Plans are underway for a new Admissions and Financial Aid center, Founders Hall, to replace the Early-Fielding Building at the corner of Lee Avenue and Washington Street; an institutional history museum; and an expanded and renovated science center.
Academically, W&L added new minors in data science, entrepreneurship, legal studies, and arts management, expanded support for undergraduate research and study abroad, and created the DeLaney Center for the study of Southern race relations, culture and politics.
Despite disagreements over symbolic and historical issues, Dudley leaves W&L with what university leadership describes as “tremendous momentum” heading into the final years of the capital campaign.
Bacdayan said the board intends to move deliberately with the presidential search.
Dudley, for his part, reflected on the decade as a whole in his farewell announcement.
“Washington and Lee is an extraordinary university, with tremendous momentum,” he wrote. “I treasure my relationships with W&L students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents, and I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of this exceptional place.”
His final commencement will be in May. After that, he heads west.
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