A Fond Farewell — Dean Livingston’s Final Post

I Admit It! This is a blog I thought I may never write. (Faithful followers of this blog will likely notice the singular pronoun used here instead of the more inclusive “we” with which this blog normally begins.) After 16 total years on this amazing campus (four as an undergraduate student and 12 as an admission officer), I will be leaving William & Mary for a new professional opportunity. As a result, I must say goodbye to the readers of this blog.

The Admit It! blog began in 2008, and I have been contributing to it since the beginning (and I have been its primary author since 2009). What started out as just a professional assignment has become a fast-paced, challenging, rewarding and cathartic conversation. Exchanging ideas, conversing back and forth, taking in feedback and responding to questions has become a most enjoyable experience for me. This blog was a place where we could all share our thoughts, our anxieties, our worries and our joys surrounding the college search and application process. It’s been an adventure, and one I will sorely miss.

For those of you who have enjoyed reading this blog, do not worry. I am leaving William & Mary but Admit It! will remain. You will still be able to get your fill of “Overheard in Committee” and “Decisions, Decisions” among other posts. In addition, our Tribe Transfers Blog is being amped up. It will now be year-round and will feature posts from our Director of Transfer Admission.

If I could take a moment of personal privilege to first, simply thank everyone who has contributed to this blog (parents, students, counselors, alumni, my colleagues) for making this a forum through which people found information, answers and comfort. Second, I want to emphasize what a special place William & Mary is. I have spent almost half of my life on this campus. It’s where I met my best friends, my most trusted advisors, inspiring faculty and even my husband. This is a campus that helps you become a better version of yourself. I have said, in a variety of circumstances, that I will finally leave W&M when I have given to it, as much as it has given to me. As I’ve wrapped up my tenure here, I’ve come to realize that even after all I have been able to contribute to W&M, I will always be in its debt. To have, for a dozen years, helped to craft the student body at this venerable institution has been humbling and the greatest of professional privileges. So thank you to my colleagues, to all of the prospective students and families with whom I’ve interacted, to the Admission Office, and most importantly, to William & Mary. Go Tribe! I promise to always hark upon the gale.

Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Associate Dean of Admission