A letter to Prospective Students from the IVCF@W&M website

Dear Prospective Students:

Welcome to W&M! We know the process of choosing a college has been difficult. You are probably trying to decide what God's will is for you. Your choices have probably been between a Christian school, a private school or a state school like W&M. Two of the questions you may have are: Can my faith in Jesus survive a secular university like W&M? and Will I find a community of friends in college who will encourage me to mature as a person and in my faith and beliefs?

Perhaps we have a bias, but yes your faith in Jesus Christ can not only survive but mature while you are here at W&M. There are many activities that are designed by InterVarsity as well as the other Christian Ministries on campus to do just that. As you look through this website you will see many (not all) of the programs and leadership opportunities that IV does at W&M.

We work hard in the first couple weeks of school to meet you and help you acclimate to the campus. There are cook-outs, fellowship meetings, bible studies in your residence halls designed to help you get to know other freshmen as well as upperclassmen who can help you grow in your faith. Within the first month of classes there will be a New Student Retreat, that will introduce you to other freshmen, some transfers, and a bunch of the leaders in InterVarsity. Each Friday, there will be a worship/fellowship time (Large Group). It is a great way to end the week. It gives you a real chance to focus or re-focus on the Lord and begin the weekend with fellow Christians on campus. We usually have a "social" event after "Large Group". These are open to the whole campus and are designed for fun and to help us build community with each other and others who aren't involved in IV.

W&M students tend to associate with their neighbors from their freshmen halls. This is why we have freshmen only Small Groups led by 2 upperclassmen. This gives you a deeper chance to bond with other students from your residence hall as well as hang out with some cool upperclassmen leaders. Many of these groups stay together after Freshmen year. Eventhough you may no longer live together, there will still be a way for you to stay in community for the rest of college. And from our experience, many of these relationships stay together long after graduation. In addition to this opportunity, the family of InterVarsity allows many opportunities to bond on campus and to form deep and significant relationships that will help you honor God in your day-to-day lives as well as to help pick you up when you are struggling.

In your Campus Visits, please feel free to come to Large Group (6:30PM Friday evenings in Millington 150, just to the right of the new SWEM Library). If you would like to be housed for the weekend with an InterVarsity Student please contact Chris Sloan or Lauren Ellis can also arrange for a brief visit with our Campus Minister, if you would like.