A Message from Student Leadership Team Co-Presidents Bennett & Annamarie!

Our student leadership team has been off to a busy start this semester!

We began the year by inviting new students into our community with our classic event, S’mores with S’methodists! We shared delicious burgers and hot dogs made by former Leadership Team president and eternal Wesley “grillmaster” Grace Nelson ’23 and made yummy s’mores. It was one of the largest S’mores events we’ve participated both in student participation and in laughter.

Additionally, we revived our Orientation Breakfast for Methodist freshmen for the first time since the pandemic. New board members Ryan Staggs and Sailor Miao provided a delicious breakfast, and we met many new students who were curious about us. We also had a great time meeting students at the Center for Student Diversity Block Party and had some deep and heartfelt conversations with new students who were looking for a community to be a part of during their college years.

These conversations allowed us to extend the invitation to join our community to students outside of the Methodist and Christian faith. Wesley is – and has always been – a campus ministry for all students to come and nourish their moral and ethical centers.

This is why our theme this semester is Patchwork of Community. Wesley is like a quilt. All our students come here with different abilities, interests, backgrounds, and perspectives, but when you bring us all together, we create something beautiful – a patchwork of community.

That’s our goal this semester: to bring students and other members of the community together to create something more beautiful.



Continue Reading Bennett & Annamarie's Message ...

Dear friends,

Being at Wesley these first few months has been a joy as the semester begins. As no stranger to Wesley Foundations and campus life, coming into my own call to ministry at the University of Virginia, my transition to W&M has felt like a homecoming. I am grateful for the hospitable welcome from the board, our student leaders, the broader campus community, and our Williamsburg United Methodist Church neighbors.

The perennial question in Micah 6:8 shapes my guiding vision for Wesley: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” As we move forward together in light of our vision statement, my goal is to invite our student leaders to consider how our programs, outreach opportunities, and events embody these scriptural values of advocacy, compassion, and formation.

Here are some of my present and long-term goals moving into this year and next:

As always, thank you for your faithful and generous support of Wesley!

Grace and peace,

Ryan