He may be retired, but Sam Sadler ’64, M.Ed. ’71 still sees his 41 years of service to the College as a way of repaying William and Mary for changing his life.
“I truly have never felt that I did anything to deserve the attention I’ve gotten in the last few years,” he says. “My joy has come from the friendships and the associations and the opportunity to be of help in some way.
“To have an opportunity to spend your life trying to give back in appreciation for that is just an amazing gift,” he says. “I’ve been blessed with that already.”
- Watch the tribute video created for W. Sam Sadler ’64, M.Ed. ’71 below
In addition to his career progression from assistant dean of admissions to dean of men, and later from dean of students to vice president for student affairs, Sadler has distinguished himself as a mentor to countless members of the William and Mary family. He received the Thomas Jefferson Award in 1981; in 2008, the University Center was renamed the Sadler Center in his honor. (Current undergraduates are starting to call the Sadler Center’s dining hall “Sam’s Club,” he says.) Following his retirement — which he sometimes accidentally calls “graduation” — Sadler decided to take it easy.
“The first year I made a promise to myself I wouldn’t take on anything where I was likely to let it overwhelm me, and I’m glad I took that year just for myself,” he says.
He’s started to take some smaller things on. Next semester, he will mentor students in the classroom and teach Introduction to Student Personnel Services at the School of Education. Sadler has been a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators since 1973 and has presented to colleagues everywhere from Boston to Seattle. He has been asked to speak to conferences about crisis management, press relations and campus safety — Sadler does not lack for expertise.
“I’m really looking forward to being in the classroom,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to share some of those years of experience with the next generation.”
Since retirement, Sadler has also given a number of talks with honorary alumna Louise Kale about the traditions of the College that have been met enthusiastically by students and alumni alike. Most of his time now, though, is spent with his wife Mary Liz Smith Sadler ’65 and their two daughters — he says he’s “quadrupled” his time with his grandchildren. He’s been able to spend more time working in his yard and woodcrafting, including the beginnings of a black walnut bookcase that he has been promising Mary Liz “for at least a decade or more.”
“We haven’t been able to be spontaneous for a long time because it just wasn’t possible with my work,” he says. “Somebody can call now and ask, ‘What are you doing for dinner tonight? Come on over!’ and we can go do it.”
Sadler has increased his involvement with the Williamsburg United Methodist Church, from whom he received the John Wesley Outstanding Educator Award in 2000. He also continues to speak at alumni chapter and College events in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere; not as an employee any longer, but as an alumnus.
“My association with William and Mary and with the Alumni Association was such a joy,” he says. “It has never been a labor of anything other than love.”
At these alumni events, though, he stresses the importance of giving back to the College to the crowds that gather to see him. Now more than ever, he says, the College needs its graduates to step up.
“In some ways, I think the message was heard a little differently because it wasn’t somebody representing the administration anymore,” he says. “It’s somebody who is a fellow alumnus speaking about the place and its present and future from the heart.”
“I will always try to find a way to respond when William and Mary says it can use my help in some way.”
In his nomination letter, Vice President for Development Sean Pieri put his recommendation in powerful terms:
“Sam Sadler, perhaps more than any living person, has had a greater impact on the College, its students and alumni,” he wrote. “Words alone cannot describe the difference he has made.”
Photo by Mark Mitchell
2010 Alumni Medallions
Waverly M. Cole ’50 | W. Samuel Sadler ’64, M.Ed. ’71
Nicholas St. George ’60, J.D. ’65 | Earl L. Young ’59
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