T HE F LAT H AT
Vol. 113, Iss. 12 | Wednesday, November 8, 2023
The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
FINDING COMMUNITY AMIDST CONFLICT
GRAPHIC BY EMMA HENRY / THE FLAT HAT
flathatnews.com | @theflathat
RYAN GOODMAN AND JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT
Students, organizations participate in on-campus fundraising, walk-outs, vigils after heightened tensions arise between Israel, Palestine
MOLLY PARKS AND ANNA ARNSBERGER // THE FLAT HAT
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Flat Hat has decided to honor the requests of several sources and keep their identities anonymous out of protection for their safety and wellbeing. Since Oct. 7, students at the College of William and Mary have shown support for victims of the recent escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza. In the face of, yet inspired by, raw emotion, campus leaders have persisted to find ways to advocate for their communities at the College and abroad. During this period of tension and sensitivity, many Jewish students and those in support of Israel’s actions have felt acknowledged and uplifted by the College’s administration. However, many Palestinian and Muslim students have noticed an isolating absence of outspoken administrative support. Students, faculty, staff and administrators have organized various vigils, community gatherings, fundraisers and demonstrations to stand in solidarity with both Israel and Palestine. Over the past month, student organizations have been tabling to raise money for various relief funds, including Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, Palestinian Red Crescent Society and Magen David Adom. Oct. 10, the College’s Hillel, Chabad, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Tribe for Israel organizations co-sponsored a vigil uniting for Israel at the Sir Christopher Wren Building. Oct. 17, the College’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine held a community vigil at the Wren Building to commemorate and humanize Palestinian lives. SJP has also organized several campus demonstrations of Palestinian solidarity, including a campus-wide walkout as part of the Oct. 25 National Student Walkout to end the siege on Gaza. These movements on campus follow the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed at least 1,400 people and Israel’s continued retaliation that has killed over 10,000 people and intensified a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This recent escalation of violence has sparked conversations and advocacy across colleges and universities regarding the decades-long Isreali-Palestinian conflict and the Israeli occupation of Gaza.
President of Tribe for Israel Aaron Weinmann ’26 recalled his initial reaction to the Oct. 7 attack. He called his sister and close friends who were in Israel to make sure they were safe. “Rattled would be a word that I would use, and it wasn’t just rattled, but it was more like a petrified feeling, like I was just stuck,” Weinmann said. “Of course, there have been spurs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past however many years I’ve been alive. But this time was like one of the first times where I was old enough to really process what was happening, to process the fact that my sister had to run to a bomb shelter, that people getting killed in the music festival were my age.” As students initially grappled with the shock of the Oct. 7 attack, many with personal ties to the region expressed how their perspectives have been shaped by the over 75-year context of the history between Israel and Palestine. One SJP student whose father is originally from Palestine shared her outlook on the violence as someone who has grown up surrounded by discourse on the topic. “I guess it’s just part of growing up as a Palestinian kid is just that hurt and that really sharp realization of what’s actively going on there, even though it’s not happening here. And it makes it kind of difficult to go about your day knowing that things are going on when people aren’t really acknowledging that, which is something that I’ve kind of been feeling in school lately, as well,” the SJP student said. Sam Rubin ’24, president of the College’s Hillel, noted that students’ personal connections and emotions led them to act immediately to find ways to help. “Today is a sad day, and there’s a reason to be sad, and there’s a reason to mourn. And there’s a reason for action. And that’s what we are acting in the moment to do. So it demands action, both from college campuses, both from the Israeli government, from any supporters of Israel or any supporters of Jewish life worldwide,” Rubin said. For several student organizations, this immediate action took the
form of tabling across campus to raise money for relief funds. Tribe for Israel, Hillel, Chabad, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Theta Delta Chi joined together to raise over $3,900 for Magen David Adom, the national medical emergency, disaster, ambulance and blood service of Israel. SJP tabled with emergency bake sales to raise over $4,000 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Weinmann shared that although the tabling ran smoothly, there was a moment when people who opposed their actions accosted them. “It was great, we made maybe four times what we expected to make. But of course, there are bumps with tabling and we got accosted a few times, I guess that would be the right word. There was one person that came up and started screaming at us, calling us every name in the book: ‘rapists,’ ‘baby killer,’ ‘murder,’ ‘filthy Zionist.’ And I wasn’t offended by the Zionist part, but everything else definitely bugged me.” Weinmann said. Several members of SJP also recalled an incident at their demonstration on Family Weekend, in which a member of the College community yelled in the face of a student participating in the SJP rally. According to multiple witnesses, the community member pointed in the student’s face and cursed at him. “A member of the community approached one of the students that was demonstrating with us. He yelled expletives at the student, pointed at him, and then walked away,” an SJP student who was at the demonstration said. Oct. 31, Va. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed executive directive six titled, “Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Religious Bigotry and Protecting the Freedom to Worship in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” In the directive, Youngkin directly references the College, citing a WAVY article about the incident that Weinmann mentioned above. See CAMPUS page 3
POLITICS
Virginia State Senate candidates Mason, Diggs discuss policy, opponent strategy State elections to take place on Nov. 7, candidates each respond to recent claims regarding controversial past, extremist groups PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters in Virginia will head to the polls to cast their ballot for the House of Delegates, the State Senate and other local elections. The College of William and Mary’s main campus lies in the State Senate’s 24th district. State Sen. Monty Mason ’89, D-Williamsburg, currently represents the district, but faces a challenge from Republican nominee and former longtime York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs. College President Katherine Rowe encouraged students to participate in this election. “Democracy is a cornerstone of our Vision 2026 strategic plan. Students, alumni, faculty and staff serve as public officials, activists and community builders around the world. They volunteer at polling stations and get out the vote,” Rowe wrote in an email to the campus community Nov. 2. Rowe discussed the significance of the College in terms of voter engagement. “That is one reason W&M is recognized as one of the top voter-engaged campuses in the country. Thank you for casting your ballot,” Rowe wrote. This year, the State Senate race is highly contested and funded, with the candidates raising a nearly combined $9 million,
Inside Opinions
INDEX Profile News Opinions Variety Sports
including almost $5 million spent on political advertisements. The 24th State Senate district, which contains Williamsburg and is within Virginia U.S. House District One, was narrowly carried by Democrat Herb Jones at 50.2% in the 2022 congressional race. In the 2021 governor race, Va. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, won the area by 3.4%. Mason, who was elected to fulfill the remainder of the late State Sen. John Miller’s term in 2018, is seeking re-election for a full second term. A graduate of the College, Mason received the Young Alumni Service award in 2022. His wife, Pamela Mason J.D. ’00 MBA ’00 currently serves at the College’s chief compliance officer. Mason expressed the reasons he believes College students should vote for him in the upcoming election. “It’s protecting a woman’s right to choose, in light of the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court has thrown that to the state legislatures. Virginia’s law is very strong and solid as written, and it should not be changed in any way. Seventy-two percent of Virginians agree that the law should remain the same or be less restrictive,” Mason said, citing a poll by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center. Mason further emphasized the importance of the election in terms of abortion rights. “Any student who cares about women’s
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We need more sidewalks, speed bumps, safety Roswell Miller ’24 argues in favor of increased safety measures in light of recent accident. page 5
reproductive rights should show up and vote in this election,” Mason said. Diggs, who served as sheriff for 23 years, is hoping to unseat Mason. “I’ve been involved in politics for over 30 years, and I’m trying to bring my experience as sheriff to the General Assembly, because my time as sheriff had taught me that we did really need to look for solutions to problems,” Diggs said. “We need to work together with people to make sure that we make their lives better.” At the Get Out the Vote rally at the College this past October, Mason criticized Diggs for using a “culture war” rhetoric and refusing to find a compromise on gun safety issues. Diggs responded by expressing his support for enforcing existing gun laws. He also offered alternatives to new legislation, such as educating kids on gun safety and calling for more aggressive prosecution in gun violence cases. “It’s unfortunate that he would give you such a one-sided position, an unfair position on what my position really is,” Diggs said. “I certainly support the gun laws that we have now and we need to enforce the gun laws we have now.” Diggs then cited Project Exile, a 1990s initiative led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Richmond, as an example of his stance on gun control. “They would go out and they would find people who had guns illegally, use guns illegally, and they arrested those people and prosecuted Inside Variety
A chilling concerto
College’s symphony orchestra holds its annual Halloween concert. page 7
those people to the extent of the law. And within just a few years, the murder rate in Richmond was cut in half just by enforcing our existing laws. So, I’m a big proponent. I was the sheriff for 23 years and a law enforcement officer for 45 years,” Diggs said. Mason and Diggs also differ on the issue of the gas tax. “A couple of years ago, Monty Mason voted to double the gas tax — you know, we could have raised the gas tax incrementally should there have been a need for additional funding of our roads and such,” Diggs said. “In fact, the proof is there that we did not need to double the gas tax and that we just came out with a $5 billion excess tax collection that the Governor gave back a lot of that money in the form of tax rebates and by increasing the standard deduction for folks.” Diggs also criticized the nature of the tax. “It is very difficult for people to make ends meet, and when they have the price of gasoline go up, then they have to choose between, ‘Are we going to eat food, or are we going to pay the electric bill, or would we put gas in our car?’” Diggs said. Mason responded to Diggs’ criticisms. “My opponent says that the widening of [US Route 64] and those two new tunnels, that’s a great project. Then he says, ‘But you know what? I’m going to cut the gas tax,’” Mason said. See POLITICS page 2
Inside Sports
Tribe secures second CAA title, beats Monmouth in 2OT Curran’s hat trick propels Green and Gold to come from behind win. page 9