VARIETY // Students swing for charity, p. 6
Vol. 101, Iss. 36 | Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
city government
Downtown gets a facelift
Private developer plans a combined retail and residential space by chase hopkins flat hat assoc. news editor
A planned private residential and retail complex just off the College of William and Mary campus may soon alleviate the student housing crunch. Local contractors have plans to construct a building on the corner of Prince George and Armistead streets that will combine retail and living space. The building, a stone’s throw from Sorority Court, will echo the design of the Tribe Square project. The development project was approved by the city’s Architectural Review Board in April and will add 9,800 square feet of retail space to the downtown area. Seven apartments will sit atop the commercial space, and they will be leasable to any interested party. The city’s currently intends to have residential space above all new retail development in the area. “One of the things we have been focusing on for a number of years is how to expand the downtown area,” Williamsburg Mayor and economics College professor Clyde Haulman said. “What you are seeing are developments attempting to make Prince George Street a more viable commercial area.” The city planning commission aspires to accomplish more than just construct a better building in the downtown area. It also intends to incorporate improvements to Prince George Street along with the construction of the new building that are slated to begin later this year. “The city hopes to improve the street-scape on that section of Prince George Street, giving it a more connected feeling,” Vice Mayor Paul Freiling ’83 said. “We feel like there is a
real opportunity to build connection in the downtown area.” The city’s primary goals include the widening of sidewalks to resurface them in brick and the addition of better streetlights. These improvements aim to expand the aesthetic theme further into outlying downtown areas. “The city has allocated money to do the same thing to that [unrestored] block of Prince George Street as what we did with the block of Prince George Street in front of Aroma’s,” Haulman said. Beyond the visual changes, the city strives to increase the relevance of the downtown area to students through the addition of more retail space in an appealing location within walking distance of the College. “This [the development project] is an attempt to continue to create a commercial area that is friendly to the student population,” Haulman said. The city has also made efforts to ease the way for new development by relaxing requirements under a new “downtown parking zone.” Previously, new developments were required to add parking spaces relative to the increase of developed space, often a prohibitive stipulation in denser areas such as Williamsburg’s downtown. “When we instituted this downtown parking zone, it was done in conjunction with the construction of the parking structure … as well as with the knowledge of the nearby College students,” City Planning Director Reed Nester said. “The situation would have been different if the site was down Richmond Road.”
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greek life
Fraternity suspended Sigma Pi faces temporary suspension for alleged violations by katherine chiglinsky flat hat news editor
Hazing issues have led to the temporary suspension of another fraternity at the College of William and Mary. The Alpha Eta chapter of Sigma Pi faces interim suspension regarding alleged Student Conduct Code violations. The disciplinary action follows the recent suspension of the College’s chapter of Phi Kappa Tau, also on hazing charges. The Office of the Dean of Students received information about a serious hazing incident during Sigma Pi pledging. According to Associate Dean of Students David Gilbert, this is Sigma Pi’s first violation at the College recently. “The allegation is that fraternity members engaged in an activity where newly recruited members were forced to drink alcohol,” Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 Ph.D. ’06 said in an email. “Due to the serious nature of the charge, we issued an interim suspension of activities pending the outcome of the investigation.” According to Inter-Fraternity Council President Ishan Bardhan ’13, the chapter cannot hold functions unless they are approved by administrators. “Minus meetings approved by the Greek Advisors or Dean Gilbert, the chapter is not allowed to have any functions or activities until the resolution of the situation,” Bardhan said in an email. After the Dean of Students office investigates the allegations, the fraternity can either resolve the matter with administrators or request a hearing with the Student Conduct Council. “Consequences for hazing range from warning to
alex phillips / THE FLAT HAT
See fraternity, page 3
campus
politics
Admissions revamps
Supreme Court to hear affirmative action case
New tool for enticing applicants by Sarah kleinkinecht flat hat staff writer
There is a war raging in admissions offices throughout the nation to attract the attention of prospective students. To gain a tactical advantage, the College of William and Mary is unleashing a new weapon: The Ampersandbox. “We knew we wanted to make it something special,” Associate Director of Creative Services Cindy Baker said. In enticing prospective students, traditional viewbooks have begun to lose their preeminent status among admissions materials. Although they give a compact summary of a school, they tend to blend together rather than make a college or university See ampersand, page 3
Carroll withdraws from city council race Christina Carroll ’05 J.D. ’10 has officially decided not to run for Williamsburg City Council in the May 1 election. “I have chosen not to run for city council for some personal reasons,” Carroll said. Carroll confirmed, however, that she still plans to become active in local government. “I definitely want to be involved in city government in the future,” Carroll said. “The timing [for my candidacy] just wasn’t right.” Her recent announcement narrows the field to four potential candidates — three incumbents and Felix Schapiro ’15. — Katherine Chiglinsky
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Admissions stresses importance of diversity at the College due to race BY meredith ramey flat hat assoc. news editor
The use of affirmative action in college admissions decisions remains controversial, and Feb. 21 the Supreme Court brought the policy back into the spotlight by deciding to hear a case by a white student against the University of Texas. The case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, comes in the wake of other landmark cases on the affirmative action policy. In the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the use of race as a factor in Broaddus the admissions process after one student felt race was a “predominant” reason why she was not accepted into the University of Michigan Law School. Similar to the student in the Michigan case, Fisher believes she did not receive admission into the University of Texas at Austin because she was not a racial minority. Fisher will graduate from Louisiana State University in May. The ruling of the Fisher case could either reverse or support
the decisions of the Grutter v. Bollinger ruling. The makeup of the Supreme Court is considered more conservative than it was in 2003, which causes concern for some affirmative action advocates, including the College of William and Mary’s own Dean of Admissions Henry Broaddus. “It would be very unfortunate if the Supreme Court acted in a way to deny the university the ability to take stock in all conditions of diversity,” Broaddus said. “A class of students is its own best and most important resource for learning. … They’re going to have very different backgrounds with very different opinions and perspectives.” Broaddus described the use of race and other measures of diversity in an application as working to establish the story of an individual. The admissions office decides from that story if each person would thrive in the academic environment of the College. “Race is not the only source of these different perspectives,” Broaddus said. “We value diversity that would be defined very, very broadly. … Race is not about what gets someone in William and Mary or keeps someone out of William and Mary. It is one dimension of our deciding process.”
Inside opinions
Recruitment reforms
Ampersandbox will be an effective strategy for attracting potential new students to the College of William and Mary. page 4
file photo / THE FLAT HAT
Changes to the definition of affirmative action could affect the make-up of future classes.
Many students at the College agree with this idea, including Mary Grech ’14. “The purpose of affirmative action is to increase the number and diversity of applicants, not change the qualifications necessary to gain admittance,” she said. “It’s all about adding players to the game, but not changing what it takes to win.” Olivia Flynn ’15 agreed. “Diversity should add variety and varying experiences, from our everyday conversation to our class discussions,” Olivia Flynn ’15 said. Some scholars suggest replacing race with a scale based on socioeconomic background in order to form a compromise between affirmative action advocates and opponents.
Inside SPORTS
“Socioeconomic background is very important. Certainly something we do take stock of,” Broaddus said. “[But] It’s not an instead, it’s an addition. … William and Mary was in a slave-holding state, and in a multigenerational way there are families in Virginia who have not had the same opportunities.” In the class of 2015, 29 percent of students listed themselves as students of color on their applications. This includes students who consider themselves Indian/Native American, Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino or multiracial. Collegeprowler.com, a site used by many high school seniors during college searches, gives the College a B+ in terms of diversity, ranking above University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.
College downed on senior day
The Tribe fell to Georgia State Saturday, 64-60, in its regularseason finale. The No. 10 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, the team will take on Northeastern in the opening round in Richmond. page 8