The Flat Hat December 2 2022

College announces Jeremy Martin as new vice president for strategy and innovation

ABIGAIL CONNELLY FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

Monday, Dec. 5, President Katherine Rowe announced that the College of William and Mary’s Chief of Sta Jeremy P. Martin PhD '12, M.B.A '17 would be the new vice president for strategy and innovation.

"I am pleased to share that following a national search I have appointed Jeremy Martin Ph.D. '12, M.B.A.'17 as William & Mary’s vice president for strategy and innovation (VPSI),” Rowe wrote in an email to the community. “In this role, Dr. Martin will oversee the o ces of Strategic Initiatives and Public A airs, University and Enrollment.”

As part of Martin’s new role, he will be responsible for the coordination of College admissions, marketing and communications processes, as well as strategies for elevating the College’s enrollment revenue.

“Dr. Martin brings years of experience in higher education leadership, nancial expertise, and strategic awareness to this important role,” Rowe wrote. “William and Mary has seen him in action at the helm of several units on campus, where his versatility, creative and critical thinking have earned him widespread respect and trust.”

Martin rst began his work at the College in 2008 as he pursued a series of graduate assistantships in a variety of institutions, including the School of Education and the President’s O ce. He became assistant to the president and provost in 2012 and served in the role for ve years, later becoming associate provost and assistant to the president. He then became chief of sta in 2019 and was responsible for communication and executive decisionmaking processes.

“ roughout his time at W&M, Martin has taught classes on higher education, nance and data in W&M’s School of Education and served on multiple committees, including the Strategic Planning Steering committee,” Senior Associate Director of University News Erin Zagursky wrote in an article released Monday, Dec. 5. “As co-chair of that group at the outset of its work, Martin helped facilitate drafting the mission, vision and values statements of the university.”

Martin’s work with the College also earned him the Shirley Aceto Award in 2021, which honors individuals who exhibit excellence in service to the community.

“Since I rst stepped on campus, William & Mary has been a de ning experience for me. So many people - faculty, sta and students - have invested themselves in my growth as a person and professional,” Martin said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the university in this new role as we ful ll William & Mary’s mission to convene ‘great hearts and minds’ in this new community that fosters such deep human connection.”

Board of Visitors provides updates on tuition, new projects

LEVI NATHANS AND DANIEL KALISH // THE FLAT HAT

Thursday, Nov. 17 and Friday, Nov. 18 the Board of Visitors convened to pass 13 resolutions, hear updates on Phase One of the Dining and Facilities Comprehensive Facilities Plan and hear options of potential tuition changes.

Dining and Facilities Comprehensive Plan Phase One

The Committee on Buildings, Administration and Grounds met on Thursday and discussed current undertakings to renovate Kaplan Arena, dining facilities and residence halls.

“It’s really allowing all of us to continue to optimize and modernize our facilities, allowing us to attract and retain the best and brightest, as well as creating a financial model that will help sustain us into the future,” Interim Chief Operating Officer Jackie Ferree said.

The meeting began with the passage of two resolutions to conduct bond financing and debt reimbursement for the construction of the new Sports Performance Complex — a project that will allocate 36,000 sq. ft to spaces for strength training, sports medicine and new

volleyball and basketball practice arenas.

Ferree then gave a presentation with an update on the progress of the Dining and Facilities Comprehensive Facilities Plan, which included renderings of Phase One renovations that were approved by the Design Review Board the day prior.

The College has been working with Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions in a pre-development agreement to develop the renderings shown at the meeting. They will now begin to finalize designs, conduct site work and pursue legal and financial agreements to consolidate a long-term partnership before construction begins next year.

“It really is starting to bring us closer to transforming our campus,” Ferree said.

Residence Life recently announced the closure and demolition of Yates Hall for the 2023-2024 academic year to make way for the construction of new dining facilities and residence halls on the West Campus site. The plan removes the 250 beds currently in Yates Hall and replaces them with 935 beds across four new buildings. A dining hall known as West Woods Dining will also be constructed

at the 1A site and will replace Commons Dining Hall.

The College has been working with Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions in a pre-development agreement to develop the renderings shown at the meeting. They will now begin to finalize designs, conduct site work and pursue legal and financial agreements to consolidate a long-term partnership before construction begins next year.

“It really is starting to bring us closer to transforming our campus,” Ferree said.

Residence Life recently announced the closure and demolition of Yates Hall for the 2023-2024 academic year to make way for the construction of new dining facilities and residence halls on the West Campus site. The plan removes the 250 beds currently in Yates Hall and replaces them with 935 beds across four new buildings. A dining hall known as West Woods Dining will also be constructed at the 1A site and will replace Commons Dining Hall.

Construction is slated to begin in September of 2023.

SONIA SAMANTAROY THE FLAT HAT

At the end of spring 2023, contents in the Music Library, presently located in Ewell Hall, will move to the Reeder Media Center. is change will happen as the music department moves to a newly-constructed building alongside the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Hall.

e Music Library is used primarily by music students and contains a collection of music, scores, CDs and technology.

“Looking at the data, the technology is the most heavily used material over there,” Associate Dean of Research and Public Services Lisa Nickel said.

Nickel emphasized the bene ts of this move.

“We are steps away from the new [music] building so it makes sense to put them all in one place where we've got the most people and the most space to manage these things e ectively,” Nickel said, referring to the Reeder Media Center.

Music major Justin Oei ’23 believes the library also serves as a studying and community space for students looking to get work done or socialize.

“I'm a music major, so for me and other music majors, and even just people that enjoy music and spend a lot of time in Ewell Hall, we just use it as a space or for us to meet,” Oei said. “It lls that town square type of vibe.”

e Music Library is lled with hidden gems like an Edison Phonograph from the early 1900s that is fully mechanically functioning to this day.

English

“With a desire to unify attention to arts holdings across the disciplines — it made sense

From a formerly gifted and talked kid, now burnt-out adult Vivian Hoang '24 writes about the dangers of stress glorification and the dogmatic pursuit of success.

from sta ng, patron services and collection perspectives to move the Music Library to Swem,” Knight said.

Oei questions, however, why the new building does not have a space for a music library given that there is precedent for department libraries, like with physics and chemistry. He references the need for both

students and faculty to access materials.

But when it comes to music related technology, Nickel believes that the Media Center is a great place to house the equipment because the center has a large sta , longer hours and has experience managing technology. e Music Library on the other hand is small; only one student employee works at the library at a time.

“We have so many different loan types — sheet music, books, DVDs, CDs, vinyl records and then a whole range of audio equipment like amps, cables, microphones and synthesizers,” Cryan said. “It's impossible to expect a William and Mary student who is also seeking a degree to know everything about everything they have here.”

e current branch of the library has invented its own atmosphere through its cozy seating, vintage decoration and welcoming community.ƒ

“I love how much agency the students have to use the space however they want,” Cryan said.

“

e previous Music and Arts Librarian had always let the students shape the space however they wanted, both physically and culturally.”

As the Music Library Assistant, Cryan has a personal connection to the space and cannot deny the bittersweet feeling of seeing the physical library closing down. Cryan has been working at the Library since April of this year, continuing their work of running this branch after graduating.

advances to FCS quarterfinals for the first time since 2009

HANNAH RAY,

GRAPHIC BY CALLIE BOOTH / THE FLAT HAT

Music Library Assistant Brigid Cryan ’22 is still on the hunt to obtain a horn and needle for this revolutionary music invention.

Department Chair Arthur Knight, who also works on campus spacing, emphasized the importance of centrality.

STUDENT LIFE

̶ Emily OʼKeefe ʼ25

Saturday,

The sculptures were created by the artist Laura Frazure alongside students during a workshop organized by Professor Elizabeth Mead.

“In October, the artist Laura Frazure came and she did an exhibition in the Andrews gallery titled Bodily Rhetoric,” Mead said. “And at the end of the month to the end of October, she came back and she did this amazing workshop with our students where they made and prepared clay and straw as materials to make these adobe figures.”

Frazure is a sculptor and professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia whose work has been exhibited in New York, Beijing and Shanghai.

Mead and Art Department Chair Mike Jabbur suspected vandalism and reported the incident to the police.

“We donʼt have confirmation on that yet,” Mead said. “But what I can tell you is that structurally these were so well secured to the ground. I mean, they had 16-inch deep stakes that wrapped around the armature and there were numerous of them holding these in place.”

College spokeswoman Suzanne Clavet instead attributed the incident to rainy weather, which began early Saturday morning.

“This risk was known at installation,” Clavet wrote to the Flat Hat. “They were expected to deteriorate in the elements (in fact, when they were installed, there was signage up that indicated that).”

Fazure somewhat expected this outcome.

“She sees the work as being somewhat political,” Mead said. “And wasnʼt surprised that it was sort of a rather forceful response to it. But I also shared with her that this is not our experience with William and Mary. This is not our community. And thatʼs what I find really troublesome about it.”

“Partnering with earth and food to wage peace”

ANNA ARNSBERGER // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

Professor Sasikumar Balasundaram thinks the Williamsburg farmer’s market is the happiest place on earth. For three hours every Saturday, you can nd him gleefully chatting with customers behind a rainbow of curries and under a sign that pithily sums up his life philosophy: “Partnering with earth and food to wage peace.”

As the owner of Spicy Kitchen Farm, founder of Harvest Earth International, and an adjunct lecturer of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, everything Balasundaram does in his professional life is in uenced by food.

Balasundaram rst joined the College of William and Mary as an assistant professor in 2014 with a background in cultural anthropology. As soon as he began teaching, he noticed apparent patterns of stress, anxiety and depression throughout the College. Concerned by what he was seeing, Balasundaram sought to nd creative ways to support his students.

“My thought was, one of the things I learned growing up in a village, I always found growing food is pleasing,” he said. “Because if you plant a seed you’re kind of looking forward to it. And then when you start growing certain plants, you take care of it, you have to water it, you’re nurturing it. So it’s just… it’s hopeful. So I was trying to teach classes which are hopeful.”

Realizing this, Balasundarum rented out a few garden plots on campus and had the students in his COLL class, “Growing up Global,” tend to them. Assignments included blogging about the garden and attending a demonstration about cooking cabbage in the styles of seven di erent cultures. Right away, Balasundaram saw growing excitement among his students as they watched their plants grow.

e success of that class inspired Balasundaram’s passion forto using food as a basis for education, something he describes as “foodagogy.”

“Using your food as a tool to teach about society and culture and people, rights,” he said. “So you can use food to teach about anything… talk about the Chinese culture or Indian culture by how they cook. And then you can talk about rights, who has food rights and who doesn’t have it. Now you can talk about climate change.”

Teaching about food and gardening not only in uenced Balasundaram’s students, but also left a lasting impact on him. One year, a student’s friend encouraged Balasundaram to visit KelRae Farm, the local farm that partners with the College’s dining services. Balasundaram fell in love with the work being done there and was inspired to buy a farm of his own in New Kent.

Tribe Trek: Emily O’Keefe ’25

In 2017, Balasundaram left Williamsburg to pursue a job at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he continued to teach about food and racial justice. Four years later, Balasundaram ultimately decided to return to his farm in Virginia.

He now lectures classes at the College such as “Cuisines in Asia and the Middle East” in the Asian and Middle Eastern studies and Asian Paci c Islander American studies departments.

“Mostly I teach about sustainability and climate change, those kind of things I care about most,” Balasundaram said. “I care about the people and the planet.”

Balasundaram’s primary focus is on being a full-time farmer, a profession that has brought him immeasurable joy.

e nancial life is much, much, much more stable being a farmer,” he said. “And also my quality of life increased by maybe 50 times.”

Farming was not a completely new concept to Balasundaram when he rst purchased land in Virginia. He was raised on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka where his family grew almost everything they ate.

“Our ancestors went to Sri Lanka as indentured tea estate workers in the 1800s,” Balasundaram said. “So as soon as the British left, the locals saw that we were unwanted and disenfranchised and they took our citizenship for several generations.”

Being Tamil, an ethnic minority in Sri Lanka, Balasundaram endured discrimination, statelessness and riots growing up.

“We were economically and socially, politically marginalized,” he said. “So one of the survival strategies for us is to grow what we can because we were extremely poor.”

From his childhood, Balasundaram learned that he could survive nearly any hardship. He also picked up the art of gardening from his grandmother.

“I learned about how to grow,” Balasundaram said. “Because those days, we were isolated communities. We didn’t have fertilizer or we didn’t have pesticide. We learn how to grow, work with the nature.”

In many ways, Balasundaram has come full circle in his return to farming. However, he recognizes that this pursuit is a privilege that he did not have before.

“It was a survival strategy,” Balasundaran said. “Now it’s my choice. I choose to. I have a PhD, I can make maybe $90,000 money. But I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in the quality of life.”

OʼKeefe completes trail in five and half months, reflects on lessons learned along the way

Many students at the College of William and Mary enjoy exploring the Lake Matoaka Trails or venturing out a little further to the Powhatan Creek Trail or Waller Mill Park. For many students, that is enough, but not for Emily O’Keefe ’24. She committed to the ve and a half month-long endeavor of hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail.

Running through 14 states, the Appalachian Trail extends from its southernmost point, Springer Mountain in Georgia, all the way to Mount Katahdin in Maine. It takes around ve to seven months to complete the trail, which is roughly 2,190 miles long.

O’Keefe began her hike on April 13 and completed it on Sept. 30. An average day would involve waking up, eating breakfast, preparing all of her belongings and then walking eight to 10 hours every day with a few breaks. After hiking for the day, she would get to a camp, set up, eat, mingle, sleep and then do it all again the next day.

O’Keefe was a Tribe Adventure Program leader at the College of William and Mary, so she has some prior experience and gear. However, she did not do any intense physical training beforehand.

“I feel like I didn’t actually do that much training,” O’Keefe said. “I think the longest backpacking trip I’ve done before the trail

be seen through acts such as shaving her head, living a barefoot lifestyle, no longer listening to music and sleeping in a sleeping bag. All of this accumulated into radical environmentalism, which led her to hike this trail.

“ e Appalachian Trail was like a form of extremism, I think, that was a pattern for me,” O’Keefe said. “If there’s anything that you can do in society where you’re just almost escaped from society and living among nature, this is one of those things, and I wanted to try it out.”

O’Keefe quickly fell in love with the beauty on the trails and the incredible people she was around. e Mahoosuc Notch, which is considered the most di cult stretch of the entire trail, is a boulder patch that O’Keefe described as an adult jungle gym, and it was one of her favorite parts. She also recalled enjoying the breathtaking views of the White Mountains. e amazing views and landmarks made the hike an unforgettable experience for O’Keefe.

Of course, O’Keefe did face some challenges as there was a lot to be fearful of during this experience. Dead trees falling on her tent at night was a concern after one fell on a friend’s tent. Storms also became a fear after O’Keefe got stuck in the middle of one on a 4000-foot mountain in Virginia while lightning was striking nearby.

Additionally, O’Keefe had to skip a small section of the trail in New York as there was a man threatening violence toward hikers.

“Everything is all in the mind. Itʼs all about attitude. On the trail, if something was really hard or challenging, I would force myself to say it was easy. And somehow, I think that kind of positive thinking helped me get through it

Farmer, Professor Sasikumar Balasundaram uses food to inspire hope, promote environnmentalism

COURTESY PHOTOS / SASIKUMAR BALASUNDARAM

Balasundaram ʻs 10-acre organic farm includes a pollinator field and vegetable gardens He cooks much of the produce he grows for his Spicy Kitchen Farm market stand.

Sculptures from art workshop knocked over in front of Andrews

Dec. 3., Professor Michael Gaynes noticed two adobe clay sculptures, which had been part of a temporary installation outside of Andrews Hall at the College of William and Mary, had fallen down.

was a ve-day backpacking trip, so really not too much preparation.”

Committing to such a hike with little preparation is a big decision for anyone to make, but O’Keefe felt like it was a necessary one. In school, O’Keefe was unhappy as a biology major and was overwhelmed with the Residence Assistant lifestyle. She was also a bit of an extremist who was facing an existential crisis surrounding the future. Her extremism could

Vivian Hoang

FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR

Recently, I was so stressed that I chewed a hole in my cheek. Well… sort of. In October 2022, right before Fall Break, I began feeling a sharp stabbing sensation in the right side of my mouth. But I ignored the constant pain rippling through my jaw and cheek and continued powering through my midterms, even turning the physical discomfort into a motivator for finishing my essays because the sooner I did, the sooner I could schedule an emergency appointment as a twisted sort of reward.

Eventually at said appointment, the dentist poked and prodded around in my mouth, per the usual. After a couple of minutes, he scooted his chair back, put his tools down and lifted up his brightly lit glasses.

“I just have one more question for you,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

Oh for the love of God, please don’t ask me if I’ve been flossing“Are you a college student?” he asked, raising his eyebrows quizzically, to which I promptly answered yes, at the College of William and Mary.

“Ah, I see. Have you been burning the candle at both ends?” he continued to ask, “Maybe like, doing so much you can’t handle it? Not eating or sleeping well? Being under a lot of stress?” I blinked rapidly once, twice. The extremely (dare I say too) accurate analysis of my present condition was one I expected at a therapy rather than dentist appointment.

“Uh…yes, exactly that,” I answered somewhat apprehensively, still taken aback.

“Well, that’d do it,” he said. “What I’m seeing on the right side of your cheek is an ulcer with teeth lacerations surrounding it, suggesting that you’ve been chewing on the interior walls of your mouth, either consciously or unconsciously, and grinding your teeth. The jaw pain you’re experiencing is from clenching your jaw too often. Most of these are symptomatic of extreme stress.”

If I wasn’t in the vicinity of a working professional that social norms mandate I conduct myself appropriately around, my jaw would have dropped to the floor.

Although, I really shouldn’t have been so surprised because ever since I can remember, I’ve been overworked.

Since the age of eight when I enrolled in my first advanced academic program, I’ve been transfixed on perfection, consumed by every neat little A on my report card despite the physical and mental toll it wrought on me. At a young age, I learned very quickly that the school system was a dog-eatdog world that wasn’t composed of peers, but instead competitors who were outpacing me in the race towards the next chapter of our lives. I genuinely believed that if I didn’t spend every waking moment I had working towards that elusive prize, overextending myself in every arena possible to show colleges how “well-rounded” and “hard-working” I was, I would simply never reach the next step of my life and instead be shoved aside by my much more qualified classmates. My goal seemed simple — get into a “good” college, whatever that really meant — but tied within that was a compulsive need for validation through academic and extracurricular achievement.

This mindset led me to feel immense guilt for any nanosecond I spent not bettering my future. A silent warning bell rang in the back of my mind during every outing with friends or family, reminding me not to get too comfortable because there was work waiting for me to do. That constant internal alarm meant that I could never truly engage in the moment or relax the electrified nerves twisted and tangled under my skin; my mind was always too focused on the ten million other responsibilities I felt an urgent obligation to tend to.

But I know it’s not just me. I know that the majority of those of you who are reading this article now are similarly afflicted with this virulent condition — a grade-A (pun intended) obsession with productivity — perhaps even with worse cases than I. Part of the reason I found myself so deeply entrenched in cycles of ungodly productivity followed by depressive burnout was because doing so was so normalized within my social circles that I didn’t realize it was a problem. All my life, I’ve been so deeply surrounded by high-achieving and intelligent peers that I thought it was just the way of life to have fifty million conflicting commitments because of the sheer workload you’ve convinced yourself you could definitely handle (surprise, surprise, you couldn’t), or to

be in a constant zombie-like state of sleep deprivation because of how little you value your own health over meeting your goals.

This insane hustle culture is one I have witnessed be endemic to Northern Virginia kids in particular — my respective high school and college friends, the vast majority of whom are from NOVA, act in the exact same overachieving ways, running in the same rat races only in different locations. NOVA is essentially pumping out little genius babies at this point, and when the College is essentially an aggregation of the highest-achieving students of their respective high schools — the middle 50% GPA of its student body ranges from between 4.1-4.5 for God’s sake — it makes perfect sense why nearly half (as of 2018-19) of the College’s student body draws from NOVA.

Now, I must make clear that I don’t say all this in a self-pitying, ‘oh no, woe is me, I was given too much opportunity to succeed and learn in my white suburban upbringing and now I’m tiiiirreeeddd of it all’ sort of way. I 100% recognize I had much privilege and many advantages in being raised in NOVA. But I also have to acknowledge the price imposed upon such an upbringing, that growing up in such a competitive environment has had lasting long term effects, saddling me and many others I know with debilitating cases of burnout and mental illness. Given my background, it really shouldn’t come as any surprise that I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder in which my primary coping mechanism is overfunctioning.

So I think it’s about time we’ve addressed this deadly overachievement as more than a punchline

when speaking about “spoiled rich kids” from NOVA.

To put it frankly: we need to stop normalizing the act of stressing ourselves to the point of mental ruin, of dedicating every waking moment to our careers and academics to the point that we no longer know who we are and what brings us joy beyond the narrow confines of institution-based achievements. It’s time to let go of the pressures to constantly be working towards some fictitious, grand future. Shouldn’t we be focused on making the most of the present, the here and now? I know firsthand that it’s absolutely exhausting trying to be perfect or even extraordinary in all aspects of your life.

Despite what all your peers’ lengthy LinkedIn pages may indicate, you are not behind in life, and you are doing more than enough. You don’t need to always be the best of the best, and sometimes you are your best when you’re doing less and focusing your energies on a select few things that really matter to you rather than a hodgepodge of volunteer work and extracurriculars that ‘look good’ on paper.

And let us not forget to heed the dire importance of creating a realistic, manageable workload that provides you with enough time to recharge — a life of all work and no play will never be sustainable.

Though allowing myself to enjoy downtime without panic or guilt is still something I struggle to do on a daily basis, I can definitely attest to the positive impacts of blocking out time for self-care. By the end of last semester, I became so burnt out by the sheer amount of commitments I had taken on that I began skipping social events out of pure physical and mental exhaustion. Sure, during those weekends I may have felt some FOMO and shame for backing out on plans with my loved ones, but in the long run, even just one day off renewed me with so much more energy to go back out the next weekend when I was genuinely feeling up for it.

And self-care doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking like a fullon spa day with back massages and saunas (although that does sound quite nice…); it can be as simple as a 15-minute walk or reading your favorite book. For me, it’s writing silly little articles like this or delving into the depths of Spotify in the pursuit of new music.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM.

VivianHoang’24isahistorymajorandisworkingtowardsselfdesigningasecondjournalism&masscommunicationsmajor.Oncampus, sheservesasoneoftwovarietyeditorsofTheFlatHat,oneoftwocopy chiefsofFlatHatMagazine,apeerconsultantattheWritingResources Center,andthefamilychairoftheVietnameseStudentAssociation—and that’sherversionoftakingiteasy.YoucancontactVivianat vvhoang@wm.edu.

Fuzzy 26: Prancer comes to town

As the semester comes to a close, many members of the College of William and Mary community look forward to their break plans. Maybe they’re visiting family. Maybe they’re visiting friends. Perhaps a little bit of both. Whatever the case, it takes some foresight. An understanding of not only the calendar of yourself, but others. And this is where my qualm begins.

For reasons unknown to me, the College has one of the weirdest academic calendars I have ever encountered. Almost every time I tell my friends at other colleges when we start and stop our semester, their first reaction is something to the tune of: “Really? That late?” This is typically followed by condolences or sympathy of some kind, as their school gets out much earlier than ours.

My first question is: why is our schedule so behind? Our final exams consistently extend into the late teens and early 20’s of December, which puts a damper on holiday plans. They cut into the beginning of Hanukkah this year, and end pretty close to Christmas. This deficit widens significantly when you factor in potential travel time for out of state students. Not to mention, the closer to the holidays, the crazier the traffic (and the more expensive the travel).

Also, who wants to be on break in the middle of January? There is nothing to do. Most people have vacation around the holidays, whether it be from work or from school, and don’t have extensive time off into January. Essentially, the College’s break is set up so that you get to spend the least amount of time as possible with the people you don’t get to see during school. I don’t know if this is some sort of power play to ensure Tribe Pride or something (make the students hang out with other students over break, or, alternatively, make them so lonely over break that they’re begging to come back to school), but it just doesn’t make logistical sense to me. A potential upside is that while your friends and family have to worry about going back to school and jobs, your break gets to last a little longer. Until you remember this means your summer break will, once again, come way later than everyone else’s. There’s also disadvantages to students over the summer break, too. Time with family and friends is cut short again, especially if families have multiple college-aged students who get off at different times. Also, there’s less time at home before potential internships or summer jobs start. The break starts at the end of May, around when internships start (or even after, if internships start earlier in May). Professors collaborating with other institutions on summer research also probably have less time to work together on various projects.

All in all, our academic calendar just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I don’t like being the last to go to school and the last to come back. I just want to know why our break is scheduled like this. It doesn’t seem like it has to be. Is there a reason? Please let me know.

LaurenMeyer’24isplanningtomajorin

Lauren Meyer FLAT HAT ASSOC. OPINIONS EDITOR

COMIC BY ARIANNA STEWART / THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY ZOE DAVIS / THE FLAT HAT

Starbucks is not the best we can do

Agavni Mehrabi THE FLAT HAT

For those of you who haven’t noticed, the College of William and Mary has commenced quite the culinary cultivation process as of late. No, I’m not referencing the now hollow remains of the Daily Grind or Qdoba’s death. I’m pointing to the new Starbucks that’s being built by the Wawa on Richmond Road.

Now, I’ve heard arguments in favor of this Starbucks. For one thing, its’s off-campus. Yes, the proximity offered by the on-campus locations make them peak pit stops for a classto-class refuel. They’re also the perfect purveyors of a quick morning pick-me-up.

But what about those situations that call for a weekend getaway? Distance can go a long way for marking an occasion, whether it’s a matter of catching up with companions or grabbing a sip with that special someone. It can even be a simple solitary excursion. Forget convenience; sometimes a student just wants to break free from the buildings where the ghosts of essays past lurk between each brick.

Then there’s been musings that maybe, just maybe, its offcampus status means compatibility with the Starbucks app. As in, all of those gift cards snubbed by the ISC and Boehly Cafe locations might finally find a home. As in, all of those empty cups might finally translate to reward points for full cups in the future. But such hopes are likely to be for naught. After all, the wallscape surrounding the construction boasts involvement by the William and Mary Real Estate Foundation. For background, its homepage says its mission is “to acquire, hold, manage, sell, lease and participate in the development of real properties in support of the educational goals of William & Mary.”

It’s the same group responsible for Tribe Square, home to the glorious Chick-fil-A. The Chick-fil-A which, notably, does not accept gift cards.

Expecting Starbucks to be any different is rather optimistic.

As for the other point, defending the new Starbucks based on its off-campus charm risks ignoring existing options.

Colonial Williamsburg already offers several caffeine corners. There’s the illy Caffé on Duke of Gloucester Street, which serves European-style espresso and platters.

GUEST COLUMN

The heart-shaped latte art, ceramic tableware and aesthetically pleasing interior decor leave little to be desired. For anyone with Tribe Pride nostalgia, there’s an Aroma’s on Prince George Street. With offerings that don’t just include but also exceed those of its Sadler and Swem siblings, its selection is sure to satisfy.

Finally, there’s Wawa. While Starbucks itself is by no means cheap, those repelled by the previous two spots can find a safe haven in this old favorite. It houses a diverse array of drinks, at minimal punch to the pocket. There’s self-serve hot joe for the classic customer, but there’s also iced, seasonally syrupy specials for the sweet tooths out there. Altogether, in terms of coffee beyond the borders, there’s already something for everyone at the College. Those who emphasize the need for this new Starbucks as an off-campus alternative don’t give existing options enough credit.

For these reasons, the lot beside Wawa should not be made into a Starbucks. It should not be another coffee shop, period. Rather, it should be set aside for an easily affordable, universally helpful, food-centered establishment.

Not everyone needs a coffee shop, and those who do already have the means to satiate their cravings. What most college students can certainly appreciate is a fast food joint. Study strained and cafeteria starved, many could use the comforting, stomach filling properties that greasy grub provides.

Right now, the only chain within sizable walking distance is Chick-fil-A. According to Apple Maps, the closest Chipotle is about a half an hour walk away. The story isn’t any different for McDonald’s, which is 37 minutes away by foot. Such travel times act as barriers to those with tight schedules. Not to mention, there’s plenty of walking already attached to campus life.

With that said, our students deserve an end to this fast food desert. They deserve for the lot beside Wawa to be made into something that responds to what the community currently lacks, not to add to what it already has. And they deserve for that something to be sensitive to the student budget even though, and actually because, the same unfortunately cannot be said for most businesses in the surrounding area.

AgavniMehrabi’26 isplanningtodouble majoringovernmentand finance. Outside of the Flat Hat,Agavniisamember ofRadioClubandArchery Club.

EmailAgavniat almehrabi@wm.edu

Why you should go to a student representative body meeting

Peerawut Ruangsawasdi

THE FLAT HAT

Every other Sunday night in Fauquier Hall, 40 or so people gather around in a circle in the lounge. Chosen by their fellow residents to represent them in the Community Council executive board as hall representatives, they work conjunctively with those on the pro-executive board and resident assistants.

Watching from outside, an observer must wonder, what in the world do these people do? Do they just sit around and participate in a sham talking shop meant to be a pastime activity for debate enthusiasts?

Far from it, I say, if such an observer exists. While I serve as its president, I am most definitely not an eager orator. In fact, most who know me would describe me as quite the reserved type, a quality that resulted in me being told to speak up. Having to consciously speak up every five minutes or so during meetings to ensure that everyone present can hear me has been quite the challenge!

Well, we’ve eliminated the possibility of it being a talking shop. What, then, does the Community Council actually do?

Apart from general upkeep duties, such as maintaining the community agreement or lounge schedules, the Council first and foremost works on behalf of residents. One such avenue lies in the management of community funds, whether it would be through planning initiatives or purchasing items as requested. The Council also works closely with the Head Resident to identify and mitigate any issues that may arise throughout the year, and that may look like communicating with the appropriate College of William and Mary entities, Residence Life or the Residence Hall Association.

But there’s more work to be done. “I’m sorry, but the Community Council doesn’t do anything,” my friend, a fellow Botetourt resident, said the other day. “That is remarkably false!” would have been my response, although I was too stunned, shocked and internally saddened to say so at the time.

If so, how come are people unaware of the works of the Council?

Transparency and engagement.

As president, I’ve regularly sent out newsletters to update the Complex on what the Council has been up to, aptly named “The Botetourt Council connection.” I’ve even uploaded them to a Substack dedicated to housing all Council communications. I engage with people on the Gooch Hall and Botetourt GroupMe’s, addressing their concerns and providing avenues for them to directly communicate with me. I’ve even created new personal Instagram and Twitter accounts just to relay information solely relating to Community Council.

And if those aren’t enough, I offer additional opportunities for residents to schedule a meeting with me to relay any concerns that they may have through Calendly, the link of which is included on The Botetourt Council Connection.

However, I have come to realize that these efforts do not go far enough in bridging the gap between student government bodies and the student themselves — members of such representative bodies must be proactive in reaching out to students, not solely relying on residents to come to us. After all, we’re all students, and getting caught in the nonstop current of academic rigor at the College is totally fair and relatable.

As president of a Complex of five halls, this has proven to be a bit difficult. Any and all efforts through connecting with people outside of Gooch Hall, where I’m from, have to rely on support and efforts from residents of each of the other four halls. I confess that I have only gone into two of the Botetourt Halls (shocker). I promise that I will arrange initiatives for me to better connect with the other three halls and see if they need anything from the Council. We’re all part of the same Complex — if one hall has a problem, it is beholden upon all of us, particularly those with positions on the Council, to come to their aid.

GRAPHIC BY MONICA BAGNOLI / THE FLAT HAT

You are not “dark academia,” you are a real human girl

Elizabeth Brady THE FLAT HAT

Fringe fashion groups have existed for almost as long as clothes have. Clothes have been used to signal membership to groups, alliance to a cause or, in the least complicated but not least significant cases, personal taste. For most people who dress outside of the norm, fashion is a reflection of their selfhood, it’s a way to convey their inner selves, to control their own visual narrative or to just wear something they think is fun and cool. Fashion is expressive in nature, and in turn, reveals something special about its wearer. Recently, however, I’ve noticed a difference in how we engage with subcultural or niche fashion. On the internet especially, different fashion subcultures (now commonly referred to as “aesthetics”) are hyper-specific, narrowly defined and easy to copy if you have an Amazon Prime subscription. Want to be a “granola girl?” Buy a Hydro Flask and some Birkenstock sandals. Want to do “ballet-core?” Find some leg warmers, pink flats and a wrap cardigan. “Dark academia?” Get some thick rimmed blue light glasses, a tweed blazer and a copy of “Catcher in the Rye.”

More and more, internet fashion culture has become inexpressive, you don’t have to actually like yoga to be a “green juice girl” you just have to wear the slicked-back bun and gold hoop earrings. It seems like the goal of dressing is not to do what you want, but to pick one aesthetic and perform it as best you can.

The appeal of this is obvious, having an epitomic, cohesive, crystallized style that directly falls along the lines of a pre-ordained “aesthetic” is easier and less risky than developing one yourself. All you have to do is punch a few words into the Pinterest search

bar and you can find an entire new look and a laundry list of traits and consumer goods to acquire in order to attain it. And the best part about all of this is that you still get to feel subversive while you do it.

I am aware that this is a rather uncharitable, judgmental and pessimistic point of view, as well as an unoriginal one. People have been whining about “posers” for forever, and in a world where everything is So Bad All The Time, can we not at least just let people do what they want? Sure, people are allowed to do and dress as they please, I’m not going to go snatching cherry lollipops from the mouths of “nymphet aesthetic” enjoyers. I’d just like to point out that dressing within a pigeon-holed aesthetic “code” (even if that code is one not broadly held as normal) is not as creative as people may think it is.

before found a better home. Social media marketing created an environment where looking the right way and buying the right thing can literally become your job, which in turn incentivizes looking the right way and buying the right thing. And if there’s basically a pre-existing handbook on how to look and the things to buy, you can easily become the most marketable you that you can be.

I saw someone the other day say that they liked an item of clothing but it “didn’t match their aesthetic.” And I think that this oxymoron is the perfect example of the problem with our current state of affairs. The idea that you would forfeit wearing something you like in order to more carefully and exactly cultivate yourself for consumption is so antithetical to what having a personal style should be. Dressing yourself should feel authentic, the second that the label you’ve attached to your style begins to chafe and restrict it is the moment that you find a new label, or better yet, abandon labels altogether.

In summary and for clarification, I’m not against teenagers on the internet dressing weird, I think that teenagers (and children and adults) should dress weird. And I’m not against people online sharing the things that they enjoy with other people who have a similar personal style, I think that that’s amazing. What does give me pause, however, is when we start to monetize aesthetic assimilation, and we stop valuing truly original personal style. The way out of this quandary is simple, radical and sometimes feels impossible: wear what you like.

Yes, there may be some issues that are outside the reach of the Council. But that doesn’t mean the Council can’t advocate on behalf of residents to try and solve those issues with those who can. As the main representative body of the residents, it is the Council’s duty and imperative to do so.

But communication, trust and cooperation go both ways. As we are trying to be more proactive in reaching out to residents, residents should also be able to feel comfortable enough to approach us with any issues that they may have. Or even if you don’t have any input currently — come and observe our meetings. We’ve had one person this year who came to three consecutive meetings and was granted voting rights. Attending our meetings can only serve all of our interests — residents can be more informed about the affairs of their home, while also gaining communicative experience. These are fulfilling functions for students to carry. I know they are for me.

Students shouldn’t restrict their participation to just Community Council, however. Since Oct. 4, I have attended every Student Assembly Senate meeting. Seeing student democracy in action has been an entertaining but also interesting experience. That is how students can be best informed about the works of student representative bodies.

Of course, I realized that not everyone can attend these meetings. That is the case for me for RHA — I’ve yet to have gone to an RHA meeting due to a class conflict. But that doesn’t mean I just give up on being uninformed — I always ask for updates from the Botetourt Complex RHA representative, whom I have to applaud, as they have been more than magnificent in relaying information from RHA to the Council.

As an interested stakeholder, I appreciate and commend outreach efforts from community councils, RHA and the SA, but I would suggest that there are actions that can still be taken.

According to the SA Constitution, all bodies of the SA must keep regular journals and records which shall be open and publicly available to students. We’re almost halfway through the year, and students still lack access to the SA Senate meeting minutes through the website. I have been told that it is currently being worked on. I certainly hope that is the case. Providing summaries and meeting minutes is one way that we can increase student interest in the SA, or “burst the bubble” that SA has often been described to be in, demonstrated by the occasional low election turnout numbers.

Greater cooperation between those bodies also needs to be emphasized. Fundamentally, we all serve one group — the students. I am working closely with a few members of both organizations to organize an initiative to explain the roles of each of our organizations and how we can better serve everyone in the College community.

This kind of “consumable identity” (where the construction is largely comprised of consumable goods and has little to no foundation in one’s actual taste) may have existed before the internet but has never

ElizabethBrady’25isaPublicPolicy majorandanEnglishminor.Shelovesart, music,movies,andisamemberofAlphaChi Omega.

EmailElizabethat eabrady@wm.edu

For others who may not currently be as interested as I am, I would strongly urge you to attend at least one meeting of each of those bodies, and perhaps more. At least just to get a sense and a feel of what those bodies are for, and why we fund them with our tuition fees. After all, if you come here, you belong here. If you belong here, and have funded those bodies with your or your family’s money, you ought to have an invested interest to ensure that those bodies are working to really improve your lives here. And perhaps you can even provide a suggestion or two and maybe even make sure that

getting

money’s worth!

PeerawutRuangsawasdi’26ispresidentoftheBotetourtComplex CommunityCouncil.EmailPeerawutat pruangsawasdi@wm.edu.

you’re

your

It seems like the goal of dressing is not to do what you want, but to pick one aesthetic and perform it as best you can

Peppermint Frosty p e n n e f o r y o u r t h o u g h t s

BLACK-PLANAS // THE FLAT HAT

Since Nov. 15, Wendy’s has been selling a seasonal, limited-edition Peppermint Frosty in place of its usual Strawberry Frosty. Deviating from its usual dessert selection, the Peppermint Frosty is the fast-food chain’s boldest commitment to holiday cheer yet.

Like sweets available at a myriad of other fast food burger chains, Wendy’s Frosty is an affordable ice cream-like dessert that is available in a select number of flavors. However, Frosties are meant to be consumed frozen with a spoon similar to soft-serve, setting itself apart from other cold fast food desserts that are supposed to be consumed with a straw like a milkshake.

Unlike McDonald’s, which frequently introduces new McFlurry flavors regularly, Wendy’s strategy in producing and peddling their frozen treats is boasting a fairly consistent Frosty selection. Over the past sixteen years, Wendy’s has only carried four varieties of Frosty: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and peppermint. The newest flavor is temporarily replacing the strawberry flavor, which itself replaced the vanilla flavor this past summer and was cited as a huge success by the company. This is also the first holiday-themed flavor Frosty sold by the chain ever.

As such, Wendy’s patrons have by now noticed that the only two Frosty flavors available are the staple Chocolate Frosty and the festive Peppermint Frosty. It was clear that I had a mission to try both and review them so my fellow College of William and Mary students would know whether or not their money

would be well-spent if they decided to pursue either — or if they should even bother with Wendy’s for frozen desserts at all.

I will preface my experience with the Peppermint Frosty by describing my journey to Wendy’s. To my disappointment, the location on Richmond Road was out of the item, and I had to make my way to the Wendy’s on Monticello Avenue. This could either be interpreted as a negative or a positive; either some Wendy’s franchisees are neglecting to stock up on enough Frosties, or the item is so popular among the College’s students and locals that the location nearest to campus was cleaned out.

The Monticello Avenue Wendy’s, however, carried both the Peppermint and Chocolate Frosties.

I was impressed by the clean and sleek drive-thru, and I was relieved that I did not have to drive to three Wendy’s in a single evening. Having acquired one of each Frosty flavor, I took off and prepared a taste test.

I believe that the Frosty’s defining trait — its frozenness — is one of its greatest strengths. The texture of both Frosties was identical, and both were satisfying to eat with a spoon rather than a straw. This characteristic, however, can also turn into a liability — after only

customers to eat their Frosties quickly and to be aware that a smaller size is most likely liable to melt more quickly.

The Peppermint Frosty’s special flavor ended up being a mixed bag for me.

Though certainly not bad, the dessert’s greatest fault is that it simply does not taste very much like peppermint. As such, I was not immediately overcome with holiday spirit as I had initially hoped I would be. Though I was certainly disappointed by this, I still think the drink’s taste is solid; I would liken the actual flavor more to a very buttery strawberry taste. There were some notes of mint, but they were not particularly commanding. Unfortunately, I cannot compare the taste of a Wendy’s Peppermint Frosty to that of a conventional candy cane.

overpowering. I should also mention that I felt this flavor had a better tummyfeel than that of the Peppermint Frosty thanks, in large part, to its reduced sweetness. Though not particularly unique, if you like chocolate and frozen desserts, you will athe Chocolate Frosty. Once again, I cannot say that I hated the taste of the Peppermint Frosty; however, given the choice between the holiday flavor and the staple, I cannot really recommend the former besides as a novelty purchase.

One last factor to consider in evaluating the value proposition of purchasing a Peppermint Frosty is its price. Sitting at $2.49 plus tax, a medium Frosty is not particularly expensive and comes in a decent size. The Peppermint Frosty is also the same price as the standard chocolate flavor despite its status as a limited-time menu item. The McDonald’s Oreo McFlurry will similarly run you $2.39 at a regular size. In terms of bang-for-your-buck I can thus certainly recommend the Frosty; you get what you pay for.

With the previous triumph and critical acclaim of “Black Panther” (2018), Marvel’s sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022) had many expectations from fans and critics alike. These expectations were only heightened due to Marvel’s recent slump in film quality, as many fans have been let down by “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), “Thor Love and Thunder” (2022), “The Eternals” (2021), the list goes on. These factors along with the tragic loss of the original Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, left many fans (including myself) worried about the future of this superhero’s franchise.

However, after watching the sequel myself, my faith in Black Panther’s future was restored, as the second film is just as much of a triumph as the first. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” uses many aspects of its predecessor that made fans fall in love with the series. The issues colonialism imposes on minorities remain the focus of the series, with the film beginning with Wakanda trying to protect its vibranium from being stolen by Western countries.

After the depth of their king and the Black Panther, Wakanda and the royal family are vulnerable to attack. Many countries clamor at the opportunity to pillage the country’s supply of vibranium. When the United States scours the Atlantic Ocean for the powerful metal, however, they upset a secret and ancient people who utilize vibranium deposits

about 20 minutes, both Frosties began to melt. As they adopted the consistency of sleet, they became far less satisfying to consume. I would therefore caution

I was much more taken by the flavor of the chocolate Frosty. This definitely had dairy in it (lactose-intolerant buyer beware). It tasted more like dark chocolate than milk chocolate, and neither the fat nor sugar was

My final verdict really hinges on what you’re in the mood for; if you aren’t in the mood to splurge and want to try a flavor that isn’t as solid as the standard chocolate Frosty but won’t be around forever, the Peppermint Frosty may just be for you. As long as you can handle high amounts of sugar and dairy at once and don’t expect the holiday drink that was promised, what you spend on medium Wendy’s peppermint Frosty probably won’t be the worst $2.49 you’ve forked over this semester.

AVA EDWARDS // THE FLAT HAT

underwater. The American ship is attacked by blue-skinned aquatic people, and Wakanda is astonished to find that there is vibranium outside of their country.

The film’s antihero Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, is the ruler of the blue-skinned aquatic beings. His people, the Talokan, are ancient Mesoamerican people who suffered from diseases brought by Europeans in the past and fled its destruction with a gift that turned them into aquatic beings. Wakanda and Talokan have much in common as they both utilize the gift of vibranium and have hidden from the world’s view for some time. But when Namor intimidates Wakanda’s royal family after the U.S.’s attempted theft, conflict ensues between the Talokan and Wakandans.

Now for a warning, do not go see the new Black Panther movie if you are not prepared to shed a tear or two in public. Neither I nor my roommate could keep ourselves from bawling for most of the film’s duration. We, however, were not alone in this struggle as most of the theater could be heard sniffling multiple times throughout. As for myself, I counted eight separate times I got teary-eyed.

Between the moment of silence, the Marvel intro dedicated to the late Chadwick Boseman, and having to see the family of King T’Challa cope with the loss of their leader, their brother and their son — the film was very emotionally charged at times.

For example, in the film’s opening sequence, we see Princess Shuri

(played by Letitia Wright) rush to craft a new heart-shaped herb for her brother who is terminally ill somewhere off-screen. She is ultimately unsuccessful in her efforts and must deal with the crushing weight of her failure to save her now-deceased brother. This scene establishes the mournful context for the rest of the film and primes its audience for many more tears and losses to come.

The CGI is just as impressive, if not more, as the previous Black Panther movie. Many of Marvel’s new endeavors have had issues when it comes to special effects, but other than a few slightly wonky shots, this film’s CGI was impressive as usual. The film’s stunning visual effects take full form in the tour that Shuri takes in the Talokan’s underwater kingdom. Here, Marvel uses every opportunity to show off the talent of its VFX artists, and how advanced special effects technology has become in recent years. With this underwater kingdom, the audience is shown a beautifully crafted scene that took months of hard labor, which only gives us greater appreciation for the hard work of the set designers and VFX artists behind the film.

While the CGI in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” showed numerous possibilities for new technological uses, these new prospects were not used to create a digitized version of Chadwick Boseman. At no point in the movie do we see a CGI Boseman cheering on his sister in

her attempts to fill the hole in leadership he left behind. The only time we see or hear King T’Challa is during flashbacks to the previous film when one of his loved ones looks back on fond memories of him. I feel as though this was the best decision the producers and studio could have made in dealing with Boseman’s loss.

Fans of other sci-fi films know many other franchises (I’m looking at you, Star Wars) who would jump at the opportunity to flex their special effects muscle by adding a digitally recreated version of a late actor.

This absence adds to the emotional weight of the film as a whole, and this fact allows the audience to feel what it is like for the Wakandans to have lost their Black Panther, while also honoring the memory of Chadwick Boseman.

With Namor’s introduction as the first mutant in Marvel’s Earth 616 (since the multiverse is now open, this is the Earth where all the Avengers come from), fans of the franchise are given the first glance into the future potential of the X-Men in the Marvel universe. The crowning of

the new Black Panther along with the end credit scene for

Overall, the film was certainly a rollercoaster of emotion. It was well worth the wait and the price of a ticket, with beautifully executed CGI that is best viewed on the big screen. The film’s entrancing plot makes me excited for what the future holds for the Black Panther and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

the film also gives a glimpse into the future of the superhero and his succession as the protector of Wakanda.

GABRIEL

GRAPHIC BY ARIANNA STEWART //

Small but mighty: Students for Rare spread awareness of rare diseases

ursday, Dec. 1, Students For Rare, a student organization dedicated to promoting awareness of rare diseases and raising money to aid in the research of these diseases, launched a new project during its last general body meeting of the semester. Known as Diseases and Disabilities in Media, this activity featured a discussion on how underrepresented medical conditions appear in popular culture.

Club President Cate Jones ’24 rst broached the idea as a general body member last year. She expressed that she felt the event served as a great conclusion to the rst half of the academic calendar for the club

“I thought it was a good way to talk about these things, in a broader social context, because that matters,” Jones said. “You don’t have to just listen to us talk at you, we’re having a conversation together. at’s a nice way to close out our meetings for winter break.”

Although the club is currently voting between discussing “Wonder” and “Five Feet Apart,” club member Sage Futrell ’26 said they also suggested looking at the novel “Out of My Mind” for its portrayal of cerebral palsy. ey said another book ripe for social criticism is “A Mango Shaped Space,” which centers on synesthesia.

“I feel like that’s a condition that’s rare, but instead of being stigmatized, it’s romanticized. It’s like two sides of the same coin,” Futrell said. “It’s important to talk about how both of those are misrepresentations of disability and can be harmful, or questionable at best.”

Another standout event hosted by Students for Rare was its rst fundraiser of the semester at Baskin Robbins on Sept. 15, 2022. Proceeds from the fundraiser went to Tyler’s Mission, an initiative under the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation. Speci cally, earnings went towards research on Batten Disease, a neurodegenerative disease which a ects less than 1 in 12,500 people, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

“I’ve enjoyed conversations we’ve had, walking into Baskin Robbins together after meetings when our pro t shares align when our meetings are,” Jones said. “Getting to hear people’s stories and talk about stu are some of my favorite memories.”

Secretary and co-founder Kimberly Pham ‘23 explained that she rst started the club with Jamie Kim ‘22 in fall 2021 after being inspired by both Kim’s connection to rare diseases and her own background in STEM. She recalled going to Baskin Robbins as a club for the rst time during the

inaugural meeting.

“Who’s not in the mood for ice cream sometimes?” Pham said. “It was really great because it was right after our general body meeting — the rst ever one — and then we all walked together. And some of them are even on our exec team now.”

Pham identi ed two more bene ts to the Baskin Robbins fundraiser. She expressed how such events not only spread the word, but also promote team bonding.

“It’s a great way to promote bonding in the club and that social aspect,” Pham said. “It’s been carrying itself well in terms of spreading awareness but also just promoting that bonding and that safe

of advocating for the rare disease community through sharing knowledge, furthering research and building bonds is overseen by its marketing, fundraising and educational committees, respectively. She said these committees o er opportunities to general body members looking to get involved.

“It’s important because it gives people an opportunity to feel like they are really getting to help the rare disease community in more of a hands-on way rather than sitting and listening to us drone on for however long the meeting lasts,” Jones said. “ ey feel like they are active members and not just people who are showing up to listen to us

not necessarily have that rare disease, but looking about what people who have it talk about and wanting to highlight it a bit more.”

e marketing committee deals with advertising and communications. While one of its tools is social media, Futrell contributes by printing sticker merchandise. Futrell, who has a rare immune disorder known as eosinophilic esophagitis, a chronic immune disease a ecting the esophagus, said they participate in the club for the fellowship.

“Coming here and nding members who had my same condition was very validating,” Futrell said. “I’ve already found a place where I can talk about my experiences, and ways that people already understand. Often, my condition is equated to lactose intolerance. It’s just seen as a simple allergy, when it’s not. It’s good to talk with people who have had similar experiences.”

One of the events that Futrell is making stickers for is the club’s second annual care package fundraiser coming up before winter break. e packages will include hot chocolate, cookies, candies and more. Pham noted they are important as not only a source of revenue for donations, but also for boosting campus spirit.

“ e care packages were such a success last year,” Pham said. “It’s a great way to destress towards nals and, of course, we really care about mental health.”

Jones said the club welcomes both those who have rare diseases and those who do not. For Jones, the de-stigmatizing component makes it just as valuable a resource for able-bodied students seeking a career in medicine.

environment for our general body.”

According to Jones, this solidarity-building is especially crucial when it comes to the rare disease community. She said those with conditions that affect less than 1 in 2,000 often find themselves underrepresented.

“You see that there’s more attention — just in general, nationally and globally — to other minority communities that the disability community, especially the rare diseases community, don’t get,” Jones said. “I would say that this community is di erent, you’re not going to see that in other clubs.”

Jones said the club’s multi-pronged mission

once every two weeks.”

e educational committee is responsible for preparing Rare Disease Spotlights, which share information on a new rare disease every meeting. ursday, Nov. 3, featured Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which is a condition marked by disproportionate pain that can oftentimes arise post-surgery. Jones, a former member of the committee, said the most powerful part of these presentations comes from how they go beyond facts and gures.

“I really cared about talking about not just the clinical stu but the lived experience,” Jones said. “Bringing what I could, as somebody who does

“I think it’s really important if you want to go into that biomedical sphere that you have an understanding of what it is like to be a patient and to be the one receiving that care, and that it’s not just this theoretical, political thing,” Jones said. is is about people, with lives that are deeply, deeply a ected by all of this. I would recommend people who are thinking of going into that eld, who maybe want to be more connected, to join.”

Students for Rare holds general body meetings every other ursday from 7-8 p.m. ere are no club fees, which Jone said re ects a sensitivity to student budgets. Pham said this kind of inclusivity extends to those of all majors.

“Overall, everyone is invited,” Pham said. “You don’t have to be a STEM major. It’s open doors. Honestly, I want more diversity in the club and our members. It doesn’t have to be STEM — it’s just your willingness to listen and be open minded about it.”

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, but do you know the Christmas Unicorn?

The Christmas Unicorn is the focal point of a family-favorite Christmas song that is not for the faint of heart. When you press play on Sufjan Stevens’s 12-minute musical masterpiece, you’re in for a mash-up of multiple genres, tempos, instruments and of what it takes to be deemed an icon of Christmas. And as a three year member of Stevens’s top 0.001% of listeners on Spotify according to my recent Spotify Wrapped, I feel compelled to share this song’s beauty with you all.

Movement One: Introductions

Stevens wastes no time. Immediately the song begins with a calm folk guitar undertone as the Christmas Unicorn is brought to life. e guitar takes the backseat and listeners are moved to listen to the words, which combine both religious and pagan elements to create a character who fully encompasses the evolved nature of the Christmas holiday season.

This unicorn is described as a “pagan heresy” as well as a “tragic Catholic shrine” all in one breath. This “horse with a fantasy twist” is also “hysterically American” with a “credit card on [its] wrist.” It dresses in a way that suggests definite ties to a magical realm with a “sorcerer’s shield” and “magical wreath” on its chin. Most importantly though, this complex beauty is “a little bit shy, with a lazy eye,” making it a perfectly

imperfect representation of the elaborate background of the holiday.

Christmas has become unique to each person who celebrates it; one’s own memories, good and bad, are brought to the family dinner table. What better way to capture that reality than with a hodgepodge of oddities collected and displayed on a character of elegance and innocence like this Christmas Unicorn?

Techno Transport: Part One e voice of the Christmas Unicorn concludes his introduction with “but I know you’re just like me,” catapulting listeners into the rst techno transport of the song. e folksy elements of stringed instruments are still present, as well as the melody developed in the rst phase of the song. However new electronic elements begin to be introduced, as well as a new melody with growing intensity.

is mostly instrumental section transports the listeners into their minds to carry out self-re ection. Are we really just like this beautifully complex Christmas Unicorn? What elements do we share with such a creature? How can we be just like this mythical animal?

Movement Two: You’re the Christmas Unicorn

Anyone who has had to analyze literature at some point in their lives has heard that repetition occurs for a reason. Repetition means something is being emphasized, so we should probably pay attention to what that something is. This phase begins with Stevens declaring that he is the

Christmas Unicorn, and that “you,” the listener are too. This refrain builds to include the message that “it’s alright, I love you.”

Around the holiday time, there

decorations illuminating your house, you have to get along with extended family, you have to ace all of your exams and end the semester strong. But the Christmas Unicorn has already been established as imperfect, just like every human to walk this earth. And that’s alright. At its core, Christmas is still a time of love, and every person is deserving of receiving such love regardless of the mistakes they may have made this semester. Eventually a chorus of voices join in declaring for themselves they are the Christmas Unicorn as the music loses its folksy sound and becomes almost pure techno.

Techno Transport: Part Two

and the heart that makes Christmas Christmas.

ere are also bells that begin to ring louder and louder in this instrumental section, revealing a new interpretation of what’s to come next: Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Movement ree: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Wasn’t the holiday season supposed to be about love and how this happy feeling manages to fascinate humanity for about a month? Why, then, is the song ending with love will tear us apart?

Well, let’s face it. Christmas isn’t perfect. ere are ghts, overcooked turkeys, disappointed children, disappointing grades and the knowledge that as wonderful as Christmas can be for the month of December, it won’t last.

seems to be a sense of pressure looming in the air that things need to be perfect. You have to be nice enough to get on Santa’s list of good children, you have to hit the nail on the head when it comes to buying gifts, you have to have Clark Griswold style

Congratulations! You’ve made it seven and a half minutes through! Building o of the techno style developed in Movement Two, a new meshing of melodies occurs. While you can still hear elements of the melodies that have come before, it’s clear the song is changing once again.

ere are new sounds to be taken into account like a sort of heart beat monitor. It serves as another not so subtle reminder that while the song focuses on a ridiculous mythical creature, it’s really about humanity

When it’s time to go back to reality, we’re torn away from easily accessible holiday cheer. It’s harder to nd reasons to cut ourselves some slack for our mistakes, but just because we’re imperfect doesn’t mean there isn’t cause for some cheer throughout the year. After all, “it’s alright, I love you.”

Techno Transport: Part Three

And so the ending begins. The final techno transport. Except this time, rather than being transported deeper into the maybe not-somystical world of the Christmas Unicorn, listeners are being transported back to reality.

As the music fades, listeners are given the freedom to accept the fact that they are, in a way, the alluringly flawed Christmas Unicorn. In what ways, that’s up to you to decide, but just know that “It’s alright,

you.”

COURTESY IMAGE / KIMBERLY PHAM

Football advances to FCS quarter nals for rst time since 2009

Tribe scores 34 points in dominant first half against Garder-Webb

JAKE FORBES FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, Dec. 3, William and Mary Football (111, 7-1 CAA) defeated Gardner-Webb (7-6, 5-0 Big South) 54-14 at Zable Stadium to advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2009.

In their first FCS playoff appearance in seven years, no. 5 William and Mary was well rested following an opening round bye.

The Tribe set several school postseason records, including points, total yards (606), rushing yards (302) and forced turnovers (6).

“As you start moving forward in the playoffs you have got to be at your best. And we were at our best today,” head coach Mike London said after the game.

The Tribe won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. On William and Mary’s first offensive play of the game, sophomore quarterback Darius Wilson completed a pass up the right side to senior wide receiver Caylin Newton for a 25-yard completion.

Once across midfield, the Tribe relied on their rungame to move into the redzone. Facing a fourth and one on the 19-yard line, London decided to keep his offense on the field. Wilson found Newton open on the left side of the field to keep the opening drive alive.

Then, Wilson rolled out right and rushed for another first down up to the Gardner-Webb threeyard line. On the next play, senior running back Bronson Yoder rushed right for the touchdown. A successful extra point conversion from sophomore Ethan Chang gave the Tribe a 7-0 lead to start the game. The opening drive score marks their eighth in 12 games this year.

The Tribe’s defense came out strong, forcing the visiting offense to go three-and-out on their opening possession.

On the Tribe’s next drive, Wilson found senior running back Donavyn Lester open for a 30-yard pass. However, the team struggled to build off of the opening play and punted to Gardner-Webb.

Gardner-Webb began building momentum on their next offensive drive. On first and 15 from their own 48-yard line, redshirt senior quarterback Bailey Fisher passed to graduate student wide receiver Cutrell Haywood, who fumbled the ball. Redshirt freshman cornerback

Jalen Jones forced the fumble, which junior linebacker Brayden Staib recovered.

William and Mary began their third drive of the quarter with a 14-yard rush to the right from Yoder. Several plays later, the Tribe faced a third and 12 from the edge of field goal range. Wilson found sophomore wide receiver JT Mayo deep downfield for a 34-yard touchdown pass to grow the team’s lead.

On the third play of Gardner-Webb’s next drive, senior Ryan Poole intercepted Fisher’s pass near midfield. Wilson passed up the right sideline to Mayo for a 43-yard touchdown on the next play. Another successful extra point conversion put the Tribe up 21-0 less than 20 minutes into the game.

With their backs up against the wall, Gardner-Webb began driving. On the first play of the drive, freshman running back Jayden Brown rushed left for a 16-yard first down run. Two plays later, senior running back Narii Gaither rushed up the middle for 32 yards to reach field goal range. After reaching the redzone, Fisher tried to scramble right. Junior defensive lineman Nate Lynn forced a fumble on the play and senior linebacker Trey Watkins recovered the rock. After reviewing the play, the officials upheld the original call.

With nine and a half minutes remaining in the first half, the Tribe needed less than two minutes to score another touchdown. On the third play of the drive, Lester rushed right for a 69-yard touchdown run.

Gardner-Webb’s offensive struggles continued on the next drive when the Tribe forced a three-and-out.

Wilson began the ensuing Tribe drive with another pass to Newton for the first down. The home team managed one more first down before Gardner-Webb finally stopped their red hot offense.

Chang ran out on the field to kick a successful 49yard field goal, bringing the William and Mary lead up to 31-0.

After another three-and-out for Gardner-Webb, the Tribe began driving again when Wilson rushed for 12 yards and 17 yards on back to back plays. Two plays later, Yoder rushed left but coughed up the rock. Gardner-Webb recovered the ball, giving their defense a chance to rest.

However, their break did not last long, as the well-rested Tribe defense forced another turnover.

On third and 13, redshirt freshman quarterback Matthew Caldwell threw an interception to senior defensive back Tye Freeland, setting up the Tribe with good field position and one more scoring chance before the break.

On third and two from the Gardner-Webb 32yard line, Wilson passed deep right to redshirt freshman Martin Lucas for a 20-yard completion. The Tribe ran out of time and Chang converted a 27-yard field goal to set the Tribe up with a 34-0 lead heading into the locker room.

Coming out of the locker room, Gardner-Webb had nothing to lose. Early on their first drive of the second half, Caldwell completed back-toback passes for 15 yards and 32 yards to reach field goal range. On the next play, Gaither rushed for 14 yards up the middle. Then, a facemask call against Gardner-Webb pushed them back. Facing a third and long Caldwell found redshirt freshman wide receiver Caleb Borders open for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

William and Mary wasted no time responding. The Tribe relied on their run game to move the ball across midfield. On third and seven, WIlson completed a pass deep left to sophomore wide receiver DreSean Kendrick for 34 yards. Then, Yoder rushed right on first and 10 for a 12-yard touchdown. The Tribe scored 41 points just over 40 minutes into the game.

Gardner-Webb struggled in early downs on their next possession, but converted two third and long attempts to move near midfield. On the next third and 10, Caldwell threw an interception to senior defensive back Malcolm Spencer.

The Tribe would not let up as the game continued. On second and seven, Wilson rushed left for a 29-yard gain. Then, Lucas rushed for another 17-yard gain. Once in the red zone, the Tribe faced a fourth and one. The Tribe GardnerWebb offsides, setting up the home team with a first and goal.

On third down, Wilson found sophomore wide receiver Tyler Rose open for another Tribe touchdown. Chang missed the extra point, but the Tribe still boasted a 40 point lead, their eventual margin of victory.

Gardner-Webb began driving on their next

possession. After the conclusion of the third quarter, the visiting squad lost their momentum. The team committed a false start penalty on the first play of the fourth quarter. On second and 15, freshman quarterback Xavion Brower threw an interception to Freeland.

With the game locked up, William and Mary benched many of their starters to protect against injury and fatigue. The Tribe rushed the ball on the first four plays of their next possession. Freshman quarterback Tyler Hughes passed to junior wide receiver Tyler Oedekoven for a first down. Several plays later, Hughes completed another pass to freshman tight end Sean McElwain for the 48-yard score.

“We had a chance at the end to let a lot of guys play,” London said.

The Tribe again stopped the Gardner-Webb offense short of midfield, forcing the punt team to come back in. On the return, Oedekoven muffed the punt, but sophomore inside linebacker Alex Washington recovered the ball on the Tribe’s own 13-yard line.

Gardner-Webb forced a three-and-out, bringing their offense back on field with less than six minutes remaining in the contest. The visitors managed to drive downfield and score their second touchdown of the game.

The Tribe’s explosive offense was evenly balanced. The team finished with 306 rushing yards and 302 passing yards, as well as three rushing touchdowns and four passing touchdowns. The defense tallied four interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Wilson finished the game with 240 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Wilson also led the team with 89 rushing yards on just eight attempts.

Ten William and Mary players recorded a reception, but no player caught more than three passes. Newton and Kendrick each secured three passes, but Mayo led the team with 77 receiving yards on two receptions. He scored on both plays.

Lester and Yoder rushed for 87 and 72 yards, respectively.

The Tribe will travel to play no. 4 Montana State on Friday, Dec. 9 at 10:15 p.m.

Men’s club soccer wins consolation championship at nationals

Tribe finishes season on a high note with victories in Round Rock, Texas

MOLLY PARKS FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

Nov. 17-19, William and Mary Men’s Club Soccer competed in Round Rock, Texas at the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association National Soccer Championships.

The Tribe played in the Men’s Championship with 24 collegiate club soccer teams from across the United States. Finishing the tournament as the consolation bracket champions, the team left Texas with three wins, two draws and one loss, ending their season with a final record of 13-5-2.

From their Greenville, North Carolina regionals tournament to Austin, the team kept overhearing the same frustrated whispered question:, “Who even is William and Mary?” With the smallest student body of any team at nationals, playing with no coach and being one of the few competitive schools to also have a varsity Division I men’s soccer team, the Tribe played with an eager desire to

prove their name.

“We had a couple of guys who started counting all the times that people would walk by and say like, ‘who are you guys?’” graduate student left back Jason Kline said.

Referring to their Cinderella story run, junior goalkeeper Finlay Dodds noted this spirit helped keep them motivated and worked as a detriment to their opponent. Dodds is on the club team for the 2022-23 school year as an exchange student from The University of Edinburgh.

“We embrace that,” Dodds said. “I think we know that other teams will kind of look down on us because we’re not like a huge school. The game’s won before it’s started half the time because people just don’t give us credit.”

The underdogs certainly came out hungry for their club’s first ever chance at a national title. The Tribe took on Michigan State in their first matchup of the group stage. Shaking off the rust and

jet-lag, the Tribe went down 2-0 early in the first half to the Spartans. The early setback has often been a common theme for the Tribe throughout the season, as they let up early goals at regionals against Central Florida and Florida, but came back to win both games. Senior captain and center striker Bjorn Shockey described the motivation behind the team’s comeback mentality.

“It is a camaraderie thing,” Shockey said. “We’re a social club because we spend a lot of time together outside of just soccer. So it’s really nice that no one’s like yelling at each other and there’s no toxicity. Everyone is just like, ‘all right we’re down, we’re not going to argue, we’re just going to come back’ and it’s going to be that much sweeter when we actually get the result.”

With a first goal header from Kline off a corner from sophomore midfielder Sam Grove and a second goal from sophomore midfielder Daniel Carter, the Tribe ended up tying the Spartans 2-2 at

the end of the 80 minutes. Junior forward president Sam Passodelis spoke on the shift in emotion throughout the game.

“Part of me, I think, was like not fully ready to play. I had a stomach ache at the beginning of that game because I was nervous… Then after the first 20 minutes I started playing significantly better because I was just like, ‘We’re here. We’re here just like every other team. We deserve to be here.’ I think we honestly dominated Michigan State for the next 60 minutes,” Passodelis said.

After Michigan State, the Tribe took on their next and final opponent of the group stage, Minnesota. Without a men’s varsity team and with a coaching staff that includes Alan Merrick — a former West Bromwich Albion, U-18 England national team and US professional player — the Minnesota Gophers gave the Tribe a difficult game. Against Minnesota, the Tribe put up a tough fight in the first half letting up only one goal, but a demoralizing second half had the Tribe

closing out the group stage with a 4-0 loss against the Gophers. The Gophers placed second in the entire tournament, falling to Brigham Young 2-1 in the championship game. With the loss, the Tribe fell to the consolation bracket by goal differential.

As they progressed through the consolation bracket, the Tribe faced off against Colorado, James Madison and Southern California. In their first matchup against Colorado, the Tribe went down early by one goal in the first half. However, a first goal from Passodelis, followed by another from sophomore Tim Llewellyn, propelled the Tribe to a 2-1 win against the Buffaloes. Junior captain center back Nate Hillman noted the resilience of his team.

“The mental resolve of the team is something that I’ve never been a part of before. No matter what the score is or how much time is left, nobody’s quitting,” Hillman said.

JUSTIN SHERLOCK / THE FLAT HAT

Sophomore quarterback Darius Wilson runs upfield during the Tribeʼs 54-14 victory over Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Dec. 3.

JUSTIN SHERLOCK / THE FLAT HAT

Sophomore wide reciever DreSean Kendrick evades a Gardner-Webb defender during the Tribeʼs win on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Alexander Hamilton Society hosts speaker addressing Iranian political climate

Friday, Dec. 2, the Alexander Hamilton Society hosted Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C., to discuss the current political climate and foreign policy surrounding the nation. Berman is an expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Russian Federation, and has written for publications such as e New York Times and e Washington Post.

Berman introduced the topic by explaining how, prior to the recent protests, discussions about Iran had been focused on their nuclear program. However, there are many more issues for foreign political analysts to look at.

“Iran is one of those issues where everybody thinks that they know a lot, but they actually know much less than they think they do, and you get that because most of your news ltered through editors has decided for you what’s important in Iran,” Berman said.  “So, for instance, up until the current protests in Iran, 80 days ago, something like that, the frame for which we were looking at Iran was 99% the Iranian nuclear program.”

Berman delved into the central questions he believes need to be asked when thinking about Iran. e rst of these questions is how to de ne Iran. e Islamic world consists of 85% Sunni Muslims and 15% Shiite Muslims. Shiites had historically been persecuted and granted little agency within politics. However, the majority of the Iranian population is Shiite. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the rst Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeni sought to empower Shiites throughout the Middle East.

“[Khomeni] eliminated an ally of the United States, he created a model of emulation for other Islamic radicals that they’ve been following since, and he empowered the Shiites and turned them into a political force,” Berman said.

Iran is an Islamic republic whose government includes both republican institutions (such as a judiciary and a unicameral legislature) and unelected religious positions. e complex incorporation of secular and religious elements into the political system of Iran has led to complications. Berman explained that Iran vacillates between acting in a manner that is practical for their country and spreading the ideological movement it embodies.

Berman’s second central question is to consider what the Iranian regime wants. Berman discussed how — like America, China and Russia — Iran is a revisionist power. Berman argued that the Iranian government hopes to consolidate their power over their nation and the Middle East as a whole. He discussed the importance of looking at the country’s development of their nuclear weapons program alongside this notion.

e closer Iran gets to the nuclear threshold, the less the West supports the Iranian opposition because we don’t meddle in the internal a airs of nuclear powers,” Berman said.

Berman stated that the third question concerns what United States foreign policy should look like regarding Iran. He described U.S. decision-making as ine ective and inconsistent.</p>

“You go from sanctions to punish Iranian behavior, to inducements, to the lifting of sanctions and rewards for good behavior, back to sanctions, back to negotiations, so if you’re confused watching this, imagine how the Iranians feel,” Berman said.

Berman also explained that the United States has mistakenly focused all its concerns on the pace of Iran’s nuclear program.

“When we’re talking about the Iranian challenge, it’s much bigger,” Berman said. “It stems from the ideology of the regime, but it encompasses not just the nuclear program, it encompasses the fact that they have a very robust asymmetric strategy for supporting terror proxies and rejectionist groups, Shiite militias in Iraq, the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Assad regime in Syria, and so on.”

Berman continued that while the regime is willing to engage economically with the West, they will not compromise their principles.

e 2015 nuclear deal lifted sanctions with the hopes that certain practices would change, but according to Berman, the results were not favorable.

“[Iran] acted more aggressively in the region, it increased its defense budget by something like 10%, it accelerated ballistic missile work,” Berman said.

e fourth central question, what the Iranian people want, returns to the central con ict between acting as a country or movement. According to Berman, Iran has a legitimacy problem— they prioritize military strength over nancial wealth, and their economy is experiencing severe repercussions.

“The Iranian regime consistently, in its 43, now almost 44 year history, has chosen guns over money. It’s always regime stability, it’s always military prowess. The secondary consideration is prosperity, which is probably why the Iranians aren’t doing so well,” Berman said.

College aims for improvement to emergency noti cation system, Tribe Alert

Ginger Ambler, Deborah Cheesebro lead threat assessment team, address evolving concerns on

the message.

Saturday, Oct. 22, an anonymous threat placed the College of William and Mary campus under shelterin-place orders for 34 minutes as the William and Mary Police Department responded. e suspect was eventually placed in custody and a Tribe Alert — the College’s emergency noti cation system run by its Emergency Management Team — was sent lifting the shelter-in-place with no reported injuries.

reats to campuses across the country are usually monitored and responded to by threat assessment teams. A 2008 law, passed one year after the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech that killed 32 people, requires all Virginia public higher education institutions to have these threat assessment teams.

e College has both a threat assessment team and an emergency management team, which is a 13-person group led by two co-chairs (Vice President for Student A airs Virginia Ginger Ambler and Associate Vice President of Public Safety) and Chief of Police Deborah Cheesebro.

“ e threat assessment team can help with assessing and trying to determine if a threat exists and making recommendations on what needs to happen,” Ambler said. “And the emergency management team guides our response in any kind of emergency situation. As you know, that can range from a hurricane to a power outage or a gas leak to something else.”

Since 2017, the College’s EMT has sent 22 Tribe Alerts cautioning about an incident on campus. Cheesebro said the teams use a constant and comprehensive approach in an attempt to address threats before they become emergency situations. Ambler added that redundancy is key to ensure everyone on campus gets

During the anonymous threat this October, students heard the College’s campus-wide siren and received Tribe Alerts in the form of mobile noti cations or text messages, which Cheesebro and Ambler said were tailored to the situation. Ambler explained the threat was “anonymous” because it did not have a clear source, and it was “generalized” because it was not aimed at a speci c location. us, the team decided to take campus-wide action.

“We told everybody it was not an active shooter,” Cheesebro said. “We speci cally put that out there to folks. Feedback we have so far is that was helpful for us to clarify that that was not the case on campus.”

When the rst Tribe Alert was sent, John Dietz ’24 was helping to run WCWM’s Mini-Fest, a live music event, outside on the Crim Dell meadows by the Sunken Garden.

“I think the rst thing that people noticed were the sirens that we could hear from Crim Dell meadows,” Dietz said. “And it was in the middle of a

performance. And a lot of the people that I talked to afterwards were like, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t sure if the sirens were part of the music somehow or something.’ And then when we got the text was, you know, when we started to take action and evacuate the Crim Dell meadows. Yeah, it was scary.”

Dietz said those in attendance ran for cover in nearby buildings, including James Blair Hall and the Sadler Center, and that ultimately, he was proud the organizers were able to ensure everyone in attendance was safe.

Ambler said the College tries to support student leaders to help them feel knowledgeable and equipped to handle emergency situations, but that due to the nature of campus threats, it’s di cult to communicate oneon-one.

“We always try to work with student groups to gure out safety and security around events,” Ambler said. “Just generally, that’s

campus

group speci c and more campus wide because we never can know exactly who’s going to be with whom and where they’re going to be if we need to reach people.”

During the incident in October, the EMT sent a total of six Tribe Alerts.

“I appreciated that they communicated multiple times,” Dietz said. “It wasn’t just one text and then, okay, it’s over.”

Ambler emphasized the need to be clear when there is no longer a threat to the campus.

“ e important thing from a campus community and a well-being standpoint is for us to be really clear when the alert is over and when shelter in place is over and students can return to their normal activities,” Ambler said. “Because we know certainly from the experience that our colleagues at UVA had when they had a very long shelter in place, that this is just a very stressful situation. And so we always want to make sure students know as soon as possible when they can go back to normal activity.”

While the EMT has worked with University Communications to create a standard set of alerts, sometimes pre-existing prompts or common messages don’t t the situation. In this case, Ambler said the Tribe Alerts were tailored to the anonymous threat and that immediacy was prioritized.

ere always has to be room for professional judgment so that if there is truly an imminent threat and that we don’t have to wait to convene a group of people to decide what we’re going to put out,” Ambler said. “We empower whoever is in authority at that moment to notify the campus if there is an imminent threat.”

Cheesebro said that the College’s team is

Emphasizing the vital importance of gardening, food as a key tool

Sasikumar Balasundram

EQUITY from page 2

Balasundaran continues to use the practices he learned growing up. He credits his grandmother with giving him all his wisdom, despite the fact that she was illiterate.

“ ose techniques, which was a sad thing at the time, but now it’s a privilege to know, it’s a skill,” Balasundaram said.

“What I learned from my grandmother in not using pesticide or herbicide, now it’s a fashion, it is the future, it is science. And all of these things we can learn from our ancestors.”

Many of the traditional methods of gardening for Balasundaram’s family, which did not rely on pesticides or fertilizers, are becoming more mainstream as sustainable farming rises in popularity among Americans.

is organic approach is vital to Balasundaram’s own farming ethos.

“I see the earth as an equal partner, not just the land that is created for me, but I just think I had to work with the land too, because I see the earth as a mother,” he said. “I want to take care of her because she gave me, she gave birth to me.”

For Balasundaram, farming is a way

for him to connect with the earth and experience true peace. He tries to focus on living in the present rather than worrying about money, time or the future.

“In order to have peace, inner peace, you have to live in harmony with the nature, the environment, and you have to live in harmony with other people,” Balasundaram said.

Just like his approach to life, Balasundaram’s 10-acre farm does not resemble many other typical farms in Virginia. Instead, his garden is lled with produce from across the globe.

“I grow vegetables and things that this region doesn’t have,” Balasundaram said. “I grow vegetables from Asia and Middle East. I grow things that are very rare. I want to promote biodiversity and I also want to teach things that are disappearing.”

Along with vegetables, Balasundaram raises all kinds of spices from ginger to turmeric. He also has a number of ducks, chicken and geese — each of which are named after “Golden Girls” and “I Love Lucy” characters.

Balasundaram aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible and put everything to use. For example, he

turns bamboo into ower vases.

“I don’t see anything as a waste,” Balasundaram said. “People thinking of bamboo say, ‘ ey’re invasive, it’s a waste.’ But I think they’re not waste if you know how to use it.”

While Balasundaram doesn’t sell any produce, he cooks much of what he grows to be sold at his Spicy Kitchen Farm stand in the Williamsburg farmer’s market. Balasundaram is known for his vegetable curries, but makes dishes ranging from Greek to Chinese, depending on what he has in season. His personal favorites are anything with pepper or spice.

Balasundaram is happiest at the farmer’s market, which he considers to be the best three hours of his week. He loves people-watching and building relationships with his customers.

It’s the best way to make friends and to interact because so many things you had looked for, and now people look for you,” Balasundaram said. “Every week they come in.”

Whatever Balasundaram doesn’t cook for Spicy Kitchen Farm or eat on his own, he donates to local food pantries in an e ort to battle food insecurity and injustice. ese are also issues

Balasundaram is trying to combat with his newly-founded nonpro t Harvest Earth International.

“Harvest Earth International grows food, leaders, and community toward promoting food security, equity and sustainability,” the organization’s mission statement says.

Balasundaram began Harvest Earth in response to what he sees as three major issues facing the world: the climate crisis, the food crisis and inequality.

“ ey all relate to one another,” he said. “So I want to tackle that, locally. It’s a global issue, I come locally.”

Balasundaram is still applying for 501(c)(3) status, but already has lots of goals for Harvest Earth. A primary aim is promoting food sovereignty and smallscale growth among local communities.

“ ere’s a food crisis not because there is a lack of food,” Balasundaram said. “We refuse to engage … I want to in uence the children. Growing food is a part of growing as a human.”

He is also concerned with supporting pollinators. Balasundaram has begun turning almost half of his land into a pollinator field, which he plans on additionally using as an educational resource.

“When the last pollinator dies, then it is the end of humanity,” Balasundaram said. “I want to create a model and I’m trying to make it a classroom. So maybe students, instead of reading a book, they can just come in and learn from what’s happening.”

Harvest Earth’s ultimate vision is a world where everyone recognizes their relationship with nature and engages in practices sustainable for humans and the earth. To get there, Balasundaram believes that people need to shift their priorities.

“I think we need to go back,” he said. “We survived this far because people before us, our ancestors, took care of the land the… way it should be treated… If we keep doing things like what we do, we may not leave a good place for the next generation. So I think we need to rethink about humanity. Beyond money.”

ough combatting the climate crisis and promoting global peace are daunting tasks, Balsundaram sees hope in the power of food.

“Food is the best tool to bring people together,” he said. “You can dislike me, but you would still like the food I cook … In a divisive world I think we can use food as a uniting tool.”

Ilan Berman outlines central questions, complexities of Iranʼs regime, U.S. response, recent protests

describes passion for promoting food security, sustainability in community

sort of standard protocol when we support students in their activities. I think our approach to imminent danger and threat is less

We always try to work with student groups to gure out safety and security around events. Just generally, that’s sort of protocol when we support sudents in their activities.

“ “

- Ginger Ambler, Vice President for Student A airs