Vol. 110, Iss. 13 ¦ Tuesday, February 23, 2021
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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HB 1980 Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program Commonealth of Virginia 2021 Special Session
Legislature passes
Establishes the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program, whereby Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia, starting in the 20222023 academic year and with any source of funds other than state funds or tuition or fee increases, are required to annually (i) identify and memorialize, to the extent possible, all enslaved individuals who labored on former and current institutionally controlled grounds and property and (ii) provide a tangible benefit such as a college scholarship or community-based economic development program for individuals or specific communities with a demonstrated
GRAPHIC BY CARMEN HONKER / THE FLAT HAT
university reparations
Virginia General Assembly creates new scholarship program for descendants of enslaved individuals ETHAN BROWN // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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ending the signature of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, new legislation will require the College of William and Mary to offer some type of tangible benefit to at least one matriculating student who can demonstrate a historical connection to slavery starting during the 2022-23 academic year. The Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program was formally passed by the Virginia Senate on a 22-17 vote the afternoon of Monday, Feb. 22. The legislation compels five public universities in the Commonwealth — Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute and the College — to identify and memorialize the enslaved individuals who built these institutions to the fullest extent possible. The bill also requires that these universities provide some tangible benefit, such as a tuition scholarship, for individuals or communities within the Commonwealth who can prove a historical connection to slavery. According to the bill, this provision is designed to help individuals and communities who are still experiencing ramifications of slavery to “break out of the cycle of poverty.” All five institutions were erected before the Civil War, and they all benefited directly and indirectly from slave labor. State Delegate Mike Mullin, a Democrat whose district covers Williamsburg and portions of James City County, York County and Newport News, said that slavery is intrinsically linked to the historical legacies of these universities, especially that of the College. “Slavery was part of the College from the very beginning,” Mullin said. “We have records of the College not just enslaving people on its farms but getting into the slave trade — hundreds and hundreds of people over the course of the 18th century were bought and sold by the College right outside of Bruton Parish church. It was a regular part of the College’s life for more than half of its existence.” Building off those historical legacies, the legislation requires the five universities to continue offering benefits through the College Access Scholarship Program until one of two scenarios have been met: each university must offer benefits for at least as long as the institution used enslaved individuals, or it must provide tangible benefits to more individual recipients than the number of enslaved individuals cumulatively used by the institution. For context, the College used enslaved individuals for 170 years, and the Lemon Project has uncovered evidence of at least 188 named and unnamed enslaved individuals used throughout the College’s history. This means that the College can choose to either offer benefits through the program until 2192 or provide benefits to at least 188 future students. Longwood, UVA, VCU, VMI and the College have until July 1, 2022 to coordinate and establish guidelines with the State Council of Higher Education for implementing the scholarship program. The bill also strongly encourages all private colleges with similar historical legacies in the state to opt into the program. The bill prohibits universities from using state funds or tuition revenue to fund any tangible benefits, meaning that
funding will likely have to originate from private sources or institutional endowments. Mullin voted in favor of the scholarship program when it passed in the House of Delegates earlier this month. Mullin said that the bill was a small way of rectifying the injustices committed by Virginia’s oldest public institutions in their early history. He also said that the College has been a leader on this front relative to other colleges and universities in the state. “It’s time that Virginia as a Commonwealth acknowledge that in a substantive way,” Mullin said. “While the College has been very good at it, we as a Commonwealth have been very bad. This is a small way of saying that someone whose ancestors were enslaved to build this institution are owed something by the institution.” State Senator Monty Mason ’89, a fellow Democrat who represents Williamsburg in the upper chamber, voted yes on the bill yesterday. Republican State Senator Thomas Norment J.D. ’83, whose district includes portions of James City and York Counties, voted no. The Virginia General Assembly’s decision to address slavery’s legacies within the state’s higher education system mirror existing trends in the College’s Student Assembly, which has conducted research into reparations at the university level since 2019. Ifeoma Ayika ’21, co-chair of SA’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Reparations, said that the College should interpret the scholarship program’s passage as a sign that the university needs to create its own reparations program to augment the provisions that will soon be enshrined in Virginia law. “I would recommend the administration take the serious approach of listening to the experts, and the people who are doing this work,” Ayika said in an email. “Currently, the Lemon Project houses the experts on how to carry out what is outlined in HB1980, and their work has been instrumental for so many Black people in Williamsburg. … If this bill passes, the administration should bring the opinions and ideas around both entities, and create a comprehensive reparations plan.” Ayika expressed her excitement with the creation of the new scholarship program, noting that it was a positive step forward for the Virginia’s ongoing reckoning with institutional racism. “I couldn’t imagine the VA legislature making this legislation even when I was a freshman, and I am so excited to see further commitments to racial justice and equity come from our government,” Ayika said. College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet declined to comment on the specifics of the scholarship program, instead pointing to the College’s existing efforts to address institutional relationships with slavery. These include The Lemon Project and the Mellon Foundation Grant, a $1 million grant given in 2019 to conduct community engagement initiatives and research into the legacies of slavery and institutional racism at the College. “That legislative process is still underway,” Clavet said in an email. “We certainly track proposed legislation, but the university has a practice of not commenting until the legislative process is complete… William & Mary is dedicated to telling a fuller, more consequential account of our history.”
CAMPUS
College hosts Anthony Fauci for community conversation Fauci issues caution, warns against complacency as nationwide COVID-19 cases decline ALEXANDRA BYRNE FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
During a pandemic that has often been politicized, the nation’s public health officials have struggled to disseminate facts regarding COVID-19 amidst the multitude of fictions. One of those officials — White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci — has become a household name over the past year. His message is consistent: listen to the science. On Thursday, Fauci joined College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe and Student Assembly President Anthony Joseph ’21 for a community conversation on pandemic misconceptions and the role of universities in combatting them. Fauci has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. As Rowe noted in her introduction, Fauci was a lead researcher at NIAID during the HIV/AIDS and Ebola epidemics, for which he received both praise and criticism from activists. But Fauci has never seen a spotlight as he has during the COVID-19 pandemic, nor has he seen a public health crisis this dire. “The COVID-19 pandemic is historically the worst pandemic of a respiratory disease that we’ve had in 102 years,” Fauci said. “This is a very
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unusual virus. In all the experience that I have had in dealing with emerging and reemerging infections, I’ve never seen a virus that is so contrary in what you would expect.” Fauci’s frankness has led to scrutinization of his public statements and guidelines, many of which change as the scientific evidence evolves. From mask-wearing to testing and vaccinations, Fauci made clear his advice — and likewise — his warnings. His honesty and impartiality have undoubtedly contributed to the public understanding of the severity of this pandemic. “Right now, as you and I are speaking Madam President, it is the leading cause of death in the United States,” Fauci said. “That is absolutely extraordinary.” Fauci pointed to the high mortality rates and a large number of asymptomatic cases as contributing to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the United States, he said, never dropped below a reasonable baseline number of cases before many states began to reopen businesses and schools. “The big issue that has permeated the situation in the United States, making it different from other countries, is that we never got below a reasonable baseline,” Fauci said. “Then, as you recall, we tried to open up
Inside Opinions 2 3-4 5-6 7 8
The Word on Reparations Part 2: Implicit
Alton Coston III ’23 writes the second installment of Student Assembly’s ongoing series, “The Word on Reparations,” about his experiences at the College. page 3
Inside Variety
the economy in the early summer of 2020. The problem is that many states did not abide by the recommended way of opening up, namely gateway, phase one, phase two, phase three. Then what we had was another surge, that when it finally peaked, it came down to about 70,000 per day, which is totally unacceptable — far greater than any other country in the world.” Those premature openings during the summer, as well as increased travel during the holiday season, led to exponential increases in cases. During this time, hospitalizations nearly overran the system, Fauci said. Though cases in the U.S. are declining, Fauci warned against complacency. “Fortunately, now we have a dramatic diminution going down,” Fauci said. “But we can’t be complacent about that because there are variants, namely mutations, that could, in fact, turn it around again.” For many students, the most pressing question is a very basic one: when will things go back to normal? The rapid emergence of effective vaccines, which Fauci labeled the only “roaring success” of the pandemic, has given the nation some hope. As more vaccines receive FDA emergency use authorization, many see the light at the end of the tunnel. But vaccine rollout has been slow, and herd immunity will require 85% of the population to be See FAUCI page 8
Inside Sports
Beauty Brains & Braids Bryana Moyler ’23 owns and operates a traveling Black hair company in the greater Williamsburg area. page 5
The NHL bubble
Lexie Hiestand ’23 says that the National Hockey League’s loose and unclear COVID-19 guidelines endanger players. page 7