T HE F LAT H AT
Vol. 113, Iss. 11 | Wednesday, October 25, 2023
The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
flathatnews.com | @theflathat
LIFE BEYOND THE STAGE ALFRED HERCZEG / WILLIAM AND MARY NEWS
College President Katherine Rowe hosts conversation with renowned actress, alumna Glenn Close, discusses growth of performing arts on campus
EMMA HENRY AND SOPHIA KAISERMANN // THE FLAT HAT Content Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide and self-harm. Saturday, Oct. 21, the College of William and Mary hosted a Presidential Conversation between College President Katherine Rowe and Glenn Close ’74 as part of the College’s Homecoming and Reunion Weekend festivities. Close is an eight-time Oscar nominee and a winner of three Golden Globe awards, three Emmy awards and three Tony awards. The conversation took place in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall’s newly inaugurated Glenn Close Theatre. Rowe introduced Close, highlighting her many accolades and honors. In addition to her bachelor's degree in theater and anthropology, Close received an honorary degree from the College in 1989 and an honorary fellowship in 2019. She is the third person in the College’s history to be honored with the fellowship, which only universities with a Royal Charter can award. After a standing ovation from audience members, Close sat down with her dog, Sir Pippin of Beanfield. Rowe began their conversation by discussing Close’s time at the College and the 2023 Year of the Arts. Along with serving as the Grand Marshal in the Homecoming Parade, Close also taught an acting masterclass and visited the McLeod Tyler Wellness Center during her visit. “I spent some wonderful time at the Wellness Center, which I was deeply impressed by, and spent an hour or more with their Wellness Ambassadors,” Close said. “It was really great. It was very moving.” Close then discussed her work as the founder of Bring Change to Mind, an organization that battles the stigma surrounding mental illness. BC2M was founded in 2009 and was motivated by Close’s family history with mental illness. BC2M now supports over 500 high school clubs focused on mental health advocacy across the nation. Rowe also mentioned that while the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental wellness of people worldwide, she believes the
stigma behind mental illness has decreased substantially due to an increased culture of support. “The story of mental health on campus is the story of great success nationally,” Rowe said. “That really gives me hope for society, those efforts among young people, young adults. We see it here with our Wellness Ambassadors; they have the most authority with their peers and they use it.” After discussion about BC2M, Rowe transitioned to the College’s Year of the Arts and the transformative power that the College had on Close’s career. Close highlighted the influence of former College professor Howard Scammon, who passed away in 1999. “There is nothing more beguiling and affirming than a student that takes the work seriously,” Close said. “We chose each other, I think.” Scammon understood how serious Close was about becoming an actress and guided her through the rest of her college career. When she scored her first role on Broadway just five months after graduating, Scammon attended Close’s performance. He continued to attend her performances in various roles and even offered her notes after each one. Rowe mentioned that Close’s majors in both anthropology and theater showcased the value of the College’s ampersand, which highlights the dynamic nature of the College’s students. Close believes that her background in anthropology helped her delve deeper into her characters. “Theater is language, and I learned about the beginning of language. Theater is about behavior, and you learn about primitive societies, you learn the evolution of behavior, and of community. Theater is community. You learn about how humans have dealt with each other and with other communities,” Close said. Close mentioned the importance of a liberal arts education in
cultivating humanity. “I think a part of a great liberal arts education is to learn how to express yourself as an individual,” Close said. “The arts is where you explore the human condition, and I think the more you can do that, the more you will have empathy for what it means to be human.” When discussing Close’s involvement in the College’s theater department, Rowe asked about her first production, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” in which Close played the role of Olivia. She reminisced on the joy of being in that production. “I do remember the thrill of finally doing what I wanted to do,” Close said. She also reflected on playing Hecuba in “The Trojan Women” by Euripides. Close shared that the monologue she delivered in the play has stayed with her in the way that it is still relevant today. “She has that amazing speech over the body of her dead grandson who has been killed in war and is brought back on the shield of his father,” Close said. “I mean, think of what's going on in the world now and read that speech. It goes to the essence of the cruelty and the insanity of war.” Close further discussed her approach to characters. “I feel you can't do justice to a character if you judge them because that will separate you from them,” Close said. “You have to ultimately love them. And the way to love them is to find where your common humanity is.” The next step in her process is working with the director to express the character’s stories. Close talked about disagreements with directors and how an actor must be unselfish to play a character truthfully. “Your job is to be fiercely subjective about your character,” Close said. “It's about what is right for that character, for that moment, for that piece. You have to suspend your ego, really.” READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM
CAMPUS
Black Faculty and Staff Forum creates Transition Team to revitalize group with new guiding themes
Forum Transition Team members share collective values of community, emphasize importance of inclusive excellence at the College MOLLY PARKS FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In 1987, a group of employees at the College of William and Mary first met as the Black Faculty and Staff Forum to discuss the interests of the Black community on campus. In 1991, the Forum was organized officially, adopting its bylaws and electing officers in the following year. Now, over 30 years since its first meeting and after a lull of membership in the past decade, the Black Faculty and Staff Forum has created a Transition Team to revitalize this community affinity group. Supported by the College’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Black Faculty and Staff Forum is one of three college affinity groups along with the Women’s Network and EqualityW&M. Currently, the Forum does not have any officially elected members. The members of the Forum’s Transition Team have volunteered to revitalize the organization. Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at William and Mary Law School Arielle Newby M.A. Ed ’21 is a member of the Forum’s Transition Team. “Originally, the organization was started in thinking about Black faculty and staff and how they could support each other on campus and recognizing issues that were across the board with relation to how they were on campus, whether it be socioeconomic, whether it be thinking about promotions,” Newby said. College Financial System Specialist Ghana Smith MBA ’21 is also a member of the Transition
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Team. Smith noted how important it was for members of the team to build off the history of the pre-existing Forum. “We just didn't have community, in terms of a place where people could come to and just conversate and enjoy each other's company, like I said, building that community,” Smith said. “So it was important to me and to know that the forum already exists. It just needed to be revitalized.” According to Newby, the Transition Team currently includes Newby; Smith; Associate Athletics Director for Academic Services Jason Simms; Chief of Staff in the Office of the President Carlane Pittman; National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of anthropology, Africana Studies and American Studies Michael Blakey; Alumni Engagement Coordinator for the Mason School of Business Alisa Whitehead; Oral Historian for the College’s libraries Andre Taylor; Senior Assistant Director in the Financial Aid Office Ginia Anderson; Travel Programs Manager in Financial Operations LaDonna Brown and Joy Jackson of the Office of Community Engagement. Newby spoke to the origins of the Transition Team. “When we got involved, it was after the pandemic had sort of shifted with college operations,” Newby said. “Both Ghana and I were also formerly on the staff assembly where we moved some mountains for the staff assembly. We've always felt that there was this need to have this engagement that is not just holistically for staff, but thinking about the groups within staff.” She elaborated on the initial conversations that
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motivated herself and Smith to get the ball rolling with the Transition Team. “She and I would actually talk quite often, with a few others who are no longer here, about this piece of ‘where is our engagement as Black people and how do we connect with each other?’” Newby said. “I think for some of us, like Ghana and I, we were able to organically connect, but we know that's not happening across the board.” Smith noted that the first Zoom meeting the Transition Team held with potential Forum members in Nov. 2021 consisted of over 40 people. During these initial Zoom meetings, the Transition Team created its guiding themes. “As the transition team, first, we had to ask the important question: Is there a need for this? Or is this just something that is a dream that we think is needed and wanted? But when people showed up at that first meeting, it was a confirmation that somehow, some way, we have to figure this out because so many people were just excited,” Smith said. According to the Forum’s website, the guiding themes of the Transition Team are advocacy and awareness, connection and networking, personal and professional development, recruitment and retention and speakers and events. Smith noted that because of the age of the Forum, the transition team is crucial to bring the goals and themes of the organization up to date. “We are trying to figure our way in terms of ‘What does this look like in 2023?’” Smith said. “Because the model of 1987 might not exactly work
in 2023. So what does that look like?” The College’s Special Collections Research Center at the Earl Gregg Swem Library has several records from the early years of the Forum, including the original bylaws, committee information, event flyers and meeting minutes. According to the collection, the Forum held several annual events, such as a Black history trivia contest, a holiday gala, a spring fling and many guest speaker events. Newby noted that much of the original Forum’s mission was based primarily on service. “The purposes of the Forum shall be to: 1) promote the recruitment and retention, promotion and tenure, and professional development and career advancement of Black faculty, administrators, and staff at the College; 2) to address issues of concerns to the Black community; including campus climate; 3) to provide support for recruitment and retention of Black students; 4) to expand and strengthen the relationship and involvement of Black faculty and staff of the College with the wider College community, including the Hulon Willis Alumni Association; and 5) to foster a greater sense of community and mutual support among the Black faculty and staff of the College through mentoring and networking,” the Forum’s original 1992 bylaws read. Smith spoke to how the revitalized Forum can fit within the inclusive excellence framework of the College in the present day, as the College considers strategic planning initiatives such as Vision 2026. READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM
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