The Flat Hat February 7, 2017

Vol. 107, Iss. 2 | Tuesday, February 7, 2016

The Flat Hat

The Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

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HOUSING

Lead drops below EPA threshold College approves Jefferson Hall water SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

In an email update sent Feb. 3, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Residence Life Deb Boykin ’76 M.Ed. ’82 informed students that after a third round of testing, all water samples from Jefferson Hall had lead levels below the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory threshold.

“William & Mary’s Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) office has completed the re-testing of water in the residence hall,” Boykin said in an email. “All of the new samples tested below the EPA Action Level of 0.015 mg/L. The precaution of running the water cold before drinking is no longer necessary.”

Boykin said in her email that the College had tested samples from the second floor kitchen, water foundations and bathroom sinks in addition to the locations that initially had higher lead levels. During the third round of testing, the College tested a total of 28 samples.

AMELIA LUCAS / THE FLAT HAT

Students gathered on the Sunken Garden on Thursday, Feb. 2 to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order which temporarily bans immigration from seven countries to the U.S.

Campus responds to executive order

With one student stuck trying to re-enter U.S., students protest, take action EMILY MARTELL FLAT HAT COPY EDITOR

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, Jan. 28 suspending the Syrian refugee program indefinitely and banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, students and professors at the College of William and Mary expressed surprise, outrage and curiousity.

The executive order does not apply to U.S. citizens or, as of Sunday, to U.S. permanent residents, also known

as green card holders. The order does, however, target all other non-U.S. citizen categories. Refugee admissions from all countries are suspended for 120 days, and citizens from seven Muslim majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, whether refugees or otherwise — are barred from entering the United States for 90 days.

The list of affected countries originates from the visa waiver program, which allows citizens of over 30 countries to visit for short periods without holding a visa. Through legislation which was implemented by the Obama

presidency, the visa waiver does not apply if a citizen of one of the 30 countries visited Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011. This same code is referenced in Trump’s executive order and determines the countries affected.

Trial judges throughout the U.S. have blocked key aspects of the President Trump’s executive order, allowing travel to resume Friday Feb. 6 and throughout the weekend. As of Monday evening Feb. 6, however, the Justice Department See IMMIGRATION page 3

Professors, students gather for ‘No Ban in My Name’ protest SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

WPD REPORT FEB. 3 ASSAULT

Screams filled the Sunken Garden right before 9 p.m. Thursday Feb. 2 as a speaker at the “No Ban in My Name” protest encouraged attendees to let out their rage.

This protest was held days after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning immigrants from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days.

Local religious leaders, professors and students shared anecdotes about immigration, being Muslim and how this ban impacted their lives.

Audience members carried signs that said, “We Are All Immigrants” and, “Hey, Trump Did You Forget That America Was Founded by Immigrants and Religious Refugees?”

One student, Annika Hackfeld ’19, shared a letter she had written to her father, who she said supports the immigration ban.

One thing that Hackfeld discussed when reading this letter was the Jan. 29 shooting at a Quebec mosque that left six people dead. Fox News initially reported that the shooter was of Moroccan origin, and as of Thursday night’s protest, had not issued a

According to the Williamsburg Police Department, an assault occurred in the evening of Feb. 3 on the 700 block of Scotland Street.

A nearby citizen initially alerted a patrolling WPD officer to an individual who looked like he had been in a fight standing outside of the Green Leafe Cafe.

The investigation is ongoing.

While police do not have a name for the suspect, they were able to identify a lone male in a security tape as a potential suspect by investigating security tapes from the restaurant. The picture released by police shows a circle around the face of a man of average height and build with dark hair and a short haircut.

­— Flat Hat Associate News Editor Henry Blackburn

statement regarding that error. Hackfeld said that she believed that this reporting strengthened the Trump administration’s support of the ban, citing when White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that it was a reminder of why “the President is taking steps to be proactive … when it comes to our nation’s safety and security.”

“I need you to see what I see. I need you to see what I see without assuming it’s my liberal education speaking or that I’m being naive,” Hackfeld said when reading aloud a letter to her father. “I need you to listen like when I cried growing up, like when people bullied me or friends abandoned me, Dad, the world is falling apart. I don’t know what you read every day, but I know it’s largely in support of Donald Trump … maybe now that he’s president you think things have changed. I’m not sure why you support him now … racism, sexism, Islamophobia, misogyny and xenophobia weren’t deal breakers to you.”

Hackfeld also said that she no longer feels safe in the United States because of some of Trump’s appointments to the National Security Council, including Trump’s counselor Steve Bannon.

“When Trump demotes generals and promotes [Steven] Bannon, a neo-Nazi who thinks Satan is a role model, to lead it [the National Security Council], I don’t feel

safe in my country,” Hackfeld said. “Trump is misrepresenting America. I don’t know how many of the disproportionate number of white males in my government class believe I belong in this country.”

One of the first speakers at the event was Rabbi David Katz, who works at the Temple Beth El in the City of Williamsburg and volunteers with Balfour Hillel, the Jewish student organization at the College.

He shared religious verses from the Torah about helping oppressed individuals as well as a story from his family’s past.

According to Katz, his great-grandparents illegally entered the country, and their family grew there.

“One of the great legends of my family is about my great-grandpa Harry, who according to a story my mom told me over and over again, stowed away on a ship to enter the U.S.,” Katz said. “Grandpa Harry and Grandma Ruth had three children, eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, which makes us all descendants of illegal immigrants. A ban on a religious group could have kept all of us from becoming the contributing members of American society that we all are.”

He said that he believed the United States should be a place free of religious persecution and a place that is safe for immigrants from all countries.

Joining the religious leaders, students and professors was immigration lawyer Sharon Powell. During her time speaking, she worked to explain what the executive order explicitly means for students.

She urged students who felt unsafe to reach out the Reves Center for International Studies where the College has created a list of resources and facts about the ban.

As of last week, College spokesperson Suzanne Seurattan said that four students had been identified as directly affected by the ban. One graduate student, who the Reves Center has remained in contact with, has not been able to re-enter the United States after the ban.

Powell also worked to define what it meant to be a refugee and list out the process she characterized as “difficult” that an individual must go through with the United Nations to be legally considered a refugee.

One thing that she emphasized was that, although the ban targets seven Muslimmajority countries, it is not a complete ban on Muslim individuals.

“It is not a complete ban on Muslims,” Powell said. “This fact does not make the ban any less offensive or any less discriminatory against Muslims. To date, no other countries have been added to the ban. It’s good to know the facts.”

RESIDENCE LIFE

College expands Flexible Housing policy to include new students

Gender neutral housing options available for living learning communities, suites SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

The College of William and Mary announced last January that after almost a decade, gender neutral housing would be allowed for the 2016-17 academic year. At that time, the option was only open for returning students who would be living in apartment-style dorms in the Randolph Complex, Ludwell and Tribe Square.

Approximately a year after

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this policy reversal, the College announced that after a semester of evaluating the Flexible Housing policy, incoming students would be allowed to select gender neutral housing options when they fill out the housing questionnaire in June and July.

At this time, gender neutral housing will still not be an option for students living in residence halls with hall-style bathrooms, but freshmen living in the Green and Gold Village

and the Botetourt Complex who request gender neutral housing will have space on the first floors of each dormitory where there are singles or doubles with private bathrooms. “[Gender neutral housing] has gone so well,” Director of Residence Life and Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Deb Boykin ’76 M.Ed. ’82 said. “We wanted the first year to be a trial before we made the offer to incoming students.”

In addition to gender neutral

housing expanding to include incoming students, the College will also allow students living with suite-style bathrooms in Bryan Hall, Chandler Hall and Dupont Hall to have this alternative. When Landrum Hall comes back online in 2018-19, gender neutral housing will also be an option for those suites.

While Boykin said she does not know exactly how it will look, the College has given the living learning communities the ability to “self-determine” gender

Sunny, High 73, Low 57

See GENDER NEUTRAL page 4

Feb. 3, the American Council on Education sent a letter initially backed by 598 colleges and universities to Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly addressing the Jan. 27 executive order.

The College of William and Mary did not sign the original ACE letter.

University spokesperson Brian Whitson acknowledged the College’s absence from the letter and said that the ACE had been contacted.

— Flat Hat News Associate Madeline Monroe

Inside Variety

Inside Opinions

A need for unity in time of discrimination

2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10

neutral housing. This means that during the room selection process for those communities — which include the language houses, Mosaic House and the Africana House — students and their resident assistants will be able to determine what gender neutral housing will look like.

“The language houses have been asking for this for a few years, and last year we just asked them to wait while we

REVELEY SIGNS ACE LETTER

Samuel Steed ’18 discusses the timely importance of our mantra, “One Tribe, One Family” as Trump’s executive order affects members of our campus community. page 5

Black History Month in the ’Burg Colonial Williamsburg honors the rich history of African-Americans through a variety of cultural events. page 7

newsinsight “ From the garden to the newsroom

News Editor Nia Kitchin News Editor Sarah Smith fhnews@gmail.com

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The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Page 2

The only thing standing between you and happy hour is me.

— Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam when concluding his remarks on the immigration executive order

Now it’s easier than ever to stay upto-date on all on-campus news.

Brian Whitson speaks on his past news job and landscaping dreams

Page 2 Spotlight

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EMILY CHAUMONT // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

Although he once dreamed of becoming a professional golfer Senior Associate Vice President for Communications and Chief Communications Officer Brian Whitson ended up making the journey from college sports reporter to local news reporter to rising up the ranks in the field of public relations.

Whitson currently oversees the College’s central communications office, which contains three areas: news and media, web and design, and research communications.

Whitson attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he majored in mass communications. Although he played on VCU’s golf team his freshman year, he took an editorial writing class with Wilma Wirt, who would be one of the most influential figures in the story of his career.

“She was one of the toughest editors I ever had, but I respond well to tough editing,” Whitson said. “She would go through your story with a red pen, and you would brace yourself for when your story came back.”

Not only did Wirt shape his writing, her advice also shaped Whitson’s career.

“She convinced me to apply to be the sports editor for the Commonwealth Times, so I did, and I served as sports editor for two years,” Whitson said. “I covered everything from a NASCAR race to our conference basketball tournament and really had a great time learning how to write.”

According to Whitson, his journalism program in college involved partnerships with small newspapers around Virginia to cover the General Assembly. Because VCU students were already located in Richmond, they were able to cover the General Assembly on location for papers that didn’t have the budget to send a reporter to Richmond. Whitson said that this was a good opportunity for journalism students to build up clips outside of what they wrote for class and for their campus paper.

When Whitson graduated from VCU, he took a job as a crime reporter for a paper in Lynchburg. He was finishing up a class that summer and said he finished the course Friday and was in Lynchburg to work by Monday. That fast pace continued throughout his first job and didn’t stop for the rest of his career.

“I worked Wednesday to Sunday from 3 p.m. to midnight for the first year of my career. I carried a [police] scanner with me everywhere I went,” Whitson said. “That experience just sort of threw me into reporting.”

Whitson moved on from crime reporting to covering the Campbell County government, but after about a year in Lynchburg, he was looking for a change and wanted to challenge himself in a bigger environment.

As he did often throughout his career, Whitson went back to Wirt for advice, and she connected him with an editor at a Seattle community daily paper called the King County Journal.

Whitson packed up his car and drove to Seattle on his own to cover a range of topics including the City Council and the regional justice system. One of his favorite things was the opportunity to write in such a fastpaced, competitive environment. He said he particularly enjoyed the challenge posed by writing in competition with larger papers.

“I got to compete against the Seattle Times,” Whitson said. “And that was really an opportunity to grow professionally.”

After spending some time in Seattle, Whitson decided to move back to Virginia.

“I was out in Seattle for about three years,

and I was coming home about once a year and when you can only come home once a year you notice how quickly your parents age,” Whitson said. “I needed to come back east. I needed to be closer to my family.”

When he moved back, he got a job at the Daily Press. At that point, the Daily Press had a full Williamsburg bureau, where Whitson took on a position covering both Colonial Williamsburg and the College.

Whitson said that while he had a strong background covering hard news, he liked that this Daily Press job gave him an opportunity to write more feature stories.

“I wrote a lot of stories during the year,” Whitson said. “They gave me a lot of time to just spend walking on campus and talking to people.”

Whitson said he particularly loved the higher education element of his beat at the Daily Press. As part of covering the College, he worked closely with the public relations office. When he started to see the economy taking a turn and the journalism industry being affected by the rise of the internet with staffs shrinking across the country, he ended up making the shift from just interacting with the College’s communications department to actually being a part of the staff in 2003.

To Whitson, this seemed like a natural transition in his career.

“I still got to write, and I was writing a lot of the same types of stories I would be writing as a reporter … to be involved on the other side of those stories was very natural to me, and it was something I have experience with,” Whitson said. “As a reporter a lot of times you come in every day and don’t know what you’re going to do and my job now is very similar.”

Another similarity between journalism and communications work for Whitson is the need to be accessible and ready for anything at any hour.

“As my responsibilities grew here and as my role changed I’m pretty much available 24/7 for most issues,” Whitson said. “I have a wonderful wife who understands what comes with the job. There have been nights

when we’re heading to bed and my phone rings, and I tell her I have got to work and she understands.”

Whitson said that even outside of work, he tends to have a hard time unplugging. He said that in addition to it being an important part of his life, the College’s communications team is accessible to reporters in addition to the fact that he also likes to keep up with the news.

“I’m a news junkie. As much as I try to disconnect, I’m pretty much on my devices all the time,” Whitson said. “One of the things we try to do in our office is be accessible … we want to make sure for reporters that we’re as accessible as you can be, and I think to be successful in this business you have to be a news junkie and really love it and enjoy it.”

Although it is important to his work to be plugged in, Whitson said he tries to make an effort to do things besides work. He said he enjoys spending time with his family and going back to his roots as a sports editor by attending college basketball games.

“I’m a huge college basketball fan,” Whitson said. “We have season tickets to VCU basketball games and season tickets to Tribe basketball games … My wife and I like to travel, and most of the time we’re traveling to basketball games, but we just like to get away when we can … But I have two Boston terrier puppies at home that keep us very busy.”

Whitson said he also finds time for himself in enjoying the day-to-day activities some people might overlook.

“I really enjoy working in the yard. I think I missed my calling as a landscape architect,” Whitson said. “We’ve lived [in Toano] since 2009 and I’ve probably planted close to 30 trees.”

In all, Whitson said he really enjoys working at the College and especially values the people that he’s met in his time here and the ways he’s been able to grow professionally.

“William and Mary has a way of finding potential in people that they don’t even know they had,” Whitson said. “I’m really blessed with the opportunities I’ve had here and the people I’ve worked with.”

COURTESY PHOTO / BRIAN WHITSON

Brian Whitson oversees the College of William and Mary ‘s news and media and research communications.

POLICE BEAT

Jan. 30 - Feb. 3 1

Monday, Jan. 30 — A window was broken in Tucker Hall.

2

Friday, Feb. 3 — A hit and run was reported at Sterling Manor Drive.

3

Friday, Feb. 3 — A maiming was reported on Richmond Road.

4

Friday, Feb. 3 — An incident of public drunkeness was reported on Richmond Road.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Page 3

FACULTY

Two African-American faculty plan to leave Hudley, Hurte will say farewell to College after spring semester, move elsewhere KAYLA SHARPE FLAT HAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Amid a campus-wide initiative to promote diversity on campus, an effort that began with the establishment of the President’s Task Force on Race and Race Relations last spring, two African-American faculty members announced plans to depart Williamsburg.

Center for Student Diversity Director and Senior Associate Dean of Students Vernon Hurte recently announced that he plans to leave the College to move to Iowa State University, where he will become the Associate Vice President and Dean of Students. Hurte began working at the College in 2004 as the assistant director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, which is now the Center for Student Diversity.

English, linguistics, community studies and education professor Anne Charity Hudley has accepted an offer to become the North Hall Endowed Chair in the Linguistics of African America and director of undergraduate research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

While Hurte said he was not anticipating leaving the College, he described this new position as his dream job. At Iowa State University, he will oversee 14 departments ranging from the Writing and Media Center, to Greek life affairs, to Title IX and support for LGBTQ, multicultural and international student communities.

Hurte said that he was excited to face the challenges of Iowa State’s larger student body and that the campus’s focus on community is reminiscent of the College’s.

“In many ways it’s the dream job to be able to really impact, on a much higher level and at a more expansive table, the student experience at Iowa State,” Hurte said.

Hudley arrived at the College in 2005 and has since served as the inaugural community studies professor. Hudley also serves as the co-director of the William and Mary Scholars Undergraduate Research Experience. Her role will be filled by WMSURE co-director, psychology professor Cheryl Dickter and Reference and Instruction Librarian Natasha McFarlane.

Hudley said that she is looking forward to engaging with the university’s focus on interdisciplinary studies, which she said is bolstered by the fact that UCSB is the only major research university in the country that does not have a predominately white student body.

“[This] creates all the innovative things that we try to do in terms of diversity and people of color,” Hudley said. “That is the mission of the university. So I’m going there not only to work and teach, but to learn.”

The search for replacements for Hurte and Hudley’s positions will take place over the course of the upcoming semester. According to Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 Ph.D. ’06, Dean of Students Marjorie Thomas, as direct supervisor of the Center for Student Diversity, will personally chair the search committee to hire Hurte’s successor. This process typically incorporates input from faculty, students and staff.

The process also involves a nationwide search during which the committee will review applications before interviewing candidates and then invite finalists to visit campus to interact with students and other faculty.

Ambler said that faculty diversity and inclusion is a very high priority for the Division of Student Affairs.

According to the Task Force Report on Race and Race Relations, as of 2010, the College’s full-time faculty included seven African-American professors, three Hispanic/Latino professors, nine Asian professors and one American Indian or Alaska native professor.

The College’s Division of Student Affairs was named one of 2017’s most promising places to work in higher education by “Diverse Issues in Higher Education.” Ambler said that she hopes that this sends a message to job candidates that the College is an inclusive and welcoming environment.

“Dr. Hurte has made an incredible impact, not only on the lives of individual students, but on the lives of those who were fortunate to be his colleagues and on the university as a whole,” Ambler said. “He is just a phenomenal professional and outstanding advocate who is deeply devoted to diversity and inclusion in all its forms.”

Dean of Arts and Sciences Kate Conley described the process through which academic departments submit requests to fill faculty positions such as the one that will be left vacant by Hudley. After her office reviews requests and considers its budgetary allowances, requests are submitted to Provost Michael Halleran so that a search can begin.

Conley said that budget cuts due to the state budget might delay hiring, but the College’s commitment to completing the COLL curriculum will lead to strategic hiring in certain academic departments. Currently,

the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences has not received a position request from the English or linguistics departments.

While she waits for department requests, Conley said that efforts to diversify the faculty have produced several candidates who she is hopeful will be final hiring choices.

“There’s the federal definition [of racism] which really looks at race and gender,” Conley said. “In arts and sciences we try to think of diversity more broadly.”

According to her, this broader definition includes race and gender as well as religious beliefs, sexual orientation and military service.

“We’re looking for different personal backgrounds but also areas of intellectual interest,” Conley said. “We really want scholars who work on a broad diversity of topics to come to William and Mary and help to diversify our curriculum in addition to diversifying the faculty as individuals.

Chief Diversity Officer Chon Glover, who previously served as the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs from 1999 until 2008, initially hired Hurte to be the assistant director of the office.

Glover cited the Task Force on Race and Race Relations as a critical factor in the College’s efforts regarding faculty diversity, including the Halleran’s $1 million hiring initiative to increase the number of faculty of color.

Glover said that the College is using strategies to attract a more diverse applicant pool to the College.

One such strategy is posting listings in publications that focus on diverse groups. Glover also attends the Southern Regional Education Board’s Faculty Diversity Institute in order to directly recruit and meet over 1,000 students of color who have recently completed doctoral programs or are looking for entrylevel faculty positions.

Glover likened the institute to when college recruiters visit high schools in order to make information more accessible to students.

“We develop and cultivate relationships with [candidates] so that if something becomes open in their area at William and Mary, we can encourage them to apply,” Glover said.

Conley said that she is confident that the College will hire good candidates to fill Hurte and Hudley’s positions.

“I’m sure we’ll hire well,” Conley said. “We won’t hire exactly Vernon. We won’t hire exactly Anne, but

I’m sure we’ll hire good new colleagues.”

The departure of Hurte and Hudley has left students questioning who will be capable of filling their roles.

Hudley said that she plans to remain in contact with the students she is currently working with after she departs the College and hopes that her move inspires them to continue their own personal and academic progress.

One such student is WMSURE fellow Nansi Rodriguez ’19. Rodriguez reached out to Hudley before she arrived at the College to learn more about the WMSURE program and currently organizes a research program for minority students.

“The most prominent thing that I like about Professor Hudley is her personality,” Rodriguez said.

“She’s always so bubbly and makes you feel like you can accomplish anything.”

Rodriguez said that it was important to have faculty of color at a predominately white institution, especially considering the current national conversation on race.

She said she would encourage the administration to hire a new faculty member of color who is willing to talk to students of color and speak up on their behalf.

“It means more coming from a person of color because I know that they understand where I’m coming from,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like some faculty take notice but don’t take action like [Hudley] does.”

Meronne Teklu ’17 said that advocacy was important when reflecting on her experiences with Hurte.

“Everybody knows who Dr. Hurte is and how special he is to the community,” Teklu said. “For the students that [Hurte] knows well, his move will be difficult. I don’t know who’s going to be able to advocate that well for students. I don’t know if people really understand that this is a really big deal that these two incredible people are leaving our community.”

Hurte said he hopes that the future director of the Center for Student Diversity approaches the position with a desire to know the campus and build relationships with its students while continuing to promote issues of faculty diversity.

“The academic experience is better for all students when students have the opportunity to engage with a diverse faculty,” Hurte said. “It’s not just the content knowledge, but the way in which one’s lived experience allows the content to live in different ways.

We can never miss the importance of being able to bring different voices to the table.”

Students, professors react to Trump’s immigration order

Executive order affects four students, leaves one trying to re-enter United States IMMIGRATION from page 1

has recommended the federal appeals court to reinstate the travel ban component of the executive order.

Bünyamin Sevim ’19 immigrated to the United States from a Turkish village near the Syrian border with his family when he was only one year old. However, Sevim said he often returns to visit during the summers. In 2014, he and some friends crossed the Syrian border under the cover of night to volunteer in the city of Homs.

Today, Sevim describes that city as a wasteland.

With the executive order in place, Sevim said his initial surprise is mixed with curiosity about what his American experience will be over the next four years.

He said like everyone else, he is waiting to see how it plays out.

“I’m kind of impressed with the ballsiness of Trump,” Sevim said. “Just the fact that a lot of people going into the election were like, ‘Yeah, you know Trump says a lot of terrible things, he’s kind of an asshole, but he’s not going to actually build a wall, he’s not going to actually ban Muslims,’ but then he just goes ahead and does it.”

Now that the green card holder ban has been lifted, Parsa Soltani ’20 said he supports the administration’s order.

“I think President Trump is doing us a great service in many respects by opening up a conversation that we’ve badly needed to have, especially since 9/11, which is that certain countries — take it from someone with family in that part of the world — certain countries do tend to produce a lot of problematic people,” Soltani said.

Of Iranian descent, Soltani still has several members of his dad’s side of the family in Iran, though he has not been in contact with any of them since the ban.

“I think this is one step to solving the problem, which is to show, until you get your act together, we’re going to restrict access of people until we know who we’re letting in,” Soltani said.

In fact, Soltani said he would like to see the ban extended to other countries.

The title of Trump’s executive order is “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.”

Language in the order specifically highlights the national security threat posed by foreign nationals who entered the United States carrying visitor, student and employment visas following Sept. 11, 2001.

To government professor Debra Shushan, however, the order will make the United States less, rather than more, safe.

“One has to look no further than the reactions of ISIS-affiliated individuals who

have welcomed Trump’s executive order as a ‘blessed ban,’” Shushan said in an email.

“They are confident that it will bolster ISIS recruitment by lending credence to their narrative that the West is at war with Islam.

Additionally, it will hamper our efforts to defeat ISIS by making Iraqis and Syrians less willing to work with American forces.”

Already, Shushan continued, the executive order is deeply affecting the lives of thousands without making anyone safer.

For some at the College, the executive order impacts them personally. According to Director of International Students, Scholars, and Programs Stephen Sechrist, five students at the College are citizens of the affected countries. Among them, four hold student visas, and one is currently abroad in his country of origin, unable to return to the United States.

“I actually spoke to the student at home yesterday, in part just to reassure him of our support for him, and we are exploring some different ways that we will be able to help him, in terms of returning to the U.S.,” Sechrist said. “I don’t know what will be possible before those 90 days, but we’re looking at different options and ways we can support him.”

According to the Institute of International Education, 17,354 citizens of the seven affected countries are studying at U.S. institutions in 2015-16, with 12,269

AMELIA LUCAS / THE FLAT HAT

Students, professors gathered on the Sunken Garden on Thursday, Feb. 2 to protest U.S. President Trump’s executive order on immigration.

among them from Iran.

The length of a student visa depends on the reciprocity agreement between the United States and the other country.

The dates of the program the student is enrolling in rather than the visa itself determines how long the student can stay in the United States. Sechrist likened a student visa to a student ID card — once you are in a building, you don’t really need it anymore unless you leave and want to return.

As of Trump’s announcement Friday, a student carrying a visa will not be authorized to return for 90 days. Moreover, the executive order has suspended the visagranting program. U.S. citizens who travel between the affected countries, however, cannot be excluded from the country, and permanent residents can only be excluded on certain grounds. However, both groups can be subject to additional questioning at the port of entry.

After an initial frenzy that involved calling her parents and attempting to get into contact with other family members, Carima Nur ’19 said she and her family breathed a small sigh of relief when the order was found to no longer apply to green card holders.

Nur was born in the United States, but her father and mother are naturalized citizens born in Somalia. Her father travels back a couple times every year to visit members of the family who still live there, including his sister and brother.

To Nur, the executive order is about more than just a restriction on travel.

As a Muslim, she said she wonders whether the immigration act is about a general distrust of her religion under the guise of national security. However, Nur says she prefers to consider it as a symbolic issue — an example of a new president catering to his voter base.

“It’s scarier to think of it as a Muslim ban, so I try not to think of it as a Muslim ban,” Nur said. “I do feel like it’s a symbolic thing, throwing red meat to everyone who was huffing and puffing all the time.”

According to Chair of Middle East Studies and Arabic Studies Professor Stephen Sheehi, however, the executive order is an unambiguous attempt by the administration to make a Muslim ban legal. As someone who studies the

relationship between Western and Middle Eastern countries, Sheehi said that he considers the Trump administration to be archetypally Islamophobic.

To Sheehi, the executive order isn’t just about Islam; it’s also about bully politics.

“It’s a political attack to isolate Iran.

It’s easy to beat up on Sudan and Yemen, it’s like [Trump] beating up on Mexico.

It’s beating up on the weak guy on the block,” Sheehi said. “Clearly, there are a lot of other countries that people could identify, where quote-on-quote terrorism or Islamic extremism might come out of, notably Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia is one of our most stalwart allies in the Middle East, so quite frankly … the list is partially capricious and partially demarcated by what the United States can do easily.”

One primary concern is that the administration will expand the list of affected countries to include other Muslim-majority nations.

As a Muslim and Pakistani-American, Zauhirah Tipu ’19 said she felt like the executive order demoted her to secondclass citizenship. Although Pakistan is not currently one of the seven countries named by the executive order, Tipu said that she would not be surprised if it eventually made the list.

“I think [Trump will] definitely add more countries to the list. I think policies will get harsher, I think they’ll be enforced more strictly and I think maybe the pushback will take time — but eventually it will come through,” Tipu said. Sevim, who mentioned his initial surprise about the executive order, said he is less convinced that a pushback will come.

“I’m not very optimistic about the people in this country,” Sevim said. “I don’t really think they’re going to do anything besides tweet about it and maybe make a Facebook post. Maybe someone will gather on the Sunken Gardens, hold hands, and shout Kumbayah, but I think at the end of the day, nobody’s going to do anything real to oppose [the executive order].”

Sevim, who said he is critical of “armchair activists”, cited the massive demonstrations and direct show of force during the Civil Rights Era as the reason why African-Americans in the United States won the battle over civil rights.

Page 4

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

STUDENT LIFE

Virginia21 advocates for student issues Students from Virginia universities participate in non-partisan lobbying LEONOR GRAVE FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER

Students from Virginia21 chapters across the state took direct action with legislators this past Wednesday, Feb. 1. They took a stand in the halls of the Virginia General Assembly to support the organization’s goal of non-partisan advocacy for student issues as part of the club’s annual lobby day.

Virginia21’s lobbying efforts this year were targeted at four main pieces of legislation relating to college affordability and student rights. Virginia21’s Executive Director Jared Calfee talked through the details of each bill.

The first, HB1410, would prevent institutions from using in-state tuition revenue to fund in-state financial aid. According to Calfee, if HB1410 were to pass, $86 million of revenue for institutions sourced from in-state tuition payments — which would go toward in-state financial aid — would be lost.

Virginia21 opposed this bill.

Supporters of HB1410, a bill sponsored by Del. Dave Albo (R-42), argue that it would decrease the full-price tuition rate for students. However, Calfee said that this legislation would actually make it harder for students from working class families to afford college and would do little to benefit those students who can already afford to pay full tuition.

The second bill, HB2427/SB1527, aims to incentivize four-year graduation by enhancing financial aid to help students graduate with minimal debt. Students enrolled in classes full-time would be eligible for increased financial aid under this bill. It would also provide increased financial aid incentives for students each year that they advance in college, instead of encouraging front-loading scholarships.

Calfee said that this bill enjoys bipartisan support.

Additionally, Virginia21 supports SB1053, known as the student loan bill of rights, which aims to protect students from predatory lending practices.

This bill would require student loan servicers to be certified by an independent state regulatory agency, establish uniform procedures in loan repayment processes and educate graduates on how to make informed decisions about repayments.

Virginia21 Deputy Director James Morton encouraged students to share personal stories when speaking to legislators; he said this is the most effective way to get through to them.

Virginia21 member Samantha Boateng ’20, an in-state student from northern Virginia, said that of the bills for which Virginia21 was lobbying, those relating to college affordability were her top priority.

“I really appreciate these bills, especially the ones focusing on financial aid, because they’re really important to me,” Boateng said. “I get loans and financial aid so if that was taken away, then I probably wouldn’t be able to come to William and Mary.”

Finally, Virginia21 supported SB926, a noise ordinance reform bill. SB926, which passed unanimously in the senate, would give localities the right to downgrade a noise violation from criminal penalty to a civil citation. This legislation would protect students from extensive legal fees and from having criminal records after a one-time noise violation.

Morton explained that during the lobby, students would meet with the legislators or legislative aides that represent their school districts to discuss key legislation that would directly affect them. This year’s goals, which adopted a more defensive approach than in years past, kept the improvement of the quality of colleges and universities in Virginia and the promotion of job advocacy for young people at their core.

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam also stopped by to address the group. Northam, who is running for governor this year, emphasized the importance of political engagement and focused on issues like strengthening the economy and defending the Affordable Care Act. Northam spoke out specifically against President Donald Trump’s recent executive order concerning immigration, which Northam called anti-American.

On the issue of voting rights, he criticized legislation that would make it more cumbersome for people to vote, calling such efforts undemocratic.

“We in Virginia, we in this country, have to be inclusive,” Northam said.

Northam concluded his remarks on a lighter note by telling the group to enjoy the open bar at the Late Night with Virginia21 reception.

“The only thing standing between you and happy hour is me,” Northam said.

Students then headed over to Sam Miller’s on Cary Street to mingle with Virginia21 members from other schools as well as legislators and staffers.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe gave a few short remarks at the beginning of the event, and with drinks and appetizers appearing, socializing and networking took over for the rest of the night.

Early the following morning, the Virginia21 group walked over to the General Assembly Building to spend the morning lobbying. A group of high school students from Inspire Virginia, another nonpartisan student advocacy organization, joined the

Virginia21 groups to shadow them. After meeting with legislators, the organizers encouraged the group to attend the meetings for the House education committee, the House appropriations committee and the Senate finance committee, which would be key to advancing Virginia21’s legislative concerns.

Another club member, Kayla Temple ’20, said that she joined Virginia21 because she was drawn to the club’s non-partisan approach to student advocacy.

Temple said she has always been interested in education policy and was particularly interested in opposing HB1410. “$86 million is a lot of money to just cut out from underneath the students of Virginia. I think a lot of people have an issue with the way other students’ full tuition will help pay for financial aid [for other students], but the bill doesn’t really address that and it would probably actually worsen that issue,” Temple said. “What you’re really doing is making the school pay for financial aid and the best source of revenue for a school is donations, which they can’t rely on, and tuition, which they can.”

In the subcommittee review for HB1410 Wednesday afternoon, Del. Albo, the bill’s patron, introduced a substitute bill that removed restrictions and reductions to financial aid.

Virginia21 Communications Director Tim Cywinski spoke to the importance of Virginia21’s lobbying efforts in effecting this kind of legislative change.

“This legislative action was a result of your

advocacy efforts, and the significant amount of Virginia21 students — almost enough to pack the entire committee room — that were willing to speak against the original bill,” Cywinski said in a follow-up email to lobby day.

Additionally, SB1053, the student loan protections bill, was approved by the senate finance committee that afternoon after discussion and student testimonials and will move on to a full-Senate vote.

Greg Akerman ’18, president of the College of William and Mary’s chapter of Virginia21, said that Virginia21’s outreach efforts are important as they allow students to develop strong working relationships with their local representatives.

“We are very lucky to have great relationships with our legislators. We met today with Del. Mike Mullin [D-93] and Sen. Monty Mason [D-2],” Ackerman said. “Monty let us know immediately after our meeting that he was voting yes on [SB1053] … So that’s very important because the people that go to these meetings, for some of them it’s their first time lobbying — it’s important for them to see direct action.”

Akerman said that annual lobby day is a testament to the unique role students can play in politics.

“There aren’t that many states that have organizations that are solely dedicated to financial aid funding and in general lobbying for students and Virginia21 is a great example of what can happen when young people come together,” Akerman said.

LEONOR GRAVE / THE FLAT HAT

State Senator Monty Mason ‘89 speaks to Virginia21 members of the College of William and Mary before they begin lobbying

New club focuses attention on sex trafficking Organization teaches students about intersectional issue, ways to combat it

HEATHER BAIER FLAT HAT ASSOC. VARIETY EDITOR

HEART, which stands for Human Engagement, Awareness and Response to Trafficking, is a new organization on campus that brings the goal of raising awareness for human trafficking to the College of William and Mary.

The formation of this organization came weeks before the Super Bowl, which is known internationally as one of the worst days for sex trafficking. Last year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation set up a special center to combat increasing reports of sex trafficking around the site of the 2016 Super Bowl.

Led by Roselyn Buensuceso ’19, Jessica Davis ’18, Elena Gaffney ’19, Florence Glynn ’19 and Christine Kim ’18, HEART teaches students about the international and intersectional issue of human trafficking and what students can do to combat it. The club’s founders met on a Branch Out trip during spring break in 2016.

“Human trafficking is the exploitation of people in vulnerable situations to extract labor from them without compensation,” Davis said.

According to Polaris, a national organization dedicated to combatting human trafficking, there have been 22,191 reports of sex trafficking within the United States since 2007. In 2016, one in six runaways were likely to have become victims of sex trafficking.

Human trafficking does not only involve sex trafficking and is not an issue that affects women exclusively. The International Labor Organization reports that approximately 14.2 million people are engaged in forced labor in agriculture, construction, domestic

work and manufacturing industries. It is a $150 billion industry that operates in global and domestic markets.

“Women statistically do make up the majority, but it is a male problem; It goes across the gender spectrum,” Gaffney said.

“There are people that are genderqueer, people there [who] are transgender, people of all different backgrounds, orientations, genders that are involved.”

HEART intends to educate members of the club and the student body about how human trafficking is an issue that relates to everyone.

“When you go on to the world, whatever profession you may go into whether it is anti-trafficking or not, having basic understanding and complex understandings of the way in which systems of human exploitation occur is very important,” Davis said. “So that when you see legislation about it you’re able to think critically about how that legislation is good, bad, would affect people, would not affect people, so that you can be a more informed citizen.”

According to members of HEART, human trafficking is a problem that is overlooked in discussions regarding contemporary social issues because of its negative connotation. Issues like prostitution fall under the category of human trafficking, and HEART plans to talk about this to break stereotypes regarding the industry.

“Human trafficking has such a stigma around it that it’s brushed under the rug,” Buensuceso said. “Prostitution is something that no one really talks about. If you see a prostitute standing on the corner, you don’t think about the factors that led that person to stand there … It’s something that no one really takes the time to understand.”

Gaffney said that she hopes to educate people about issues of trafficking, prostitution and rape.

“There’s an image, you know, like for me it’s the fishnet tights and the standing on a street corner and the gaudy makeup that looks kind of like a clown,” Gaffney said. “I think that somewhere along the line sex, prostitution, things like that have become these really dirty words with these crazy connotations and like this idea that like if you’re a prostitute you’re a bad person and you put yourself there.”

Along with raising awareness about human trafficking, HEART plans to reach out to victims and support them through their transitions out of the industry. According to Gaffney, survivors often struggle with the U.S. legal system and have a hard time establishing a normal lifestyle.

“For a lot of survivors, they’re the ones being criminalized, not the pimps, which is the problem,” Gaffney said.

The founders of HEART saw a hole in the College’s campus and wanted to fill it with an organization dedicated to eradicating stereotypes and raising awareness for a domestic, international and cross-dimensional issue.

“We’re trying to raise awareness about all of the facets of human trafficking and the intersectional issues as well as sexual assault, domestic abuse, homelessness, all these different issues that come together to create this issue,” Glynn said.

Members of HEART also hope to expand the work of their organization into the City of Williamsburg. They plan to organize drives to donate feminine hygiene products, groceries and clothes to victims of trafficking. They also plan to provide resources for students to learn about companies that do not use victims of trafficking to produce their goods. HEART also intends to reach out to Latisha’s House Foundation, an anti-trafficking organization in Williamsburg.

Students react to flexible housing changes in Residence Life Dormmates, Residence Life officials discuss the effects of changes in housing options GENDER NEUTRAL from page 1

tried it out for a year,” Boykin said.

“They have a special, on-site room selection process and they’ll be able to work out how they want to do it then.”

According to Boykin, there has been no negative feedback — or any positive feedback — from community members.

Boykin credits the waiver that students are required to sign prior to selecting gender neutral housing, which requests that they inform their parents of their decisions to live in a gender neutral room.

One problem that Boykin said she

anticipates with allowing first year students the option of gender neutral housing is the situation that would arise if one student selects gender neutral housing but does not select a preferred roommate. In this instance, Boykin said she is not sure if the College would then randomly assign that individual to another individual who selected gender neutral housing, especially if their questionnaires showed that they were incompatible. Boykin said that they plan on communicating with incoming students about their wishes if this situation does happen.

For students who selected gender

neutral housing this year, many said they have found that the new living option has benefitted their college experience.

Alicia Devereaux ’19, who lives in Ludwell, said that being able to live with her best friends has made her academic year better.

“It’s just great to be able to live with my friends because one of my best friends happens to be a guy,” Devereaux said.

“It really doesn’t feel unusual or special in any way. It feels normal, as it should.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for this option; it would be very upsetting to my roommates and I, as well as lots of other students, if it didn’t exist. It should

not only exist but also be normalized.”

Last year, during a separate room selection process for gender neutral living options, 38 students opted to live in gender neutral dorms, filling a total of 13 apartments. Although gender neutral housing was allowed in Nicholas and the Graduate Complex, no one selected gender neutral apartments in either building.

Boykin said she is not sure what to anticipate during gender neutral housing selections, which will happen before the normal housing selection process in April. She said she does not know whether or not to expect an increase

in students who select the option or changes in which housing options they select.

One of Devereaux’s roommates, Matt Parciak ’19, said that he and his friends have grown closer as a result of the Flexible Housing policy.

“I love that coming home means seeing my two best friends, and we have only grown closer as a result of Flexible Housing,” Parciak said. “Even though we may fight about someone not changing the toilet paper roll or someone changing the channel to a hockey game, living with the most supportive and fun people has made my life so much better.”

opinions

Opinions Editor Jennifer Cosgrove Opinions Editor Julia Stumbaugh fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Page 5

GUEST COLUMN

College chooses the right way to protest

Carson Cameron

FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST

COURTESY PHOTO / AMELIA LUCAS

GUEST COLUMN

In the face of discrimination, a time for unity

Sam Steed

FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST

Trump’s Muslim ban — and yes, despite the framing efforts of some conservatives, it is a Muslim ban — is a mockery of justice and due process. It clearly violates Articles 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not to mention the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. If that wasn’t bad enough, members of our community have been victimized by the ban, trapped in their country of schooling or barred from it.

Supporters of the ban have claimed that it is not a prejudiced or unjust order primarily through the following arguments: that Obama did the same thing, which makes it okay, that it does not target Muslims, since the world’s largest Muslim nations are not on the list and that it is justified due to safety concerns. The first argument is flawed in the first place since Obama is by no means the gold human rights standard — scores of civilian drone casualties beg to differ. That said, it’s also just wrong. Obama created new standards for refugee resettlement in response to a security threat from one country. He did not target multiple countries, did not revoke existing visas, did not target green card holders and did not arbitrarily attempt his standard shift without a specific incident

to provoke said changes. The second argument ignores the fact that the order specifically includes a religious exception for Christians, effectively imposing a religious test that is meant to exclude Muslims specifically. The third argument falls flat since the United States already has the most robust refugee vetting system in the world.

Refugees in America have a lower crime rate as a group than the national average, and no refugee has ever committed a terrorist attack on American soil. Ironically, if your aim is to cause harm, being a refugee is just about the worst way to enter the country. The vetting process is more strict compared to other visa types, and refugees are heavily monitored by the FBI and local resettlement agencies.

Support of this ban is not policy, it is prejudice.

And it is prejudice that members of the College of William and Mary have personally been hurt by.

Whether it’s emotional pain from being rejected by their government, societal pressure from unwelcoming elements of the community or physical detention and visa revocation, the Muslim and Middle Eastern members of our community are feeling pain.

It is our duty as a community to stand up, for and with them, and to show them that we love and support them in the face of this persecution. I hope that the vigil Thursday helped in that regard, and I give my deepest thanks to Abdelrahman Aboulatta for organizing it with me.

Our community often parrots the phrase “One Tribe, One Family.” Now is the time to prove it. Members of our community are directly targeted by the ban and to support it is to cast them aside. A student named Abbas spoke at the vigil Thursday and told the assembled crowd that he can no longer go home. He is part of my family, but if you abandon him in his time of need, then you are not part of ours.

Email Sam Steed at ststeed@email.wm.edu.

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Our community often parrots the phrase “One Tribe One Family.” Now is the time to prove it.

COMMENTS @THEFLATHAT

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The student body is largely made up of kids who were in the top 5% in their respective high schools, kids who were ruthless about being the best, as well as defined by it. In college, not everyone can be the best, and this is not acceptable to some of them ­— if they’re not #1, then who are they? They lose their sense of identity and start a downward spiral into paralyzing stress, and worse.

— riceman3008@gmail.com On “Confusion Corner: New Year, New Mentality “

The second week of Trump’s presidency has erupted into a conflagration over his recent immigration restrictions. The debate has raged from the corridors of the U.S. Congress, to every state in the union, to college campuses, including the College of William and Mary.

The new immigration ban resulted in the detainment of a few hundred people throughout the country. However, the effects and the blowback have been felt on campus too. Opinions on campus remain divided on the subject. As the chairman of the College Republicans, the opinions of our members are not uniform regarding the ban. Some members support it to a varying degree; others do not. Some feel it is an appropriate measure to take to ensure the safety of Americans. Others feel that it is an implicit way to restrict Muslim immigration. In terms of the actual effects of the ban, I personally feel it will hurt our image on the world stage and may alienate our key Middle Eastern allies.

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A trip organized by the chemistry department is in limbo because the professor who was to accompany the students on the trip has an Iranian passport.

It’s upsetting to me that students’ ability to learn is being hampered by this policy.

The ban also affects activities and people on campus. I heard from a friend that a trip organized by the chemistry department is in limbo because the professor who was to accompany the students on the trip has an Iranian passport. It’s upsetting to me that students’ ability to learn is being hampered by this policy.

It also may affect some students in a much more direct manner.

Students from the seven nations included in the ban will now be put in a tough position regarding their travel arrangements.

Fortunately for those affected, a freeze on the new restrictions was issued by numerous judges, and a challenge to reinstate the ban was defeated.

After the executive order was announced, some students took to protesting it on campus. The right to protest is a fundamental one included under the First Amendment of the Constitution. And just like the Constitution intended, the protest was peaceful. Some colleges have had problems with peaceful protest. Most recently, students at Berkeley rioted over the visit of the right-wing provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos.

Another merit to the protest here was that it was in response to something of importance, unlike many demonstrations that happen in college. Instead of wanting a small statue removed from campus for fear it would cause emotional harm, something trivial in my opinion, they showed their displeasure with a policy that would have profound affects for our country, and our campus. Whether you agree with the reason for the protest or not, I think everyone can agree that it was done in a proper and respectful manner, which unfortunately is becoming rarer nowadays, especially on college campuses.

Email Carson Cameron at cscameron@email.wm.edu.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Page 6

STAFF COLUMN

Reveley: a calm voice in calamitous times

Lexi Godfrey

FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

On January 29, President of the College, Taylor Reveley, sent out an email addressing a recent executive order detailing a restriction of immigrants and non-immigrants of seven specific countries with large concentrations of Muslims. Travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen have been detained and/or deported, even those who have green cards, student/work visas, and permanent residency in the United States. Judges have tried to temporarily and permanently throw out the ban, but everything is still up in the air,.

It’s difficult to write this article, but not because I am personally affected, which I duly recognize. It’s difficult to write this article because I cannot help but think of my friends, peers, professors, their families, etc. that will be affected. Although, I do believe I can speak on behalf of us all when I say that it was encouraging to open Reveley’s

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Reveley’s assurance that the College will “continue to welcome and support our international people” comes as much-needed comfort.

email and see that our historic College would still be the safe haven to many that it has always been. While every news article, email and announcement is still dripping in uncertainty, Reveley’s assurance that the College will “continue to welcome and support our international people” comes as much-needed comfort.

When one follows the link to the detailed statement made by the Reves Center, it is even more bolstering to see international students being assured that the College will work to help students who might be seeking refugee status or even just student visas. It’s important for international students to feel accepted in the community so that they are able to assimilate into campus culture more easily. There is already an inherent culture shock that comes with studying internationally, and when students are faced with the current political climate, it’s more difficult to feel at ease.

To see the College making a conscious effort to reach out to international students that may feel/be targeted is uplifting for the entire student body, and to see that the College is working hard to get a stranded student back is also very reassuring.

As for Taylor Reveley, his levelheaded and firm resolution in his statement of unity provides a more personal type of consolation. His benevolent and almost paternal aura settles like a security blanket for students to cling to when faced with the overwhelming and seemingly inescapable reality of the political radicalism being embraced recently. While most students have actually never interfaced with President Reveley, he presents an approachable and understanding personality that students tend to amplify with jokes and assertions of devotion.

This most recent mass email is the perfect example of his ability to say the exact right thing at the exact right time.

While that is probably part of his presidential duties, it is comforting, nonetheless, to a student body that is looking for some sort of clarification in a time of “alternative facts” (looking at you, Kellyanne Conway).

I was speaking with a friend who thought that maybe Reveley didn’t explicitly express that the College is opposed to the ban, and while I thought that was an interesting reflection, I don’t necessarily agree. Reveley isn’t here to be the final political authority on current events, and while I think the ban is unconstitutional and inappropriate, I think Reveley was polite and firm enough in his stance that the point got across. And he did it without creating a further divisive atmosphere for the people on campus who might think that the ban is just what America’s national security needs. So, here’s to Taylor Reveley and an administration that (most of the time) cultivates a safe and positive atmosphere for its student population- it’s encouraging to feel heard and protected in an undefined era such as today.

Email Lexi Godfrey at algodfrey@email.wm.edu.

COURTESY PHOTO / ABBY BOYLE

STAFF COLUMN

The need to expand the College’s environmental efforts

Alfred Ouyang FLAT HAT ASSOCIATE OPINIONS EDITOR

believing we are doing great things environmentally, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to look beyond the boundaries of campus. In speaking with my friends who are exchange students from Japan, the most frequent complaint I hear from them is that students at the College know nothing about waste recycling. They often tell me how many varieties of recycling bins there are in Japan and how much they have gotten used to them.

While students need to individually take initiative to learn about sustainability, the College should also bear responsibility and engage with its students.

In recent years, the College has established a Committee on Sustainability and has launched a series of initiatives and policies tackling the lack of attention towards sustainability issues on campus. Though those policies exist, not enough has been done to engage students with the new policies.

For example, the dish return areas in the major dining halls are constructed in a way that allows students to throw away their waste without even looking twice.

The College should let its students do the garbage sorting by themselves.

Further, the College needs to imitate the initiative of students at Marketplace and install a variety of recycling bins throughout campus with student volunteers teaching their peers.

The central focus of college has always been anchored on teaching its students to be people that bear responsibilities as global citizens. Only when the College starts to promote its ideas on sustainability through full engagement with its students can this centuries-old university begin to refocus the way of higher education towards sustainability.

Email Alfred Ouyang at souyang@email.wm.edu.

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Students need to get more engaged in the battle for sustainability.

While the College of William and Mary enjoys a reputation for academic achievement and community engagement, the College has a long way to go sustainabilitywise. At the beginning of this semester, a group of students voluntarily gathered at the exit of Marketplace to help fellow students better understand recycling through garbage sorting.

Whenever I pass by Marketplace, however, there are always students standing baffled by the recycling bins, with stunned looks on their faces as though someone had just declared themselves a flying, purple cow.

The College has one of the finest groups of students in this nation: they are smart, confident and passionate about what they are going to accomplish as the pioneers of our generation. Nevertheless, these brilliant future leaders could put more work into learning about the importance of sustainability.

There is nothing wrong with being self-assured and

College leaders could put more work into learning about the importance of sustainability.

variety

Variety Editor Katie Koontz Variety Editor Akemi Tamanaha flathat.variety@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Page 7

CARLEY SCHANCK / THE FLAT HAT

KATHERINE WEBER / THE FLAT HAT

The Kimball Theater will be showing films that depict both the contemporary and historical experiences of African-Americans. For the entire month of February, visitors and residents will have the opportunity to ring the Freedom Bell.

Honoring the rich history of African-Americans Colonial Williamsburg celebrates Black History Month with a variety of events KATHERINE WEBER FLAT HAT ASSOCIATE VARIETY EDITOR

Surrounded by a host of shapes and colors ranging from powder blue polygons, red-checkered rectangles and satiny squares of lavender, black and beige, the exhibit envelopes viewers in the history of African-American quilters. Christina Westenberger, Assistant Manager of Education at the museum, discussed the different ways one can view a quilt — not just as a piece of art, but as something to put on a child’s bed to keep them warm, or to use as a picnic blanket, as batting for the making of a new quilt or as something to bury someone with.

Westenberger cited how one quilter, Susanne Allen Hunter, would burn pieces of her quilts, creating smoke to get rid of the bugs in her small, two-room house in Georgia, as her windows did not have screens or glass.

Westenberger discussed how these quilts can shed light on the lives of particular quilters and can open up an even wider lens of historical background. She spoke of how an exhibited quilt made by Helen McWhorter Simpson led her to learn about the history of “Free Frank,” or Frank McWhorter, an enslaved man from South Carolina who bought his freedom and traveled to Illinois, where he founded the town New Philadelphia, making him the first African-American man to found a town.

a more contemporary time, the 2017 Golden-Globe Winner for “Best Motion Picture — Drama,” “Moonlight,” follows the story of a young, black man growing up in Miami.

Once a home to slaves, Colonial Williamsburg seeks to Seals, Brown, Johnston, Westenberger and Currie noted that commemorate and honor the city’s rich history of Africantheir programming dealing with African-American heritage Americans through a variety of programs and events during will not be confined to just the month of February, but is set Black History Month each February. to span the entire year. Currie said that at least one film per This year, visitors will be able to engage directly with a month will stem from the same theme of faith and freedom spectrum of historical artifacts, live interpretations, acclaimed central to Black History Month in Colonial Williamsburg, films, museums and special events around Williamsburg. beginning with a screening of the Oscar-nominated film Stephen Seals, responsible for community outreach for “Hidden Figures” in March.

Colonial Williamsburg, recounted the experience of a Overall, Seals said African-American programming has particular sensation — sound — that affected him emotionally been going on since 1979, but the framing of the narrative has when he went to the First Baptist Church to ring its Freedom evolved over the years. He expressed hope that guests would Bell, an opportunity that will be available for all visitors during be able to absorb a more comprehensive picture of Africanthe month of February.

American history and slavery.

“I was surprised at how emotional it made me to ring that “What I want more than anything else is for guests to see bell and think about the history of the bell, what it’s been that the enslaved person might have been enslaved under the through, what I’ve been through,” Seals said. “I rang it for letter of the law, but they didn’t see themselves as slaves,” Seals friendship, and I rang it there with a really good friend. We said. “They saw themselves as mothers, and as fathers, and as rang it and we both started crying and hugging. It’s very carpenters, and as lovers, and as haters, and good people, and emotional when you ring it and you feel the history of that bad people, that they saw themselves in humanity, that they church….” saw themselves as people, The Freedom Bell, despite and I think what you’re dating back to 1886, stood seeing more and more of mute for over 50 years due to is that we’re telling more mechanical issues. However, rounded stories.” the bell was restored in Brown and Ethell Hill, February 2016. After its another representative restoration, thousands of First Baptist Church, of people of all different stressed that it is important backgrounds, both from the for today’s youth to learn United States and as far as the about the experiences of United Arab Emirates, visited past generations. Brown First Baptist Church to ring and Hill both recalled the Freedom Bell. Online, a witnessing tumultuous virtual Freedom Bell created violence decades ago in for those who could not come their pasts — images of to Williamsburg, was rung overturned cars burning, by seven million, according rifles, dogs and hoses to Brown. It is a sound that remain in their memories even former President Barack today.

Obama and former First Lady Despite darkness in Michelle Obama heard in America’s history, Brown September 2016 when the bell emphasized an optimistic traveled to Washington, D.C. to outlook for future be rung at the opening of the generations.

National Museum of African“We want kids to American History and Culture. understand that the future The opportunity for guests does not have to be bleak to ring the Freedom Bell is for them just because these only one activity of many things have happened,” to take place during Black Brown said. “It really is up History Month in Colonial to them to determine what Williamsburg. Seals has kind of future they want to KATHERINE WEBER / THE FLAT HAT helped in the coordination have. We’re hoping it’ll be The exhibit “A Century of African-American Quilts” is on display at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. The exhibit will be on display through May 2018. of live performances set a more positive one, better in the Kimball Theatre, including one called “Journey to “That’s an amazing story — I never would have known that than what we have experienced. It can always be better, there’s Redemption.” In this show, the actors break the fourth wall story if it hadn’t been for this object,” Westenberger said. always room for improvement.” and talk to the audience about the challenges of acting the Kimball Theatre will be featuring several movies throughout Seals corroborates the value of storytelling and engaging in difficult parts of both enslaved peoples and slavers. Seals could its “Films of Faith and Freedom” series, an event that first the events taking place this February and beyond in Colonial empathize with these challenges given that he, in the past, took place in February 2016. While last year’s series focused Williamsburg, especially in terms of understanding ideas of acted the part of a slave. Seals underscored the difficulty of on the history of slavery and abolition, this year, Director of American identity. playing the role of a slave as a black man, but he also pointed Entertainment Robert Currie and Program Manager Marianne “The story of the African in America is not a black story, but out the parallel challenges of white actors playing slave Johnston decided to explore the canon of films created by it’s an American story,” Seals said. “I think this programming masters who must convincingly personify characters with black filmmakers and producers. … helps people — hopefully that don’t look like me, and beliefs so contrary to their own.

“We wanted to sort of show the creativity, strength and those that do look like me — to understand that the history of Among other live shows, there will be a “REV Talk” power of not people who just make films about AfricanAmerica, no matter whose history it is — the slave people, free, presented by culinary historian and writer Michael Twitty, who Americans or black history, but people who have … had rich, poor, politician.” has traveled extensively and studied the intersection between personal experience and touches with that from childhood,” According to Seals, connecting to this past identity will help food, culture and history as it relates to African and AfricanCurrie said. us move forward as a nation.

American people.

The theatre will be showing several films that present both “I feel like telling these stories, as well as connecting the At the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the historical and contemporary interpretations of the Africanbell, as well as talking about everyone who lived within the exhibit “A Century of African-American Quilts” weaves in the American experience. For example, “Loving,” a story about an buildings helps to connect all of us,” Seals said. “Because as narratives of African-American quilters with its showcase of interracial couple battling the Supreme Court for their right to divisive as America is right now, the only way we’re ever going a rich patchwork of art made mostly during the 20th century. live together as a family, is set in Virginia during the 1960s. In to get better is together.”

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Page 8

Panel promotes interfaith relations COURTESY GRAPHIC / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

World Interfaith Harmony Week encourages open dialogue about religious pluralism KATHERINE WEBER THE FLAT HAT

In light of the recent actions of Donald Trump’s administration which restricted immigration from Muslim-majority countries, the Student Assembly hosted a panel entitled “Religious Pluralism in the Age of Trump” this past Wednesday. The panel, which was part of SA’s Diversity Initiative, was intended to celebrate the United Nation’s World Interfaith Harmony Week. Individuals on the panel gave their insights and perspectives on a wide spectrum of religious beliefs, with the objective of encouraging open discourse about interfaith relations.

Salma Elsayed-Ali ’19, Undersecretary for Religious Affairs, has spearheaded the initiatives for Interfaith Harmony Week events since fall, right around the 2016 election. However, she and others involved with the initiative did not anticipate the tense political context spurred by the Trump administration to align so closely with the events they had planned.

President of the Class of 2018 Laini Boyd ’18, who collaborated with Elsayed-Ali on the planning of the panel, believed that it was opportune timing for students to be able to go to an event that so directly addressed the current political climate.

“We knew that Trump was the president-elect, but we didn’t really know that in this time period we have already had so much stress on campus with the issue,” Boyd said. “It was going to happen regardless but it’s … nice to have something to go to.”

Elsayed-Ali emphasized the value of the panel during this time, hoping that the event would help to ease the pervasive anxiety on campus. However, she wished to express that working towards more positive interfaith relations should not be a task reserved only for times of political tension.

“These sorts of events, like World Interfaith Harmony Week, should be being held no matter

what,” Elsayed-Ali said. “Regardless of what president we have … there still will be conflicts and people who aren’t open to people of various backgrounds and faiths.”

The panel brought together a diverse group of individuals with varying perspectives regarding several faiths. Among its speakers were Reverend Max Blalock of Wesley Campus Ministry, Mohini Jodhpurkar ’18, a member of the Hindu, Sikh and Jain Students Association, and three religious studies professors: Annie Blazer, Maureen Fitzgerald and Faraz Sheikh. Each panelist shared their point of view on the topic. Sheikh discussed the multiple ways that people define religious pluralism, including its complicated intersection with democracy.

“One is the political ideal where there is a recognition that people will have deep commitments that will be different, but that we want a society where these people with different deep commitments want to live together and share power in a democratic, liberal society,” Sheikh said. “How do we do that? How do we organize life together when our deep commitments are not the same, and we don’t want, necessarily, them to be the same?”

Sheikh stressed that in order for a true democratic society to function, it is crucial that we do not assign value to other people that increases or decreases based on their skin color, background or home country.

Another concern raised during the panel was how to best approach proliferating positive interactions between religious organizations. Blalock described the importance of expressing openness, as Wesley Campus Ministry states directly in its mission statement that it welcomes people of all backgrounds and faiths. He also described ways in which his organization has engaged with other religious groups on campus, such as participating in a “Fast-a-Thon” event with the Muslim Student Association.

“One of our favorite things is to pile in our cars and

go to Denny’s at 4:15 in the morning during Fast-aThon where we’ll all go … and have breakfast before the sun is up ... and then we fast all day and then the Muslim Student Association has a wonderful dinner and speaker that night.”

Blalock spoke of the value of reaching out to other religious organizations. He mentioned that Wesley Campus Ministry was to hold an Interfaith Super Bowl Party over the weekend, inviting several religious organizations on campus of all different faiths.

Talia Schmitt ’18, who is associated with Hillel, a Jewish organization on campus, was inspired by the remarks she heard during the panel.

“I think it gave me a lot of new ideas as to how to reach out to different groups and in general the idea that no matter what event a group is putting on they can invite other groups of different faiths,” Schmitt said.

Elsayed-Ali talked about other activities that were going on during Interfaith Harmony Week besides the panel, such as a film screening of the movie “Of Many” and tabling in the Sadler Center to hand out free stickers she had made using a design of the word

“Coexist,” colored in green and gold for William and Mary. She hoped that students traveling with the sticker on display would be able to extend the “Coexist” message to others outside of campus, too.

Panel members discussed the value of opening up discourse and listening to others with varying beliefs as a means of positive change. Jodhpurkar denounced the temptation to close yourself off from others with beliefs contrary to your own, as she believes that open dialogues, while challenging, are important for progress.

“You have to find that strength within yourself to be like, ‘No — even if there is a storm raging around me, I’m not going to shut down. I’m not going to say that all these people are bad, they don’t understand anything. I’m not even going to try to talk to them anymore,’” Jodhpurkar said. “Because that is the day that any good sense will die, basically. That is the day we will stop progressing, because we will all be stuck in our own echo chambers. And this sort of dialogue is great, but we all will agree with each other, generally speaking — the true progress will come when you talk to people whose views are so radically different.”

COURTESY PHOTO / I AM W&M

Students tabling in Sadler gave out “Coexist” stickers that said to extend their message of diversity both on and off campus.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

When addressing virginity, sex positivity is not a one way street

It is important to remember that no amount of sex is more or less normal than another

Elizabeth Barto

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST

At some point in the distant past, some person thought, “You know what we need a word for? People who haven’t had sex yet.

Because this is a pressing issue that we need to be talking about.”

Way back in the day, virginity was a commodity, an excuse to barter your daughter off for a few more sheep (#DowryLifeAmiright?). Back then, virginity really only applied to women, and your hymen status placed you in one of three categories: virtuous maiden, fallen woman or married.

Today, luckily, being sexually active doesn’t usually mean that you’re condemned to karmic doom and gloom by friends and family alike. But now, the shoe is on the other foot. Once you enter college, marriage prospects be damned, it’s generally accepted that you should want to be having sex. Right?

Not necessarily. Now, I’m not saying that our modern hookup culture is villainizing virgins in the same way that sexually liberated individuals have been demonized throughout history and literature (Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” I’m looking at you).

But I want to challenge you, reader: when is the last time that you reacted to a friend telling you that they were still a virgin with anything other than surprise and maybe a little pity?

Just judging from conversations I’ve had with friends here at the College of William and Mary and other schools alike, it seems like sex positivity is increasingly becoming a staple of American college student values. Even our vocabulary is changing. Although they’re not entirely irrelevant yet, sex-shaming terms like “prude” and “slut” carry a certain antiquity to them. They’re still recognizably insulting, but people are finally starting to question them. What’s

inherently wrong about not wanting sex? What’s inherently wrong about having it? They feel like terms borrowed from generations of people who were afraid of unrestricted sexuality. These words are from a time when people actually made laws about what positions you could use with your partner in the bedroom.

But despite this seemingly-new acceptance of all sexual choices, in today’s modern feminist world, I know personally that it can be very easy to get caught up in the dialogue of sex positivity to the point where it means that we’re only rooting for our friends that are having sex and not those who aren’t.

So why is that? I know that I would never question the validity of a friend’s choice to have sex, or not, if I knew that was what aligned with their morals and desires. But something about abstinence feels so tied up in that bygone era — especially with abstinence’s prominence in high school sex-ed — that I think talking about virginity has started to make people uncomfortable.

We need to acknowledge the difference between forced abstinence through societal pressures (à la Victorian Era sensibilities) and the variable choices and priorities of different people.

Let’s take a jump into the hypothetical for a moment, shall we? You have a friend who is still a virgin. You want them to be happy. Consider that not having sex does not necessarily equal unhappiness — even for those who would like to be having sex. But you know this, right?

Maybe your friend is a devout Catholic and wants to wait until

“

marriage. Maybe they’re waiting to “give it up” to someone they trust. Maybe they’re asexual and are more concerned with creating meaningful, intimate relationships. Maybe the opportunity just hasn’t come up yet.

As a good friend, inevitably, you respond with support.

“Take your time. There’s no rush.”

“If you’re not comfortable with the person you’re having sex with, then you won’t be comfortable with the sex itself.”

“Sometimes it’s better to just get it over and done with. It doesn’t have to be special.”

But inside do you still wish they could be freed from the barriers keeping them from being sexually active? If the answer is yes, you need to remember that sex positivity includes being positive toward people that aren’t having sex too.

Maybe we react with surprise because society is finally becoming comfortable with the idea that sex between consenting individuals is a good thing. But I want to suggest that, even as we progress with more open discussions about healthy relationships and sex, we keep in mind that no amount of sex, or desire to have sex, is less normal than another.

Besides, if you’re still concerned about your friend’s sexual satisfaction and they’re looking for advice on how to relieve some of their tension, you can always discuss another sex-positive choice: masturbation.

Elizabeth Barto is a Behind Closed Doors columnist who wants to open the doors when discussing virginity.

... it can be very easy to get caught up in the dialogue of sex positivity to the point where it means that we’re only rooting for our friends that are having sex and not those who aren’t ...

sportsinside

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Page 9

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Dixon, Tribe dominate Northeastern Senior guard drops 28 points to lead the College to fourth straight home win

BRENDAN DOYLE FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR Thursday night, William and Mary used a 26-2 spurt in the second half to run past Northeastern, 94-69. The Tribe (13-9, 7-4 CAA) continued its dominance at Kaplan Arena, sweeping four straight games at home in which the team did not win by less than 18 points. The runaway victory was revenge for the Tribe, as it lost 84-64 to the Huskies (13-10, 6-5 CAA) on New Year’s Eve. “This team c e r t a i n l y deserved a fourgame homestand because we had been on the road forever,” head coach Tony Shaver said. “It Shaver was really nice to see us get a little bit of momentum while we were home and play four really fine ball games. Now, as I told them at the end of the game, I’m really proud of you, but now it’s time to take this show on the road.”

For the second time in three games, the Tribe led wire to wire. Behind a quick start from junior guard Greg Malinowski, the Tribe took a 13-point lead with 4 minutes, 46 seconds to go in the first half.

Malinowski had five early points, along with two assists and a steal in the first eight minutes.

“We talk Malinowski about getting

the conference, dropped 18 for the Huskies, but went just 7 for 18 from the floor. He also had four turnovers on the night.

“I’m sure he missed some shots he could make,” Shaver said. “But he got 18 points on 18 shots. That’s wonderful.”

Ma l i n o w s k i finished with 14 on the game, while Dixon stuffed the stat sheet with four assists, Dixon two blocks and seven rebounds to go along with his solid scoring night. Whitman had 11 for the Tribe with three blocks, while freshman center Nathan Knight added 10 points and five rebounds.

The College remained tied for third place in the Colonial Athletic Association with Elon, while Northeastern dropped to fifth.

The Tribe took back to the road to face Towson Saturday afternoon in Baltimore, Md.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Tribe football had 13 signees from high schools along the East Coast from New York to Florida, while Tribe soccer had 10 recruits between the teams.

back to playing true Tribe basketball,” Malinowski said. “Over the past, what has it been, four games at home now, we’ve been playing great, and great together, more importantly.”

Carrying the team on the scoring front was senior guard Daniel Dixon.

He had 18 of his game-high 28 in the first half, including shooting three of four from three-point territory. Even as senior forward Omar Prewitt was in

foul trouble, the Tribe found itself up 49-38 at the half.

Coming out of the break, William and Mary kept its lead steady in the low teens until just over seven minutes into the second half. With 12:43 to go, Dixon hit a three-pointer on a pass from junior guard David Cohn to up the Tribe lead to 64-50. That play would kick-start the Tribe run. Just over six minutes later, the Tribe led 87-52, well on its way to

TENNIS

an easy victory.

Dixon and junior center Jack Whitman led the way as the Tribe extended the lead. Also contributing was junior guard Oliver Tot, who dished out four of his six assists in the second stanza.

Northeastern guard Brace Bolden, a freshman, had a career game, scoring 20 and going 6 for 8 from three. Guard TJ Williams, one of the top players in

Looking Ahead Following Sunday’s loss, the Tribe men have six games remaining before the CAA Tournament.

Feb. 9 Feb. 11 Feb. 16 Feb. 18 Feb. 23 Feb. 25

@ Drexel College of Charleston @ James Madison @ Delaware Hofstra Towson

SWIMMING

Women split, men fall twice Tribe prepared to repeat Women beat WVU 7-0 to highlight weekend Men, women excel in last regular season meet NICK CIPOLLA FLAT HAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Junior Christian Cargill was a bright spot for the men’s team, winning 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 at the No. 2 singles slot against Valpo.

ALYSSA GRZESIAK FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

The William and Mary women evened their record at 3-3 this weekend with a 7-0 victory over Big 12 foe West Virginia and a 4-2 defeat against Kansas. The men also fell to 3-3 this weekend, replacing a three-game win streak with a twogame losing streak on the road, falling to Notre Dame 0-7 and Valparaiso 3-4.

The Tribe women secured all six singles matches, five of which were straight-set wins against the Mountaineers (2-4) Saturday. Junior Olivia Thaler and sophomore Lauren Goodman played doubles together for the first time at the No. 1 spot and defeated West Virginia’s Kaja Mrgole and Christina Jordan 6-4. In the No. 2 spot, senior Thaler Marie Faure and junior Ekaterina Stepanova cinched another 6-4 win against the Mountaineer’s Habiba Shaker and Lyn Yuen. Thaler also defeated Jordan 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 4 singles spot.

The College fell 4-2 to Kansas (4-1) the following day. The Jayhawks opened the match with a doubles victories at the No. 1 spot against freshman Rosie Cheng and Stepanova 6-2. Kansas also beat sophomore Deepa Dhore and junior Cecily Wuenscher 6-3 at the No. 3 doubles spot.

Stepanova and Thaler secured the Tribe’s 2 singles points at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, consecutively.

Faure did not get to finish her tie-breaker match after a 6-2 comeback from a 0-2 loss. Goodman

fell at the No. 1 singles spot against Jayhawk Anastasia Rychagova 6-2, 6-0 while Cheng and Stepanova dropped the No. 1 doubles match against Nina Khmelnitckaia and Tess BernardFeigenbaum 6-2.

The Tribe men ended a three-game winstreak in Indiana with a brutal 7-0 defeat against Notre Dame. At the No. 3 spot, senior Addison Appleby held out strong against Notre Dame’s Matt Gamble in an intense tiebreaker set before eventually dropping the match 6-7, 6-3, 10-7.

Appleby’s was the College’s only three-set match against Notre Dame. Senior Aidan Talcott lost a close match against Notre Dame’s Josh Hagar 6-0, 7-6.

The College continued its losing-streak with a narrow 4-3 loss to Valparaiso. Junior Christian Cargill won an electrifying three-set match at the No. 2 singles spot 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 against Valpo’s Chad Kissell, who is ranked in the top-100 nationally.

Junior Alec Miller and senior Damon Niquet both came out on top in thrilling matches, 6-4, 7-6 and 6-4, 6-3 respectively, against Valparaiso’s Dave Bacalla and Brandon Ancona. The College lost doubles matches at the No. 1 spot with junior Ryan Newman and Talcott and at the No. 3 spot with junior Christian Cargill and Niquet, both 6-2. Appleby and sophomore Tristan Bautil were unable to finish their No. 2 doubles match.

The women will be traveling to North Carolina to take on Atlantic Coast Conference foes Wake Forest Feb. 11 and North Carolina State Feb. 12.

The men will also be heading to the Carolinas to take on Elon, the men’s first Colonial Athletic Association match of the season, Feb. 11 and traveling further south to Winthrop Feb. 12.

William and Mary completed the regular season over the weekend, competing in the Janis Hape Dowd Carolina College Nike Invitational, held in Chapel Hill, N.C. Facing Duke and North Carolina, the men’s squad saw 18 personal bests and the women had several appearances in championship finals.

Though the meet was unscored, the threeday invitational showed strong, consistent performances from the Tribe before the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association championships.

The men started with six personal bests on Friday, added nine on Saturday and three more on Sunday. Freshman Ian Bidwell hit a lifetimebest in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:29.36 in the preliminary round and finished eighth in the event final. Another rookie, freshman Phillip Barto, broke his personal best in the same event, finishing 22nd in 4:42.28. Sophomore Joey Rento had two of the personal bests, swimming the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.51 and the 200yard butterfly in 1:48.79. Senior Nick DeLion was right behind Rento in the 200 fly in 1:51.54.

Freshman Lee Bradley capped the day with his personal best 46.11 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.

Bidwell continued his strong weekend with four personal bests on Saturday, twice in the 400-yard individual medley and twice in the 100-yard breaststroke. After breaking his best in the preliminaries, he swam 3:53.92 in the 400

IM before finishing in 56.67 seconds in the 100 breast. Barto added a personal best 4:05.17 in his heat of the 400 IM. Rento, with two personal bests from the day before, added another with a 49.37 in the 100-yard butterfly during the preliminaries.

Senior Joe Eiden also hit a personal best in the 100 fly with a 51.79-second finish. Bradley netted a pair of personal bests, both in the 100-yard backstroke at 50.26 seconds in the preliminary round and 50.12 seconds in the finals for 11th place. Freshman Ian Thompson hit his own best in 51.19 seconds during the 100 back as well.

The women saw two personal bests Friday night in the 50-yard freestyle — junior Meghan Schilken and junior Kitty Arenz swam a 23.97 and 24.00, respectively. Saturday’s events turned in another personal best as senior Sophie Rittenhouse swam the 100-yard butterfly in 57.95 seconds.

The final day of competition saw three championship finals races for the Tribe. Junior Emma Merrill finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:04.34, while Arenz was just over one second behind her in 2:05.48 for fifth place in the finals. Freshman Lauren Freeman represented the College with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:22.01 finish.

With the regular season complete, all eyes are on the Tribe for the CAA Championships, scheduled for Feb. 22-25 in Christiansburg, Va. Both the men and the women are defending champions after the first championship sweep in program history last season, and both expect to be the team to beat once again.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

The Tribe men achieved 18 personal bests in the Carolina College Nike Invitational in preparation for the CAA Championships.

sports

Sports Editor Alyssa Grzesiak Sports Editor Chris Travis flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 07, 2017 | Page 10

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

COMMENTARY

Dixon’s Dominance Senior needs help from teammates

Chris Travis

FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Senior forward Alexandra Masaquel secures her sixth double-double of the season against Northeastern, scoring 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Tribe breaks four-game losing streak

College conquers Northeastern, then falls to Hofstra ALYSSA GRZESIAK FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

William and Mary (14-7, 4-6 CAA) broke a four-game losing streak with a 68-54 win over Northeastern (7-16, 3-8 CAA) in Boston this weekend.

The Tribe followed this Colonial Athletic Association victory with a conference loss against Hofstra (912, 2-8 CAA).

The College dominated the opening period, ending up with a 31-8 lead after a 19-2 run from the start and a 14-point run following a shot by Northeastern’s Gabby Giacone. Senior guard Marlena Tremba was on fire, scoring eight in the quarter. Senior guard Latrice Hunter added six points off the bench in the period.

The Tribe led the Huskies 38-7 in the second quarter, the largest lead of the half. The College continued to control the game throughout the second and third quarters, with Northeastern unable to mount any serious run to cut into the deficit. The largest lead of the night was 63-35 at the beginning of the fourth quarter,

with the College up 28 points. The Tribe scored 28 points in the paint and 20 points off turnovers, all while winning the rebounding battle 4036. Northeastern tried to come back with a 12-0 run in the last three minutes of the game, but it was too little, too late as the Tribe held on to win comfortably, 68-54.

Tremba scored a team-high 17 points on Friday night against Northeastern, shooting 5-of-10 from behind the arc and stuffing the stats sheet with five assists, two rebounds and a steal. Senior forward Alexandra Masaquel secured her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.

Hunter, junior center Abby Rendle and sophomore guard Bianca Boggs each scored eight points. Hunter scored her eight points in just 13 minutes of play against the Huskies.

Sunday, the College lost a tight road game against Hofstra 64-61 after allowing the hosts to come back from 13 down in the fourth quarter.

The Tribe held a slim lead for the duration of the first half. In the third

quarter, the College asserted itself to take a 50-39 lead entering the fourth.

However, the Tribe defense allowed a whopping 25 points from Hofstra in the final period while managing just 11 points itself, leading to a 6461 final scoreline.

Masaquel scored a team-high 12 points for the night, closely followed

by Tremba with 11 points and junior guard Jenna Green with 10 points.

These three top-scorers made up over half of the College’s total points for the night.

Pride turnovers accounted for 18 of the Tribe’s total points on Sunday afternoon. Rendle’s three blocks brought her up to 201 career blocks and earned her the honor of being the second player in William and Mary history to secure more than 200 blocks and the eighth player in CAA play to achieve this honor. As a junior, Rendle is merely 55 blocks away from breaking the College’s alltime blocking record.

The College will take on the Hofstra Pride again tomorrow night at home in Williamsburg at Kaplan Arena at 7 p.m.

32 and six, 28 and seven, 23 and six. While it’s certainly no LeBron-like 41, 41, triple-double, senior guard Daniel Dixon has established himself as the go-to player for William and Mary this season, leading the team and the conference with 22.5 points per game in Colonial Athletic Association play. Simply put, Dixon has been by far the most dependable player on a Tribe team that’s produced convincing wins followed by perplexing losses.

In the past 14 games, Dixon has led the team in scoring, culminating with the past three contests, in which he averaged 27.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting an impressive 72 percent from three-point range. What did all this get Dixon? A second CAA player of the week award to add to his list of accomplishments in his final season in Williamsburg. But what did this do for the Tribe? Just a 2-1 record despite Dixon being the single best player on the floor for either team in each contest.

The script of Tribe basketball as of late has been relatively easy to follow. The College has won its last six home games, largely due to Dixon’s dominance — he led the team in scoring in five of those six — but also due to a strong home crowd and several strong performances from senior forward Omar Prewitt, who dropped 28 points to go along with Dixon’s 27 against first place UNC-Wilmington. But on the road, the Tribe has struggled mightily. The College has lost its past four road contests, and its last road win came on a ridiculous Dixon buzzer-beater three from way outside the arc. In other words, when Dixon’s game is closer to ordinary than extraordinary, the Tribe isn’t winning on the road.

After the recent road loss to Towson, the Tribe sits at a mediocre 7-5 in league play, deadlocked in a three way tie for third place in the conference, three games back from both UNCW and the College of Charleston. There’s work to do.

In the simplest terms, the College must accomplish two things to put themselves in a strong seed and on a hot streak to enter to CAA tournament. First, get Dixon some help. With defenses beginning to key on him, his teammates should be getting more open looks. Second, buckle down and win on the road.

Against Towson, the College led 61-45 with just over 14 minutes remaining.

Less than four minutes later, the Tigers had rattled off an 11-0 run to cut the lead to five. Admittedly, Dixon struggled during the Towson run, going 0-3 from the floor. However, he simply can’t do it all. In a time when his shots weren’t falling, none of his teammates stepped up on the offensive end, and the result was a catastrophic stretch which ultimately allowed the Tigers back into the game and left them in perfect position to complete the comeback down the stretch.

As a team, the Tribe must improve its ball movement and get shots for everyone. In the last three home games, the College passed out 76 assists, but managed just 33 in the three most recent road contests. The away game passing woes are even more obvious when analyzing junior guard David Cohn’s statistics.

In the three most recent home games, Cohn has racked up 19 assists, highlighted by an impressive 10 assist, zero turnover game against UNC-Wilmington; however, Cohn has managed just eight assists in the last three road contests. The low assist numbers are caused by the two aforementioned areas that the College needs to fix. With better ball movement comes more open shots. With more open shots, other players will step up and ease the scoring load for Dixon. As a result, the assist numbers will go up, and the Tribe will find itself in the away win column.

With six games remaining before the CAA tournament, the Tribe must continue their undefeated record at home and gut out wins in at least two of the three remaining road games to enter postseason play hot and ready to make a run.

This year’s Tribe team clearly has the talent: Dixon is having a phenomenal year, Prewitt is a reigning first team CAA selection, and Cohn is a crafty guard who has been the vocal leader of the team. Despite the road struggles, time remains for Prewitt and Cohn to reestablish themselves as leaders beside Dixon and make a run for the first CAA tournament title in school history.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Towson claws past William and Mary, ending win streak After loss, Tribe finds itself in a three-way tie for third in the Colonial Athletic Association BRENDAN DOYLE FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR With 10 seconds remaining and William and Mary leading the game by one, Towson guard Mike Morsell caught the ball on the right wing. He pump faked, dribbled once to his left and let fly what turned out to be the three-pointer to end the Tribe’s four-game winning streak.

The College (13-10, 7-5 CAA) suffered the 82-80 loss at Towson (15-10, 7-5 CAA) without the services of senior forward Omar Prewitt, who reportedly twisted his ankle in the Tribe’s win Thursday against Northeastern. Prewitt was averaging 14.6 points per game. Other players, including junior guard Greg Malinowski and junior center Jack Whitman, were under the weather.

“I’m really proud of this team,” head coach Tony Shaver said to Tribe Athletics. “I mean, without Omar [Prewitt] today, and I really admire Greg [Malinowski] who didn’t make the trip with us yesterday, but to come up here today and give everything he had.

Jack’s been sick all morning and didn’t really have the same spring as normal, but to play as hard as he did, those are all good signs for us.”

A slow start for both teams, the score was 4-4 at the first media timeout over four minutes into the game. However, the Tribe took the advantage, slowly building their lead. Over the back-and-forth half, the Tribe led by as many as 11, until an 8-0 run to end the period pushed the Tribe lead to 46-33.

Senior guard Daniel Dixon led the Tribe in the first half with 11 points, while freshman guard Justin Pierce added nine to the score.

Malinowski hit both of his three-point attempts along with three assists in the stanza.

“We played together,” Shaver said about the first half to Tribe

Athletics. “We ran our offense, we went phase to phase, and we really got great shots.”

The start of the second half continued to see the Tribe hold a substantial lead. With 16 minutes 46 seconds left in the game, Dixon hit a layup and was fouled, completing the three-point play to put the Tribe up 17, their largest lead of the game.

Almost three minutes later, the Tigers began to cut into the Tribe edge. An 11-0 run cut the game to 61-56 and shifted the momentum back to Towson with ten minutes to go.

The Tribe held the significantly smaller lead until there were three minutes and six seconds left. With the game tied at 75, Towson forward William Adala Moto took the pass from guard Zane Martin and finished the layup in transition to give the Tigers their first lead since they were up 4-2.

“We got away from what we had been doing very well and kind of started playing one-on-one basketball,” said Shaver to Tribe Athletics. “Guys in the Tribe uniform are not going to win if we play one-on-one.”

Even as the flow of the game had shifted almost completely to Towson, the Tribe still had a chance to salvage the win. Junior guard David Cohn hit a pull-up jumper with 1:28 to go to take a 78-77 lead, and with 46 seconds to go, Dixon extended that lead to three with a driving layup.

The Tigers responded with two free throws to pull within one.

Immediately after, with 21 seconds to go, sophomore forward Paul Rowley turned the ball over. On the ensuing possession, Morsell hit the shot to give the Tigers their 82-80 lead. The Tribe had a last ditch effort, but Dixon’s off-balance three-pointer was off the mark, and Towson escaped with the victory.

“We put ourselves in position to win a great [Colonial Athletic Association] game on the road, but just couldn’t quite pull it off,” Shaver said to Tribe Athletics. “We had a three point lead with 30

seconds to play, had two defensive rebounds in our hands but just couldn’t hang on to them. That really was the game.”

The Tribe, in a three-way tie for third in the CAA, now heads to Philadelphia to face Drexel in another conference matchup.

Saturday, they return for the Charter Day Gold Rush game against Charleston at 2 p.m.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Junior guard Greg Malinowski hits both three-pointer attempts and three assists.