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Senior distance runner Elaina Balouris’ outdoor season has just begun — expect big things.
Learn where the cadavers are on campus; you might study them one day.
Balouris enters final stretch
Vol. 103, Iss. 47 | Friday, April 11, 2014
Bodies in Adair Hall
The Flat Hat The Twice-Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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STUDENT LIFE
Angelou canceled, I Am W&M Week to continue
Frendt, Moinzadeh describe festivities for week long celebration of diversity across campus BY MADELINE BIELSKI FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
Maya Angelou will no longer be speaking at the College of William and Mary next week, Student Assembly president emeritus Chase Koontz ’14 announced in an email to students Thursday afternoon. “I regret to inform you that, due to illness, Maya Angelou has canceled her speaking engagement at William & Mary next week,” Koontz said the email. “The event will not be rescheduled.”
Koontz added that he extends his sympathy to Angelou. “I know that many members of the William & Mary and Williamsburg communities were looking forward to hearing from Dr. Angelou. … I know I speak for the entire community in wishing Dr. Angelou a quick recovery,” Koontz said. Despite the cancellation, Koontz encouraged students to reflect on Angelou’s work, and to participate in the scheduled events of I Am W&M Week, which will take place over the next week.
I Am W&M Week will be a week-long celebration of the diversity on the College’s campus. This year’s slogan is “10 days. 20 events. 1 Tribe.” Former Undersecretary of Multicultural Affairs Shay Jannat ’10 created the event four years ago. For Secretary of Diversity Dylan Frendt ’14, I Am W&M Week goes beyond a set of festivities purely dedicated to culture. It also includes the values of the College community. “This year I Am W&M Week is really a celebration of what William and Mary is. … It has an emphasis on groups that
are diversity related, culturally and internationally related, but it is also an expression of the values that we hold and things that we work for,” Frendt said. Undersecretary for Multicultural Affairs and Co-Chair of the World Expo, Teymour Moinzadeh ’14 explained that the event has evolved over the years. “[I Am W&M Week] has gotten just bigger and included more events and activities,” Moinzadeh said. “When it first happened, I think whenever you do something that big, it’s like a rough draft and you just tweak it every year.”
ADMISSIONS
Highlights for the week include a Pride Festival and Drag Ball that will be held Saturday, April 12, and aims to educate students about the LGBTQ community. That same day, the Diversity department will be putting on events in coordination with the Day for Admitted Students. Bitch Media, a non-profit feminist media organization, will be leading a talk and seminar concerning the representation of women in media, Monday, April 14. Frendt explained that See DIVERSITY page 3
WILLIAMSBURG
4,700 accepted to the Class of 2018 Rise in deer Application numbers increase for fourth consecutive year, overall acceptance rate of 32 percent BY ABBY BOYLE AND ÁINE CAIN FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR AND NEWS EDITOR
Approximately 4,700 prospective students learned of their acceptance to the College of William and Mary via email March 26, after being selected from a record-breaking number of applicants.
More than 14,500 students applied to join the College’s Class of 2018, marking a 3.5 percent increase from the size of last year’s pool. This was also the tenth consecutive year that the College has seen an increase in its applicant pool. The Office of undergraduate the Admissions read through 14,035 applications for the Class of 2017 and 13,600 for the
FILE PHOTO / THE FLAT HAT
Of the 14,500 applications for the Class of 2018, the College of William and Mary offered admission to 4,700 students.
Class of 2016. “As excited as I am by all these students have accomplished so far, I’m even more excited by their potential,” Dean of Admission Henry Broaddus said in an email. “The next four years at W&M will take them to even greater heights, and I look forward to seeing that happen on campus.” Academically, 89 percent of admitted students who reported class their rank are expected to graduate in the top 10 percent of their classes. The median SAT score for accepted students was 1420 — combined math and critical reading scores — up from 1410 last year and 1400 the year before. Students of color make up 32 percent of admitted students for the Class of 2018. Another 9 percent are international students. The numbers are similar to last year’s, as 33 percent of admitted students for the Class of 2017 were of color. International students comprised another 8 percent of last year’s accepted group. Accepted students will have the opportunity to visit campus this weekend for the annual Day for Admitted Students, which will take place Saturday, April 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event offers programs and activities to give attendees a sense of what it is like to go to school. Broaddus lists three recommendations for all potential new students at the College. “Make friends with students who have different backgrounds, interests and opinions than your own,” Broaddus said. “Take advantage of faculty office hours. And wear flip-flops in the shower.”
population
Council discusses solutions BY SARAH CASPARI FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
The explosion of Williamsburg’s deer population in recent years brought the Neighborhood Council together last Saturday to discuss the issue’s societal and ecological implications and to talk about potential solutions to the problem. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries biologist Todd Engelmeyer said that the deer population has been on the rise for about 20 years, resulting in increased car accidents and damage to the region’s ecology. “Virginia is now being ranked number seven in the country for deer-related Leu automobile collisions,” Engelmeyer said. Environmentally, the increase in the deer population has affected neo-tropical migrant birds that nest in shrubbery, since deer consider their habitat a meal. By tracking deer pellets, Assistant Professor of biology at the College of William and Mary Matthias Leu found that as the deer population increases, the population of these birds decreases. See DEER page 3
STUDENT ASSEMBLY
New SA sworn in, reflect on past year’s accomplishments Danly speaks for first time as SA President, Reveley explains how SA’s leadership can affect positive change across the College’s campus BY MADELINE BIELSKI FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
Friends, family, students and administrators gathered in the Sir Christopher Wren Chapel Wednesday evening for the swearing-in of the new members of the Student Assembly. After taking the oath of office, Colin Danly ’15 took to the podium to give his first speech as president of the SA. He emphasized his desire to build a better future for the College of William and Mary. “We govern for the next ten years, not the next one. It is important to remember where we fit in, in the great history of the College of William and Mary,” Danly said. “We play only a small part in a long, historic tradition. … We must constantly look to the future.” Danly also mentioned his desire to change the image of the SA. He said he does not want it to be seen solely as an organization that allocates student money, but as a group that fosters change on campus.
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The keynote speaker of the ceremony, College President Taylor Reveley, explained to the new SA members how leadership can be difficult but rewarding. “There’s days when you’ve got to make hard choices and you know perfectly well that you cant make everybody happy and you’re going to disappoint some people … and then there’s days when people act like absolute jackasses,” Reveley said. “A lot of days [leadership] is fun and some days it is less fun.” Reveley made a point to commend president emeritus Chase Koontz ’14 for his service and for improving relations between the SA and the Brafferton. “So, congratulations, Chase, on your splendid service to the alma mater of a nation,” Reveley said. Koontz took time during his last speech as president to thank his fellow SA members. He also imparted some advice to the incoming SA members. Koontz stressed the importance of maintaining friendships in positions of leadership, as he cited the
ability to work with others as key to success. “As newly elected members of the Student Assembly, you are entering an organization that is based upon personal relationships: … these relationships are with administrators, with city officials, or most importantly with your fellow students,” Koontz said. “Your success is predicated on your ability to create and sustain a community of mutual assistance.” Outgoing chairman of the senate Will McConnell ’14 reflected on the senate’s session, which he described as impressive. He congratulated his fellow senators on creating new SA departments and a housing agency, as well as on other accomplishments. As part of his final remarks, McConnell thanked his fellow senior senators Peter Lifson ’14 and Chandler Crenshaw ’14, Graduate senators Caleb Stone J.D. ’15 and Patrick Johnson Ph.D. ’18, outgoing sen. Gabriel Morey ’16, sen. Daniel Ackerman ’16, sen. Yohance Whitaker ‘16 and sen. Emily Thomas ’17. McConnell had a few last words of advice to share
COLLEEN TRUSKEY / THE FLAT HAT
College President Taylor Reveley addresses new 322nd SA.
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with the SA. “Being in the Student Assembly is not easy,” McConnell said. “If taken seriously, it is a lot of work, for which most of the time one receives no recognition. But at the end of the day, you are the best judge of what you have accomplished.”
Random roommates can teach respect, how to stand up for and learn about yourself. page 5
Ideas moving forward
TEDx ran its second year of speaker talks on the theme “Forward.” page 6