The Flat Hat December 4, 2018

Vol. 108, Iss. 22 | Tuesday, December 4, 2018

The Flat Hat

FACULTY

Evaluations help influence tenure, class development Departments use results as metric of performance NIA KITCHIN FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

Student course evaluations opened Friday, Nov. 23 for students to fill out online through Blackboard, and will close after the last day of classes, Friday, Dec. 7. At the College of William and Mary, these evaluations are used to assess teaching effectiveness and are utilized in decisions about professorial advancement. However, the ability of students to accurately and fairly evaluate the quality of their professors has consistently been called into question.

How are student course evaluations used?

Student evaluations are used by department chairs and promotion committees in decisions about tenure, merit and promotion. They are also used by faculty as a way to gain feedback from students about their perceived performance during the semester.

Each department has the freedom to create their own questions for the evaluation; the only requirement is that they include a question about teaching effectiveness.

According to Planning Analyst Carol MacVaugh there are over 600 different questions across all departments.

Departments have complete autonomy to alter the questions for their courses, however most questions in circulation were inherited from the old paper system and continue to be used today.

Some programs have noticed that different classes within their department necessitate different methods of evaluation. Art and art history department chair Sibel Zandi-Sayek said that her department decided to split the student evaluations depending on whether they were part of studio art or art history. Likewise, Associate chair of educational policy in the modern languages department Alexander Prokhorov said that his department decided to split evaluations between content courses and language courses.

“Every department program does its own thing,” Dean of Undergraduate Studies Janice Zeman said.

“That’s one of the wonderful things about William and Mary is that we have a lot of department and program autonomy. Of course that makes for a much more complicated, complex system because everybody is its own little fiefdom. But it does allow departments and programs to tailor their questions to ask exactly what it is they are trying to get at.”

The results are used in official evaluations and promotions of faculty and included on tenure dossier.

A professor’s student evaluations are used as one of two metrics of teaching during pre-tenure review, tenure review and promotion. Professors are also reviewed on their merit every year, and student evaluations may also be used in these reviews.

“There are many different layers in the tenure process, so at each layer those teaching evaluations are considered,” Zeman said.

However, the entire evaluation is not always included.

According to Zandi-Sayek, for the art and art history department, the only answers reported are those in response to the teaching effectiveness question, which is the singular standard question across all departments.

The other quantitative questions serve to help the student slowly recall what they learned over the course of the semester and encourage them to think about the class statistically. She said that when assessing the effectiveness of these scores, the faculty committees pays specific attention to the progression of the professor’s rating in order to evaluate their growth and trajectory over time.

Despite this sometimes narrow application of evaluations, professors themselves review their own course evaluations in much more depth. The qualitative portion of the questions provide professors with more comprehensive student feedback. Zandi-Sayek said that she would like to move away from numerical evaluations toward more qualitative feedback because of how much her department values these questions.

“Students are generously sharing their comments and we take these very seriously,” Zandi-Sayek said.

“They really give you a good sense of what is going on in that classroom.”

According to Zeman, if a professor receives consistently negative evaluations from a significant number of students in their class it might trigger action.

After noticing these red flags, the professor may be See EVALUATIONS page 4

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‘THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT EVERYONE WHO THEY DON’T THINK FITS INTO THEIR PERFECT LITTLE BOX OF DISORDERS’ While seeking accommodations for health concerns through Student Accessibility Services, some students report unfair treatment. Others seek to draw attention to understaffed, under-resourced office.

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uring the spring 2018 semester, Hannah, a senior who has asked that her last name be withheld from publication in order to protect the confidentiality of her accommodations, entered the Student Accessibility Office to discuss her living conditions for the following year. Hannah had been diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia, a condition that causes her to fall asleep and become excessively drowsy throughout the day. Before receiving medication, she described how she would often fall asleep while driving, in class, in the movies and at other events she would attend.

At the College of William and Mary, students like Hannah who may need support due to mental health, wellness or accessibility concerns and any other experiences that may put at risk their academic and personal wellbeing can seek support through Student Accessibility Services or Care and Support Services, both under the umbrella of the Dean of Students Office.

According to Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Accessibility Service Lesley Henderson, the mission of SAS is to assist students with diagnosed conditions, striving to create a barrier-free environment for those students.

“Student Accessibility Services strives to foster student independence, to encourage self-determination, — Director of Student to emphasize empowerment and Accessibility Services Lesley accommodation over limitation, Henderson and to create a comprehensive, accessible environment to ensure that our community values persons with disability based on contribution instead of deficit,” Henderson said in a written statement.

Care and Support Services, according to Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Care and Support Services Rachel McDonald, hopes to empower students and assist them during difficult times. McDonald said that the mission of Care and Support Services is to “provide advocacy, outreach, and support services.”

‘Basically, she gaslighted me’ In preparation for her meeting with SAS, Hannah acquired doctor notes and a polysomnography, a sleep study that confirmed that she would be best accommodated through living in a single room her senior year. In the notes written by her doctor, it was explained that such accommodations would allow Hannah to use her sound machine, as well as control room temperature and overall room environment freely and without any inconvenience to a roommate.

For her meeting, Hannah sat down with Henderson to

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We hope any student who believes they have been ‘gaslighted’ or otherwise ‘mistreated’ will engage in direct conversation with us.

discuss the accommodations she needed as recommended by her doctor.

“Basically, she gaslighted me,” Hannah said. “That was my main feeling. She kind of was making me feel like I made it up like [idiopathic hypersomnia] wasn’t something people could actually struggle with, and that was really disheartening because before I was diagnosed I had been told a lot that I needed to just stop being lazy and trying to sleep all the time.”

After being diagnosed, Hannah hoped her diagnosis would help change people’s perspectives and allow them to better understand why she was having issues staying awake, but quickly discovered that many people could not understand why she could not control her situation.

“Accessibility is in the name,” Hannah said. “I thought they were supposed to be an advocate for anyone who needed accommodations or accessibility. They were supposed to be supportive and understanding and they were supposed to hear you out, and try to see where you are coming from and try to empathize with what you’re going through. And that really was not how I felt, at least with [Henderson].”

After her initial meeting with SAS, Hannah said she was unsure about following up with the office, because she did not believe anyone would take her seriously. After speaking with her friends, she heard that other students shared similar experiences.

“At first I thought that this was just me overreacting or this was just like a one-time occurrence or something, and then, I started hearing these horror stories from some of my friends whose experience were much worse than mine,” Hannah said. “And so I was like wow, this is not just a me thing, this is a student accessibility thing. This is how they treat everyone who they don’t think fits into their perfect little box of disorders.”

In April 2018, Melissa Hudson ’19 attempted to take her own life, but was stopped by her girlfriend and another friend. As a preventative measure, Hudson’s girlfriend filed a CARE report under the Office of Care and Support Services and Hudson was called into the Dean of Students Office the following day.

Hudson was called into Care and Support Services while she was at a COLL 300 symposium. The Dean of Students Office left a message for Hudson stating that she had to come into the office immediately, but did not explain the reasoning behind the request. In response, Hudson returned the phone call and informed them that she was unable to come as she was in the middle of the symposium.

According to Hudson, she was informed that if she did not come in immediately, a police escort would be sent and she would be forcefully removed by campus police from the symposium. In the office, Hudson said she wanted to convince the woman she met with that she was not a danger to herself and others, but felt that decisions had already been made about her next steps without See ACCESSIBILITY page 3

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The Flat Hat | Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

Freedom of speech and other First Amendment rights (for example, assembly and association) are foundational to the pursuit of knowledge and expression of ideas that define universities and colleges. ... But freedom of speech and other First Amendment rights are neither absolute nor unproblematic.

— Provost Michael Halleran and Vice President of Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ‘88 Ph.D. ‘06 in an memorandum establishing the Ad Hoc Committee on First Amendment Rights on Campus to explore free speech rights for students and faculty

POLICE BEAT

Nov. 28 - Dec. 2

A passion worth ‘dye-ing’ for

Ellie Grace ’19 brings bright personality, hair to Dreaming of Petals YouTube channel SARAH SMITH // FLAT HAT EDITOR–IN–CHIEF

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Wednesday, Nov. 28 — Crossing the line: Melvin Darnell Randall was arrested on charges of trespassing at Middle Street.

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Thursday, Nov. 29 — Joy ride on Jamestown: Police report a charge of driving with a suspended/revoked license on Jamestown Road.

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Saturday, Dec. 1 — Lie, cheat and steal: Police arrested Jeremy James Stiles on charges of embezzlement of less than $200 at Duke of Gloucester Street.

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Sunday, Dec. 2 — Incognito: John Andrew Eskay was arrested on charges of providing a false identity to a police at Merrimac Trail.

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Sunday, Dec. 2 — Shopping spree: Evan Collins was arrested on charges of shoplifting at Richmond Road.

POLICE BEAT BY SARAH GREENBERG, KARINA VIZZONI / THE FLAT HAT

A THOUSAND WORDS COURTESY PHOTO / ELLIE GRACE

After declaring an art and art history major, Ellie Grace ’19 developed a passion for photography. Now she is on the executive board of the Photography Club.

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CORRECTIONS An article in the Nov. 27 issue, “New Civil War memorial installed in Wren Building replaces Confederate iconography” incorrectly stated that the decision to remove the former plaque required a vote by the Board of Visitors.

Another article in the Nov. 27 issue, “Ludwell Apartment residents see higher rates of tickets along Rolfe Road” incorrectly stated that the increase in parking tickets issued on Rolfe Road was 3.56 percent. In fact, it is 356 percent.

The Flat Hat wishes to correct any fact printed incorrectly. Corrections may be submitted in email to the editor of the section in which the incorrect information was printed. Requests for corrections will be accepted at any time.

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For Ellie Grace ’19, life involves a lot of bright hair dye, studio art classes and a deep desire to create community wherever she goes. Right now, this desire has led to her YouTube channel and her efforts to kick start a Photography Club at the College of William and Mary. In the future, Grace hopes that she will be able to create community through a career as an art professor, using teaching to make others feel welcome.

Grace, an art and art history major at the College, didn’t have a linear path toward her pursuit of art. When her chronic illness — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome — left her feeling fatigued and frustrated with her coursework, she made the switch from classical studies to her new major.

“It kind of ended up being something that I was pushed into because of my illness,” Grace said. “It was really difficult for me to do any reading or papers ... I had a natural ability to do art. I decided to switch over and it’s made me work so hard. It’s been the best decision for me, but it was all driven by my illness.”

Through this, Grace discovered a passion for photography.

This semester, she’s taking a class with art professor Eliot Dudik and learning about zines, or homemade magazines. The zine she created, entitled “Lemon,” is her favorite project yet at the College.

In it, she is using objects found around her apartment, such as a bright yellow kettle she received as a housewarming gift and a dish she found at Goodwill. The dish, which resembles a trophy on top of a long column, holds her lizard — ­ Flapper — and represents something Grace said she sees everyday and sees as an integral part of her apartment.

Grace has also taken on a role on the executive board of Photography Club, a student organization still in the works.

Although it has been inactive for several years, Grace said she is working with other students to clean up the darkroom in Campus Center and create a space for others to learn how to shoot and develop film.

“I didn’t understand photography before, I didn’t have a passion for it,” Grace said. “It has given me a hope for the future, it pushes me into more fields of art, because it all influences my photography. … Also, the photo program in general has a strong sense of community amongst the students. I felt really alone in academics before.”

Grace is invested in both finding and creating communities where she feels supported and can support others. During her sophomore year, she experienced chronic fatigue from her illness and wasn’t doing well in her classes. In order to connect with others diagnosed with POTS, she created a YouTube channel, DreamingofPetals.

“I started a channel to connect with other people who were feeling the same way and be honest about my life and connect with other people who were like me around the world,” Grace

said. “It’s an untapped area of social networking. YouTube communities are so different from what you can get on Instagram or Twitter, it’s a bunch of people who love each other and care about each other.”

While she’s thinking about re-branding her channel to focus more on her art, it currently features videos about her life, her apartment, explanations of her chronic illness and some of her most popular videos — a series on hair dye called “Is It Worth Dye-ing For!?!”

“I think that [my channel] has made me feel a lot more capable,” Grace said. “I think that I was having a really hard time in school when I started it, it gave me something to work on. [It showed me that] I’m not bad at working, I’m not bad at doing things. It gave me the confidence that I needed to switch majors and get back on track. It just improved my life on campus. It made me shoot for the stars.”

Grace’s art isn’t just available in the classroom and online — she’s been partnering with local business owners for recent projects.

After illustrating a sign at Culture Café, where she worked as a waitress, she was approached by one of the managers at The Sideshow, a gallery and shop in Colonial Williamsburg. She wanted Grace to create a portrait of her sons. After that, The Sideshow commissioned her to design an acrylic brooch, which shows a pinup style woman wearing Santa lingerie, and is now a final product available for purchase at the store located at 221 North Boundary Street.

“I am so happy how it turned out,” Grace said. “They had a great vision from the beginning.”

Her love for the art program goes even further — she sees a link between her proposal to her now-fiancé, Flora ValdesDapena ’19 — and her new major. Grace proposed to ValdesDapena Feb. 9, 2018.

“Honestly, my favorite William and Mary memory was my proposal to Flora,” Grace said. “We would go out to the abandoned amphitheater, it was a really calming place on campus to me. It’s also right where the art studio is, and now I know why I like it so much. It was by far the best thing, finding my future life partner and being here together.”

After she graduates in the fall 2019 semester, Grace is planning to move to Richmond, Virginia, to continue working on her art and pursue her dream of becoming an art professor.

“My dream is to eventually teach,” Grace said. “I would love to be a professor. I think that in a lot of ways it is similar to my YouTube, I really love it. A professor is able to teach and create a community, and make people feel like they belong. I want to make them feel like art is possible, that although it takes a lot of hard work, that anyone can do it. I want to create that environment for people.”

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COURTESY PHOTOS / ELLIE GRACE

Ellie Grace ’19 has her own YouTube channel, DreamingofPetals, where she shares videos about her chronic illness, hair dye and her daily life as a College student.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Page 3

STUDENT LIFE

InterVarsity hosts series of discussions on race ‘White Lounge’ event draws criticism, group responds on Facebook AVERY LACKNER THE FLAT HAT

STATEMENT FROM INTERVARSITY FACEBOOK PAGE

The College of William and Mary’s chapter of InterVarsity, an interdenominational Christian organization, hosted “A Living Room on Race” Friday, Nov. 30 at the Wesley House as a part of a series of breakout sessions called ethnic lounges, which are designed to help people understand the experiences of specific ethnicities and dynamics of race.

According to Intervarsity’s In-Group Coordinator Amanda Lewe ’19, the organization sees these lounges as a success.

“I genuinely think that people really care about this, and this is an issue that affects their friends,” Lewe said. “And so, part of it is that they need to do the work of that, and by showing up today I think it’s a clear showing of their support.”

InterVarsity Campus Staff Minister Connor Clark ’16 said the event came together through training the group received at a camp called Rockbridge, a regional gathering of InterVarsity chapters. The College’s InterVarsity chapter attended a camp with a regional focus on race, and the executive board ran with the idea.

“Our exec team has high vision and capacity to think of creative events like this and carry them out through the semester,” Clark said.

The conversation was halting at first, punctuated by long pauses and somewhat awkward silences. Lewe, who was leading the discussion, was not daunted by this and continued to ask questions in an attempt to spark discussion. Eventually, students began to open up, sharing personal experiences and family struggles openly.

InterVarsity Large Group Coordinator Nana Yaa Amoh ’19 said she was pleased with the willingness attendees showed to lean into discomfort during the discussion, especially when the chapter has tried to facilitate discussions in the past that didn’t go as well due to the sometimes-uncomfortable nature of talking about privilege.

“We’ve had this [conversation] before, my sophomore year,” Yaa Amoh said. “Not many white people spoke up because they weren’t comfortable.”

When discussing how the group would approach conversations about

This semester InterVarsity at W&M has tried to address issues around racism. We created spaces, which we have referred to as “lounges,” for students of different races to discuss the intersection of race and faith. In the past 3 months, we have hosted “lounges” for Asian and Pacific Islander, Latinx and Black students. In light of the recent concern and anger at the title and purpose of the “White Lounge,” InterVarsity at W&M has issued a statement: We recognize the long-standing history of oppression by white people and condemn white supremacy.

Our intention with the white lounge was to teach white students that they cannot ignore white supremacy and need to be active agents in dismantling systems of oppression. We want white students to recognize their own privilege and to make more space for people of color.

We believe that every person, no matter race, gender, ability or sexuality, is made in the image of God.

race this time around, InterVarsity’s executive board organized ethnic lounges, with the goal of creating a space for ethnic groups to discuss experiences specific to their identities and develop the tools to open a dialogue.

“Just having people hear constantly about the idea of race … I think really helped the conversation move and shift so much more,” Yaa Amoh said.

Throughout the semester, InterVarsity hosted multiple ethnic lounges, including an Asian-American and Pacific Islander lounge, a black lounge, a Latinx lounge and a white lounge. The practice of ethnic lounges was one the chapter adopted after attending the wider Rockbridge training.

The “White Lounge” caused significant backlash, both within InterVarsity and the wider College community. InterVarsity executive board members attribute the criticism to a misunderstanding about the goal of the lounge.

They think that most people assumed the event was a place for white people to complain about diversity initiatives rather than celebrate them. Yaa Amoh admits that the idea of a white lounge sounds counterproductive to InterVarsity’s goals but in practice is useful.

“It helps us really understand why racial reconciliation is important,” Yaa Amoh said. “Before any of us had heard of the idea of ethnic lounges, white lounges would have sounded strange to us.”

Besides attempting to expose the group to more topics related to the issue of race, InterVarsity members also worked to create a safe environment where everyone would feel comfortable both speaking and listening. While InterVarsity’s safe space adhered to the same basic rules of respect and openness as other secular safe spaces, Yaa Amoh said that she believes engaging in a difficult discussion with members of the same religious faith can facilitate conversation.

“The gospel teaches us that God unites us, so it gives us a little bit more patience and understanding of one another,” Yaa Amoh said.

“Hurtful things might be said … but because we believe in forgiveness we’re quickly able to go past that.”

Lewe said she has high hopes for InterVarsity to become even more inclusive in the future.

“We have no Native American or indigenous people, or any Middle Eastern or North Africans,” Lewe said. “And so, in the future I’d really love to have an even more diverse group of people.”

In addition to facilitating InterVarsity’s discussion, Lewe has created a syllabus full of material — articles, books, podcasts, movies, etc. — about the impact of race in America. Though the project started out as Lewe’s personal reading list, it evolved into a dozen pages of educational material, which InterVarsity members contributed to.

Lewe said she hopes that continuing these race-based discussions will lead to more open conversations about race, with the eventual goal of eliminating racial prejudice within the Christian and secular community.

“Every person is made in the image of God,” Lewe said. “God makes no mistakes in how we’re created. … Racism as it is doesn’t reflect that image. …

I’m passionate about this because God is passionate about this.”

ADMINISTRATION

Halleran, Ambler create First Amendment ad hoc committee Group will discuss concerns surrounding interpretation of freedom of speech for faculty, students SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

When the College of William and Mary’s Board of Visitors met before Thanksgiving break, one topic on the agenda was the creation of an ad hoc committee on the First Amendment. Provost Michael Halleran announced the creation of this committee Nov. 14. According to Halleran, this committee was designed to foster a space for discussions about the First Amendment and how it impacts students and faculty.

Halleran, along with Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 Ph.D. ’06, sent a memorandum to select faculty, staff and administrators, explaining the purpose of the committee and what prompted its creation.

“Freedom of speech and other First Amendment rights (for example, assembly and association) are foundational to the pursuit of knowledge and expression of ideas that define universities and colleges,” Halleran and Ambler wrote in the memorandum. “… But freedom of speech and other First Amendment rights are neither absolute nor unproblematic. Our country’s history has seen an evolution in how we interpret, value and regulate rights to speak, assemble, publish information, and petition government. Not all communications are protected by the free speech guarantee.”

In the university context, they said this freedom of expression has created controversies. They wrote in the memorandum that it is now necessary for the College to evaluate what freedom of expression means on campus and what limits to it are acceptable.

Ambler, who worked with Halleran to create the Ad Hoc Committee on First Amendment Rights on Campus, said that this issue lies at the very heart of the academic enterprise, which is why it is important to her that the committee looks at how faculty conduct their classes and how all campus representatives engage with one another.

Halleran mentioned to the Board that issues up for discussion include the use of what he terms “explosive” language and issues regarding the recording of faculty lectures. He said that in the past, and at universities across the country, students have recorded lectures and then posted them online, inviting criticism of a professor’s political views.

Currently, recording laws in Virginia abide by “singleparty consent” rules, meaning that only one party involved must consent before a recording is made.

“As the provost said at the Board of Visitors meeting, these are not easy questions or issues, especially on a university campus,” College spokesperson Brian Whitson said in an email. “It’s important that William & Mary be a leader in addressing them.”

Halleran and Ambler chose Dean of Students Marjorie

Thomas and law professor Timothy Zick, who specializes in constitutional and First Amendment law, to chair the Ad Hoc Committee. According to Zick, it is not yet clear what the specific roles of the chairs will be, other than working generally to review all First Amendment-related policies.

“We will be reviewing First Amendment-related policies, including those relating to use of College facilities, posting, and the scheduling of events,” Zick said in an email. “The Ad Hoc Committee will provide guidance and recommendations concerning these and other policies, with the aim of ensuring that they are consistent with our commitments to First Amendment rights, principles of academic freedom, and interest in fostering an inclusive learning environment.”

Earlier this semester, the Use of Campus Facilities policy, which designates certain locations as available for spontaneous expression, came into question when two students were placed on academic probation following an unsanctioned meeting held by Students United.

Students associated with Students United said that they did not believe their event, which occurred in the Sir Christopher Wren Building Yard, was in violation of the policy because of its expressive intent.

The Ad Hoc Committee has been charged with reviewing the Use of Campus Facilities policy, assessing the value of developing a protest policy, examining

the current posting policy as it relates to free speech rights, considering dual-party consent for recording, considering an institution-wide approach to providing education about the First Amendment and researching best practices related to the use of “explosive” language in the classroom.

In regard to planning and response, the Ad Hoc Committee has also been charged with considering quick approaches to analyzing campus events, considering an institutional approach to security costs and free speech-related expenses and discussing the potential for a sustainable team that could mobilize to address free speech events.

After students associated with Students United were placed on academic probation, Student Assembly became involved and sent representatives — Campbell Scheuerman ’20 and Jacob Hill ’19, who serve as the SA undersecretaries of College policy and student rights — to speak with Ambler about the spontaneous expression policy. Since then, SA President Brendan Boylan ’19 has appointed Scheuerman and Hill as the student representatives to the Ad Hoc Committee.

“In addition, the committee will be involving the campus community at large, perhaps through surveys and/or public forums,” Ambler said in an email. “I strongly encourage students to follow and engage actively with the work of this committee.”

Understaffed office poses challenge for Student Accessibility Henderson welcomes feedback about ways office can better address student concerns ACCESSIBILITY from page 1

consulting her.

Hudson was then escorted to the Counseling Center, which she felt sent the message that she was not to be trusted.

In the Counseling Center, it was decided that Hudson would be sent to the hospital.

Hudson was escorted by campus police, despite her request that her girlfriend drive her instead.

“We were driven to the hospital in the back of a cop car,” Hudson said. “It’s really great, there are bars on the windows, there aren’t door handles in the back. It feels very much like you’re a criminal.”

At the hospital, Hudson met with doctors and a psychiatrist who worked at the hospital, and was eventually approved to return to campus. Hudson later learned that she would be required to leave campus for an extended, but unspecified, amount of time.

“This was the first time that I had heard of that,” Hudson said. “No one, none of the people from the school, not the Dean of Students Office, not the Counseling Center and no one up until that point had mentioned that I might have to leave campus for some period of time. I had told the [psychiatrist] that I don’t think that would have been the best for me right now.

It was a week before finals started.”

Hudson’s parents drove up from Richmond, Virginia, arriving between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. Her ID was deactivated so she could not enter her residence

hall room, and she was escorted by her Resident Assistant to grab any clothes or objects she needed. Hudson was allowed to return the following Monday, and has since been required to attend meetings at the Counseling Center and Dean of Students Office.

“It very much felt that their priority was to get me off-campus as quickly as possible” Hudson said. “If I was going to hurt myself it was better for them if I was going to do it at home, then if I were to do it on their watch.”

Hudson has to meet with Care and Support Services once every semester and is required by the school to attend offcampus counseling every week, for which she has to pay $85 out of pocket per session.

“The perceptions or experiences of this student (or these students) saddens me,” Henderson said in a written statement.

“The Dean of Students Office and Student Accessibilit Services staff work hard every day to meet the needs of students,” Henderson said. “We hope any student who believes they have been ‘gaslighted’ or otherwise ‘mistreated’ will engage in direct conversation with us.”

‘Henderson’s door is always open’ Some students, however, do report positive experiences with SAS. Morgan McCarthy ’20 said that Henderson was there for her when she was struggling with her mental health. She was referred to SAS by the Counseling Center and felt that SAS was helpful in accommodating her needs in

an individual way. “[Henderson’s] door is always open, basically,” McCarthy said. “I can always make an appointment and if anything in my situation changes. She’s made it very clear that I can go to that office to address it.”

Sarah Miner ’19 worked with SAS during her sophomore year because she was injured and was using their golf cart service. She described the process as relatively easy and said that she was immediately put into the system, despite still needing paperwork and had good interactions with Henderson and the broader office.

Alison, a graduate student, who has asked that her last name be withheld in order to protect the confidentiality of her accommodations, has interacted with SAS through her role in Corpus, a group that advocates for individuals with disabilities.

Her work with Corpus has involved filling in the gaps that SAS cannot provide, such as distributing flyers and providing students with information about how to talk with their professors. Corpus also tries to communicate student goals with SAS like promoting health for students with disabilities during Orientation.

Alison said that it is not necessarily SAS that causes the problems, but the gap in communication between students and administration. She said that students do not necessarily see the complexity of the administrative processes, and that the administration does not have a clear grasp

on the effects their work has on student life.

“This College is not for you,” Alison said. “And this college is even better than most. William and Mary is still a primarily undergraduate institution. It’s really mind boggling when you think of it, but the College is a corporation.”

Mariah Vaughn ’19 said she was surprised with her interaction with SAS because she had a more positive experience compared to what she had heard about the office from friends.

Vaughn said that most of the pushback concerning the accommodations she was provided was from professors. She also said that she believes she had a positive experience with SAS because she was in a position in which she could advocate for herself.

In addition to working with SAS, Vaughn had to work with the Care and Support Services. While Vaughn said that she often felt that Care Support Services staff members acted in a patronizing way toward her, she saw it as the College attempting to reduce liability.

“I think that it’s very sad that students are seen as liabilities when they’re struggling with mental health or disability stuff, or whatever it is,” Vaughn said. “It’s a reality, and I think William and Mary has internalized that, especially with the suicides that happened before we got here, and for that reason it’s pretty cold in the way it treats students like when they might be seen as a liability.”

FORMER PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIRMAN FOUND GUILTY OF ASSAULT, BATTERY Demetrios Florakis, who formerly served as the chairman of the City of Williamsburg’s Planning Commission, was found guilty of assault and battery following a trial Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Florakis was initially arrested after a fight with his wife, Megan Florakis, Oct. 1, near the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Richmond Road. At this time, he ran over his wife in a car and broke her leg, according to Williamsburg Police Department Major Greg Riley.

During his trial, Demetrios Florakis was represented by attorney and Virginia Sen. Tommy Norment and was sentenced to 10 days. His entire sentence was suspended, according to the Williamsburg-James City County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Megan Florakis also had a hearing Nov. 28 on a domestic assault charge related to the same incident, after Demetrios provided photos of bruises she had given him the night before the Oct. 1 altercation. Megan was found not guilty on the charge, and her three protective orders against her husband were dropped.

The next court appearance for Demetrios is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 7 in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court. He will face a felony maiming charge, which was certified following a preliminary hearing Nov. 2.

— Flat Hat Editor-in-Chief Sarah Smith '19

The Flat Hat

Page 4

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

WILLIAMSBURG

Palace Farms site to introduce event venue

CW Foundation says outdoor expansion will increase tourism

WILLIAM ALLEN FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation aims to improve its tourism economy with plans to build a new outdoor event space across from the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center. A short drive from the College of William and Mary, the new event venue at 100 Visitor Center Drive on the Palace Farms site has been approved by the City Council.

The new space is owned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The expansive outdoor field would allow for 5,000 individuals to attend proposed events such as concerts and brewery festivals. The venue would take up 21 acres of a 42acre space with a pedestrian bridge providing access from the Visitor Center. Currently, the land is largely vacant and has only been used for small industrial projects and wind turbines in the past, along with the historical Great Hopes Plantation site.

“It’s pretty much just underutilized right now,” City of Williamsburg Planning Commissioner Caleb Rogers ’20 said. “It’s essentially a field that’s a part of the Museum Support District that Colonial Williamsburg owns, and it doesn’t back up too many homes or residential areas, it’s basically just woods.”

The success of other festivals and events such as the Funhouse Fest and the Summer Breeze Concert Series inspired the new use of the Palace Farms space.

Currently, no plans exist to move the location of events like Summer Breeze to the new venue.

With the new event space, more special events could be held year-round to broaden the scope of Williamsburg tourism.

“A lot of the trends you see with bigger cities, medium-sized cities and small cities is that they’re trying to diversify their tourism economy,” City of Williamsburg Council member Benming Zhang ’16 J.D. ’20 said.

The new event space would also give the City a chance to expand out from historical tourism to eventbased tourism.

“We’re benefitted heavily by tourism, obviously just with Colonial Williamsburg,” Rogers said. “A lot of that tourism is just historical though, so this sort of festival, event, concert space will bring in a different type of tourism.”

With Williamsburg’s location between Virginia Beach and Richmond, the event space would allow for musicians to make another stop in between the two larger cities.

“Oftentimes particularly musicians will have concerts in Richmond and travel down to Virginia Beach for another concert,” City of Williamsburg Planning Commissioner Justin Shawler ’16 said. “We are the perfect in-between space where they could have a weeknight concert in the summer and spring.”

The new event space was approved unanimously by the City Council as of Nov. 6, 2018. The vote passed with four votes in favor, two absent, and one abstention from Mayor Paul Freiling '83 due to his role within the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The vote allowed for changes to the zoning ordinance of the Museum Support District, allowing for outdoor special events to be held within it. The only comments made during the vote were presented by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Vice President for Real Estate Jeff Duncan, in which he inquired about

COURTESY PHOTO / ANDREW HARRIS, WYDAILY

The outdoor event space at 100 Visitor Center Drive will remain free of permanent structures until its permit expires in 2020.

parking at the site.

With the success of the vote, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has been granted a special use permit to allow for the use of the new venue. The permit will expire after two years on Dec. 31, 2020.

The two-year period will provide time to evaluate the success of the outdoor venue. No permanent structures will be allowed to be built on the venue space, meaning that no permanent seating or stages will be constructed.

“When this first starts, it’s all going to be temporary structures and things like that,” Shawler said. “It’s sort of a trial run to make sure this is a good use from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s view and the

City's perspective.”

As of yet, no events have been scheduled for the Palace Farms venue. However, the prospects for the local economy from the venue appear to be positive.

“It’s a regional draw, we can have people come to Williamsburg for a concert and maybe stay,” Shawler said. “… It has a potential to contribute to the local tax base.”

Zhang said he sees the Palace Farms venue as a beneficial location for both residents of the City and students at the College.

“It just presents tons of opportunities for students, residents and visitors to come together,” Zhang said.

ACADEMICS

Sociology professor talks affirmative action, law Sohoni lecture focuses on policy's impact on Asian American students, admission MADELINE MONROE FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

Wednesday, Nov. 28, sociology professor Deenesh Sohoni gave a lecture to students at the College of William and Mary on Asian Americans and affirmative action. Sohoni, who partnered with the Asian American Student Initiative, discussed the history of affirmation action, its application to Asian Americans, and its role in the October 2018 lawsuit, Students for Fair Admission vs. Harvard.

Affirmative action, which Sohoni defines as policies which benefit underrepresented groups and counter effects of past discrimination, is at the center of the lawsuit against Harvard, where the plaintiff Students for Fair Admission claim that Harvard University has discriminated against Asian Americans through its admissions process.

“Are there legitimate problems with Harvard’s admission system?”

Sohoni said. “… The problem in this case for me is, should that issue, which is an issue of discrimination, be tied to this idea of ending affirmative action? Because the argument is that the only way to stop discrimination is to end race-based types of admissions. My criticism is, yes, we should see if Harvard’s discriminating, but to tie it to affirmative action is potentially problematic and if we did decide on a true merit system, what would be a good merit system that’s purely merit system?”

Sohoni said that student body diversity is one of the main compelling interests for universities desiring to utilize and keep affirmative action policies.

“One of the ways that schools have tried to say this is that, ‘We need to have a large enough percentage of minorities that people aren’t tokens,’ and suggesting that … there have to be enough that … people feel comfortable being a minority in these locations," Sohoni said.

As soon as these universities attach a number to these policies, however, Sohoni notes that some judges may decide that the university has invoked a quota system, which courts have rejected in the past.

According to Sohoni, while some people associate quota systems with

affirmative action, data suggest that quota systems are less prevalent in affirmative action cases. Nevertheless, quota systems have come to the forefront in the court system. In Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978), quota systems were deemed unacceptable and unconstitutional, whereas affirmative action itself was not.

Sohoni noted that another shift in defining affirmative action and its appropriate processes occurred in 2003, when two University of Michigan cases were brought to the Supreme Court. In Gratz v. Bollinger (2003), Michigan’s undergraduate admissions system, which utilized a “simple quota” system based on points, was ruled unconstitutional, as points were awarded for an applicant’s minority status.

Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) saw affirmative action defined again, when the Supreme Court decided that affirmation action itself is not unlawful, but race must be considered under strict scrutiny, and the invocation of affirmative action by universities must be reviewed by court systems. “… [This case suggested] that affirmative action is OK to get diversity after you’ve tried every other means,” Sohoni said.

Sohoni said that affirmative action’s goal is not to prevent discrimination but to encourage inclusivity. With the change in composition of U.S. Supreme Court judges on the bench and the remobilization of groups against affirmative action, Sohoni said that affirmative action’s end may come to pass.

“The change of the Supreme Court has led people who are against affirmative action to start pushing for getting another case before the Supreme Court because they think it’s likely to end affirmative action,” Sohoni said.

Sohoni cited California’s Proposition 209, which forbade schools to ask questions about applicants’ racial identities as a benefit of affirmative action for Asian Americans.

“Schools couldn’t collect data on the racial characteristics of individuals; therefore, you can’t have affirmative action,” Sohoni said. “When that

happened, no surprise, enrollments increased for whites, stayed [the] same for … Asian Pacific Islander Americans and dropped for Hispanics [and] Blacks. When we did have a natural experiment [with Proposition 209], we found that diversity of schools declined and it didn’t benefit Asian Americans.”

Sohoni sees the targeting of affirmative action policies as problematic, as he points out that there are other factors in the admission process that affect diversity on a broader scale. According to him, students with legacy status have the highest chance to get in, followed by athletes and affirmative action students.

“There’s a question of why are we picking on affirmative action over these other things,” Sohoni said. “… Why privileged legacies when they have all the breaks in life because they’re rich? They’re coming from rich families, so they should actually maybe have harder qualifications because they’ve had so many benefits. … Even when we talk about sports, there’s this kind of premise that minorities are getting in, but it turns out that 65 percent of people who are athletes getting in to schools are whites — and they’re wealthy whites whose parents can pay for them to learn how to play lacrosse.”

AASI Co-director Patrick Canteros ’20 said his organization wanted to host this event in an effort to draw upon the current conversation surrounding affirmative action.

“We really wanted to have this conversation on campus because I think a lot of traction has been happening around the country about affirmative action and especially what it means with Asian Americans,” Canteros said.

“This is part of a series of events we’re doing this whole week for Asian American advocacy week and affirmative action is one of the biggest things happening for Asian Americans education-wise.”

Athena Benton ’21, who is a member of AASI, said she found Sohoni’s talk helpful in defining affirmative action and how the process works.

“I think a lot of people don’t really know or understand affirmative action, so I think it’s really cool that our club’s been able to talk about it,” Benton said.

Student responses call to question reliability of evaluations as tools for assessment Zandi-Sayek says there is correlation between students' anticipated grades, how they rate their professors EVALUATIONS from page 1

initially contacted by the chair of the department or the program director. They could meet to discuss whether the issues are systemic or a result of extenuating circumstances, and what changes could be made to address the cause and improve the class.

“The red flags are when you have a consistently negative message that’s held by a lot of students, and we certainly do take note and look at those,” Zeman said.

According to Anne Pietrow ’20, being able to provide feedback on student evaluations is one way students have the power to make change on campus and express their agency.

“I want the professors who I think have done a fantastic job to be rewarded and I want those who have done a poor teaching job to be reprimanded or not offered a full time position here,” Pietrow said in a written statement.

Professors also appreciate the feedback from students in order to evaluate what has been working well in their courses and what they need to tweak, Zeman said. Course evaluations provide an anonymous forum for students to tell professors what they really think.

“I think it’s a really great form to get some feedback if you’re trying new things and students often have great feedback in terms of how you can make a class better,” Zeman said. “And it’s also nice to know what you’re doing well. So just like students like to get feedback on papers and assignments about what they’ve done well,

as well as corrective feedback, it’s the same for faculty.”

Student evaluations: Valuable metric of professor performance?

Student evaluations measure student satisfaction more than anything else, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Student answers are also prone to bias, even regarding supposedly empirical questions.

Furthermore, questions often ask students to extrapolate beyond their knowledge of the subject.

All of these factors pose problems for the evaluations’ influence over significant decisions of hiring and promotion. This raises the question of whether student evaluations should be weighed as heavily as they are now or changed to more accurately assess professor performance.

“There’s a lot of literature and debate about what is the best way to evaluate one’s classes, it’s actually a really contentious issue among faculty, and it sounds like also for students,” Zeman said. “I don’t think we’ve arrived at, nationwide, at a good system for evaluating classes. I think this is the best we have right now, but there’s certainly lots of room for improvement.”

A potential source of inaccuracy is that the course evaluations are not mandatory. They have a response rate of roughly 70 percent. This is after several reminders and much promotion, both over email from Zeman and oftentimes from professors during class.

The missing 30 percent of students creates a potential source of skewness in the evaluation results,

because students who feel more strongly about a class or professor might be more inclined to fill out an evaluation than a student who feels more neutral.

According to MacVaugh, the student response rate dropped when the College moved from paper to online evaluations in the 2012-13 academic year. She said that this might be due to a feeling of less personal responsibility among students when filling out digital forms as opposed to physical ones, and possible fears about anonymity.

The administration has attempted to quell these fears by increasing language in emails about the evaluations that emphasize the student’s anonymity.

Only two people at the College have access to the identities of respondents, MacVaugh and a fellow administrative employee.

According to Zandi-Sayek, there is also a correlation between how a student rates their professor and their anticipated grade in the class. Students may tend to be more flattering of their instructor if they have been receiving better grades in the class, and alternatively may wish to punish a professor that they do not believe graded them fairly.

“That doesn’t mean that the professor is not good and effective,” Zandi-Sayek said. “Sometimes, and oftentimes, the professor might be holding students to very high standards. And we know enough to be able to say, ‘Well here is a student who has been dissatisfied clearly and does not want to live up to these standards’ ... with professors who hold students to high standards

you often see perhaps evaluations that are slightly less flattering.”

Zandi-Sayek said that further limitation of the evaluations is a result of their quantitative nature. There are open-ended questions as well, but these are usually at the end and few in number.

Most of the questions ask for rankings of professor performance on a scale. These numerical responses are then aggregated to find mathematical measures of significance within departments, like the mean and median.

MacVaugh said that students filling out these evaluations may regard a specific numerical score differently than their classmates. This difference creates a problem when attempting to interpret quantitative data without context, and even more so when it is averaged in with other student’s data that may not adhere to the same scale of significance.

“It’s important to give students a voice in their own education, so on the one hand this is a very important tool but, again, the reservations about the metrics,” Zandi-Sayek said.

Madison Miller ’20 said that she takes the evaluation process seriously and strives to provide valuable feedback in order to improve the College’s academics and the experiences of students who come after her.

“I give honest feedback based on my experiential knowledge of that course [and] professor to help our school improve, not only for the professor, but for future students too,” Miller said in a written statement.

opinions

Opinions Editor Ethan Brown Opinions Editor Katherine Yenzer fhopinions@gmail.com

The Flat Hat

STAFF COLUMN

| Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | Page 5

STAFF COLUMN

Sodexo: It could be worse

Christian Borio THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY SARAH BRADY / THE FLAT HAT

Delaying finals would alleviate intense workload

Caroline Wall THE FLAT HAT

I spent my Saturday “study hopping,” beginning at the Williamsburg Public Library and then moving to Aroma’s and then back to my dorm. I used the constant relocation as a chance to clear my head and change the scenery, but even on my walk to my new destination, I would find myself absorbed in thought over what I had left to do and what I should do first, as if I was recreating my planner again inside my head.

Finals have not even started yet. But for me, this last week of classes is more daunting than the final exams themselves. I am currently swimming in papers and projects. I will deal with finals later, as right now I’m behind on almost everything, and while I mostly blame myself, a part of me would like to blame the timing of Thanksgiving break.

I spent Thanksgiving break at home, relaxing with my family, and while I intended to do work, no part of me

“

believed that I would follow through. I have a track record of being lazy over breaks, but this was also my first chance in a while to spend time with my family and I wanted to make the best of it.

Therefore, I did absolutely no work over break and arrived back in Williamsburg stressed, feeling as though I was being thrown back into something that I was not prepared for in the least. The busiest weeks of the semester were upon me and I was coming back to campus already behind. Although it had only been a few days, I was already accustomed to doing nothing all day. While this was entirely my own fault, I feel confident assuming that the same thing happened to many other students who wanted to spend their break fully enjoying the holiday and not worrying about work.

Because of this, I think it would be helpful to have an extra week of classes after Thanksgiving.

A wider gap between Thanksgiving and finals would give students a chance to slowly get back into the swing of things and to be able to wrap their heads around and prepare for the business of the last two weeks.

However, now that I’ve spent the last week struggling to catch up, I am officially in work mode, ready to tackle finals season. Two weeks of finals is the perfect length. It is long enough that my finals are somewhat spread out, giving me time to study.

But it is still short enough that I can look forward to being home soon to enjoy a real break that won’t be plagued by worrying about all the work I should be doing. I’m willing to buckle down for the next two weeks, as long as the end is in sight.

Email Caroline Wall at cewall01@email.wm.edu.

Because of this, I think it would be helpful to have an extra week of classes after Thanksgiving. A wider gap between Thanksgiving and finals would give students a chance to slowly get back into the swing of things and to be able to wrap their heads around and prepare for the business of the last two weeks.

One time, as I sat in the dark side of Sadler at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon, quite possibly the most desolate time to be in Sadler, I witnessed a Sodexo employee walk in, lift her hands high and shout, “Free at last, free at last, thank you Lord, I’m free at last.”

This, I imagine, is the same sensation seniors go through after they graduate and leave behind our Sodexo cafeteria services forever.

If I had a dollar for every time students rail on our Sodexo cafeteria food, I’d be a very rich man. The ineptitudes of Sodexo summarized in a single event is when the dining halls served fish and chips with potato chips instead of the proper french fries (all it takes is a Google search guys, come on). Cafeteria food will always be less than perfect, and the food at the College of William and Mary certainly scores low on the list of college meal quality. With a significant amount of resources devoted to the omnipresent pizza and burgers, other options seem limited and underrepresented.

However, I feel that people constantly give Sodexo a bad rap simply because it’s convenient and easy, even though at times the derision is deserved. I’m glad to attend a college that spends its money on the important things in life, namely, our education, our classrooms, a bronze statue of a griffin and an addition to the Alumni House. Though I am just a naïve and lowly freshman, who can certainly see why four years of Sodexo food might grow old, I feel that we should give credit where credit is due.

“

I’m glad to attend a college that spends

its money on the important things in life, namely, our education, our classrooms, a

bronze statue of a griffin and an addition to the Alumni House.

For starters, the Caf is a delightful experience in every bite.

From the man singing at the top of his lungs as he works, to whatever orgasmic food Marco’s cooking up, the Caf never lets me down, always holding me in its sweet embrace. While the ice cream machine is about as reliable as one from McDonald’s, the Caf maintains a special place in the hearts of many, mostly because of the omelets. And whoever makes the soup there deserves a raise.

Sadler is the most conveniently located of the Sodexo dining halls, stationed in between my ignominious dormitory in the Green and Gold Village and my classes. Because of this, I usually frequent Sadler for breakfast or lunch. Sadler also has by far the superior breakfast cereal selection. While in most respects, Sadler tends to be painfully average, there is one notable event that garners its fame: Late Night. Late Night at Sadler is absolutely divine, and I live for Thursday wing night.

But the positives of Sodexo come not from the institution, but from the employees and their work. My namesake, Christian from Marketplace, is so nice he’s essentially been turned into a meme (in a good way). Ms. Evangeline at the Caf’s Tribe Market who sells me succulent taquitos as I stumble in at 11 p.m. is a saint of unlimited patience. Institutionalized food is always easy to attack and mock, but know that it could always be worse.

Email Christian Borio at cmborio@email.wm.edu.

STAFF COLUMN

Longer Thanksgiving break beneficial for student health Isabella Miranda THE FLAT HAT

Coming back to campus after Thanksgiving is hard. All the papers and exams have been pushed out of my mind only to resurface with the harsh reality that there are only two more weeks left of school, and then come final exams. Joy! What first hits me when I come back to campus is the feeling that I never left. Did I even go home? Did I even get a chance to rest? The three days we get off of school fly by so quickly that I forget what I did while I was away from campus. The solution: more days off. When I arrived at my 9:30 a.m. class on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, it seemed that half of the class had agreed beforehand not to come

to class. I was envious of them and critical of myself. I easily could have not come and left the day before, but instead, I sat in class not paying attention because I was wondering why I was still there.

In the same class, my professor told us that we should have that Tuesday off as well. I think it would be better if the whole week was regarded as vacation for students. Travel is hard enough, and during the holidays finding tickets can be nearly impossible. A full week off gives students plenty of time to find ways to get home without worrying about missing classes, and more time to breathe.

From midterms to finals, Thanksgiving break is the time for re-energizing, getting back to a good sleeping pattern and spending time with families or loved ones. These activities take more than four days. Because we do not have that many days off, focus shifts to how to prepare for the next upcoming obstacle: finals.

Besides the obvious tasks of keeping organized, making a study schedule and reviewing notes, the main thing not to forget about in the weeks leading up to finals and finals week itself is self-care. Over vacation, I felt

“

From midterms to finals, Thanksgiving break is the time for re-energizing, getting back to a good sleeping pattern and spending time with families or loved ones.

These activities take more than four days.

overwhelmed thinking about the work I had to do, in addition to the exams I needed to study for. I realized I needed to step back and breathe; the time that I use to focus on my mental and physical health helps me the most when I feel stressed.

That starts with making sure I have time at the end of my day to take a shower, which makes me take the time to go through my entire nightly routine. I have noticed that I feel worse on the days when I decide to skip my shower to stay up later and finish my homework.

Taking a shower not only helps me be hygienic, but it removes me from the clouded headspace at my desk. I can play music and jam in the shower, releasing stress through Beyoncé and Lorde.

This is simply an example of something I do to de-stress, and I know everyone has a different self-care routine. Just because Thanksgiving break is over does not mean relaxation is. Especially with finals coming up, remember to take care of yourselves and do not forget that winter break is less than a month away.

Email Isabella Miranda at immiranda@email.wm.edu.

The Flat Hat

Page 6

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

STAFF COLUMN

STAFF COLUMN

Supporting survivors in the era of #MeToo: Encouraging organization, education

Olivia Koenig THE FLAT HAT

Months after coming forward with allegations of sexual assault by then-Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford made headlines again this week by releasing a statement regarding a GoFundMe page which raised well over $600,000 in Ford’s name. Ford announced the dedication of the remaining funds to assault survivors, showing solidarity with others who have survived similar traumatic events in their lives.

In the #MeToo era, it has become more important than ever to support survivors of sexual violence, especially on college campuses. Studies published by Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network show that women aged 18-24 are at a high risk of becoming victims of sexual violence.

Additionally, male college students aged 18-24 are at a significantly higher risk of being victims of rape or sexual assault than non-students of the same age.

“

The concept of support for a community of survivors exists beyond the stories that make it to the news cycle.

The concept of support for a community of survivors exists beyond the stories that make it to the news cycle.

Advocacy, awareness and solutions exist right here on the College of William and Mary’s campus. Well-regarded as a very politically active population, students at the College and specific student organizations also place great emphasis on sexual assault prevention and healthyrelationship advocacy. Such organizations include Someone You Know, HOPE and 16(IX)3.

While different in their strategies, each of these studentrun organizations motivates justice-minded individuals to act as advocates, educators, supporters and role models of behavior for the rest of the campus community.

Through educational initiatives, peer-outreach programs, fundraisers and guest speakers, students involved in these organizations aim to create a healthier, safer campus.

This is the second year that members of Someone You Know have facilitated a fundraiser for survivors called Cinnamon Rolls for Survivors, using delicious, handmade treats as tools to fundraise for an essential cause.

As of the day of the fundraiser, over 250 individuals responded as interested or going on the Facebook page for the event, showing the popularity among students and support for such an important beneficiary. The members also defy many stereotypes regarding what an advocate looks like, as many are members of various Fraternity and Sorority Life organizations at the College.

“

The issue of campus sexual violence and unhealthy relationships stems directly from the behavior and attitudes of students enrolled here at at every college in the country.

The issue of campus sexual violence and unhealthy relationships stems directly from the behavior and attitudes of students enrolled here and at every college in the country.

As an issue created primarily by students, these studentled initiatives intended to address the epidemic are essential for finding a comprehensive solution.

The bravery of women like Ford and the example she set in supporting other survivors has been a very present force at the College thanks in large part to our student-run organizations.

Email Olivia Koenig at ojkoenig@email.wm.edu.

GRAPHIC BY KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT

COLL 300 requirement presents valuable way to broaden horizons, experience world beyond the College This scholarship is meant for students who are new to the College and have never studied abroad before, and more specifically, it is geared toward students who have never traveled internationally and are studying a subject which is traditionally underrepresented in study abroad programs. This program is a wonderful opportunity for students to experience the benefits of studying internationally at almost no cost, and it is encouraging to see that the College is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to international study.

Kimberly Lores

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FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

I am infinitely happy that I decided to attend school in Williamsburg, Virginia. It is a great change of pace from my hometown in New York, and it is undeniably comical and exciting to run into an 18th-century Continental soldier on my way to English class. Yet sometimes, I believe that it can be all too easy to get caught up in the “Williamsburg bubble” and forget about the bigger world around us. This is why I am a big supporter of the COLL 300 requirement, which asks students to experience the greater world around them by studying abroad, studying “away” from campus, attending the DC Semester Program or attending talks on campus given by speakers from around the world.

When I was looking for colleges, I knew that a good study abroad program was a requirement for finding “my” school. As much as you might love one place, it can get rather monotonous and exhausting to stay there for four years. It is always beneficial to get off campus for a few weeks and study the subject you are most passionate about in a new environment with different professors and classmates.

The fact that the College of William and Mary has literally built this requirement into the student curriculum is encouraging because it signals a deep commitment to understanding cross-cultural issues.

At some schools, it can be quite the hassle to study abroad or study “away” and complete your requirements at the same time: but here, going away is one of the requirements. The College’s dedication to encouraging study abroad opportunities is not just surface level.

The College is ranked as the top public university for student study abroad participation, with 55 percent of the student population choosing to study outside of the country. The Reves Center for International Studies is now sponsoring a St Andrews First Abroad Scholarship, which provides one student with a fully funded, weeklong trip to the University of St Andrews in Scotland and a $1,500 scholarship for a future study abroad program.

As much as you might love one place, it can get rather monotonous and exhausting to stay there for four years.

But sometimes, it is simply impractical for a student to leave the country for a semester or even a summer for any number of reasons.

As a result, the College provides ways for students to fulfill the COLL 300 requirement that do not require international travel: staying on campus and listening to speakers, studying “away” and completing a research project or internship, or even studying at the Washington Center in Washington, D.C. for a semester.

These programs can accomplish many of the same things that studying internationally can, as they encourage students to hear the perspectives of new and different people with diverse life experiences. The COLL 300 requirement is a blessing, not a curse. It forces us, as students, to break away from the normal humdrum of Williamsburg during any academic year and listen to diverse ideas.

Studying abroad (or “away”) is one of the best chances for a student to expand their horizons: and after all, isn’t that why we’re all at college?

Email Kimberly Lores at kmlores@email.wm.edu.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: GRIFFIN STATUE SHOULD BE WELCOMED, NOT MALIGNED I’m Steve Smith, a founding member of the Wentworth Military Academy Alumni Council and a member of the Wentworth Junior College class of 1983. I’ve been following via the internet the lively and sometimes very funny discussions (AC/ DC — awesome!) surrounding the placement of the Wentworth Griffin and wanted give you some context about its origin and my involvement in how it came to be at William and Mary.

It’s true, as one of your students observed, that Wentworth is a “failed” college but only in so far as our alma mater closed due to financial insolvency two years ago. Founded in 1880, Wentworth thrived for many years and at one time operated a junior high school, high school, and since 1920 a junior college on the same campus.

Although tiny by most comparisons we number among our alumni many successful business, political, military, clergy, medical, and educational leaders.

Our former president, William Sellers, is now your neighbor in Virginia and is the director of Journey Through Hallowed Ground and the National History Camp.

He also commissioned the Griffin now at William and Mary. Wentworth athletic teams were known as the Red Dragons and the Griffin was our mascot.

And yes, I get a Griffin is not a Dragon — much less a red one. Others might

know the reason but I don’t. While president, Mr. Sellers solicited funds from an alumni to have the Griffin statue placed in front of the administration building. I was present at its dedication and believed we were placing a statue that would stand for another hundred years. No one wants to think their much loved school might ever close. But close it did.

After Wetworth’s closing its assets were put up for auction and an alumni group began soliciting funds to buy and retain most of the memorabilia. They were very successful and much of the memorabilia, plaques, flags, and statues are now in a museum. At the time though, I feared a non-alumni buyer would outbid the alumni groups’ limited assets and the Griffin would end up literally in someones’ front yard.

A little online research brought me to William and Mary - one of the few universities in America to adopt the Griffin as a mascot. I also considered Reed College in Oregon and even Kirby High School in my hometown of Santa Cruz CA who also adopted the Griffin.

Back in the 1980’s I had visited your campus when I was stationed at Yorktown in the US Coast Guard and loved your beautiful buildings and grounds as well as your unique place in US history. I read about the controversy surrounding the use of Native American symbols and

the process by which you settled on the Griffin. I don’t know if Wentworth chose the Griffin as a way of recognizing its Anglo American heritage by choosing to combine the English Lion and the American Eagle but I thought that William and Mary chose a Griffin for the right reasons. In the end, I sent an e-mail to then President Reveley suggesting that William and Mary would be an appropriate home for the Wentworth Griffin and gave instructions on how to bid through the auction company in Missouri.

He agreed and the the rest you now know.

I confess I had not considered at all that there would be controversy over the size of the Griffin’s genitals. As the father of three daughters I would not want them to be the victims of discrimination or subjected to gross or triumphal distortions of masculinity.

I hope you will conclude that the Griffin, being an ancient and mythical creature nearly as old as civilization itself, is uniquely separate from such controversy. At the risk of being melodramatic, medieval lore tells us that Griffins mate for life and upon losing its mate will never take another. We’ve lost our school — please make a home for our Griffin at yours.

Best regards, Steve Smith steveinsv@gmail.com.

Susan Livingstone Hall

Lillian Poe Ashcraft-Eason Hall

Mary Jo White Hall

Trudier Harris Hall Hatsuye Yamasaki Statue

Miriam Ellen Stofan - Beverly Johnson Thompson Hall Carter Statue

Katherine Rowe Building

Thao Nguyen Hall

Cockacoeske Building

Elizabeth Costenbader Center Marlene Jack Ceramics Studio

THE COLLEGE OF MARY LEONOR GRAVE // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

AKEMI TAMANAHA // FLAT HAT CHIEF FEATURES WRITER GRAPHIC BY HEATHER BAIER / THE FLAT HAT

A WALKING TOUR OF THE COLLEGE OF MARY

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THIS STUDENT’S WORDS REFLECT ANOTHER ELEMENT OF THE COLLEGE’S HISTORY: IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN WILLIAM FIRST, AND MARY SECOND.

From the signing of the royal charter in 1693, the second-oldest university in the United States has been a bastion of white patriarchy. While it is true that when the College became the first public university in Virginia to admit women in 1918, it was at the cutting edge of progress in its time, that was only a small step toward shifting the balance of power. It was not until half a century later, in 1967, that the College admitted its first African-American students in residence. It was only this summer that the College inaugurated College President Katherine Rowe, the first woman to hold the position in the school’s 325 years of existence.

The College’s history is also marked by the oppressive systems it has perpetuated.

From 1693 to 1865, enslaved men and women labored at the College. The Lemon Project studies the history of African Americans at the College and promotes reconciliation efforts today; on the same list where researchers found the project’s namesake, Lemon, names like Lucy, Kate, Nanny and Effy also appear. And an enslaved girl named Fanny who was owned by the College is known to have attended the Bray School — a free school for enslaved children in Williamsburg — in February of 1769.

It is undeniable that women have been a part of the College’s history since before its first brick was laid and the land was occupied by the indigenous people of the Powhatan Confederacy. Since 1918, more than 50,000 women have earned degrees from the College, and today women make up 58 percent of the student body. Yet, the reality is that walking around campus, the overwhelming majority of the names you see on buildings are those of men. All but one academic building – Adair Hall, named for Alumni Medallion Recipient Cornelia Storrs Adair ’23 – are named for men. There is not

GRAPHIC BY CARMEN HONKER / THE FLAT HAT

a single statue on campus that memorializes a non-male or a person of color. The Griffin received the distinction of a statue before a woman or person of color did.

When prospective female students tour this campus, they are more likely to hear about Thomas Jefferson’s accomplishments — and the creepy, apocryphal story that a group of students once concluded the angle of his statue’s gaze meant Jefferson was peering into the women’s bathroom in Washington Hall — than they are to hear stories about people like themselves. What would a world in which a prospective student walking around campus saw the accomplishments of women recognized look like? It might look a little bit like this: “Welcome to the College of Mary!”

Katherine Rowe Building Our tour begins at the Katherine Rowe Building, which is the oldest college building still standing in the United States. It is named after Katherine Rowe, the College’s first woman president. This year — the year which also marks 100 years of coeducation at the College — the Board of Visitors unanimously elected Rowe as the 28th president.

Cockacoeske Building Now if you look to your left, you will see another one of our longest-standing structures, the Cockacoeske Building. In 1677, 16 years before the College was chartered, Charles II of England and various local tribes signed the Treaty of Middle Plantation. This treaty made the settlement of Williamsburg, and therefore the establishment of the College, possible. The Cockacoeske Building commemorates the legacy of the Queen of Pamunkey, the first tribal leader to sign the treaty. Yet, this building has a storied and tragic chapter in its history, as it once housed the Brafferton Indian School, where indigenous boys, some kidnapped by traders, were educated with the aim of assimilating to the ways of British settlers. Some of those students died at the College after being exposed to European diseases their immune systems were not equipped to fight.

Miriam Johnson Carter Statue On your left is the Miriam Johnson Carter statue, dedicated in honor of the first African-American woman to attend the College in 1955. Initially, Carter applied to the College’s graduate program in education, but her application was rejected on the grounds that Virginia State College offered the state program. Carter wrote letters to the College explaining that she could not afford to travel to Virginia State College to participate in its program. She tried in vain to gain admission to other College-affiliated programs.

Finally, after much persistence, she was accepted to the College to study law. Sadly, she withdrew at the end of her first academic year.

Mary Jo White Hall On your right you’ll see the beautiful, newly renovated Mary Jo White Hall, which is home to the government, economics and international relations departments. It’s

named, of course, for the 1970 graduate who was the first woman to hold the position of U.S. attorney in Manhattan. You might also know her as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. As an attorney, she was known for her effectiveness in prosecuting white-collar crimes.

Legacy Three Memorial Garden We’ll pause our tour here at the Legacy Three Memorial Garden just behind Lillian Poe Ashcraft-Eason Hall. The memorial garden is named after Lynn Briley ’71, Janet Brown Strafer ’71 M.Ed. ’77 and Karen Ely ’71, who were the first African-American undergraduate students to live in residence halls at the College. Stand right here in the center and you’ll hear an echo that no one else around you can hear when you speak.

Jill Ellis Stadium We are now passing Ellis Stadium, which is named for alumna Jill Ellis ’88. Ellis is the coach of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. She led the team to a FIFA World Cup victory in 2015. Whether you’re a fan of football or fútbol, Ellis Stadium is the place to be. The College’s football and soccer teams play all of their home games at Ellis Stadium.

Braithwaite-Hinton Science Center Just behind me is the Braithwaite-Hinton Science Center. If you’re not a science, technology, engineering and math student, you will probably only take one or two classes here during your time at the College. You will also probably get lost trying to find that class. The Braithwaite-Hinton Science Center is named after Minnie Braithwaite and biology professor Shantá Hinton. In 1896, Braithwaite petitioned the faculty to allow her to attend chemistry lectures. The faculty denied her petition in a 4-3 vote. Many credit her for being one of the first women to attempt to gain admission to the College.

The Science Center is also named after Hinton, who became the first African-American faculty member to be promoted and tenured in any of the science departments.

Leisa Meyer Hall Here at the outer edge of New Campus, we have Leisa Meyer Hall, infamous for taking the breath out of generations of students as they hurry to climb the three flights of stairs to make it to class on time. American studies, history, and gender, sexuality and women’s studies professor Leisa Meyer has worn many hats in her time at the College. She was one of the faculty members who helped found the gay and lesbian staff group, now Equality W&M, and has been involved in numerous LGBTQ advocacy and research projects during her time here, including the development of Safe Zones, which have made this campus a more inclusive space for LGBTQ students.

Beth Comstock School of Business Up ahead is the Beth Comstock School of Business, named after successful businesswoman Beth Comstock ’82. Comstock graduated from the College in 1982 and went on to co-found streaming giant Hulu and serve as the vice president of public relations for General Electric.

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | Pages 2-3

Marlene Jack Ceramics Studio Our tour comes to a close here at the Undergraduate Admission office. And it’s easy to miss, but if you look right here behind it, you’ll notice the Marlene Jack Ceramics Studio, named for the art professor emerita who was a major force in acquiring and transforming the building which used to be the Old Power Plant into the current Ceramics Studio, allowing ceramics students to move from a cramped and dark room to the open, two-story ceiling charming workspace it is today.

“Thank you for coming to visit campus! I hope you can see yourselves here one day.”

These names and stories make up a miniscule fraction of the women who have contributed to the College’s history, and the symbolic renaming of buildings acts merely as a thought exercise. The pipe dream of a “College of Mary,” while idealistic, means little if it is not accompanied by concrete steps to work toward a more equal distribution of power, opportunity and access, for people of all genders.

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THE NAMES OF MEN ALREADY HAUNT THIS CAMPUS ON MOST EVERY BUILDING YOU WALK PAST AND THE NAMES OF THOSE NOT INSCRIBED IN THE ANNALS OF POWER LURK BENEATH, UNREMEMBERED.

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In April of 1918, soon after the Virginia General Assembly voted to allow coeducation at the College of William and Mary, some students were dismayed and took to the pages of The Flat Hat to express their discontent.

“I am certain that all of us believe in higher education for women, but William and Mary is not the place for them to get it,” an anonymous student said April 24, 1918. “It will bring such a violent change in our student life and traditions that the old College will never be what she has been and what we have loved.”

In one way, this student was right — the “old College” was never again the same as it had been. But in another way, this student’s words reflect another element of the College’s history: It has always been William first, and Mary second.

Variety Editor Heather Baier Variety Editor Carmen Honker flathat.variety@gmail.com

Walking around campus today, there’s no need to procure a Williamsburg ghost tour guide — the names of men already haunt this campus on most every building you walk past and the names of those not inscribed in the annals of power lurk beneath, unremembered. The names on our buildings allow a person’s life to be remembered long past their death, and this reimagined map aims to create a version of living history which doesn’t always err on the side of the status quo.

Note: This feature was inspired by “City of Women,” by Rebecca Solnit, published in The New Yorker and “School of Women,” by Savannah DiGiovanni and Sydney SteansGail, published in the Yale Daily News Magazine. Research for this story was contributed

by Lemon Project archivist and administrative assistant Sarah Thomas Ph.D. ’18, computer science professor Virginia Torczon, art and art history professor Sibel ZandiSayek, mathematics professor Junping Shi, physics professor Gina Hoatson, American studies and English professor and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies director Elizabeth Losh, history professor Susan Kern Ph.D. ’05, American Indian Resource Center Director and anthropology professor Danielle Moretti-Langholtz, English professor Hermine Pinson and English professor and department chair Suzanne Raitt.

Martha Wren Briggs Amphitheater

Jill Ellis Stadium

Grace Landrum Hall

Blanche Moncure Library

Cornelia Storrs Adair Hall

Gina Hoatson Hall

Mary-Cooke Branch Munford Plaza Elizabeth Hill Boone Hall Glenn Close Hall

Beulah Russell Hall Lake Matoaka

Braithwaite Hinton Science Center

Carroll Hardy Hall

Martha Barksdale Field

Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art

Leisa Meyer Hall

Beth Comstock School of Business

GRAPHIC BY HEATHER BAIER / THE FLAT HAT

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The Flat Hat | Tuesday, December 4, 2018 | Page 9

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Senior guard Bianca Boggs led the College to two wins in its three games this past week. Boggs scored the 1,000th point of her career in the Tribe’s win over East Carolina, becoming the 20th player in program history to join the group.

Boggs, Tribe stay above .500, beat East Carolina, Fairfield

After blowout victory over Pirates, College falls to Hartford before bouncing back KEVIN RICHESON FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR Last week, William and Mary continued its strong start to the season, winning two of three games. The Tribe (4-3) dominated in a win over East Carolina before traveling to Connecticut for two contests, falling to Hartford and edging out Fairfield.

Tuesday, the Tribe got off to a fast start as timely baskets, stifling defense and a strong rebounding effort allowed the College to overcome 26 turnovers in a 63-43 victory over the Pirates (5-1).

“It was kind of bouncing back from those turnovers and thinking next play, even if that’s defensively to get my team going,” freshman guard Eva Hodgson said.

The Pirates started off strong with the first two buckets of the game, while the College could not score on its first three possessions, two of which ended in turnovers. However, senior guard Bianca Boggs and junior forward Victoria Reynolds evened the score at four after the first three minutes with back-to-back transition layups. Boggs’ layup gave her 1,000 career points, as she became just the 20th player in program history to accomplish the feat.

“She’s had an outstanding career and we’re lucky to have her,” head coach Ed Swanson said. “She’s just a great example of what William and Mary women’s basketball is all about.”

With 5 minutes, 55 seconds to play in the opening quarter, Hodgson pulled up for a mid-range jumper in transition to give the College its first lead of the evening, 6-4. Redshirt sophomore guard Harper Birdsong scored five points late in the quarter to help the College stretch its advantage to 24-15 after 10 minutes.

After a blistering finish to the first quarter, neither team scored for over three minutes to start the second quarter. Sophomore center Gabby Rogers was whistled for a foul at the 6:50 mark, and guard Raven Johnson made one of two free throws to bring the score to 24-16 in favor of the home team. The Pirates were able to chip away at the deficit before the break, but the Tribe still held a 32-25 edge at the half.

The College took advantage of the Pirates’ offensive woes in the third quarter, outscoring them 12-1 in the first five minutes of the quarter.

The Pirates managed to stem the tide with 10-straight points to end the Tribe’s run. Sophomore guard Nyla Pollard stopped the run with a minute left in the quarter to put the College back up to double digits.

On the Tribe’s last possession of the quarter, Hodgson made her second

three of the quarter to give the College a comfortable lead, 49-36, with just one quarter to play. The Tribe continued to stretch its lead as the fourth quarter progressed. The Pirates were never able to put together a comeback and the College closed them out for a 63-43 victory.

“This was a really good win following Saturday,” Swanson said.

“We were really disappointed with how we played on Saturday, so I challenged a couple of our players this week and they responded.”

The Tribe then played its first of two road games in the state of Connecticut Friday, Nov. 30. Ultimately, it was unable to take advantage of Hartford’s 32 turnovers and the Hawks (3-5) hung on for a 50-45 victory.

The Tribe benefited from strong play by underclassmen in the first half to keep the College in the game. Hodgson scored or assisted on the Tribe’s first six points in order to help it hold an early 6-3 advantage over the Hawks. While both offenses struggled early, they turned it on at the end of the quarter. Birdsong hit two free throws with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter to put the Tribe on top 16-10, but guard Jada Lucas cut the deficit in half for the Hawks with a three-pointer with three seconds left in the quarter. At the start of the second quarter, the Hawks pulled within one before Hodgson hit a timely bucket to preserve the lead. As the quarter approached the midway point, Hodgson scored again to put the College back up by two possessions. However, the Hawks put together an 11-0 scoring run to take a 28-21 lead with 3:50 to play in the quarter, with guard Lindsey Abed hitting two three-pointers.

Nevertheless, the College bounced back with a run of its own. Senior guard Misha Jones completed the scoring burst with a three-pointer on an assist from Boggs to tie the game at 28 at the break.

Both offenses were slow to get going in the third quarter, with no one scoring until the 6:28 mark of the third. Once again, Abed’s deadly shooting propelled the Hawks back into the lead when she hit a threepointer at the 5:51 mark. That was one of only three made shots in the run of play in the third quarter, with the rest of the scoring coming on free throws. The College was 0-11 from the field in the quarter. At the end of the third, the Hawks clung to a 37-33 edge in the low-scoring affair.

The Tribe finally broke through for its first basket of the second half on a Boggs three-pointer with 7:54 to play in the fourth quarter. Her shot cut the Tribe’s deficit to two points once again. Another Abed threepointer, her fourth of the night, stretched the margin back to five points with exactly two minutes to play. The College had several opportunities to cut into the lead, but it could not buy a basket down the stretch. The

College was forced to foul to extend the game but ultimately fell 50-45.

The Tribe tried to rebound from the close loss when the College took on Fairfield Sunday, Dec. 2.

At the beginning of the first quarter, both teams started off strong on the offensive end. The Tribe and the Stags traded two baskets in just over two minutes of play and the score was tied 4-4 at the 7:52 mark. The Tribe took its first two-possession lead of the afternoon on Reynolds’ second layup of the game. The Stags cut into the deficit before the end of the quarter, but the College still led 11-10 after 10 minutes.

Less than a minute into the second quarter, the Stags grabbed their first lead of the game on a three-pointer by guard Kendra Landy. Landy’s three gave the Stags a 13-12 advantage that only lasted 48 seconds.

After some back and forth, the Tribe scored five in a row to take a 20-18 lead. The Stags started to break out of their scoring slump with baskets on back-to-back possessions, but Birdsong hit back-to-back treys to ensure the Tribe would take a 30-27 lead to the locker room.

In the third quarter, Boggs scored the Tribe’s first seven points to give her 12 points for the afternoon. Her seventh point came on a driving layup with less than seven minutes to play in the quarter that extended the College’s advantage to six points, 37-31. The Stags cut the deficit to one before Boggs and Pollard combined for the next four points, putting the College back up by five late in the third quarter.

However, the College got off to a slow start in the fourth quarter. The Stags started the quarter on a 7-0 run to reclaim a two-point lead. The Tribe stopped the run, but the Stags remained in the lead. Once again, Boggs came up big with a three-pointer, giving her 20 points and giving the College back the lead with 1:08 to play in the game. The Stags got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead with less than a minute to play. Guard Casey Foley had the ball for the Stags, but turned it over, her seventh of the game, then fouled Boggs at the other end.

Boggs hit a pair of clutch free throws to give the Tribe a commanding two-possession advantage, 58-54, with 33 seconds left in the game. The Stags had two more shots to try to get back within one possession, but could not hit either of them. The College escaped with a 60-54 victory.

The College will play two games this week against in-state opponents. Wednesday, the Tribe will welcome Richmond to Kaplan Arena. Halftime of that game will feature a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first women’s basketball game in both programs’ histories. There will be a reenactment of this first game at halftime of the Tribe and Spiders’ game Wednesday.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Inconsistency plagues College in losses to Marshall, George Mason Thundering Herd trample Tribe in West Virginia while Patriots hold on for close victory BRENDAN DOYLE, KEVIN RICHESON FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR, FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR Last Saturday, Nov. 24, William and Mary fought back from a double-digit second-half deficit for its second win of the season, beating St. Joseph’s 87-85.

Wednesday, the Tribe found itself in a hole again, this time against Marshall. Unfortunately for the College, the Thundering Herd easily handled a push early in the second period and expanded their lead as the game got away from the Tribe (2-6), handing Marshall (5-1) an 84-64 victory.

The Thundering Herd jumped ahead early in the contest, but junior forward Justin Pierce kept it close with seven-straight points. The last two, on a jumper from inside the arc, tied the game at nine, and a layup by freshman guard Chase Audige a couple possessions later gave the College its first lead of the game.

Marshall would respond with a 10-2 run, expanding their lead to 22-15. The teams went back and forth before seven-straight Tribe points, five by redshirt senior forward Paul Rowley, took the advantage back for the College with 6 minutes, 31 seconds to play in the half. After a dunk by junior forward Nathan Knight, the Tribe led 35-31. The four-point edge would be the

College’s largest of the night.

Unfortunately for the Tribe, a troubling trend of sluggish first-half finishes continued. Eight consecutive points for the Thundering Herd secured the lead for good, and after guard Jon Elmore hit a three at the buzzer, Marshall had extended its spurt to 15-2, claiming a 46-37 lead at the break.

While the College showed signs of life through the first stages of the second period, they were quickly extinguished by Marshall. By the 17:21 mark, the Thundering Herd had extended its lead to 13 points.

Junior guard Matt Milon hit a free throw followed by a layup from freshman guard Thornton Scott to cut the lead to 10, but that was as close as the Tribe would get to a tie. Marshall scored 10 of the next 13 points, all but sealing the deal for the Thundering Herd, which led 6649 over the College with less than eight minutes to go.

With 3:49 left, head coach Tony Shaver was assessed a technical foul, channeling his frustration and imploring his team to show effort. It would not change the outcome, as the College eventually fell by 20 points.

Rowley, in his second game back from injury, posted 12 points to top the Tribe, while Knight had eight, plus nine rebounds and five assists. Milon also added 11 for the College.

The Tribe returned to Kaplan Arena Saturday afternoon for a game against in-state rival George Mason (4-5). The College had dropped back to three games under .500 after its midweek setback. The Patriots were able to hang on for an 87-84 win after Knight’s lastsecond shot bounced harmlessly off the rim.

The Patriots jumped out to a quick five-point lead, 10-5, after a fast-paced start to the game. However, the Tribe answered back, setting the tone for a close back-and-forth game. The College was able to surge ahead 14-10 at the 13:59 mark on the strength of a 9-0 scoring run. Pierce was key on this run with five of the nine points for the Tribe. The Tribe was plagued by foul trouble for two of its starters. Knight only played 23 minutes, and fellow starter and freshman guard LJ Owens picked up three fouls midway through the first half and went scoreless in 17 minutes of action. The Patriots’ last lead of the first half came just before the 10:00e mark at 18-17. The Tribe was able to maintain the lead after Knight put the College up 19-18 with 10:15 remaining, but the Patriots trimmed the deficit to 42-36 heading to the locker room.

Rowley came out strong for the College in the second half, scoring his team’s first five points of the half. Guard Justin Kier gave the Patriots the lead briefly, 53-52, but the College quickly made its way

back on top. Midway through the second half, the Patriots clawed into the lead once again and held the lead for most of the last 10 minutes.

With less than five minutes remaining, Audige drained a three from the corner to bring the College back within one, as the Patriots were threatening to take a comfortable lead. The Tribe was unable to ever take the lead back. A key three from Scott once again brought the deficit to one, 85-84, with under 40 seconds to play. At the other end, the Tribe’s defense could not get a stop, and Rowley was forced to take a tough three to try and tie the game in the waning seconds. His shot missed, but Audige got the rebound and went to the line. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, and this time Knight came up with the offensive rebound.

He raced to the corner as time expired and launched a three pointer, but it bounced off the rim, preserving an 87-84 win for the Patriots.

The Patriots were led by a balanced attack, with five players in double figures. Guard Otis Livingston II had a team-high 18 points plus 10 assists. The College was led by Knight’s 22 points in limited minutes. Audige, last week’s CAA Rookie of the Week, also had a strong effort with 16 points on just seven shots. The Tribe will take on Old Dominion Wednesday before traveling to Hampton Saturday.

sports

Sports Editor Brendan Doyle Sports Editor Julia Stumbaugh flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat

| December 4, 2018 | Page 10

Breaking ground, making history

Director of Athletics: New Field Hockey Center ‘a physical manifestation of the strength and excellence of Tribe women athletes’ SARAH SMITH // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

An artist’s rendering of the completed field hockey center, which will feature public restrooms, women-only locker rooms and other facilities for College athletes. Construction of the new facility is projected to be completed by summer 2019.

When Tribe field hockey head coach Tess Ellis first came to William and Mary in 1992, she said she remembers dragging old sticks from the now-demolished equipment shed on Barksdale Field back for use. Her office is filled with photos – and even more have been moved to the archives – depicting the rich history of the team.

This semester, through Century Project donations, the team once again is making history.

As part of the commemoration of 100 years of coeducation and 100 years of women’s athletics, a team of donors contributed $2.4 million to establish new facilities at Busch Field. This fundraising project, titled the Century Project, was designed to enhance the experience for women athletes and the caliber of the university’s facilities. Now, following a vote by the Board of Visitors, the facilities will be named the Tribe Field Hockey Center, featuring public restrooms, women-only locker rooms, and other athletic facilities.

For Cathy Bessant, mother of Meredith Clay ’18 and Bank of America chief of operations and technology, there were several clear reasons that led her to give back to the team. One of these reasons is that to her, student athletics is a way to foster personal and professional skills. As she puts it, athletics develops “whole life” skills that benefit all aspects of life.

“I’m a big believer in athletics,” Bessant said. “I think that athletics teach resilience, they teach team effort, they teach the importance of preparation. If I see two resumes that look identical and one person’s an athlete, whether they are number one on the team or the last person on the bench, I want to interview the athlete first. It also teaches how to balance complex demands on your time.”

Additionally, Bessant said that after her first time in Williamsburg cheering on her daughter, she saw the need to support both women’s athletics in general and the field hockey team.

“I think physical facilities really matter,” Bessant said. “Having a place to prepare, having a place to come together, is important to athletes and team performance. The quality of facilities impact performance. ... When the facilities aren’t competitive, it’s hard to do recruiting that is competitive.”

Ellis echoed this sentiment. She said that today’s world is materialistic, and that the new field hockey facility will put William and Mary’s team with the ranks of the University of North Caroline and the University of Michigan – showcasing what she sees as the growing talent of the team.

“We can now say we have this beautiful complex; don’t you want to be a part of this?” Ellis said.

For Bessant, who is one of the lead donors of the Century Project, her financial contribution was also intended to encourage others to donate.

She said she believes that athletics acts as a community unifier, and that if William and Mary can provide a stronger athletic experience through building new facilities, it will strengthen the unity created on the field.

“Age, income, gender, race, none of that matters when you’re cheering for your team,” Bessant said. “I do think it has societal benefit in uniting communities and uniting people. I also think that athletics make for really vibrant communities. It is a lot of

“

What I wanted to do with our lead gift here is motivate and encourage the university to work on athletic equity.

— CATHY BESSANT, LEAD DONOR fun and very attractive and very magnetic to have a rich athletics community.”

Other lead donors include John Clay, the father of Meredith Clay ’18, Kelly and Chris Donahue, Maryellen Farmer Feeley ’85, Ed Feeley M.B.A. ’85, Tracy Leinbach ’81 and former women’s athletics director Millie West.

“What we’re doing on the field is being matched off the field by the donors,” Ellis said. “We’ve stayed competitive, that’s allowed donors to take pride in that.”

Beyond recognizing the success of the field hockey team, who

went to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament this year for the third time since 2000, the construction of the new facilities is also a move to celebrate equity in women’s athletics. The team, along with Ellis, has been recognized by both the Ladies of Alpha and the Seven Society, for their strength as a women’s team.

“We are thrilled to honor a century of women at William & Mary with the groundbreaking of the Tribe Field Hockey Center, generously funded by donors to the Century Project,” director of athletics Samantha Huge said in a press statement. “This facility is a physical manifestation of the strength and excellence of Tribe women athletes through the years and I am proud that the Tribe Field Hockey Center will serve our student-athletes for generations to come while recognizing the enormous contributions of women to William & Mary.”

Bessant also said that throughout her years as a field hockey parent, she’s noticed that women’s sports get less attention from donors and from the audience. She said that moving forward, her gift, which she hopes will inspire others, will lead to a more equitable situation.

“Women’s sports have typically gotten far less resources than some of the men’s sports,” Bessant said. “This field hockey facility is $2.4 million, I think the school just paid over $20 million to renovate the football field. I know this is an ongoing question, the real fact of it is, there is a real question of equity in the support of women’s athletics. I get that women’s athletics don’t bring in the big money.

That said, an institution with the academic and social integrity of William and Mary, I expect to be a leader in gender equity. Part of what I wanted to do with our lead gift here is motivate and encourage the university to work on athletic equity.”

Senior midfielder Jenna Cutilli said that she appreciates this support for field hockey, and that it will raise the team to the likes of top 20 schools.

“I think it was pretty cool,” Cutilli said. “You’ll go to top 20 schools like UNC and Michigan, they have their own buildings. It’s nice to see them put money and effort into our sport. It gives us the leg up that UNC and Michigan have. … Our coach wants us to be wowed that we have our own building, but also remind us that we are a family … who the parts of the building are dedicated to shows that sense of family.”

Project by numbers

$1.4 $2.4 3

Dollar amount, in millions, raised by original four donors to inspire fundraising project

Dollar amount, in millions, of total private donations to fund the center

“

NCAA tournament berths for Tribe field hockey since 2000 season

2nd 2016 2019

2018 Tribe Field Hockey ranking in Colonial Athletic Association

Year the initial donation was made and plans for construction began

Estimated first season that the center will be completed and in use

What we’re doing on the field is being matched off the field by the donors. We’ve stayed competitive, that’s allowed donors to take pride in that.

— Field hockey head coach Tess Ellis

COURTESY PHOTO / SKIP ROWLAND

Donors, along with Tribe Athletics facilitators, including Director of Athletics Samatha Huge and College President Katherine Rowe, pose at official groundbreaking for the Tribe Field Hockey Center in October 2018, during the College’s 100 Years of Women campaign to honor its coeducation.