The Flat Hat February 11 2020

Vol. 109, Iss. 24 | Tuesday, February 11, 2020

The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

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HOUSING

Students struggle with Jefferson flood issues Facility difficulties lead to insurance claims, frustration ETHAN BROWN FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

The evening of Saturday, Feb. 1, Mazie Doss’s ’22 roommate walked out of her first-floor room in Jefferson Hall for a quick drink of water from the hall’s drinking fountain. After opening her door, she realized that water was closer than she thought, as liquid two inches deep seeped in from the hallway and surrounded her ankles.

Jefferson’s flooding last week prompted the evacuation of students in basement rooms and in some first-floor rooms. Doss, one of the few students on the first floor who was not relocated, said that fans and renovation equipment were brought into the building soon after the flooding.

Additionally, Doss said that the College of William and Mary contracted RME Events, an external security provider, to monitor Jefferson throughout the recovery process.

According to Doss, the staffers were contracted to ensure that no one entered Jefferson illicitly to steal property from the abandoned rooms in the basement and on the first floor. Doss said staffers did not appear to have a consistent protocol for identifying Jefferson residents, meaning that she had to frequently justify her behavior to them while continuing to reside in Jefferson.

Eventually, one event staffer was stationed just outside Doss’s door.

“At one point, there was one stationed directly outside my door that I had to talk to every time I wanted to enter and exit, including when I was going to shower or going to the bathroom,” Doss said. “It didn’t matter when, they were always there.”

Doss said she was startled by the security personnel’s presence in Jefferson.

“The first day they were there, I did not know, so I came into my door and was trying to change clothes, and then I heard really loud banging so I put my clothes back on, opened the door and there was an events person asking me ‘what’s my name’”, Doss said. “… It was kind of alarming.”

While Doss was grateful for not having to relocate last week, she said she was disappointed in the College’s efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy for individuals left on Jefferson’s first floor. As recovery equipment was left in front of her door, Doss felt that her continued residence in Jefferson felt like an oversight, and that the College had essentially forgotten that a few students were still actively living on the first floor.

“I really feel like because I wasn’t evacuated, I See FLOOD page 4

STUDENT ATHLETE ARRESTED, RELEASED ON BAIL Kicker for the Tribe Football team George Eberle ‘22 was arrested this past weekend, as confirmed by representatives of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.

According to Williamsburg police spokesman John Heilman, Eberle was arrested Feb. 8 following a 2:45 a.m. call from the 200 block of Matoaka Court.

Eberle was arrested on suspicion of felony breaking and entering and misdeamenor sexual battery.

Heilman said there were no reported injuries or damages at the time of the arrest, and that the initial investigation stated that Eberle went into another student’s home without her permission and alledgedly sexually assaulted her. The two did not know each other.

Representatives from the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail also confirmed Eberle’s release on a $10,000 bond Monday, Feb. 10.

College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet said that the College knows of the arrest and is complying with the requisite authorities.

“The university is aware of the student arrest and we have been cooperating with the appropriate authorities,” Clavet said in an email. “In accordance with federal privacy laws and university policy, we do not comment on student disciplinary matters.”

- Flat Hat Managing Editor Ethan Brown and Flat Hat News Editor Leslie Davis

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Gates’s visit met with activist resistance

College students protest outside Charter Day talk EMMA FORD // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

As students and members of the Williamsburg community lined up to attend a talk titled “Crucibles of Leadership: U.S. Foreign Policy Past, Present and Future” the evening of Thursday, Feb. 6, a group of students assembled in the Sadler Center to protest College of William and Mary Chancellor Robert Gates ’65, L.H.D. ’98. The protesters opposed Gates for his role during the conflicts in the Middle East and in Latin America while acting as CIA Director and as U.S. Secretary of Defense under former Presidents George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama. Gates, who was also on campus for Feb. 7’s Charter Day festivities, spoke at the talk along with Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

Not affiliated with any student organizations, the students spoke out about Gates’s part in the Iraq War. Some students referred to Gates as a war criminal and handed out flyers to individuals in line that started “Robert Gates has Blood on his Hands.”

The flyers listed out war crime charges against Gates that included “prosecuting a war of aggression,” “bombing civilian populations” and “directed illegal kidnapping and torture.”

Sidney Miralao ’22 said that the students wanted to protest the event to engage with other students who attended the talk and to make them aware of Gates’s history. Miralao said they also wanted to make the statement that they did not see Gates as fit to discuss foreign policy to college-aged students.

“Some students don’t even know who he is,” Miralao said. “Bottom line, we wanted students to know that he has been involved in a lot of terrible things this country has done and that’s all you need to know and you should recognize that as you’re going to see him speak, especially about something about leadership, right, and foreign policy. You need to understand his background and what his beliefs really are about that.”

Miralao added that plans to protest began Feb. 3 and that their shared goal was to hold a lowrisk protest to get the message out there without providing any justification for the College with a reason to hold them in violation of conduct.

“The intention was always to disrupt it in a way that was low-risk for us because there has been occurrences in the past where the administration has taken action against students who have taken it

further than that,” Miralao said. “And so our intention was never to go into the venue or sort of speak at him directly or anything. It was always a targeting of the people going and the audience and making sure they were aware of who Robert Gates is, what he’s done and how we feel about him. And you know, having them understand that he is our chancellor, they are giving him this platform even though he’s done all of these other things that are not so great. That was always our intention to target the audience that was going, specifically students making them understand that this man is your chancellor. You have power to go or not go and this is why you shouldn’t.”

Kelsey Wright ’22 explained that the protest came together quickly with a variety of different students who had different ideas over what the protest would look like. However, she said that each student agreed that the protest should be compliant with university policy as the students did not want to receive any backlash from the College’s administration.

At the event, students who were protesting yelled “Hey, ho, Robert Gates has got to go,” repeated the word “shame” and “W and M: war and murder” to communicate their message, along with statements made by some of the protestors and flyers and signs.

“There was little engagement of the people in line with us,” Wright said in an email. “Some older community members harassed us, but some students who were just passing joined us and staff members gestured in solidarity which was inspiring.”

Although the protest was not led by any student organization, W&M Students United posted the protest on their Facebook page via livestream. The organization also made a post a day later Feb. 7, which stated that protesters were harassed either by the College’s administration or by individuals as the administration did not do anything to remedy the situation.

“Even though all of the administration’s instructions were complied with and no rules broken, students were filmed without consent and harassed, either by the administration itself or by some outsiders as the administration watched on,” the Facebook post said. “One man who refused to identify himself even went so far as to follow students out (after we were asked not to disrupt and chose to leave as soon as the event started while

Kaplan renovations bolster athletic image

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

Rain, High 66, Low 44

chanting) a n d aggressively push against students with his phone in hand in order to film their faces. It was grossly inappropriate and made students who were there peacefully feel unsafe and violated. This person also made snarky and targeted comments at students.”

In the same post, W&M Students United asked that the administration work with them or to identify the man and hold him accountable for his actions.

“That a compliant protest was treated this way indicates that it really is not about the rules or respect for the administration,” the Facebook post said. “They will propagate fascism at every opportunity. Administrators claim to want to protect the rights of students. Even though there is nothing that warrants faith in this sentiment, we still extend a hand to the administration and even the police and say that they can take a step toward making things right and responding to the injustice by identifying the unknown man and holding him accountable.”

In response to the protest, the College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet said that students are welcome to protest as long as they remain respectful. She did not comment on the post made

by W&M Students United.

“The university encourages all forms of peaceful expression, which is everyone’s right under the First Amendment,” Clavet said in an email. “We have an engaged student body that often expresses their views about a number of issues on and off campus.

What cannot occur is the disruption of events or the regular course of business. When Thursday’s protest outside the auditorium became a disruption, the individuals demonstrating were told they could not disrupt the event and if they wanted to continue they would need to relocate. The group relocated.”

Miralao explained that throughout the protest there was high security, but they were never engaged See GATES page 4

Inside Sports

Inside Opinions

Index Profile News Opinions Variety

Sports

GRAPHIC BY CHARLES COLEMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Carine Pacheco ‘23 says that improved athletic facilities will enhance the overall prestige of the College. page 5

Tribe wins third straight at UNCW The Women’s basketball team won their 10th road game to move into third place in the Colonial Athletic Association. page 9

newsinsight “

News Editor Charles Coleman News Editor Leslie Davis News Editor Emma Ford fhnews@gmail.com

“

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

William & Mary is the touchstone where I return again and again when I need to be refreshed and prepared for the next challenge. William & Mary helped launch my career in public service by pushing me out of my comfort zone to encounter different people and new ideas.

— Alumna Susan Magill ’72

THIS WEEK IN FLAT HAT HISTORY February 11, 1941 ­— News Student Assembly passes a by-law revision prohibiting students from taking and leaving Coca-Cola bottles in the reserve and reading rooms of The College of William and Mary’s Earl Gregg Swem Library. Other by-laws passed by SA included a provision requiring head cheerleader to be a male student and the amendment of final grade announcements to be made via post card as opposed to being posted outside of individual classrooms.

February 13, 1971 — News The College of William and Mary unveils plans to build an art museum on campus to house its art collection, valued at $3 million.

Plans for the museum came into fruition after Joseph E. Muscarelle ’27 pledged a $600,000 donation to the cause.

February 11, 2005 — News In the ‘Best of’ Issue of The Flat Hat, the work done to Stem Library was ranked the “Best Renovation” on campus. After the renovation, students felt as though the new and improved library was more comfortable and convenient for studying, and some of the highlights included wireless internet, more public computers and more desks and tables.

February 16, 2009 ­— Sports Tribe swimmers swam strongly at the CAA championships. The men’s team had 19 personal best times and four William and Mary records. The women had 13 personal best times and six William and Mary records.

HISTORY BY KARINA VIZZONI AND SARAH GREENBERG / FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITORS

A THOUSAND WORDS

CARMEN HONKER / THE FLAT HAT

CORRECTIONS 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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COURTESY PHOTOS / JACK MORRIS

Morris is a math major, a1693 Scholar and a member of the International Relations Club, who wants to go into the field of operations research.

Finding fulfillment through math Jack Morris ’20 researches self-driving cars in ride hailing app for math honors thesis KARINA VIZZONI // FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jack Morris, a Richmond native, has spent four years in Williamsburg as a devoted mathematics major and computer science minor. Before he joins the rest of the senior class at commencement this May, Morris will cap off a successful college career as a 1693 Scholar, a member of International Relations Club, a Secretariat official at the College of William and Mary’s high school Model United Nations conference and an organizer at a local math competition. Outside of formal extracurricular activities, he also enjoys playing bass guitar in groups with friends and is currently learning how to play the banjo for the Appalachian Music Ensemble.

In the classroom, Morris has explored his academic passions through an honors thesis.

Beginning last summer, Morris has been working on an honors project, and is still actively researching his topic of ride hailing in cities.

“I’m working on an honors thesis,” Morris said. “… It let me choose my own research topic, instead of tagging on with a professor’s team and just doing their work. I get to formulate my own project and my own ideas which has been great.”

Morris’s project is on ride hailing, like Uber or Lyft, except that his research utilizes selfdriving cars. This makes it unique from most ride hailing corporations.

“I’m trying to figure out how you can best make decisions, and mostly that’s how to pair drivers to riders the best you can to minimize pick up times, to maximize profits, to get a good customer experience, and in general to improve mobility in urban areas,” Morris said. “So I designed some simulations over the summer and just coded away everyday, and honestly just had a great time.

It was very my own, and I felt very invested in it and very productive.”

Morris explained that the flaws of other ride hailing systems relate to their prioritization of minimized pickup times in a certain instant.

Morris said that this trend can create issues in the long r u n , as they fail to navigate d r i v e r s towards the areas where ride hailing systems predict there will be many future pickups.

“I use a particular sort of

machine learning called reinforcement learning to get some centralized agent to learn the value of a car being in a particular space and time, and then it makes decisions based on that so it’s more forward looking,” Morris said. “My system is trying to maximize profits, but my system is actually lowering pick up times, which I think is pretty neat,” Morris highlighted the significance of undergraduate research in any field that students are fascinated by, even if their passions do not fall under categories associated with traditional research.

“I think that research is really valuable in the sense that you can take a project that you care about and really invest yourself in it and make change by your own individual efforts,” Morris said. “I think that’s an important thing for a person to do, and I think that it’s just you taking a thing, investing, and seeing your efforts make something possible, I think that’s what’s valuable.”

With regards to being one of the few 1693 Scholars on campus, Morris looks back on his time at the College fondly. He said he was extremely grateful to receive t h a t h o n o r, and he enjoyed being part of the community made up of these scholars.

“It’s a

wonderful space, everyone in the program is super kind and super friendly,” Morris said. “I could count all of them as my friends. I think a lot of us struggle with saying that we deserve something so good in our lives, because I know we all don’t think so. It’s honestly just wonderful.”

Upon visiting campus as a prospective student, Morris felt that the College was a perfect fit. He felt as though the students and faculty at the College were kinder and more considerate than he expected.

“People seemed to care about the right things,” Morris said. “People prioritized the right goals, at least in terms of my goals.

They aligned well with me. I remember I was going to play ultimate frisbee with some people at the Day for Admitted Students and I was running late. I ran there and saw ultimate Frisbee going on and I hopped into the game, I caught a disc. I didn’t recognize anyone there because I had jumped into the wrong game with actual students and not prospective students, but they were like ‘Oh, you can join, it’s cool!’”

Beyond involvements on campus, Morris enjoys going on runs and walks through Colonial Williamsburg, as well as visiting Duke of Gloucester Street’s seasonal farmer’s markets. Morris is also an annual contender in the Williamsburg Adventure Race.

“We’ve done really well in the past few years,” Morris said. “We won this past year, and we beat President Rowe, who was on a team with the City Manager, I believe, so I felt pretty good.”

Morris is also an active participant in a local mathematics contest, where Morris applies tactics involved in his major to solve open- ended, real- life problems.

“Last year I solved a problem regarding the Louvre,” Morris said. “How do we figure out how to evacuate the Louvre as quickly and safely as possible?.”

In the future, Morris is interested in continuing in the field of operations research, which is his specific focus within his math major.

“In particular I study operations research, which is a field of study that essentially tries to use math tools to make decisions that are ‘optimal’,’ and I enjoy doing it,” Morris said. “I’m trying to find a way to apply the same skills into something that I really believe in, that could be in transportation like it is in my research, it could be in agriculture, or health, or energy, or really just about anything because those skills apply really just about anywhere.”

Ultimately, Morris feels as though the College was the ideal place for him to be for the past four years.

“I like the people here a lot, and I love the campus, it’s gorgeous and green,” Morris said.

“It just felt like the right fit when I was here.”

Page 3

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

CONSTRUCTION

College announces $57 million Kaplan renovation Construction begins fall 2020, athletic facility will remain open to students

MARY TRIMBLE FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

Saturday, Feb. 1, during halftime of the men's basketball game between the College of William and Mary and Hofstra University, College President Katherine Rowe and Director of Athletics Samantha Huge announced upcoming renovations to Kaplan Arena carrying an estimated price tag of $57 million.

Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2020, with renovations expected to be completed by October 2022. The community has been assured that the arena will remain open during the construction, and that the upcoming seasons — including volleyball, basketball and gymnastics — will not be affected by the work. However, the volleyball team’s training has already been moved to an off-campus facility.

The arena, which first opened in 1971, will be redesigned as part of the Athletics Department's “Strategic Plan for 2025,” a project instigated by Huge at the beginning of her tenure as director of athletics in 2017.

The published Strategic Plan laid out the projections for the estimated $57 million project and states that the goals of the project are unapologetically bold.

“Over half of the department’s annual budget comes from student fees,” the Strategic Plan said. “There is a strong consensus across the university to limit and, if possible, avoid any further increases in such fees.”

The Kaplan revitalization project will be funded largely through philanthropy and private donors. According to an overview of the project published on the College’s website by members of the Athletics Department, approximately $41 million has already been committed to date through philanthropy and other sources.

The majority of funds, which have already been donated, originates from Katie Garrett Boehly ’95 and Todd Boehly ’96, as well as Jennifer

Tepper Mackesy ’91 and D. Scott Mackesy ’91. The College will continue to seek funds for the project as part of the “For the Bold” Campaign, which concludes June 2020.

“When my husband Scott (also a College student athlete), and I were approached, we saw this as an opportunity to participate in something transformational,” Jennifer Mackesy said in an email. “We were excited to join Todd & Katie Boehly in their visionary support of the project.”

The College has advertised naming and branding opportunities to encourage private investment. Areas like the Student Section Lounge, the Ticket Office and Academic Area can be renamed for a gift of $1 million.

For gifts of $250,000 each, the men and women’s basketball locker rooms and volleyball locker room could be adorned with the donor’s name.

Among the stated goals of the renovation are the improvement of facilities to enhance the experience of student-athletes, students and fans.

“By 2025, we will create game-day experiences for students and fans that reflect Tribe pride and upgrade facilities to allow our student-athletes to fully meet their potential and to provide a world-class game experience for fans,” the Strategic Plan said.

To that end, the renovation of Kaplan was identified as a number one priority, as the space serves as the home of Tribe Athletics. The designs for the arena include a revamped student section located at what is currently the open end of the basketball court. Also included in the new student section is an exclusive student lounge for use during games and during the week.

“The changes to the stadium design, including the student-only fan section and the additional spaces beyond the court area will dramatically improve the student experience, and not just during games,” Mackesy said in an email. “I envision this becoming a hub of activity for all students, and I look forward to coming back in the Fall of 2022 to see it first hand.”

The addition of a 36,000 square-foot “Sports Performance Center” will

include a new sports medicine space and full-sized practice courts for the basketball and volleyball teams.

“The renovated facilities will provide us with a better practice environment, which is very important,” basketball player Rainers Hermanovskis ’23 said. “We will be able to practice more efficiently as we will be able to practice in our own facility. It is also nice that future student athletes will be able to use these modern facilities to improve their performance.”

Tribe Athletics also pointed to improved sports recruiting associated with the project, stating in an overview of the project published online that the improved facilities will help attract superior athletes.

“I think it’s not the deciding factor,” Hermanovskis said. “But new and modern facilities for sure can help recruit athletes. It is important for recruits to see that William and Mary has a good environment where they will be able to flourish.”

Central to the project is the concept of athletics as a key part of any experience at the College.

“The complex will stand as a symbol of excellence,” Rowe said in the Strategic Plan. “It highlights the university’s commitment to athletics as an integral part of the learning experience. Kaplan Arena is a crossroads for campus and community. This renovation will help grow the sense of community in and around our campus and strengthen our national reputation.”

While the renovation plans may contribute to the success of oncampus athletics, some students prioritize the academics and people in Williamsburg over any particular infrastructure.

“I think it depends on the person,” Hermanovskis said. “But I did not care about facilities that much. The basketball staff and great academics at William and Mary were the factors that made me want to sign here.”

CAMPUS

College celebrates Charter Day, honors alumna Coleman The College hosts 327th anniversary festivities, bestows honorary doctorate ALEXANDRA BYRNE FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

Friday, Feb. 7, the College of William and Mary celebrated the 327th anniversary of its founding by British monarchs William III and Mary II. The Charter Day ceremony — the capstone of the celebratory weekend — took place in Kaplan Arena.

Presiding over the ceremony, College President Katherine Rowe honored many notable alumni and welcomed new members into the College’s community through the bestowment of honorary degrees. This was Rowe’s second ceremony since being formally inaugurated as the 28th president during last year’s Charter Day. College Chancellor Robert Gates '65, L.H.D. '98 welcomed students, staff, faculty and members of the Williamsburg community in simple terms.

“To one and all — welcome to the birthday party,” Gates said.

Gates offered remarks emphasizing the relevance and importance of the College in today’s political climate.

“At this institution so instrumental in refining the ideals undergirding the nation’s founding, we take pride in the abiding lessons of William and Mary for our own time and for all times coming,” Gates said. “We engage in diverse perspectives and seek wisdom and progress

in bridging differences. Too often in America today, we seek reinforcement of our views rather than the enlightenment of respectful dialogue and debate.

327 years ago, America needed William and Mary before there was a United States. The need is just as great today, and perhaps greater.”

Each year, the College presents honorary doctorates to individuals who overwhelmingly embody the values of leadership, service and dedication. This year’s honorees included Christy Coleman, the first woman of color to hold the position of executive director of the JamestownYorktown Foundation.

This is only her most recent accomplishment in a storied career in museums and cultural institutions across the country. Coleman was a student at the College for two years before transferring to Hampton University. She received her honorary degree to a standing ovation from the audience.

“For those of you who may not know, part of the reason I am so emotional is because I never thought I would ever gain a degree from William and Mary,” Coleman said. “Out of 1,300 students, 46 of us were people of color — and it was a struggle. For the two years I was here, it helped shape who I am, and for that, I am eternally grateful. The greatest lesson I can share with you is that sometimes the path you think

you are on that gets you to that goal isn’t the one you belong on, but you’ll still make the goal.”

Joining Coleman was Susan Magill ’72, an esteemed alumna of the College who navigated a successful career in Washington, D.C. and maintained close ties with the College throughout her time in the workforce. She has held numerous positions within the College’s administration, including rector.

“William and Mary is the touchstone where I return again and again when I need to be refreshed and prepared for the next challenge,” Magill said.

“William and Mary helped launch my career in public service by pushing me out of my comfort zone to encounter different people and new ideas.”

The last of the honorees was Thomas Shannon ’80, former Acting Secretary of State under President Donald Trump and a career ambassador for the United States Foreign Service.

“This is not an honor that I won by myself and it is not an honor I can claim for myself,” Shannon said. “I owe so much to those who taught me the importance of listening, of understanding and of trying to find ways to bridge divides.”

The ceremony continued with a reading of the Charter by eight students. Tanner Braman ’20 provided reflections following the readings. He

began with an anecdote in which King William — then William of Orange — arrived in England and declared that he was here for goods, instead of for the intended greater good of his community.

“Each of us must ask ourselves if we are here for the goods or for the greater good,” Braman said.

Rowe then concluded the day’s remarks by mentioning the goals set out in the College’s Strategic Plan. Just as Braman connected the College’s past to its present and future, Rowe focused on using institutional history to inform the College’s future.

Student groups were also represented in the ceremony. Griffin Bhangra performed, followed by a singing of “Happy Birthday” by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. The Choir led the singing of the Alma Mater before the William and Mary Pep Band called the crowd to the Charter Day Festival in Commons Dining Hall.

Hannah Bloom '23 reflected on the ceremony as a part of the Choir.

“It’s fun being able to sing with your really close friends that you’re surrounded by,” Bloom said.

“Obviously it’s a big day — it’s William and Mary’s birthday. As of right now, it’s not wildly sentimental just because it’s my first one, but I definitely enjoyed it and it is fun to be a part of such an old university.”

Students protest Charter Day discussion hosting Chancellor Gates

Sen. Tim Kaine discusses impeachment trial, his war power resolution aimed at limiting executive power GATES from page 1

by the police. She added that an administrator informed them that they were permitted to protest, but asked them to not speak over the event, to which the students decided to leave, making noise as they exited. Miralao said that although she did not notice the individual, some students were uncomfortable by his presence and forceful nature of taking videos of the students without their consent.

Wright also added that a man she believed to not be affiliated with the College made derogatory remarks to students and attempted to get in students’ faces.

“At 8, the time the event was scheduled to start, a person who did not identify himself told us that we were welcome to continue to protest silently, but continued noise would constitute disruption; we decided to leave,” Wright said. “As we were leaving, another person who did not seem to be an official for the university started following students, filming us, laughing at us and seemed to make derogatory remarks to people that I couldn't hear.

Students categorically stated they did not consent, but he continued filming. The administration hasn’t made any attempts to contact anyone about the protest as far as I know.”

During the talk, no mention of the protest was made. College President Katherine Rowe introduced both Gates and Kaine, as well the talk’s host, AidData

Policy Analysis Director Samantha Custer.

Gates opened his talk by stating that the country has moved from a polarized nation to a paralyzed nation. He stated that the greatest challenge facing the country today lies within the United States' capitol building and the White House.

“The truth is if we can’t get passed the current paralysis to tackle some of the big problems facing our country whether its immigration or education, enormous deficits, infrastructure and so on,” Gates said. “There’s really no foreign threat that poses as great a danger to our future mind you. We’ve always been polarized from the very beginning; I like to say … but what has happened particularly since the early ‘90s has been that polarization has moved towards paralysis and if we can’t get passed that paralysis then I think we are in trouble.”

Kaine discussed the role that young people will have in fixing the paralysis of the country. He discussed how it will be a difficult battle to take on but emphasized the importance of communicating with elected officials and asking those officials what they are doing to work with the party on the other end of the aisle.

Both Kaine and Gates went on to discuss how the current issues facing the United States domestically are allowing countries like China to use those issues to their advantage. They both explained that China’s economic ties to the United States complicate geopolitical discussions and make China a different threat then the Soviet Union posed during the Cold War.

Kaine also went on to discuss his War Powers Resolution set to be discussed in Congress this week. The goal of the Resolution is to reaffirm Congress’ power to declare war and to prevent presidents from abusing their powers and conducting armed conflict throughout the world. The resolution seeks to prevent unnecessary war, particularly in the Middle East. For years, Kaine has tried to pass a similar resolution, including when Obama was in office. Currently, the bill hopes to force debate to prevent further escalation in Iran.

“I’ve been a big battler since I’ve came in under the administration of a friend and I’m close friends with President Obama, and I really think he’s a great president,” Kaine said. “But when he tried to do things in the foreign policy or war-making space that I thought, ‘hey, that’s not an executive power that’s a congressional power,’ I very much stood up against him. Not that you’re doing wrong, but because Congress has a role that we should not abdicate. The next big bill we’re going to take up in the Senate is a War Power’s Resolution that is a bipartisan one that basically says that ‘President Trump, you can’t go to war against Iran except to defend the United States against eminent attack. You cannot do that unless you go to Congress.’”

Gates added that a difficulty between preventing presidents from overusing their war making powers lies in Congress’ reluctance to cut off funding for troops in action, as they do not wish to put troop’s

lives at risk.

Custer went on to ask Kaine what he thinks the impeachment trial will mean for U.S. foreign policy moving forward.

“President Trump made that clearl that this hurts our standing in the world, and that’s a point you have to grapple with,” Kaine said. “You also have to grapple with if you don’t challenge bad behavior than it spreads like a virus. You can’t call wrong right.”

Later, Kaine discussed Utah Sen. Mitt Romney’s decision to vote for convicting Trump in his impeachment trial, stating that throughout his year’s working with Romney one thing he has found consistent about the Senator is that he does not like to acquit wrong.

Kaine also added that although the impeachment trial affects public opinion of the United States around the world, the democratic trial of an impeachment is something that many citizens in other countries must fight to have.

“It’s interesting when you’ve got street protesters in Hong Kong, who are pleading for a rule of law, people around the world for all our flaws they still see us doing some things and think we wish we were more like that,” Kaine said. “We still are a real example even in our own challenges and dysfunction, we are still an example to the young people protesting in Iran, the young people protesting in Iraq and the young people protesting in Hong Kong. They are asking for something that

we take for granted, that we have and they are motivated by things that we have.”

Cluster asked Kaine what his experience was like running for the vice presidency with then presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Kaine explained that he learned three things from his time on the campaign trail, particularly an issue pertaining to the treatment of women.

“A painful one was that I know that women are not treated the same as men,” Kaine said. “I’m not a woman, but I have observed this in my life. But that was the sharpest experience of watching what I consider just vicious misogyny.

Hilary Clinton is not a perfect person, not a perfect candidate, but the double standard applied to her in so many different ways was very painful to see and to be up close and personal and hearing the kind of things that were being said about her that weren’t being said, and the different standard that her foibles were being held to her opponents foibles.”

Gates ended the talk by describing the type of president that the United States needs in the future.

“We need somebody, and both parties I think are practicing division, and what we need is somebody who say, you know we’re all in this together,’” Gates said.

“Either we all make it or none of us are going to make it. And we have to come together, and we have a lot of differences, but we figured it out before and we can figure it out again. I will be president of all the people.”

Page 4

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, Februrary 11, 2020

SPEAKER

Data scientists call for greater representation Klein emphasizes feminism in STEM as essential in overturning power imbalances ETHAN BROWN FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

Thursday, Feb. 6, students at the College of William and Mary gathered in the Integrated Science Center for a talk by Emory University professor Laura Klein, a scholar specializing in the intersection between identity and analytical data science.

Klein was introduced by College professor and gender, sexuality and women’s studies program director Elizabeth Losh, who emphasized Klein’s role in explaining the implications data science holds for women and racial minorities. She then detailed Klein’s current research endeavors.

“She is currently at work on two major projects: data by design, which offers an interactive history of data visualization from the 18th century to the present and vectors of freedom, which explores how quantitative methods can help to identify new actors and new pathways of influence in the archive of the Abolitionist Movement of 19th century United States,” Losh said.

Klein began her talk by providing a brief overview of her new book “Data Feminism.” Her book, which has been open for peer review since November 2018, seeks to integrate feminist perspectives into data science. Klein detailed that human, environmental and moral costs are often ignored throughout the data collection and analysis process, making data science remarkably similar to another extractive industry.

“In today’s world, data is power,” Klein said. “... Data is the new oil.”

According to Klein, ordinary individuals have become disempowered and overburdened by big data. Contemporary data science has developed along the same structural fault lines as other modern institutions, where certain groups are disproportionately likely to suffer from power imbalances and a lack of representation in the field.

“These power imbalances are nothing new … for women, for black people, for queer people, for trans people, immigrants, all

sorts of marginalized groups … it’s just the same old oppression,” Klein said. “... Data science needs feminism, and intersectional feminism in particular, if we are to ever have hope of overturning these power imbalances.”

In working with her co-author Catherine D’Ignazio, both women brainstormed the ways in which intersectional feminism could be best integrated into data science and gauged which principles were most important to include in their work. Their primary goal was to craft a feminist framework that could be used for data scientists, in order to make sure that women’s perspectives were actively considered by scholars in the field. The authors were less interested in the reciprocal relationship, feeling limited incentives to incorporate data science principles into feminism and focusing on the former relationship instead.

Klein then transitioned into explaining data science’s current failures by detailing two news stories from the previous year. One described an effort by Amazon to craft a machine-learning technology capable of screening job applications and eliminating applicants who were not selected to proceed to the interview stage. According to Klein, since the technology’s development was dependent on reviewing the profiles of existing Amazon employees — who are disproportionately white and male — the system was biased against women and minorities.

“The system identified features that would be grounds to rank someone lower in the applicant pool,” Klein said. “... For instance, having gone to a women’s college, because very few Amazon employees were women and therefore had not have gone to a women’s college.”

According to Klein, the characteristics that the system prioritized were indicative of systemic bias, both in gender and socioeconomic status. “... When they identified the features that did highly correlate with a successful screening score, it was being named Jared and playing high school lacrosse,” Klein said.

Klein also referenced facial recognition technology as a problematic

usage of data science, given its tendency to only recognize white people. Since these facial recognition technologies emerged from predominantly white and male research teams, their successful usage is limited to a narrow demographic of the global population.

She then illustrated the importance of context in understanding data by describing research conducted by D’Ignazio’s former students, who were interested in visualizing discrepancies in sexual assault reporting at two New England universities. Klein said that her colleague’s students uncovered an unexpectedly high frequency of sexual assault reports at Williams College, a small liberal arts institution in rural Massachusetts, while reporting surprisingly low report rates from students at Boston University, an urban campus in downtown Boston.

Klein said this discovery demonstrated context’s vitality in data science.

“Then they stopped to think about it some more, and they realized there were reasons why Williams College essentially had a higher number of reported instances of sexual assault and BU didn’t, and it all had to do with the context around the data collection,” Klein said.

Since students at Boston University were disincentivized to report sexual assault due to various mechanisms impending them from reporting sexual assault, the university appeared to have lower assault rates than Williams College — an inference that would be grossly incomplete.

“Not knowing the context surrounding the data can lead to vastly inaccurate and inappropriate conclusions,” Klein said.

Klein’s discussions on data visualization and the roles women and minorities can play in the field drew students of different backgrounds to the talk, including Gujie Shen ’23.

“I was always interested in feminism and I wanted to see how it could be combined with data science,” Shen said. “I wanted to hear what are some of the practical effects of digital humanities projects, and how it can be used, as she mentioned, to mobilize.”

News Editor Leslie Davis ’21 contributed reporting to this article.

CAMPUS

Student groups protest Hindu nationalism, Islamophobia Participants emphasize solidarity with Indian students, denounce Modi government AIDAN WHITE FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, Feb. 5, students at the College of William and Mary gathered on the Sadler Terrace to protest recent actions taken by the Indian government. They stood in solidarity through windy and rainy conditions with similar protests being held across India.

The event was organized by W&M Students United, the Asian American Student Initiative and the South Asian Student Association.

According to the event’s public Facebook page, protesters were specifically targeting three recent acts of legislation passed by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government — namely the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Registry of Citizens and the National Population Register — as well as state-sponsored terror campaigns on Indian college campuses.

Atitya ’20, who chose not to provide their last name for privacy reasons, was one of the members of W&M Students United who joined the protest. Atitya elaborated on how the CAA, NRC and NPR specifically target Muslim citizens of India. Atitya said the new laws are a result of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, and that they place significant barriers to Indian citizenship for Muslim refugees, including Ahmadiyya Muslims fleeing persecution in Pakistan and Rohingya Muslims fleeing Bangladesh and Myanmar.

“Basically, it’s a step towards making India a Hindu state,” Atitya said.

AASI Director Athena Benton ’21 elaborated

upon the protesters’ issues with the Indian government’s policies and illustrated why students had come out to express their dissatisfaction with the legislation.

“The legislation is Islamophobic and gives opportunity to be further interpreted as antiindigenous, anti-poor, and casteist,” Benton said in a written statement.

Atitya also explained the violence occurring on Indian college campuses.

“On Dec. 15 in particular, hundreds of police officers entered two university campuses, primarily Muslim universities, and attacked students,” Attiya said. “They beat students with sticks and tear gassed students in the library.”

Patton Burchett is an assistant professor in the College’s religious studies department whose research focuses on South Asian religions and Hindu-Muslim relations. This semester, he is teaching a course on modern Hinduism, which explores many of the issues that the protesters highlighted. Burchett said that tensions between Hindus and Muslims on the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to the early thirteenth century when Persian culture started mixing with Brahminical culture and brought Islam with it.

From around 1200 CE to 1700 CE, a Hindu religious identity gradually started forming in opposition to the already existing Muslim identity.

“Prior to that, there were Vaishnavas and Shaivas and Shaktas, but they would’ve largely thought of themselves as separate religious groups,” Burchett said. “But over time they see everything they have in common when contrasted

with a Muslim ‘other.’”

Burchett also said that 18th century British colonialism worsened Hindu-Muslim relations on the Indian subcontinent.

“Colonialism had a big part to play in exacerbating the tensions that were already there and making these groups see each other in starkly opposed antagonistic terms,” Burchett said.

He explained that the British enacted multiple policies that pitted Hindus and Muslims against each other, including the introduction of separate Hindu and Muslim electorates, the generation of separate family law systems for each group and the forced identification of Indians to describe themselves as either Muslim or Hindu in the national census.

Burchett said that it was in this context — in 1920s colonial India — that the Hindu nationalism described by Atitya arose. Hindu nationalism spread across the subcontinent and began gaining political power in the 1980s through groups like the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP is the party currently in power in India, and is responsible for passing the CAA, NRC and NPR under Modi’s leadership.

Atitya said that students were also protesting the role of the United States in worsening Islamophobia in India.

“Islamophobia would not be of this degree in the world were it not for America’s propaganda in the world and America’s narrative regarding Muslims,” Atitya said. “The American narrative is strong in India, so these struggles are intimately related.”

Burchett agreed that there are very strong connections between some troubling political and social trends in the United States and India today, and added that he hopes to one day teach a course on the similarities between white nationalism and Hindu nationalism.

“Trumpian white nationalism is very parallel to Modi’s Hindu nationalism,” Burchett said. “There’s so many connections there that I really want to do that at some point.”

The three groups organizing the protest are known for their intersectional social justice activism on campus; W&M Students United organized a campaign against prison labor during the 2018-2019 academic year, which involved a public hunger strike. According to Jehan Narielvala ’21, a member of the SASA, the organization will hold events this semester to raise money for the Indian nonprofit organization Doctors For You. Benton said that the goal of the AASI is to provide a safe space for students to discuss issues pertaining to the Asian-American community.

Ultimately, Attiya said that the most important objective of this protest was to show that students at the College stand in solidarity with those suffering under Modi’s government.

“Students are being attacked in India and so we are here in solidarity with them,” Atitya said.

Narielvala shared a similar sentiment.

“My anti-CAA-NRC-NPR stance represents my solidarity with the Indian university students attacked by the police and the millions of Muslims that have been betrayed by their country,” Narielvala said.

Jefferson Hall flooding prompts evacuation, relocation of students Basement flooding displaces residents for a week, mobilizes dorm renovation, leads to insurance claims FLOOD from page 1

was an oversight,” Doss said. “... It just would have been nice to know what I could expect, and what the timeline was for me … they didn’t come out with that information until Thursday, and they were like, ‘if you live there, just don’t get in the way.’”

A floor below Doss, Ansh Patel ’22 occupied a basement room in Jefferson before he was relocated to Dawson Hall last Monday. He moved across Old Campus from Jefferson to Dawson around 6 p.m. Feb. 3, after receiving an email from the College earlier that afternoon about his impending evacuation. Patel said he was fortunate to be moved to Dawson, since other students were temporarily moved to more distant locations like Richmond Hall and the Ludwell Apartments.

While he was satisfied by the College’s notifications and updates in the days following his temporary move, Patel expressed his frustration that it took over a day for College officials to reach out to Jefferson residents directly following the flood, especially considering students’ varied workloads throughout the semester.

“We didn’t get any formal notification until Monday around two,” Patel said. “... If they had done it maybe a day earlier, then people could have moved out before the week, and they could have adjusted. For me, it wasn’t as bad, since I didn’t have work, but I can only imagine if someone had tests and assignments, moving out of your room is a big time commitment.”

Kathleen Chellman ‘22 echoed Patel’s irritation with the College’s initial delay in contacting Jefferson residents, and said that there were limited options for basement residents immediately after the flooding took place. Chellman said her roommate woke up to the flood and saw their room covered with water, causing them to leave Jefferson and find alternative lodging on their own for the rest of the night.

“We were just told to leave and find somewhere to stay for the night, and we returned on Sunday to the mess,” Chellman said in an email.

Some basement rooms continued to flood throughout the night of Feb. 1, including MacKayla Gilmore ‘22’s room, which suffered water damage extensive enough that it affected her

laptop and other belongings left on the floor. After originally being evacuated to Ludwell, Gilmore requested a transfer to Hardy Hall, where her frustration with the situation led her to craft plans for a permanent move out of Jefferson to another dormitory on campus.

“I know a good chunk of residents are trying to get placed in their temporary locations for the rest of the semester,” Gilmore said in an email. “I am moving into Barrett with a friend and will not be returning to jbase.”

Residence halls aside, Gilmore is especially concerned about the process for repairing her damaged laptop. The College has given clear instructions in emails to Jefferson residents for how students can receive compensation for damaged property through renter’s insurance, which parents often cover for students.

However, Gilmore is not satisfied with the College’s plan given her reluctance to ask her parents for financial assistance.

“I was not very satisfied with how they dealt with damages, because I do not have a close relationship with my parents, so I will likely have to pay for my laptop

damages myself,” Gilmore said.

The degree to which water affected Jefferson basement rooms and damaged property was somewhat dependent on their distance from the bathroom, where a burst toilet — popularized in a “Swampy Memes for Twampy Memes” video post — appeared liable for the flooding.

Suzanne Cole ’22, who was evacuated to Old Dominion Hall, said that her basement room was far away enough from the bathroom that it suffered minimal damage. However, since a small puddle of water made it into her room, she was evacuated and the room’s baseboard as well as a portion of its drywall were removed.

Cole said she was pleased with the College’s handling of the situation.

“Communication with the College was surprisingly very smooth,” Cole said in a written statement. “... I got a lot more information than I expected considering how non-transparent W&M is about construction projects.”

Other Jefferson residents shared Cole’s positive response, saying that the College tried its best to address

flooding-related issues in a timely fashion. Sabrina El Shanti ’22 was not evacuated and stayed in Jefferson.

Despite the hassle, she appreciated College employees’ efforts to make the residence hall fully operational again.

“Everyone has been working very hard since the flooding started,” El Shanti said in an email. “The Area Director and facilities workers were there the night of flooding until around 4 a.m. cleaning up the water, and the next day professionals were on site and have been there every day working from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. They have been working to stay on top of the water damage to prevent mold and any other negative outcomes from happening.”

As of Monday, Feb. 10, College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet said all evacuated students have been returned to Jefferson and that contractors will complete working in the building by the end of the week.

“The work on all of the student rooms in Jefferson is completed,” Clavet said in an email. “The students who were temporarily relocated started moving back in today around noon.

opinions

Opinions Editor Chloe Folmar fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Page 5

GUEST COLUMN

STAFF COLUMN

Building windows jeopardize local avian health, wellbeing

Kaplan Arena renovations bolster national athletic image, improve reputation of College programs

Tara Molloy

FLAT HAT GUEST WRITER

Recently, a fellow member of the College of William and Mary’s Bird Club sent me a link regarding the new Kaplan Arena revitalization project, commenting that “it may be another big bird killer.” Looking at the preliminary design, I unfortunately agree. The plans for this new construction project seem to include many windows, which are often a death sentence for local birds.

Collisions usually occur because birds either try to fly through the glass or, seeing the reflection of foliage or sky, attempt to navigate through it. Over half of these collisions end with the bird losing. As a result, window collisions are one of the primary human-related causes for avian deaths.

Minimizing glasscentric architecture in design is often considered one of the most effective ways to minimize collisions, but style does not have to be disregarded for the sake of sustainability.

Some types of glass are designed with birds in mind and can greatly reduce the probability of these collisions. Ultraviolet patterns on this glass are practically invisible to the human eye but are still seen by birds.

Other solutions can be less visually appealing, but just as effective. A visible film can be placed over windows to fix an issue that becomes considered after construction, as seen on the Muscarelle Museum of Art. As a result, considerate design and glass choice seem to be an obvious solution in the construction of new buildings on campus. However, many Bird Club members remain concerned. Why? Because we are being kept in the dark. There is little to no

information available about the details of these projects. Responses to inquiries only hold dodged questions and unjustified claims that “all of your concerns are being considered” as they have in previous projects.

Is this the same consideration that was applied to the construction of the Integrated Science Center, especially the Sky Bridge, which was one of the most devastating bird killers on campus before the student-led painting project? Is this the same concern given to the design of Muscarelle, the leader of campus bird deaths before that? These are just two examples of construction projects that have had to be fixed by student-led efforts, and these solutions were only available to be applied after observations of repeated collisions.

The College is preaching sustainability but has left students to clean up the negative effects of their seemingly endless construction projects.

The lack of consideration and preemptive caution evident in these projects is cause for concern. To make things worse, any possible issue created by these new construction projects is worsened by a lack of open communication between the College and the community. If the College is choosing sustainable methods for construction, there is no reason to hide it. If not, then the conversation needs to be opened to better discuss these issues. It is time for the College to stop thinking transparency is for the birds.

Email Tara Molloy at trmolloy@email.wm.edu.

The College is preaching sustainability but has left students to clean up the negative effects of their seemingly endless construction projects.

INDEPENDENT GRAPHIC

Lack of winter activities in Williamsburg sparks student dreams, imaginations GRAPHIC BY RIEL WHITTLE / THE FLAT HAT

Carina Pacheco THE FLAT HAT

One of the most surprising and entertaining spectacles in this academic year at the College of William and Mary so far has been the success of the men’s basketball team.

The Tribe rests consistently at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association and has started a buzz around a potential March Madness run.

In an anticipated game, the Tribe fell to Hofstra Saturday, Feb. 1, bringing their record down to 16-8. Athletic Director Samantha Huge and College President Katherine Rowe stepped out onto the court at halftime, accompanied by virtually every freshman and first-year student athlete, to announce plans to holistically renovate Kaplan Arena from large individual donations.

Students can tell you firsthand that the last couple of years have seen an immense push to publicize and aggrandize the College’s athletic programs — or, at least, a few of them. Nevertheless, game attendees seemed slightly taken aback by the timing and scale of such an ambitious project.

The plan depicted an impossibly new-and-improved Kaplan, complete with new stadium seating, training facilities and a complete frontal face-lift.

Honestly, the “Game of Thrones”-esque hype-up video campaign from the recent football season should not be this hard of an act to follow.

There are concerns from students regarding this expensive and extensive renovation. Some question why the fully-functioning and already wellendowed Kaplan Arena should take renovative priority over older dorm rooms, academic buildings and other outdated campus hubs; others query if such vocal, comprehensive and financially-backed support for women’s athletics will ever materialize.

And, functionally, where will the basketball and volleyball teams play until fall 2022? Will there only be away games for the next two seasons? Is the administration getting caught up in early excitement over the Tribe’s new-found fire? Is one decent run a valid enough reason to disrupt the flow of the entire program?

Unfortunately, this is the reality: the College has established itself as a primarily academic school and is consistently ranked as one of the best public universities in the country.

Other schools such as the University of Virginia, the University of Michigan and University of GRAPHIC BY DAVID SOLINSKY / THE FLAT HAT North Carolina, Chapel Hill have comparable academic standards and critical recognition; what separates them from us in the rankings is their athletic prowess. Though these schools are much greater in size, it is impossible to ignore the higher number of applicants such schools receive because of the draw of the athletics — both for those individuals playing sports and watching them. The lack of a substantial, successful athletic program is why the College continues to fall in national rankings.

While improving academic buildings and dorms is important, and arguably much needed, focusing on the bigger picture is essential if we want to maintain a reputation and improve as a higher education institution.

If the College wants to compete academically and athletically with bigger schools who boast greater endowments, the administration is doing the right thing by investing in big, spectator sports — and yes, however frustratingly, men’s sports.

Obviously, this school will not fix itself entirely in the coming few years — and rebuilding an athletic stadium seems to be an insensitive choice when a high number of students are worried about other resources, including living, dining and mental health.

However, if the administration is attentive enough, reforming some parts of campus can lead to the rising of all boats and can reach more needs.

Renovations of this scale will always feel as though they are coming at an inopportune time; to those staunch opponents of a new Kaplan, wouldn’t it be nice to just get it out of the way?

College athletics are known for bringing people together. When there is a larger, outside draw to a wide array of people, both prospective students, nearby residents or alumni, it will become easier to highlight and focus on other programs and opportunities offered here at the College.

From student-circulated publications to service projects to entrepreneurial clubs to political activism, we know our school is great and more than just sports — and we have the power to make it even better. If we want others to see that too, we should strive to provide a range of accessible ways for others to engage in our small and special community — and Tribe Athletics might just prove to be the unifying factor.

Email Carina Pacheco at capacheco@email.wm.edu.

The lack of a substantial, successful athletic program is why the College continues to fall in national rankings.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

STAFF COLUMN

Valentine’s Day celebrations disregard history, limit everyday expression of love animal’s blood and woo maidens blessing them with fruitful childbearing and purification for the year ahead.

In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius did not institute Valentine’s Day, but issued a long stern letter forbidding the celebration of Lupercalia; in that letter, there is no mention of St. Valentine. When exactly the martyrdom of St. Valentine started to be commemorated is shadowy, but it was well after Gelasius’ time.

The popular love-centric celebration known more modernly seems to date only to the late Middle Ages. The Dark Ages wiped all popular memory of the ancient Roman festival about 900 years before.

FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER The earliest surviving mention of St. Valentine’s feast day in connection with romantic love occurs in England around 1380, When you think of Valentine’s Day, what first comes to and it pertained to birds, not people. Valentine’s Day as we mind? Eating chocolate-covered strawberries, making cardboard know it didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. mailboxes for class valentine cards and singing cards with popThe oldest known valentine still in existence today was a up hearts coat my mind like the gooey caramel filling in Godiva poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife truffles. I find this quite amusing because Valentine’s Day did while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following not start out as a Hallmark holiday, so let’s take a trip down his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. Several years later, memory lane.

King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose Valentine’s Day, much a valentine note to Catherine of Valois. From there, the like St. Patrick’s Day, is a holiday slowly progressed, and Hallmark first offered celebration dedicated to the Valentine’s Day cards in 1913 and began feats of a Christian saint. producing them in 1916.

According to myth, St. Now approximately 145 million Valentine was sent by the Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged Church to stop the pagan rituals industry-wide, not including packaged kids’ during the third century, and valentines for classroom exchanges, making after his death was martyred Valentine’s Day the second-largest holiday through a feast day for his good for giving greetings cards. I think it is safe to deeds. There are conflicting assume that I am not the only one who is glad beliefs on the placement of “Valentine’s Day.” February is no longer a month known for Some argue that it commemorates the sacrificing animals and courtship dances anniversary of Valentine’s death around 270 promoting childbirth.

A.D, while others claim that the Christian However, I think buying roses Church strategically placed St. Valentine’s and writing love letters feast day February 14 to disrupt and shouldn’t be kept to a ‘Christianize” the pagan festival of single day.

Lupercalia. Lupercalia originated to I think all types of honor the god of fertility Lupercus and love: romantic, familial started as a pagan festival for shepherds, and self-love should be such as Rome’s founders Romulus and celebrated every day.

Remus. This festival of fertility was a The compassion and custom celebrated throughout Rome. empathy expressed without the Additionally, the Luperci, priests of Lupercus, pressures of a holiday are the true GRAPHIC BY assembled and sacrificed to the god goats and young dogs, emotions needed to make the world SUNNY AHN which animals are remarkable for their strong sexual instinct, just a little bit brighter.

AND HEADSHOTS BY and thus were appropriate sacrifices to the god of fertility.

Email Georgia Thoms at KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT Shirtless men would then cover themselves with milk and the gthoms@email.wm.edu.

Georgia Thoms

GUEST COLUMN

Super Bowl LIV displays superficial portrayal of Latina women in United States culture Adriana Trigo

FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

In my almost 20 years of living in the United States, and in my eight years of being an avid American football fan, I’ve never been particularly interested in the Super Bowl halftime show.

It’s normally where I catch up on tweets, stretch my legs and rank my favorite commercials. However, this year I was glued to the screen — singing, dancing, cheering and, honestly, sometimes almost crying.

An American football experience unlike any other, I got to see a slice of my own lived experiences and culture on a national stage: songs and dances that characterized my childhood with women that I’ve always admired and have made me feel beautiful.

As intoxicated as I was with Jennifer Lopez’s eternal youth, Shakira’s honest hips and a long-awaited mainstream representation of Latinx culture in American sports, the Super Bowl halftime show is no longer just the star-studded intermission of a national championship. Following Colin Kaepernick’s continuous activism against systemic racism, the NFL has become a politically charged institution, and in their biggest game of the year, Kaepernick’s former team competed. Like many watching the Super Bowl, I understood the politics behind this particular game and the NFL at large — but the halftime show brought another level of nuance for me as a Latinx woman.

I am always one to celebrate and advocate for representation. I have been touched by the intimate level of inspiration and hope that comes with seeing someone who looks or talks like you doing their thing.

Doing something that could be your thing. In a political climate where it seems like every day immigrant communities and Latinx communities are pushed to the margins of American

society, it felt good to see Latinx representation at the center of one of the most American cultural events of the year.

It felt good to see an American tradition evolve to include Latinx culture. Mostly, it felt good when Bad Bunny made a surprise appearance.

It’s an incredible feeling to feel proud of who you are and where you come from — not to feel embarrassed about speaking Spanish in public, but proud that you knew all the words to the songs of the halftime show.

It felt really good to see an American tradition evolve to include Latinx culture.

Yet, representation can serve as a double-edged sword. While it can give a voice and provide inspiration to marginalized groups, it is also frequently done superficially — especially in the mainstream. When seeking to represent a culture and not fully understanding the diversity and variance of experiences within it, marginalized groups within marginalized groups face even greater barriers to achieving real representation and the potential for equality and growth that comes with it.

In the case of the Super Bowl and most places that we see Latinx in the mainstream, there is a severe lack of representation for our Afro-Latinx and indigenous familia.

It’s incredibly difficult to balance a desire to celebrate two Latinx

queens headlining a quintessentially American tradition and represent our community while understanding that their ability to fully represent the Latinx community is inherently limited. They are the versions of Latinas that are the most palatable for mainstream America. Fair-skinned, attractive, English-speaking women that are just spicy enough to feel exotic — but not too exotic. This version of Latinx women are best represented in American media and as a result, benefit from an elevated status in society compared to their more indigenous and/or black counterparts.

There is systemic inequity in both Latinx and American society that disadvantages, displaces and destroys black and brown bodies.

As much as I enjoyed and was entertained by the halftime show, my reflections ultimately led me to recognize the unnerving parallel between Latinx and American cultural representations; both societies consistently underrepresent their indigenous and black communities while ignoring the struggles and disadvantages that are tethered to their intersectional identities.

The Latinx representation in the halftime show wasn’t just problematic in who was featured as Latinx, but also in the way it’s positioning in the halftime show undermined black efforts against the NFL’s role in systemic racism. Awareness of the shades of gray (and brown) that come with mainstream representation has shown me a critical part of the Latinx struggle for justice, inclusion and equity in the United States. It requires an unfiltered awareness of the ways that our efforts are nuanced and how just as we, Latinx people, push American culture to be more inclusive of us, we must push to depict our culture in a way that will recognize and celebrate our farthest margins.

Email Adriana Trigo at antrigo@email.wm.edu.

Page 6

STAFF COLUMN

Paranormal speculation illuminates contemporary campus state of affairs

Matthew Kortan FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

It’s a real shame the worn-down sole seam on my left Converse opens up like a crocodile’s jaw and exposes the sweaty sock tongue before chomping back down on the pavement. In the daytime, I didn’t bother fixing it because it made me laugh.

What an idiot. I can’t run away like this. Now all I can do is wait while whatever demon living in the Matoaka Woods slurps the life out of my eyes like a big bowl from Pho 79 in Newtown. How inconvenient to die here; it’s not as if there’s anything unusual about a soulless sophomore wandering around the Mason School of Business incapable of communicating his dire need for an exorcism. The haunted trail on this side of campus makes me uneasy.

I think the cost of tuition or the condition of our residence halls should be enough to spook them, but I don’t make the rules.

Our paranormal past might be the College of William and Mary’s worst kept secret. I’ve been told not to mention it to prospective students before. I think the cost of tuition or the condition of our residence halls and dining halls should be enough to spook them, but I don’t make the rules. Anyway, many of us know the story of the girl who died by suicide in St. George Tucker Hall, but I don’t get the feeling she looms all the way over here on the haunted trail. Besides, five consecutive days of intermediate Spanish classes per week is a much more efficient way to kill an undergraduate student.

Even to an atheist like me, the idea of these vengeful ghouls that were only freed from the enslavement of the College by death doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Hell, I can’t even blame them for haunting our campus now.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that they might learn from my untimely demise. It’s 2020 and diversity is the talk of the town. But do we even know what we’re talking about?

For starters, we all still pronounce “Matoaka” incorrectly.

Seeing as it may become my eternal resting place, I’d appreciate it if we could make some adjustments on that front. Next, we have the $40,000 question: which ethnic group, once again, composed the majority of the class of 2023? If you didn’t guess white, then you need to read more. But who really cares which groups are included, as long as we make sure the College has $57 million to build a basketball stadium that we already have?

Next, we have the $40,000 question: which ethnic group, once again, composed the majority of the class of 2023?

Side note, if you really are one to passionately believe that basketball is an integral piece of the College’s heart and soul and that the proposed Kaplan renovations are justified by the dynamic communal benefit, then transfer to the University of Virginia.

Getting back on track, do you know what else is white?

Ghosts. Klansmen, too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either at this point of the historic campus as I approach the end of the haunted trail, the spellbound mound of mulch imposing its ominous will onto my shivering body, from head to crocodile foot.

Email Matthew Kortan at mrkortan@email.wm.edu.

variety

Variety Editor Zoe Beardsley Variety Editor Adithi Ramakrishnan flathat.variety@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Page 7

COURTESY PHOTOS / ALMA MATER PRODUCTIONS

CHARTER CHORTLE Comedian Jaboukie Young-White dazzles Commonwealth Auditorium with humor during Charter Day, performs to a full house SAM CLARK // THE FLAT HAT

The College of William and Mary had the pleasure of hosting comedian Jaboukie Young-White Saturday, Feb. 8, as part of the annual Charter Day celebration. AMP put on this event for the students to come out for an entertaining end to the Charter Day weekend’s festivities. Come out they did, as over 450 students completely filled Sadler Center’s Commonwealth Auditorium that evening, creating an energetic atmosphere that was a blast to be a part of.

Known mostly by his Twitter handle “@jaboukie,” the 25 year old from Chicago has been gaining a lot of popularity in the comedy world over the past few years. After leaving DePaul University to pursue a career in stand-up, he began working small gigs across different cities to try to make his way into this decidedly difficult field. He would eventually go on to be a finalist in the 2016 NYC Devil Cup Stand Up Festival and find himself on the “Vulture” article “20 Comedians You Should and Will Know” list. Since then, he’s found substantial success in Hollywood, landing roles in some smaller films and television productions, performing on the “Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” and writing for shows like Netflix’s “Big Mouth” and “American Vandal.”

Most notably, however, he became a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” in 2018. His upcoming projects include an untitled Bo Burnham production alongside a role in season 6 of Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman.”

Alternatively, Young-White has gained a significant social media following through Twitter, where quite a bit of his content has gone viral. For example, Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — he changed his Twitter profile appearance to look like the official Federal Bureau of Investigation account as a joke. The punchline was a tweet that satirically admitted to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., for which his account was temporarily banned, ultimately making the whole endeavor a lot funnier.

Keen to this popularity, AMP warned on Facebook that tickets would only be sold on the day-of at the door. This had students lining up outside Commonwealth as early 6 a.m. for an 8 p.m. show. When the doors opened after what felt like an eternity in line, everyone filed into the auditorium and waited for the opener, Jasmine Ellis, to come on. Ellis gave a great routine discussing everything from raunchy topics such as sex when you’re a newlywed, to problems like being a middle child or facing off against racist guys from Boston.

Eventually, her time elapsed and you could feel the anticipation in the room aggressively spike as she announced the headliner. Opting for a casual look to set the tone, Young-White donned a baseball cap and a hoodie, making himself almost indistinguishable from the students in the audience. This played perfectly to his comedic style: cool, relaxed, conversational and personal. His bits were never oversold or hammed up, save for the occasional goofy punchline that reminded you that he’s truly a good performer and not just “your buddy” making you laugh.

"A large part of his humor is relatability, made easier by his definitively millenial upbringing; every anecdote hits perfectly with a crowd of this generation."

Either way, Young-White's routine was fantastic. After all, he still is only three years out of college, so a large part of his humor is relatability, made easier by his definitively millennial upbringing; every anecdote hit perfectly with a crowd of this generation. On top of that, bits would occasionally dive into irreverent or ridiculous territory that perfectly supplanted the more observational content. As an example, he discussed his younger brother’s struggle in writing a pitifully engaging college essay only to come to a punchline that involved a dusty, Civil-War-veteran mother and ceiling-fan father. Later in the set, he talked about his experience as a gay actor auditioning for type-cast parts and related it to the overall LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood. This almost poignant criticism of tinsel town’s shortcomings was then undercut with a hilariously over-the-top Smeagol impression, which still shed light on the all too common poorly-written LGBTQ+ characters in popular media.

To deviate from all his presumably-prepared material, Young-White began asking students in the crowd what their majors were and riffed off of them for a while. Poking fun at STEM majors and sympathizing with us soon-to-be poor English majors were the common threads in this section.

The other College-centric jokes included clowning our measly three bars and spooky atmosphere. Upon learning about the crypt, he feigned leaving right away.

Young-White then made use of the projector to tell the story of his Twitter interaction going back and forth with an outspoken, anti-gay man, which was depicted in a quaint little slideshow. The other slideshow he prepared took us through the latest and hottest food trends, keeping the long-running joke a metaphorical depiction of women in showbusiness. Kale is strutting her stuff and pumpkin is taking some family time away from the limelight now that fall is over; it was so informative. I’d never realized that almond milk is a low-key Republican.

The set ended with a classic thanks to the audience and a shout out to the opener, about whom you might’ve forgotten. AMP did a wonderful job with the organization of this event and should be commended for selecting such a talented comedian. Young-White gave an incredible routine that will be hard to top if the comedian trend keeps up.

He kept it down to earth, and it seemed as if he genuinely loved performing for us. Once he blows up even more, it will be nice to remember when he came to our little college and made everyone’s night.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Page 8

AFROABSTRACTION

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Dr. Steven Nelson lectures on history of black abstractionism art, illustrates contemporary impact on community GRACE OLSEN // FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER Thursday, Feb. 6, Dr. Steven Nelson, a professor of African and African-American art at the University of California, Los Angeles, participated in the art and art history department’s distinguished lecture series.

The discussion began with an introduction given by department chair and associate professor of art history Sibel Zandi-Sayek. Zandi-Sayek gave Nelson a lengthy introduction, highlighting several of his academic honors and awards as well as his seasoned history and involvement in the art world.

“It is our honor to present distinguished speaker Dr. Steven Nelson, director of the African Studies Center and professor of African-American art history,” Zandi-Sayek said. “Dr. Nelson is currently the Andrew Mellon professor at the Center for Advanced Study for the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.” Nelson’s talk marked the ninth anniversary of the distinguished art lecture series. From the Lemon Project to the most recent renovation of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, the lecture series is run in pairing with funding by a late anonymous donor.

The series has previously hosted prominent scholars and artists who have shared their knowledge and expertise in their fields of study. The College of William and Mary has taken initiative to focus on its deep-rooted history in African-American arts.

Dr. Nelson was first trained at Yale University in studio art and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in art history at Harvard University. Nelson is also the author of award-winning book “From Cameroon to Paris: Mousgoum Architecture In and Out of Africa.” Nelson’s lecture was titled “Mark Bradford: Counterfeit Abstraction.”

Mark Bradford is a contemporary African-American artist based out of Los Angeles, California. He is most famous for his grid-like paintings, often expressing sentiments of struggling integrity within the context of the world of counterfeit abstraction. The talk was given in part to his newest project, a book titled “Structural Adjustments: Mapping, Geography, and the Visual Cultures of Blackness.”

After thanking Zandi-Sayek for her warm introduction, as well as the program for hosting him, Nelson began his conversation with a discussion of his upcoming book.

“Structural Adjustments: Mapping, Geography, and the Visual Cultures of Blackness’ honors the contemporary work of African and Afro-Atlantic artists; including Mark Bradford, Maria Magdalena

Campos-Pons, Houston Conwill and Julie Mehretu, all of whom employ mapping and geography to address key concerns in their work,” Nelson said.

Nelson went on to discuss how all of the artists discuss and display notions of site, place and affiliation within African-American art and art history.

“These works have created a unique visual power and complexity that reshape our understanding of African ancestry, notions of diaspora and urban spaces,” Nelson said. “Maps have occupied a contemporary space in modern day art since at least the early 1960s.”

Some of the best-known works of abstract expressionism are those of Jasper Johns. The works of Johns are known to have caused reverberations that influenced the art world from the 1950s through the present.

Johns centered his work ideas around what he described as “things the mind already knows.” He utilized realistic items such as signs and flags which he claimed represented perceptual ambiguity.

“Afro-Atlantic artists used their work to show their newfound love for their lands,” Nelson said.

“Sometimes, they used it to critique the ungrounded institutions known as American prisons.”

The talk covered uses of various artistic mediums. Nelson consistently discussed the use of maps in art and how they define an artist’s sense of belonging in a community and its members. While for some, maps pay tribute to their homes, others have used the medium as a way to express and mindful sense of belonging.

Nelson used his lecture as a ground to begin discussion of race and the conceptual ideology of belonging in a community. The talk sparked a frenzy of discussion immediately following its closure. Among those in the crowd was psychology major Caroline Rhodes ’21.

“I am not involved with the art world; however, my friend is, and that is why I came to this talk today,” Rhodes said. “The talk did really open my eyes and change my perspective quite a bit on the subject of self-expression. The way that these artists are expressing so many different sentiments and emotions just through maps is really neat and definitely something I will pay more attention to in the future.”

As the ninth lecture so far in the series, Nelson’s talk continued the mission of the art department to bring in more artists and scholars to highlight some of the greater injustices and underlying themes in the modern world using new mediums and means of expression.

CONFUSION CORNER

A wish to be a family Holiday spirit lingers into February thanks to strong family traditions

MATTHEW KORTAN

CONFUSION CORNER COLUMNIST

I need a pick-me-up. They say this is the most wonderful time of the year. Instead, I’m playing a role I never would’ve dreamed of playing: the guinea pig for Mom’s new and allegedly improved “reduced fat” hot cocoa recipe. I think it went about as well as you’d expect a kid being deprived of his rightful dose of sweetness would go. I guess that’s what “mama’s boys” are for.

Still, it’s Christmas and my holiday cheer is running on empty. I need a pick-me-up, damn it — too cold to sled. Too sluggish to play with the dog. What I’m really in the mood for is a story. It’s still early. Surely, I’ve got enough time to coerce Dad out of the basement before he books his one-way ticket aboard the booze bus for the rest of the evening. It’ll just take five minutes, come on, Dad… To my surprise, he comes up without a fight.

The powdered-white aura outside seeps through the frostbitten window and permeates the entirety of the lofty living room uninhibited until its violent clash with the thick

dark brown veneer-coated oak wood floors. Enter the one thing it always seems like I can count on: the secret hiding place. The harsh ripping of Velcro stings my eardrums as I tear away the faux leather couch cushion. My eye is now on the prize. It’s the moment that only comes once each year.

My all-time favorite book ices my body with unadulterated elation. “A Wish To Be a Christmas Tree,” written by Colleen Monroe and illustrated by Michael Glenn Monroe, has returned to my clutch at long last. Dad stumbles in behind me as we take our places. He yanks the carboard covers apart and the story begins.

The big tree stood tall bracing the winter winds year after year. Idly, he’d observe as the likes of the fat Scotch pine and the fir so fine caught the eyes of each new, shimmering young family that would pass through the revolving door of the Christmas Tree farm. I can’t refrain from asking, although I already know the answer: “Dad, what happens to the trees after they get picked?”

“They get turned into mulch,” he’d reply.

I’d then follow with, “But Dad, don’t the families dress them up and down with lights and glitter? Isn’t that all the trees really want?”

“Yes. But then they get turned into mulch,” he’d reply.

The big tree sheds a frozen tear or two as the story goes on after another year of not being selected. This haunts me deeply. You’re telling me he’d rather end up as a pile of mulch just to be ornamented for a week or two? Doesn’t he understand that nobody is going to care about him once Christmas is over? The only reason they let him stick around any longer is because they’re too lazy to take him down.

Maybe it’s a price he’s willing to pay. He wants to be adored. I

glance over my shoulder at our Christmas tree shining, erect and proud. A shiver runs down my spine knowing it won’t be long before this evergreen must meet the inevitable just as all others do.

Except the big tree, that is. He towers, sobbing above his brothers, sisters, grandchildren and friends as they leave him behind. Little does he know, his sense of abandonment is quite misgiven, for he is adored. The squirrel seeks refuge from the hideous blizzards inside the thick branches of the big tree.

The deer curls up under the lush layers of pine needles each night to doze off and dream her snuggled dreams. Like me, the squirrel is troubled. The big tree is his friend. The big tree is a friend to all the woodlands. How would they get along if he were gone? He’s given them everything, and he’d give it all up just to feel pretty for a day or two. Maybe all the big tree needs is a pick-me-up. The squirrel calls the troops to attention.

Their friend deserves to open his eyes with a smile.

The big tree awakens adorned from root to tip with the finest relics his forest friends could muster up. It’s quite literally “rise and shine.” In the end, the big tree is happy.

Dad closes the book and descends back into the cellar for his drunken hibernation. Mom still hasn’t tried the cocoa, although she doesn’t like the critiques blaring from my sister’s direction. I wander by the kitchen island and get stranded inside the granite countertop for a while. Around the mound of feldspar and through the cavern of quartz we go. A happy holiday was hiding away inside the big tree all along. All he had to do was take a look inside. Maybe I could do the same.

Matthew Kortan is a Flat Hat Confusion Corner columnist who gets along much more splendidly with his family than this article might suggest.

sportsinside

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Page 9

MEN’S TENNIS

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Junior Finbar Talcott stretches his racquet out as far as he can to return a serve. Talcott won both his singles and doubles matches, helping the Tribe complete its sweep of in -state rival Longwood Sunday Feb. 9 at the McCormack-Nagelson Tennis Center.

Tribe defeats Longwood, extends undefeated season College dominates Lancers in all aspects of game, complete the sweep 7-0 LEXIE HIESTAND FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER At noon Sunday, Feb. 9, the McCormack-Nagelson Tennis Center went crazy. After every point, people in the crowd clapped and players on the court congratulated their teammates. It was not unusual for yelling to happen after winning a set, the team clapping and shouting the score. This electric atmosphere was critical in spurring William and Mary (3-0) to a clean 7-0 sweep of Longwood (2-2).

“There was nonstop communication between each member of the team,” Tribe sophomore Daniel Pellerito said. “What we are trying to do is create a loud atmosphere no matter what side you’re on. … We try to get the crowd involved as much as possible and make it a whole match for us.”

In doubles, Pellerito faced off the Lancers’ third pairing with his partner, junior Finbar Talcott. The two used powerful serves and clean returns to defeat the Lancers 6-2. The pair forced mistakes with extreme ball spin — effectively using Lancer Guilherme Sergio’s power against him. The movement of the ball was essential to sliding a point past their opponents.

Sophomore Joseph Brailovsky and junior Ruo Chen took the second pairing to a quick 6-2 finish as well. They won every point in their final game, but regardless of statistics, they looked like a winning pair. From their intensity in volleys to their fantastic anticipation, their win can be attributed to great chemistry and communication on the court. Brailovsky, in particular, showed his prowess in recognizing narrowly out-of-bound balls, and many of the Tribe points in the match came from converting on these borderline mistakes. Brailovsky also had a beautiful serve, dangerously full of movement, which allowed Chen to convert points on their opponents’ weak attempts to counter the serve.

The longest double match was by far the first pair, who played a grueling 13 game set. In the end, the Tribe narrowly pulled away, 7-6, winning the set on senior Brenden Volk’s ace. Volk and his partner, freshman George Davis, seemed evenly matched with Longwood’s Guilermo Cagigas and Amadeo Blasco at first. Blasco quickly identified a weakness in the Tribe’s formation and riddled the court with short cross-court shots. Cagigas shot low, but powerfully right above the net; the angle was tough to counter. But, after a few dropped points, the Tribe figured out how to defend against these shots and force volleys. Volk shone in the high-energy plays but allowed Davis to close out the points. Davis was an expert in placing the ball just within bounds, tiring out their opponents or bouncing the ball right out of reach.

The Tribe swept doubles, with a clean score of 3-0. The team worked hard to make sure every player was supported in his sets. Volk attributed his win in doubles to the atmosphere and momentum on the court.

“We were a very cohesive team out there,” Volk said. “There’s a lot of energy going around, and it just helps when we have nine guys who are buying in to what we do. When you see that going on next to you, the tennis takes care of itself.”

Brailovsky took the top spot in singles. Like before, Blasco tried tripping Brailovsky up with cross-court shots. Occasionally, Brailovsky would over-anticipate the ball, but often, his eye for the trajectory served him well. High-energy volleys characterized this match, and Brailovsky’s precise placement was key in ending them. He pulled the first set 6-4. In the second set, Blasco was able to capitalize on a tiring Brailovsky. They switched sides at the 4-3 mark, and Brailovsky looked to his teammates.

“The energy was just spread everywhere,” Brailovsky said, “I can hear Pells on court five when I’m on one, and he’s going crazy. When

Brenden is slacking a little bit, I start going crazy; when Fin’s footwork is going down, I go crazy.”

He played — and won — several more games as his teammates slowly finished their matches. Finally, he was up 5-4, 40-15 on the game. His teammates clapped and he served an ace to win the match.

The other singles matches finished more decisively. Talcott bested Sergio 6-3 twice to take the No. 2 match. His speed was untouchable; he used the full court. When Sergio lobbed a ball lazily over the net, Talcott ran into the service box to slam the ball and snatch a point. He took a lead early on and hustled through volleys to keep it.

Volk finished first with two 6-1 sets to best his Lancer opponent.

Chen had a shaky first set with a close game distribution, but eventually dominated his No 6. match 6-4, 6-3. Pellerito overcame an early deficit to sweep his opponent, 6-2, 6-2. Even Davis, who played the 13-game match, won his first set 6-1. He switched several times, trading off a powerful, two-hand grip for a one-handed spin, to take Cagigas down 6-4 for the second set.

“We got a lot of momentum going after the doubles,” Volk said. “We were all feeling good, the morale was high, and it was important to really come out there and just get on them early. And we carried that into singles on every single court.”

The Tribe’s early season set-up has served it well so far. With its sweep of doubles, the Tribe dominated for a final score of 7-0. Its last game, against Norfolk State, was also a clean sweep. When asked about the encouraging state of the team early on, Brailovsky focused on the Tribe’s capacity for growth.

“We’re off to a really good start, for sure, but there’s a lot to build off,” Brailovsky said. “We’re building, and everyone’s still getting better, day by day.”

Feb. 15, the Tribe will continue its home-stand and host George Washington. Both teams will be defending win streaks.

THE EXTRA POINT

Media buyouts in Williamsburg area threaten to leave local sports uncovered Focus on making money prioritizes profit over local news coverage, results in the firings of talented journalists

Brendan Doyle FLAT HAT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Thursday morning, news broke that 20 staff members at the Daily Press and its sister publication the Virginian-Pilot had been bought out.

Long-time sportswriter Dave Johnson was one of them. Friday morning, sports columnist David Teel announced that he too would be leaving the Daily Press.

Perhaps it was selfish to hold out hope that those two would stick around. The local journalism scene is not exactly the healthiest it’s ever been, and those “voluntary” buyouts are about as voluntary as offseason workouts in the National Football League.

But, it’s still a shame to see these two stalwarts of the Virginia sports community pushed out, for all intents and purposes.

Teel wrote for the Daily Press for 36 years. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the United States Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and, by all accounts, is a sports journalism legend.

He mostly focused on the Atlantic Coast Conference, which he described as his “wheelhouse” in his farewell column he wrote for the paper.

But Teel was often the one to break big William and Mary athletics stories, such as Mike London signing on as football coach,

and he always showed up to press conferences in Williamsburg.

Johnson wrote for the Daily Press for 33 years. For my four years here at the College, Johnson showed up to nearly every Tribe football and basketball game.

While I learned a ton by reading Teel, I learned a ton by watching Johnson. He was always extremely welcoming to young Flat Hat sports writers, even as they learned on the fly how to act on press row.

The departures of Teel and Johnson mean there are no professional publications that cover Tribe Athletics with any sort of frequency and effort. That lack of local journalism is troubling and frustrating.

I’ve always been one to state that sports journalism is important, maybe as important as any other kind of journalism.

Sports are a microcosm of life, and by examining these stories, we can learn something about ourselves. (And even if you don’t believe my platitudes, just look at the billions of dollars college athletics make every single year.)

The lack of good local coverage of Tribe Athletics means that much of the watchdog function of the press is effectively gone, but also that the incredibly meaningful stories will be fewer and more far between.

This isn’t an isolated problem. Tribune Publishing Company owns several newspapers across the country.

In December, Alden Global Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund, bought a substantial stake in the company.

These companies aren’t built to provide good local journalism, a service that is desperately needed now more than ever.

These companies are here to make money,

and in many cases including this one, it means stripping the newspapers for parts, minimizing costs and attempting to make money off as many online clicks as possible.

Just this Friday, a few sports writers were bought out at the Baltimore Sun, another Tribune paper.

I messaged Johnson to offer him my wellwishes on Thursday after I learned the news.

FEELIN’

“It really is sad what’s happening to the profession,” Johnson wrote back. “There are still some very good young people in it, and I almost feel obliged to tell them to get out while they still can. But my hope is that they can save it.”

His hope is my hope too.

Email Brendan Doyle at bpdoyle@email. wm.edu.

G RE E N?

OFF % 0 2 E IV E C E NTS R W&M STUDE REE FROM CAMPUS) (TROLLEY IS F

4374 New Town Avenue | Suite 100 | Monday – Sunday | 8am – 8pm 757-772-6124 | VelocityUC.com

sports

Sports Editor Gavin Aquin Hernández flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | Page 10

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tribe wins third straight at UNCW

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Senior Victoria Reynolds scored 16 points en route to the 8-point win over UNCW that increased the team’s school record for road victories to 10. The College is now 11-0 for the year when it limits opponents to less than 60 points.

Senior class sets record with 67 career wins, Hodgson extends double-digit streak to 23 ZOE BEARDSLEY FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR Sunday, Feb. 9, William and Mary (16-6, 7-4 CAA) defeated North Carolina-Wilmington (6-16, 3-8 CAA) 63-55 in a close game to push its winning streak to three. The Tribe weathered a scrappy UNCW team to move into third place in the Colonial Athletic Association, behind Drexel and James Madison.

Senior forward Victoria Reynolds got the scoring started for the Tribe in the first quarter, making an easy layup after a nice pass by junior center Gabby Rodgers. The next seven possessions all resulted in turnovers for the team on offense. The College turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter, compared to UNCW’s six. Luckily for the Tribe, the Seahawks were unable to take full advantage of the College’s turnovers, only managing eight points in the first quarter. The Tribe didn’t fare much better, though it was able to take a 10-8 lead at the end of the quarter thanks to sophomore guard Eva Hodgson’s layup with 16 seconds left.

In the second half, Hodgson picked up where she left off, capitalizing on a UNCW turnover and converting a layup to give the Tribe a four-point lead. The Seahawks responded quickly, going on a 7-0 run to take the lead, 15-12. The College, fueled by Hodgson’s jumper with five minutes, 47 seconds left in the quarter, went on a 10-3 run of its own, capped off by another layup by Hodgson to give the Tribe the lead 22-18. After UNCW tied the game, redshirt sophomore guard Sydney Wagner made a layup with 24 seconds left to give the College the two-point lead, 24-22, at the end of the second quarter. Hodgson was the only player from either team to reach double digits by the end of the half, scoring 10. Wagner and Reynolds contributed five and four points respectively, while Reynolds also added three steals. The Tribe shot 47.6 percent from the field, but were cold from beyond the arc, only making one three-pointer out of eight attempts. UNCW was worse, shooting 36 percent from the floor, and also only hit one three-pointer, though

it took less attempts, going 1-of-4.

The score would remain close early in the third quarter, with neither team letting the other break away. Reynolds made a layup, but soon after, UNCW responded with two free throws and another layup. Hodgson joined in with a basket of her own, followed by another Reynolds bucket, but the Seahawks responded once again, hitting a three-pointer. The College finally got the spark it needed to take a big lead when Wagner hit a three, beginning a 7-0 run that

63

WILLIAM AND MARY TRIBE

58

UNC-WILMINGTON SEAHAWKS

EVA HODGSON 23 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST

VICTORIA REYNOLDS 16 PTS, 6 REB, 3 STL

SYDNEY WAGNER 11 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST

would push the Tribe’s lead to 39-31 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. UNCW would not go away, though, as it went on a 9-2 run to end the quarter and pull within one point of the College, 41-40. Hodgson and Wagner added three points apiece for the Tribe in the third quarter, but junior guard Nyla Pollard led the Tribe with six points, as the College shot 50 percent from the field, going 6-12.

After back-to-back missed three-pointers, Hodgson opened up the scoring for the Tribe in the fourth quarter, making a layup under the basket. After UNCW tied the game 43-43 with a threepointer, the College would take the lead for good after a Hodgson three. Wagner added on, making a three-pointer of her own to make the lead 49-43 with six minutes, 30 seconds left in the game.

After a lay-up by UNCW, Hodgson responded once again with a layup off the fast break. With 2:34 left, Hodgson would score the Tribe’s last field goal, making another contested layup, and boosting the College’s lead to 55-46. Though UNCW would threaten a few times in the last two minutes, the Tribe’s reliable free-throw shooting never let the Seahawks get too close. The College ended up winning the game 63-55, hitting eight free throws in the last minute of the game. The Tribe was able to rely on their defense to secure the win as well, at one point holding the Seahawks scoreless for around four minutes in the fourth quarter, from 5:30 remaining on the clock until there was 1:35 left in the game.

Hodgson was once again the leading scorer for the Tribe, putting up 23 points and six rebounds in the win. This was Hodgson’s 11th 20-plus point game of the season, and 12th of her career. Reynolds contributed 16 points, while Wagner added 11, including shooting 50 percent from the three-point line. The win was the College’s record setting 10th win on the road, and it makes the senior class the winningest class in Tribe school history with 67 wins total.

The Tribe will return home for the first time in two weeks to play Northeastern Friday, Feb. 14, in Kaplan Arena, followed by a game against Hofstra Sunday, Feb. 16.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Turnovers, fast break points doom Tribe in Wilmington

Third straight loss drops team to a tie for fourth in CAA with five games remaining NATHAN SEIDEL FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR William and Mary (16-10, 8-5 CAA) dropped its third-straight game Saturday, Feb. 8, 70-64 at North Carolina-Wilmington (7-18, 2-10 CAA) despite outshooting the Seahawks from the field and from three-point range.

It was the College’s 19 turnovers that proved to be its undoing this time around, with the Seahawks turning those takeaways into 28 points to help secure their six-point win.

The Tribe started the game on fire, knocking down six of its first seven looks including three from long range in a row courtesy of senior forward Andy Van Vliet and sophomore forward Quinn Blair. This barrage opened up a 29-15 Tribe advantage and forced a Seahawk timeout with 8 minutes, 34 seconds to play in the opening half.

The time-out proved key, with the Seahawks opening up a 19-4 run following it to come all the way back and seize the lead. It was during this scoring run that Tribe turnovers really came into play, with 15 of the Seahawk points coming off nine giveaways from the College.

The scoring blitz resulted in a 34-33 Seahawks advantage but a layup from graduate transfer guard Bryce Barnes allowed the Tribe to escape into halftime up 35-34.

The College started the second half back in

the driver’s seat, scoring the first six points of the period and opening a 41-34 advantage.

The Seahawks called another timeout and, once again, came out of it with guns blazing.

They popped off a 22-5 run that included 10 points in a row and resulted in a 58-48 Seahawk lead with 7:44 remaining in the contest.

The Tribe got it as close as 64-60, but the Seahawks put it out of the reach from the charity stripe to send the Tribe home looking for answers as it enters a two-game home stand.

Senior center Nathan Knight added another double-double to his nation-leading total of 20 with 16 points and 13 rebounds, albeit with six turnovers. Van Vliet and freshman guard Miguel Ayesa added 12 apiece and junior guard Luke Loewe contributed 10. Barnes added seven points and four assists.

The Tribe outshot the Seahawks by two percentage points from the field and by five points from three, but the Seahawks’ 14 steals and 28 points off turnovers were too much to overcome from the field. The Tribe even outrebounded the Seahawks 35-23.

This was the second meeting between the teams this season, the first being a comfortable 79-63 Tribe victory at home. After the game, head coach Dane Fischer lamented not following through on the team’s main objective.

“Our number one key coming into tonight was trying to take care of the ball, because we

thought that they would really try to ratchet up the pressure, especially being at home, and their guards did a phenomenal job of that,” Fischer said. “We didn’t handle it well enough; when we did, I thought we got great shots and shot the ball well, obviously got off to an unbelievable start. But we just couldn’t get over the hump against that pressure.”

Knight battled foul trouble for much of the game and Fischer noted the challenges that presented, especially in the second half.

“One of the big things that obviously happened was Nate was on the bench with foul trouble,” Fischer said. “The fact that he had 16 and 13, he played almost 20 minutes. He barely played in the second half, so that was really challenging for us.”

The Tribe will return to action Thursday, Feb. 13, when it takes on Drexel at 7 p.m. at home to try to snap the three-game skid. It also hosts Delaware in the annual Gold Rush game at Kaplan Arena Saturday Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

The Seahawks turned 19 Tribe turnovers into 28 points; the College had a 29-15 lead in the first half before a UNCW 19-4 run.