The Flat Hat February 25 2020

Vol. 110, Iss. 1 | Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

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CAMPUS

Sam Jones set to retire June 2020

Vice President of Finance, Administration steps down after 34 years of service ALEXANDRA BYRNE FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER

N O RTH ER N VI RGINIA YI EL D RATES FALL

College faces declining admissions matriculation in Northern Virginia counties ETHAN BROWN // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A

c o m m o n perception among students at the College of William and Mary is that many undergraduates hail from Northern Virginia, a geographically small but populous section of the state bordering Washington, D.C. While admissions data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia indicate that students from Northern Virginia are a sizable population of instate students on campus, the College’s ability to matriculate prospective students from Northern Virginia has declined over the past 14 years.

In the college admissions process, yield refers to the percentage of first-time college students that receive an offer of admission from a university and decide to enroll.

According to data from 2005 to 2019, the College experienced declines in its yield of prospective students from Northern Virginia. Growing percentages of high school students from Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington Counties — which the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce describes as the region’s core jurisdictions — received offers from the College and subsequently did not matriculate as students in Williamsburg.

In the 2018–19 application cycle, the College’s yield rates of these four Northern Virginia counties were relatively low compared to those present in the mid-2000s. The highest yield rate was in Fairfax County, where 35.5 percent of in-state students admitted to the College ultimately chose to become students here.

During the 2005–06 admissions cycle, the College had an average yield rate of 50 percent with students in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties. In Prince William and Loudoun Counties, more than half of students who received an offer from the College ultimately matriculated here, with yield rates of 53.4 percent and 53.6 percent respectively.

Dean of Admission Tim Wolfe said that the College’s declining yield rates in Northern Virginia during the past decade mirror national trends at universities across the United States. Prospective college students have begun submitting higher numbers of college applications in recent years, causing many universities to experience lagging yield rates since students have more options to consider — and more colleges to reject — when making their college choice.

Wolfe confirmed that this trend has affected the College and yield rates have declined throughout Northern Virginia in recent application cycles.

“We are competing not only with places in Virginia, but places nationally for enrolling students,” Wolfe said. “You’re talking about students who have some fantastic opportunities and offers.”

Student Services Director at Chantilly High School in Fairfax County Robyn Lady ’ 90 echoed Wolfe’s sentiments by illustrating the many options available to her competitive high school students in Northern Virginia. She referenced

WILLIAM AND MARY YIELD RATES 2 0 1 8 -2 0 1 9

ARLINGTON COUNTY:

23.9%

FAIRFAX COUNTY:

LOUDOUN COUNTY: PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY:

35.5%

33.9%

33.6%

improving “college search” skills as a partial contributor to the College’s struggle to matriculate students at Chantilly, since they are becoming increasingly adept at finding competitive funding packages and offers from universities across the country.

“I’ve got people who have turned down UVA or William and Mary because they got a full ride for Alabama in engineering,” Lady said.

“People are understanding that they can actually save money by going out of state because kids admitted to UVA and William and Mary are phenomenal kids that other state and private schools would love to steal from the state of Virginia.”

For Virginia students that do choose to stay in state for school, the College has consistently underperformed rival University of Virginia’s yield of Northern Virginian students. While both the College and UVA are selective, in-state “Public Ivies,” UVA’s yield rates outpace the College’s in every admissions cycle from 2005 to 2019 in all four core Northern Virginia counties.

Lady attributed the discrepancy between UVA and the College’s yield rates to the perceptions of the two universities by Northern Virginia residents.

In her time working with prospective students at Chantilly, Lady said that high schoolers persistently imagine the College as academically rigorous and stressful, while students tend to view UVA as a better balance between a good education and a traditional ‘college experience’. Lady connected the College’s low yield at Chantilly to these beliefs. “... Their lowest yield, UVA’s, is 58 percent,” Lady said. “Our highest yield for William and Mary is 35 percent. I definitely think that differential is the perceived experience at the two institutions. One is perceived as much more rigorous and not very fun, and one is perceived as a lot of fun, great sports, and also great education.”

In 2018–19, UVA had a 57.8 percent yield of students in Fairfax County, compared with the College’s 35.5 percent yield. In Arlington County, the differential between UVA and the College is starker: 54.3 percent of students accepted to UVA matriculated there, compared with just 23.9 percent of students at the College.

From his perspective, Wolfe said that differentials between the College’s and UVA’s Northern Virginia yield rates primarily originate from two factors: affordability and demographic change. According to Wolfe, the College’s ongoing “William & Mary Promise” initiative has been effective in lowering tuition and room and board rates for Virginia residents demonstrating financial need since its initiation in the early 2010s. While the initiative has made the College one of the most affordable in-state options for lower and middle-income students, students without demonstrated financial need often face costs at the

U VA YIELD RATES 2 0 1 8 -2 0 1 9

ARLINGTON COUNTY:

54.3%

FAIRFAX COUNTY:

57.8%

LOUDOUN COUNTY:

57.9%

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY:

48.5%

See NOVA ADMISSIONS page 3

Outgoing Editor-in-Chief Nia Kitchin bids farewell to The Flat Hat

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

Rainy High 64, Low 48

See JONES page 4

Inside Sports

Inside Opinions

Index Profile News Opinions Variety

Sports

GRAPHICS BY LULU DAWES / THE FLAT HAT

At the end of June, Vice President for Finance and Administration Sam Jones ’75, M.B.A ’80 will no longer be “monitoring the situation”. Jones, who often opened his campus-wide emergency report emails with this refrain, announced last week to the College of William and Mary community that he plans to retire at the end of this academic year.

Jones, who has worked for the College for 34 years, will have his position filled by Amy Sebring M.P.P. ’95, who currently serves as vice president for finance and technology. Sebring will assume the responsibilities that Jones holds under the new role of chief operating officer, which seeks to combine her current position with Jones’ position as vice president for Finance and Administration.

College President Katherine Rowe announced the transition in an email to the College community Feb. 17. In the email, she expressed gratitude for the leadership of Jones during her own transition into the presidency.

“I am also sensible of how fortunate I am to have benefited from Sam’s wisdom and warm welcome over these past two years at William & Mary,” Rowe said in an email.

During his time at the College, Jones worked under five presidents and has overseen many large-scale projects, including the construction of Alan B. Miller Hall and the Integrated Science Center. In the press release issued by the College, Rector John Littel noted the strategic leadership of Jones and his ability to center the needs of students in the face of challenges.

Despite his many accomplishments, Jones said that it was not always easy. He cited the fluctuations in state financial support for the College as one of his biggest challenges during his career.

“The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty of state support,” Jones said in an email. “When the state’s economy is strong, the Commonwealth provides significant operating support. However, when there is an economic downturn, we usually lose some portion of state funding. As a result, long-term planning can be challenged.”

Jones began at the College as a student, which he said informed his decision-making as an administrator.

“Having been both an undergraduate as well a graduate student made it easy to remember that, in the end, what we do is ‘all about the student,’” Jones said. “Being a firstgeneration college student, and receiving financial aid, made me appreciate the value of student aid and the private donors that support our students.”

Jones has experienced many transitions in the College’s administration himself, during which he said he maintained continuity above all else.

“I have been fortunate to work under exceptional leaders at William & Mary,” Jones said. “I learned early on that even when there was change at the top, the best thing to do was to keep doing my job to the best of my ability.

Ultimately that will be recognized.”

Vice President of Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 touched upon Jones’s success throughout his career at the College.

“Throughout the course of his career, Sam Jones has shown great care and concern for students and their welfare,” Ambler said in an email. “Whether he’s setting budget priorities for the university, overseeing major construction projects, or attending to campus safety, VP Jones regularly focuses on what is in the best interest of students. He and VP Amy Sebring have worked very closely over the last several years, so I anticipate a smooth transition as his retirement date nears.”

Ambler said that the biggest project Sebring will pick up is the Sadler West Addition construction project, which is projected to be

Nia Kitchin ’20 provides advice for the new Flat Hat staff and reflects on the year as the newspaper’s 109th Editor-in-Chief. page 5

CAA Championship goes swimmingly

Tribe men’s swimming captured its sixth consecutive CAA championship in Christiansburg last weekend, and the women’s team earned second place. page 10

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

I thought it was really interesting how they got into this idea that the border wall acts as itself a political boundary, so it’s kind of superseding the actual geopolitical boundary and that in turn defines people’s identity and ideas of where their citizen status begins and ends.

THIS WEEK IN FLAT HAT HISTORY February 28, 1969 — News Students protest the College of William and Mary women dress code and curfew rules by staging a series of boycotts and sit-ins across campus. This involved nearly 225 women refusing to follow curfew rules and sign in at their respective residence halls the previous Sunday night, many of which faced disciplinary action from the Women’s Dormitory Association. Male students contributed to protest efforts by participating in sit-ins in the women’s dormitories after hours.

— Caroline Watson M.A. , ’21

Fostering veteran inclusion

Charlie Foster leads new office at the College, researches military collegiate experience MARY TRIMBLE // FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

February 26, 1993 — News WMPD investigate a potential arson regarding a bulletin board commemorating Black History Month that caught on fire the previous Tuesday prior. At the time, police were uncertain whether or not the fire was an act of vandalism or hate crime related to racial prejudice.

February 25, 2000 — News: Multiple students at the College contracted E. coli. Many students were dehydrated, and had symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.

The affected students were treated with intravenous fluids, then released.

February 26, 2010 — Sports: The College’s of William and Mary men’s basketball team was defeated by Towson University on senior night 83-77, despite a huge audience. The team would need a win in the final weekend to grab a first round by.

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

A THOUSAND WORDS

COURTESY PHOTO / MAEVE MARSH

CORRECTIONS In the Feb. 18th issue the article, “College football player faces charges for sexual assault, breaking, entering”, Title IX coordinator Pamela Mason was incorrectly stated as Pamela Manson. This mistake has been updated on The Flat Hat website.

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 PHOTO / CHARLIE FOSTER

Foster meets with some of the College’s student veterans in his office located in Sadler Center.

Charlie Foster, M.Ed ’17, knows what it’s like to be a student veteran because he was one — twice. Foster first experienced life as a student veteran as an undergraduate at Berea College in Kentucky, and again later at the College of William and Mary as a master’s student. As the director of the Office of Student Veteran Engagement at the College, he draws on his experience from four years of service in the Marines and his own slightly unconventional college experience to serve the student veteran population at the College.

Foster was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama into a family with a significant military background — his father served as a Marine in Vietnam, and most of his male relatives served in the military in some capacity. Foster attended one year of college at the University of Alabama but could not shake a sense of dissatisfaction while there.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to study,” Foster said. “The students that I knew at the time were pretending like everything they were doing was very important, and none of it felt important to me, even before September 11.”

Foster explained that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 ended up being a catalyst in his decision to join the military, but he knows that his family background was deeply influential in that step.

Unlike the discordance of his university life, his entrance into the military proceeded with few setbacks, which Foster took as a sign that he was making the right decision.

“This seemed like a righteous thing to do,” Foster said. “I got that feedback from little old ladies at church, and from everybody in the community.”

However, Foster added that not everyone believed he would find success with the Marines. Foster recalled a time when a former World War II sailor with a faded anchor tattoo on his forearm — whom Foster referred to as Mr. Rick — suggested that Foster was too short to be a Marine.

“He was wrong, and I want that on the record,” Foster said. “He was right about most everything, but he was not right about the height requirement for the Marine Corps, because I went on to serve with some very short people.”

Once in the Marines, his recruiter directed him towards the Public Affairs Military Occupational Specialty.

His MOS school was at Ft. Meade, Md., an army base where he worked in a joint service environment and interacted with many different branches of the military. Foster said that the experience prepared him well for his current position at the Office of Student Veteran Engagement.

After four years in the Marine Corps, Foster decided to return to school. Similarly to how he felt when he joined the Marines, he believed that leaving after his first enlistment was the right thing to do.

“I knew I wanted to go back to college,” Foster said. “I had learned when I was in the Marine Corps how much I liked to learn. I have a part of mind that likes to go down that road, as if I had stayed, but I knew that it was either stay in forever or get out now after one enlistment.”

Thus, at 23 years old, he began his time as a student at Berea College in Kentucky, but he was also beginning his life as a veteran.

The transition out of the military was not without its challenges, despite an incredibly

positive college experience. There was only one other veteran at his school, and they had difficulty forming close friendships with their academic peers.

“I had been around the world, I had worked at the Pentagon and been in important meetings and represented the entire Marine Corps in those meetings,” Foster said. “And then you go back to campus and nobody knows what you mean when you are talking about that. Even faculty sometimes don’t. In some ways I had chosen that — I went to be anonymous, to be a regular student. In the same day, I would be mad about that. That is something that is now called ‘the transition out of the military.’”

In Foster’s estimation, these contradictions are fairly common to the student veteran experience, and to the veteran experience in general. Veterans, he said, have high expectations for how others ought to conduct themselves based on the standards of the military — being extremely early to meetings and events, for example — that civilians cannot live up to. Foster said that civilians misunderstand what it means to be in the military, imposing their own set of unreasonable expectations.

Foster described feeling keenly the loss of solidarity with fellow Marines, and missing the sense of joy, amusement and close personal connection that could be formed even in the throes of a difficult experience.

“That’s why I think it’s really good for student veterans to participate in something, whether it’s an organization about student veterans or intramurals,” Foster said.

He found his new sense of belonging and purpose in his on-campus job supplying resources to surrounding public schools.

His growing involvement in his campus community also sparked his interest in higher education administration.

“There’s a lot of progress that happens between when somebody first sets foot on campus and when they cross the stage, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Foster said. “My master’s degree has helped me say some things about what happens in between, but it’s still magic, and I just wanted to be at the magic show.”

He described the College as the perfect place to pursue a master’s focused on the student

veteran experience because of the abundance of military installations in the area and the long history of student veterans at the College. His master’s project discussed the implications of World War II at the College.

“What William and Mary gave me was an environment of interest in the student veteran population, and access to relevant research about it,” Foster said.

Foster’s research was serendipitously happening concurrently with the mobilization of student veterans at the College in 2014 and 2015 for an office like the one Foster now heads.

“They knew that veterans were having a different experience,” Foster said.

Student veterans are often older; they might have spouses or families requiring them to live off campus, and they might have disabilities that require certain accommodations. Gaining access to the necessary resources was difficult, Foster noted, in part because student veterans did not know where to look, and because veterans tend to seek help at lower rates than civilians.

“There is a reluctance to show any weakness,” Foster said. “Veterans seek help at a lower rate, and male veterans seek help at an even lower rate. Veterans from certain MOSs or certain branches are even less likely.

It’s a shame, and it’s getting better, but it was absolutely discouraged in the military for a long, long time, and that is hard to change.”

In 2018, College President Katherine Rowe approved the creation of the Office of Student Veteran Engagement.

“We knew we needed an office to serve as a one-stop shop, so that some full-time person could be contacted, so that the phone could ring, or could go around and do presentations, or for the students to walk in and say, ‘Here’s my problem,’” Foster said. “Making sure that student veterans know that I’m here, and everything that they say or think is relevant.

Just because it doesn’t affect the entire group does not mean that they should keep it to themselves. I want to hear their feedback — it’s all relevant.”

Beyond simply managing challenges as they arise, Foster’s office and the student veterans themselves are proactively advocating for recognition of their experiences at the institutional level, recently in terms of COLL 300 credit, which awards college credit for studying abroad. Foster said that faculty and administration are increasingly willing to recognize these experiences.

“Student veterans have done ‘study abroad’ on steroids,” Foster said.

In terms of connecting to student veterans as a traditional student at the College, Foster recommends asking for a veteran’s story.

“They have great insight; they have done impressive things that would be anybody else’s greatest adventure, and they will list it in just kind of an off-handed way.” Foster said. “And you’ll say ‘Back up. Tell me more about that!’

We’ve got military installations all around us, and I think that’s exciting. I hope that William and Mary students feel like they are part of the military community, and I hope the military community feels like it’s part of the Tribe.”

COURTESY PHOTO / CHARLIE FOSTER

Foster and other student veterans of the College interact with former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ’65.

Page 3

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

COMMUNITY

Williamsburg commemorates Juneteenth 2020

Local NAACP plans celebration for national emancipation anniversary

The College of William and Mary in conjunction with the York-James CityWilliamsburg area NAACP and the City of Williamsburg will be organizing a Juneteenth celebration this summer, in June 2020.

Juneteenth recognizes the end of slavery in the United States and observes June 19, 1865 as the date of emancipation for African American slaves. On this day, Union soldiers announced news of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, community and accomplishment in the African American community.

Juneteenth has been celebrated as another Independence Day in certain communities for years, and the Williamsburg area is now embracing an opportunity to be a part of the observance and commemoration.

Lemon Project Director Jody Lynn Allen described the event's impact on the local area and its growing national recognition.

“It shows that we are open to growing and doing new things,” Allen said. “We’re open to listening to not only the local community but listening to the national community because Juneteenth celebrations have happened over the years for a long time, but they’re starting to happen more frequently in different places. So, I think this is in response to the history and also a call throughout our area and throughout the country to understand and to recognize these celebrations.”

The celebration will involve not only the members of the Williamsburg community, but the College as well.

Allen emphasized the importance of universal education of this holiday and its history.

“It’s part of William and Mary’s, and any campus’s, role or responsibility is to educate,” Allen said. “And so this is part of the teaching and education process not only for people who are on the campus, but also the community.”

The event in Williamsburg will take place June 19, 2020, and will be a celebratory day including music, food and performances. The event is expected to take place near the planned Memorial to African Americans Enslaved by the College. The memorial was designed by William Sendor ’11 and is entitled “Hearth,” depicting work for enslaved people, as well as congregation.

“

Juneteenth recognizes the freedom from the centuries of bondage, and so it's important to recognize that also wihtin the larger community within the African American community, acknowledging that this was a turning point, and that we dont forget it, that we don't forget where we come from because that's always important.

“

KARINA VIZZONI FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR

— Lynn Allen

Williamsburg City Council member Benming Zhang ’16 J.D. ’20 spoke on the significance of this holiday throughout the community.

“The City has a vibrant and significant African American narrative that extends beyond the walls of the College,” Zhang said in an email.

“We in the City have been long overdue in telling those stories, and a lot of those stories have come hand-in-hand with the College's history, too. It is just as important that our greater community understands, appreciates, and observes a more complete and rich historical perspective.”

Zhang added that the memorial and celebration is especially appropriate given the rich American history of Williamsburg and its surrounding areas.

“We are told that Thomas Jefferson would later use his college experiences from Williamsburg to author the ideals inscribed within Declaration of Independence ‘that all men are created equal’,” Zhang said. “… Thus, I think it is befitting, appropriate, and long overdue that we tell a more complete story of American independence. That Juneteenth represents another landmark chapter in America's struggle and aspirations to fulfill the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence.”

The memorial and the Juneteenth commemoration align with many goals of the Lemon Project. This celebration represents an ongoing effort to acknowledge the role of African Americans in the establishment of the College and the Williamsburg community.

Alison Gray ’20, a student involved with The Lemon Project, explained that Juneteenth aligns with the goals of the Lemon Project.

“I think it's important for the Lemon Project to commemorate Juneteenth because our mission is to rectify the wrongs perpetrated against African Americans by William & Mary,” Gray said in an email. “An incredibly important part of rectifying these wrongs is recognizing the history that has been erased and bringing it to the forefront to be remembered and memorialized.”

The Lemon Project is dedicated to researching the College’s history involving slavery, as well as its present and future ties with the African American community.

“Juneteenth is sort of a way to recognize the end of slavery, and so it fits into our goals and teaches us about the past, but also enhances our present and strengthens the future,” Allen said.

“I think as we get these stories out there, it will only, I think, positively impact our future as we move forward as a community and as a campus.”

Members of the Lemon Project are on the planning committee for Juneteenth and will be involved in the planning of the program, working alongside others to make suggestions about events for the commemoration and celebration.

“William & Mary's campus was built by enslaved people,” Gray said. “It’s important to understand the oppression and trauma that enslaved people endured in the spaces that we now occupy on campus, and it’s just as important understand moments in enslaved people’s lives that mattered to them, like emancipation. So I think celebrating Juneteenth greatly adds to the Lemon Project’s effort to commemorate and memorialize the lives of these people.”

Currently, a committee comprised of Williamsburg community members, faculty, students and staff is involved in planning the event. The committee is chaired by Chief Diversity Officer Chon Glover, and the group has been planning since last fall.

“I think it will encourage students to learn more about African American history and to reflect on the history that W&M carries as well,” Gray said. “Although a lot of students will be away for the summer, I hope everyone will get a chance to visit campus for the celebration.”

The city of Williamsburg, as well as the YorkJames City-Williamsburg area NAACP are also heavily involved in the celebration.

“Ultimately, I am optimistic that we all spur frank and much-needed dialogues and conversations about race and our institution's histories,” Zhang said. “I know that the City Council will continue to work hand-in-hand with the NAACP and William & Mary to promote and to encourage this collaborative celebration.

It reflects the unprecedented strength of the City and College's relationship that has grown stronger over the years.”

Ultimately, the College will share this inaugural Juneteenth celebration with its entire regional community, as well as the history and tradition that surrounds it.

“Juneteenth recognizes the freedom from centuries of bondage, and so it’s important to recognize that also within the larger community, within the African American community, acknowledging that this was a turning point, and that we don’t forget it, that we don’t forget where we come from because that’s always important,” Allen said.

Recent Northern Virginia yield rates decline at the College

Matriculation rates consistently underperform those at UVA, experience downward trend NOVA ADMISSIONS from page 1

College that outpace UVA’s fees by several thousand dollars.

According to Wolfe, this price difference may have contributed to the College’s stalling yield rates, particularly among families without financial need who are ineligible for the “William & Mary Promise” — many of whom live in affluent regions like Northern Virginia.

“For students that don’t have financial need defined by the federal methodology … William and Mary is more expensive,” Wolfe said. “... For entering first year students this year at William and Mary, the cost of tuition, fees, room and board is close to $8,000 more than entering students at the University of Virginia.

That price difference has grown some, particularly over the past decade ... that has probably had a little bit of an impact.”

Wolfe said that demographic shifts in Northern Virginia have also contributed to yield gaps between the College and UVA, as influxes of families and prospective students from diverse backgrounds bring new perspectives on the admissions process.

To some families from outside the country, the College’s small, intimate setting may be mismatched with their expectations of a traditional university experience, potentially contributing to the College’s declining yield of students from diverse portions of the state.

“It’s a changing population and a changing demographic, where you have students and families who are new to the region, new to the area, often

UVA, College admissions decline in yield rates from Northern Virginia College consistently underperforms in first-time, in-state university student matriculation rates compared with UVA

new to the country,” Wolfe said. “... Particularly the case in Northern Virginia, when you consider some of the growth there, you have a number of students and families where parents grew up overseas or attended university overseas, and their original impression or understanding of the university system is one where ‘university’ and ‘larger university’ means one thing, whereas a place that’s called ‘college’ means

something different.”

In addition to first generation families, Lady added that wealthy families — which are relatively common in Northern Virginia — also approach college admissions from a unique perspective.

Some families’ willingness to pay tuition at private or outof-state schools weakens the College’s selling point as an affordable in-state option, since prospective students can

fund their education elsewhere.

“There’s certainly a plethora of affluent people in the Northern Virginia area who even if their kid just wants a different experience and has to pay full rate for it,” Lady said, “... the kids from this area are phenomenal and have worked incredibly hard to earn the admissions that they’ve earned, and it’s typical that they also have other selective schools among their options.”

Facing rising competitiveness, Wolfe said that the College will maintain extensive recruitment efforts in Northern Virginia.

While he noted that he and his fellow admissions representatives strive to visit every high school in the area as part of their recruitment agenda, Wolfe argued that the College’s branding is vital — and suggested that small steps like referencing the College as a ‘university’ in promotional

material can play key roles in bringing the region’s competitive applicants back into the fold in Williamsburg.

Lady suggested that the College should confront its misperceptions in general to combat declining yield rates in Northern Virginia.

“That’s the other issue: we don’t get airtime,” Lady said. “... That’s the problem. UVA, from the lens of students and parents, is a great school and great education, and I think that it’s in that order. I think when you talk about William and Mary, they’re like ‘Oh God, it’s so hard’ … that’s what I hear whenever I try to talk to people.”

Methods This article compared the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia since both schools are selective, public in-state schools characterized as “Public Ivies.”

The Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce defines the region of Northern Virginia as Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William Counties, as well as the independent cities of Manassas, Manassas Park, Falls Church, Fairfax City and Alexandria. Since independent cities have relatively small pools of prospective students and subsequently feature fluctuating yield rates, they are excluded from this analysis and only the four counties are evaluated.

This article used data from the State Council of Higher Education, which details Virginia’s in-state admissions from 2005 to 2019.

Editor's Note: Data Editor Leslie Davis '21 and Data Associate Editor Matt Lowrie '22 created data visualization graphics for this article.

Page 4

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, Februrary 25, 2020

CAMPUS

Talk discusses effects of southern border wall

Anthropologists address disruption to regional communities, wildlife As part of the anthropology department’s “Brown Bag” series, University of Richmond anthropologists Margaret E. Dorsey and Miguel Díaz-Barringa visited the College of William and Mary Feb. 19 to discuss the cultural impact of the United States-Mexico border wall construction on the surrounding population. During the talk, Dorsey and Díaz-Barringa discussed their new book “Fencing in Democracy: Border Walls, Necrocitizenship, and the Security State,” in which they argue that the border’s construction establishes a culture of exclusion as residents near the construction are largely left out of the conversation regarding border security and are also deprived of constitutional rights.

Dorsey and Díaz-Barringa’s discussion focused specifically on border wall construction within the Texas Rio Grande region, where they have spent a significant amount of time conducting anthropological research.

According to Díaz-Barringa, this area and other similar locations along the U.S.-Mexico border are often misrepresented by the federal government. Consequentially, the media also depicts these places as barren and dangerous wherein the people themselves are portrayed inaccurately or, as often the case, deprived entirely of voice.

“We view the border as a visual ethnographic space, a space portrayed as a warzone,” Díaz-Barringa said. “A space in which reporters and the media often take on the perspective of state agents and relies on information from them becoming part of a larger argument for increased border militarization.”

Díaz-Barringa went on to describe the border as a state of exception, wherein the government has, in some cases, paradoxically suspended its own laws in order to uphold others. This is the case regarding the Real ID Act of 2009 and its subsequent amendments, which have

“

given Department of Homeland Security the ability to suspend all laws necessary to construct the border wall in what Díaz-Barringa called the largest waiver of laws in U.S. history. He perceives this practice to be aligned with the U.S. government’s longstanding tradition of dispossessing its citizens, particularly those of Mexican descent, of their land and property. Nevertheless, Díaz-Barringa emphasized that border residents continue to fight back against this narrative.

“While this thing is a legal reality, ordinary residents demonstrate that they themselves have agency as they push, shove and talk back to the nation-state’s overwhelming drive to make this state of exception normal,” Díaz-Barringa said. “One of the things that fascinates us is how protests continue even though time after time legal challenges were mounted and dismissed right away because of the feeling that people are not giving up.”

Dorsey and Díaz-Barringa’s research aimed at dismantling the false stereotype of border life and culture perpetuated by the media and federal government. They sought to emphasize that in southern Texas, the U.S.Mexico border wall is not isolated from the population, but in reality bisects several communities, cuts off a nature preserve from tourism and resources and even goes through a university. Moreover, the wall itself is, at times, two miles inside the U.S., quite literally excluding anything that may lie south of it from what is perceived as part of the country.

The pair hopes to use their photo essay, comprised of images taken while conducting research at the Texas-Mexico border, to develop a counternarrative highlighting the communities that have been bisected by the border wall. Dorsey discussed examples featured in their research that have been or will be significantly impacted by the wall’s presence, beginning with the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge. The corridor is intended to protect and maintain local wildlife habitats. However, 75 percent of the area already has, or will be, impacted by the border wall construction. This

In both cases, in domestic political economy and regional geopolitics, I see China’s involvement in some ways as destabilizing, making problems that existed there already somewhat worse.

— Daniel Markey

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SARAH GREENBERG FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

includes the national butterfly center and the Santa Ana National Wildlife Center, where a border wall is set to be built.

Dorsey then discussed the Palm Tree Forests, the second case study featured in her and Díaz-Barringa’s research. This region, densely populated with palm trees and tropical wildlife, are currently protected as preserves and sanctuaries by the Nature Conservancy and Audubon. Against the conservancy’s wishes, DHS took legal action and constructed the border wall within the Palm Tree Forests’ territory. This in turn has had a negative effect on the area’s tourism and wildlife.

The final example Dorsey referenced during the talk was the Old Hidalgo Pump House and Museum, a site significant to the history of irrigation and farming. The museum is bisected by the border wall, which prevents tourists from accessing nearby trails, and nearby border patrol creates an unwelcoming environment that Dorsey witnessed first-hand.

“We led a group of international representatives attending a United Nations conference on human trafficking on a tour of the border wall,” Dorsey said. “We took them to this spot and reminded them that this portion of the border wall is almost two miles north of the Rio Grande, the international boundary between Texas and Mexico. Nonetheless, they did not believe they could cross the threshold without entering Mexico and stayed on the northern side of the fence.”

Caroline Watson M.A. ’21 found Dorsey and Díaz-Barringa’s discussion of the border’s role in creating a cultural divide and depriving residents of their legal rights and creating confusion regarding the U.S.-Mexico international boundary particularly intriguing.

“I thought it was really interesting how they got into this idea that the border wall acts as itself a political boundary, so it’s kind of superseding the actual geopolitical boundary and that in turn defines people’s identity and ideas of where their citizen status begins and ends,” Watson said.

CAMPUS

Visiting professor analyzes US political culture, conservative media Campi explores role of authoritarian media, propaganda in portrayal of women PETER FAVRET THE FLAT HAT

Friday, Feb. 21, visiting professor Ashleigh Campi hosted a talk entitled “How Propaganda Works: Race and Gender in Conservative Media,” where she discussed her thoughts on the portrayal of women and people of color within conservative news media.

Assistant government professor Claire McKinney introduced Campi.

McKinney expressed excitement for the dialogue of Campi’s talk and hoped that the audience would reflect on the conversation throughout the discussion.

“Thank you for coming and our briefly delayed start time,” McKinney said. “I’m really happy to introduce Ashleigh Campi at Loyola Marymount University and also a University of Chicago alum, and hopefully we can have a really good engagement on the paper that was circulated and the topic on conservative media.”

Campi opened the talk with an assertion that American politics has long contained a streak of authoritarianism that is often ignored or overlooked as many choose to view American history with rose-colored glasses. Such a lens, Campi explained, causes the authoritarian streak in American politics to be hidden in plain sight.

Campi presented the idea that a democratic society is defined by a belief in universal education

that instills a commitment to diversity, tolerance and equality in America’s citizenry. According to Campi, children in America are taught from a very young age to come to decisions as a group and to respect others’ opinions, while secondary education teaches students more complex social and moral reasoning to provide oversight to those in positions of power.

Then, Campi contrasted democratic political culture with the features of authoritarian political culture. Campi pointed to the presence of strictly partisan support in outlets such as Fox News, which she explained leans more to the right on the political scale. Second, Campi explained that one feature of authoritarian political culture is the demonization of political opponents, and she added that authoritarian political culture involves the reporting of falsehoods or opinions as fact.

The talk then transitioned from discussion to the usage of video clips from Fox News, which Campi used to show examples of how authoritarianism and anti-democratic political culture were being created and fostered by the media outlet. She explained that her choice of Fox News as an example is due to the network’s prevalence in American mainstream. In 2002, Fox News nearly doubled the viewership of other networks such as CNN and MSNBC, and Campi believes that the outlet is largely responsible for institutionalizing

anti-democratic politics in America.

The clip shown by Campi depicted a female Hillary Clinton supporter named Tamara Holder flanked by Fox News anchor Sean Hannity and alt-right pundit Gavin McGuiness. In the video, Hannity asks a question regarding the gender wage gap citing statistics from a far-right leaning newspaper. Holder questions the source of the statistic and Hannity does not answer her directly. Instead, he hands over the microphone to McGuiness, who instead of answering Holder’s question, adds his own thoughts to the topic.

Campi explains that the male interjection seen in the video resulted in an inaccurate portrayal of liberal opinions. Emphasizing the use of language

by McGuinness, Campi asked the audience to recognize how McGuinness attempts to make Holder and other liberal viewers appear weak, while supporting more conservative ideals.

“McGuiness levels over-the-top assertions of white male supremacy,” Campi said. “The term trolling celebrates the act of exposing the weakness of liberals while deflecting critique by claiming that speakers are ... just being provocative.”

According to Campi, the way in which Hannity reacted was also extremely problematic. In the clip he laughed and smiled at McGuinness’s over-the-top assertions that women make less money than men because women choose a path of less income. Although Hannity did not openly

agree with him, Campi believes his behavior showed more approval, or at least a tolerance, for McGuiness’s ideas rather than for Holder’s views.

Campi believes that these staged themes of dominance are exactly how authoritarian political culture spreads, particularly when the dominance occurs over liberal commentators who are not white men.

Campi explained that a social hierarchy that places white males above all is an idea that has been perpetuated throughout American history, and she argues that the historical presence of such hierarchy makes authoritarian positions easier to agree with in present times. Those who oppose the hierarchy, according to Campi, are painted as anti-American or a threat to the country where white male commentators, police and even motivated citizens become the defenders of such ideals.

Campi believes that, with enough authoritarian media, certain citizens may carry out violent acts against the very marginalized communities discussed on those media outlets.

After the talk Vera Choo ’19 shared her thoughts on the underlying themes of Campi’s talk, and the construction of news media.

“Constructions of race and gender are more pervasive and active than we think they are,” Choo said. “How they act in news media ... delegitimizes people’s positions.”

Sam Jones to retire June 2020, Amy Sebring will fulfill position’s duties College consolidates finance, administration, technology positions into new role of Chief Operating Officer JONES from page 1

completed in Fall 2022. Ambler and Jones are currently co-chairs of the building committee.

“It’s hard for me to imagine W&M without Sam Jones in a key leadership role,” Ambler said. “Working with him has been a privilege and he’s taught me a great deal. Though much of his work may not be immediately apparent to students, Mr. Jones has been a driving force in creating the W&M students see and experience today.

Students should know that they have always had a steadfast champion in Sam Jones.”

In her email to students and faculty, Rowe explained the consolidation of roles and introduced Sebring as assuming the new role of Chief Operating Officer.

“Four years ago, Amy Sebring was selected in a national search as Sam Jones’s eventual successor — with a view to the continuity that a gradual transition in this essential role would provide. She has proved a trusted and effective leader,” Rowe said.

Sebring has been a part of the College’s administration since 2016. Under her new role, she will oversee the strategic management of the College’s finances.

According to the College’s press release, this includes the areas of auxiliary services, emergency management and public safety, facilities, finance, human resources, information technology, risk management and compliance.

“The structure streamlines administrative

operations under a single, cohesive team under one executive,” Sebring said in an email. “In so doing, it will allow us to work in a coordinated fashion to ensure that William & Mary is an exceptional place to live, learn, work and flourish.”

Sebring expressed a willingness to work with all members of the College community to ensure a smooth transition and a successful start.

“Having been at William & Mary for four years in my current role, I have the advantage of starting with a foundational understanding of the people, places, and programs that make this university special,” Sebring said. “As I transition into the new role, I will be spending time listening to the campus community to validate and expand my current understanding and to partner with academic leaders to advance organizational sustainability and excellence.”

Jones currently chairs the College’s Emergency Management Team, which responds to campus emergencies and unexpected situations. Students have heard from Jones in his recent emails concerning coronavirus updates and weather advisories.

Sebring will be taking on this role, along with many others, when Jones departs in June.

Beyond her tasks relating to human resources and emergency management, Sebring indicated that she has a broader vision for the position as it pertains to the College’s strategic planning for the coming years.

“William & Mary is at a pivotal

moment as it establishes its strategic said he plans to remain in Virginia for his plan on spending much time there,” Jones direction for the next decade,” Sebring retirement and continue a life of service. said. “We will look for opportunities to serve said. “To effectively support our “Going forward my wife and I have fallen that area in some fashion even as we walk students, faculty and staff, we will need in love with the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the beach and Town of Cape Charles.” to match the level of excellence we expect in teaching, learning, and research with excellence across all university operations.”

B o t h Sebring and Jones share the common sentiment that the exceptional students, faculty and staff make the College a special place to work.

“William & Mary is an exceptional 4374 New Town Avenue | Suite 100 | Monday – Sunday | 8am – 8pm place made exceptional 757-772-6124 | VelocityUC.com by its people,” Jones said.

J o n e s

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opinions

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

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Page 5

STAFF COLUMN

Former editor-in-chief bids farewell

more angry emails than I can count. I ran for editor-in-chief because of my passion for this paper, and I was happy to endure every second of the trials it threw at me. However, I am also hopeful for a future in which The Flat Hat’s leadership does not have to weather so many storms. As I move forward and leave this paper behind, my wish is that the people who throw their lives and souls into producing the best content possible for this campus be recognized as the superstars they are. I applaud all the students at the College for holding our student press to the highest standards possible and hope they continue to do so — I just also hope that the students of the student press are lauded for their efforts. Because I know these efforts are never ending.

Moving forward, I am so pleased to be able to hand the mantle of editor-in-chief off to my friend and previous managing editor Ethan Brown ‘21. I know that he will be the fearless leader this paper needs. He embodies many qualities I admire. He is fastidious yet flexible, completely dedicated yet makes everything look so easy. My faith in the success of his tenure is unshakeable — I know he will lead with the grace and maturity I have seen from OUTGOING FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF him throughout this past year.

Taking on the newly minted job of magazine editor-in-chief is Gavin Aquin-Hernández ‘22. I have seen I remember the first time I stepped foot in the basement of Campus Center, en route to The Flat Hat office. him grow from intern to sports editor to one of the most committed and knowledgeable editors this paper is The lights were flickering, voices echoed in the hall and there was an old bristly Christmas tree in the corner of lucky to have, and I am lucky to have him as a friend. I am so excited to see what he does with my brainchild the office with a Halloween mask tied to it like a star. I was confused but intrigued. I didn’t know it then, but this of the magazine. I know that he will inspire creativity and hard work in the people he leads on this endeavor. office and the people in it would come to define my time at the College of William and Mary and beyond.

Furthermore, I am eager to see what Gavin accomplishes throughout the rest of his college career and after his Soon after, I was admitted to the intern program and began attending news-writing sessions and receiving graduation — I know it will be stupendous. lessons on the ethics of journalism. I also found myself spending late Monday nights in the office in the company Our new managing and executive editors Emma Ford ‘22 and Adithi Ramakrishnan ‘22 will take on the reigns of new and exciting friends with a passion for journalism that lit a spark in me. I learned how to write a news of their new roles with vigor and purpose; I have been continually impressed with their efforts to improve our story — my first one was so horrifically bad they almost couldn’t print it — but my news editor mentors Sarah reporting over the past year and I am sure it will continue. Claire Hogan ‘22 will be taking over as digital media Smith ‘19 and Emily Chaumont ‘18 walked me through it. They taught me everything from how to correctly editor, and she has already made strides to improve our digital reporting. Her calm and clarity compounded with use an em dash to what a nutgraf is incredible ambition is a dynamic to how to cover a BOV meeting. In combination that will continue to the process, I also learned what the impress me. The wonderful and best sandwich from Marketplace is, uplifting Leslie Davis ‘21 will be how to support a friend in crisis and creating her own path on staff and what classes to avoid if you need to be trailblazing the way as data editor. in The Flat Hat office until 4 a.m. on Her efforts have already been Monday nights. I learned the basics of felt on staff and will strengthen photojournalism and professionalism our writing and reporting. I am from the digital media prowess of impatient to see Anna Boustany Kayla Sharpe ‘17, and then later, how ‘21 take on the role of operations to keep the website from dying from coordinator with energy and the never-ending support of Jack aplomb; I predict that we will have Bowden ‘19. Lauren Bavis ‘19, Rachel the best yet intern program yet.

Wilmans ‘19 and Kate Sandberg ‘19 The new news team of copy-edited our articles until they Charles Coleman ‘22, Carmen were read through and through, and Honker ‘21 and Lulu Dawes ‘23 then cheerily sent them back to us. is a powerful one. Their coverage They held us to high standards until of Williamsburg events and the last second they were in the office. happenings has already been Sam Dreith ‘18 inspired light and superb, and I look forward to positivity in the office, Heather Baier reading their articles and seeing ‘20 brought a love of data, Leonor their page design as the year Grave ‘20 inspired us all to be better progresses. Zoe Beardsley ‘22 and and work harder and never ever give Nathan Seidel ‘22 will continually up until the last possible second. impress me with their coverage Madeline Monroe ‘19 was a beacon of the many Tribe sports events, of stability and spirit and taught me to no matter how disappointing not take myself so seriously and have the results. Gavin and Matthew a White Russian every now and then.

Kortan ‘22 will lead the way with Brendan Doyle ‘20 has the strength of cultural and club reporting as many well-formed, gracious, dedicated new variety editors, a role I am people in one very tall body, and I confident they both will take on have been incredibly lucky to have him with ease. Chloe Folmar ‘22 will as my executive editor. Maggie More be reprising her role as opinions ‘20 has the energy of many people editor along with Alyssa Slovin in one, and her creativity and always ‘22. I know that they both will sunny outlook have inspired the rest of work hard to represent the voice the office. I have been impacted by so of the campus in the opinions many people who have already left this section and represent a diverse office or will do so very soon. They are set of opinions that will create the reason that I was elected editor-inconversation and interaction with GRAPHIC AND HEADSHOTS BY chief, and the harbingers of the career our readership. Jamie Holt ‘22 will KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT in journalism I hope to have someday. be reprising her role as photos editor This paper could not run as smoothly as it does without the support of the College and all the lovely people with the same ambition and beautiful photographs she has shown this past year. Rebecca Klinger ‘22 will be who work for it. stepping into the role of social media editor and making sure our content reaches the masses with finesse and I want to especially thank Brian Whitson, Suzanne Clavet, Erin Zagursky, Anne Arsenau and Chelsea Spady ease. Last, but definitely not least, Lillian Parr ‘21, Lizzie Brown ‘22 and Cana Clark ‘22 will be ensuring no typos for answering floods of emails, supporting our new ideas and always being there when we need a helping hand. make it to print as copy chiefs; I know that they will work to make everyone’s writing better and leave funny Handing over this paper to the new staff of editors tonight is bittersweet. I have endured countless sleepless editing comments to boot. I am sad to leave this paper but so happy to leave it in all these capable hands. nights (made up by daytime naps on the office couches), 40-hour work weeks equivalent to a full-time job and Email Nia Kitchin at

Nia Kitchin

STAFF COLUMN

Bloomberg grounds presidential campaign in fear, discrimination

Aidan White

FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

It is incredibly important that whoever wins the Democratic presidential primaries can beat President Donald Trump in November and clean up the mess he has made. Fellow Democrats, if we want to beat Trump and bring about the sweeping change that this country desperately needs, we must not nominate Mike Bloomberg.

You may know Bloomberg from the flood of TV and internet ads that he has spent hundreds of millions of his own dollars to make.

This strategy of self-funding has made it possible for Bloomberg to spread his message without working too hard to defend his ideas on the campaign trail or the debate stage. One such ad that keeps coming up on my YouTube feed proclaims, “Mike got it done as mayor and he’ll get it done as president.”

Perhaps it’s worth examining what exactly Bloomberg got done.

From 2002 to 2013, Mike Bloomberg was the mayor of New York City. He served as a Republican, and did not become a Democrat until late 2018 — not even two years ago. As mayor, Bloomberg expanded the racist “stop-and-frisk” policy that allowed police officers to target African Americans and other minorities. Under Bloomberg’s

leadership, the New York Police Department spied on Muslims using undercover agents and secret informants.

New York Times writer Jamelle Bouie said that under Bloomberg, New York City became “a quasi-authoritarian state for many of its black, brown and Muslim residents.”

Don’t just take my word for it. Bloomberg has been incredibly open about his racist leadership. In 2015, he told a crowd at the Aspen Institute, “Ninety-five percent of your murders — murderers and murder victims — fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male, minorities, 16 to 25.

That’s true in New York, that’s true in virtually every city.” When explaining why he allowed the NYPD to target minority neighborhoods, Bloomberg said, “Because that’s where all the crime is.”

That’s not the only time Bloomberg has publicly expressed his outdated beliefs. Just last year, Bloomberg discussed transgender rights by saying, “If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that’s not a winning formula for most people.”

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren confronted Bloomberg on the non-disclosure agreements that his company signed with employees to keep allegations of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination quiet, Bloomberg would not say how many of these agreements exist and added with a smirk, “None of them accuse me of doing anything other than maybe

they didn’t like a joke I told.” That is a confession of sexual harassment.

Despite all this, Bloomberg’s supporters claim he is the only person who can beat Trump. But Democrats do not win elections by sacrificing our core values. We win by bringing disenfranchised voters into the political system and building broad coalitions of young people, working class people and people of color. That’s what Barack Obama did in 2008, and what Hillary Clinton failed to do in 2016. Mike Bloomberg’s record will make it impossible for him to do that.

In 2016, a New York billionaire with a history of racism, bigotry and sexual misconduct bought his way to the top of the Republican primary field. Trump’s election made it clear that this country needs big, structural change. Bloomberg, a New York billionaire with a long history of racism, bigotry and sexual misconduct, is not the change we need.

Bloomberg’s popularity is based on politics of fear; specifically, fear of another four years of the Trump administration. Trump and the GOP deal in politics of fear. Democrats are better than that.

When faced with threats to our democracy, we do not cower behind wealthy con men who claim to be our only hope. We look to inspiring, precedent-breaking leaders with vision and courage.

We stand in solidarity with the oppressed and the downtrodden and declare in one voice, “Yes we can.” For the sake of the party, the country, and the future of our democracy, do not give Mike Bloomberg the Democratic nomination.

Email Aidan White at amwhite02@email.wm.edu.

GRAPHIC BY ANGELA VASISHTA / THE FLAT HAT

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

STAFF COLUMN

Campus-endorsed restaurants fail to provide sustainable packaging despite campus actions

Elaine Godwin

FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC. EDITOR

Sustainability on campus has become very relevant in recent months due to the increasing appearance of pseudoenvironmental justice warriors, complete with the crusade against plastic straws. On campus, it is easier for students to keep with the status quo, as dining options have reusable or compostable dishes, and recycling bins galore. However, when one steps off campus, they enter the world of single use items, such as plastic utensils and Styrofoam coffee cups. It’s understandable that this will happen to some degree everywhere in the quote-unquote real world, but how does the College of William and Mary explain itself when it pairs with these locations as off-campus retail dining options, most notably Chick-fil-A and Domino’s?

Domino’s is perhaps the lesser evil of the two, as its most popular commodity comes in recyclable cardboard boxes, albeit only if they are not too grease-stained by the end of their use. If any parts of the boxes have food stuck to them, or are grease-stained, these portions must be thrown away rather than recycled, which lowers the overall sustainability of the practice, though it is possible to compost if you have easy access to a compost bin. Like any fast food restaurant, they also have spoons, knives and forks made of plastic for their customers’ use, all of which cannot be recycled and take years to decompose fully in a landfill.

Chick-fil-A also has single-use plastic utensils, but they have a

large number of other sustainability problems that outweigh this.

The most pressing sustainability issue is the use of Styrofoam cups, which can take thousands of years to fully break down, if not a million. In the process of breaking down, they can have catastrophic effects for both wildlife and the environment. Even if Chick-fil-A were to transition to recyclable plastic cups, the Tribe Square location offers no recycling bins in store. This means that other recyclable items, such as salad containers and paper bags, overflow into the trash bins and are ultimately landfill bound.

Perhaps even worse is the fact that the restaurant location itself recycles nothing on a large scale, as evidenced by the large number of cardboard shipping boxes found in the dumpsters behind Tribe Square. As the majority of the food at Chick-fil-A is cooked in oil, both the restaurant and the environment could improve by recycling the used cooking oil. Chick-fil-A could also greatly benefit from composting, due to their large degree of food waste such as lemon peels and leftover lettuce.

In light of the five-year sustainability plan outlined by the College, it is shocking that nothing has been done to rectify these unsustainable practices.

Many of the issues that are tangential to the large sources have been semiidentified by the College within the plan, but nothing tangible has been GRAPHIC BY produced.

SUNNY AHN / This THE FLAT HAT tendency to focus on symptoms rather than root causes is rampant in sustainability issues, such as the mentioned straw crusade of 2018 and 2019. If the College is intent on continuing the partnership with these two locations, they should make sure that the restaurants are remaining in accordance with our sustainability plan, or discontinue their formal sponsorship of Domino’s and Chick-fil-A. Email Elaine Godwin at sgodwin@email.wm.edu.

STAFF COLUMN

College tours during winter months create different, meaningful presentation of campus, add value

Anhthu Cung FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

At the moment, it seems like you can’t go anywhere at the College of William and Mary without running into a college tour.

There always seems to be someone walking backwards and talking to a group of prospective students and their parents about the College’s history, the school’s clubs or the COLL curriculum.

These tours can sometimes be inconvenient to current students, especially if we are on our way to classes or are trying to study at one of the tour stops. Why are there so many tours happening right now? Is February even a good time to be showing off our campus? I’ve thought a lot about these questions recently as I’ve encountered more and more tours and as I had my family visit me at the College for the first time.

I was excited to show them my new home, but again, I wondered if this was the right time of year to be visiting. To me, it seemed like every

season in Williamsburg but winter came with its own beauty.

I myself visited for the first time in spring, and afterwards, I always remembered the College the way I saw it then: full of life with its chirping birds, budding leaves and blooming flowers.

In summer, life blossoms beyond plants and animals, and is carried through laughter and voices calling out to one another on the Sunken Garden. Finally, with fall comes the deep reds and oranges that complement the Crim Dell and mark change as students begin a new school year.

cold, the sky was a clear blue and the sun shone its crisp light through all of the treetops.

Walking in front of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, we had our knit scarves, warm coffees and the view of the great green expanse of the Sunken Garden.

Touring in February gives people a unique perspective of the campus they would not normally see otherwise — it is not the campus that is shown in videos or experienced at the Day for Admitted Students.

Instead, the February campus warmly welcomes with its quiet poetry, as if slowly waking up again after a long, refreshing winter slumber.

It’s a campus that inspires contemplation and reflection, but it’s a campus that only those who look for it get to see.

Seeing all of the tours around campus forces us as students to see the College through the eyes of the visiting prospective students.

It reminds us of when we were in their shoes, and it reminds us of why we came to this university in the first place.

It’s important not to lose sight of that initial inspiration, but it’s also important that we are able to see the school in a different light.

As I was showing my family around, I knew they were falling in love with the school, and to my surprise, I too was falling in love all over again.

Email Anhthu Cung at atcung@email.wm.edu.

There always seems to be someone walking backwards and talking to a group of prospective students and their parents about the College’s history, the school’s clubs or the COLL curriculum.

What does winter, especially after the holidays and winter break, have to offer?

As I was showing my family around campus on a Saturday morning, it became clear that I was wrong to so quickly make these assumptions.

Though the February weather was

Page 6

STAFF COLUMN

College meal plans necessitate extraneous student expenses, campus residents choice removed

Chloe Folmar

FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

My first semester of college, I enrolled in the standard Gold 19 meal plan at the College. Each week, I failed to meet the quota of 19 meal swipes, and my leftover swipes (worth $7 or $8 each) would disappear. For that reason, I switched over to the Block 175 meal plan, which offers the least meal swipes of the three plans available for underclassmen living on campus.

These past couple of semesters, I still have not been able to use the full 175 meal swipes in a semester. If it were my choice — as an individual who should be able to decide what, when and how often I eat — I’d opt for a different meal plan, or maybe none at all. But since I live on campus, I am required to continue on Block 175 despite its inconsistencies with my lifestyle.

By failing to use a full 175 meal swipes a semester, I’m being forced to wash hundreds of dollars down the drain — in my case, after adding it all up, over $1,000 per academic year.

Last semester, I tried to petition my meal plan and request a smaller one. I proved how many extra meal swipes I had and how much money that was costing me, but my petition was denied because it didn’t show “outstanding reason.”

Last semester, I tried to petition my meal plan and request a smaller one. I proved how many extra meal swipes I had and how much money that was costing me, but my petition was denied because it didn’t show “outstanding reason.”

I think $1,000 per year is outstanding. It’s unacceptable for the College to dictate my lifestyle by guilting me into eating more of its mediocre food just to get my money’s worth out of an obligatory meal plan.

Personally, I’m solving this issue by moving off campus next semester primarily so that I can control what I eat.

But not every student at the College has that option.

In fact, even less students have it this year than did last year. The College informed us last year that its new program obligates sophomores, as well as freshmen, to live on campus. So why is the College making these decisions to force its meal plans on students?

It seems obvious to me: money. By making me pay for a meal plan, the College is cashing in on an extra few hundred dollars that are probably subsidizing someone else’s food, so I’m using my money to pay for a student who eats more than me in the buffet-style dining halls.

The College needs to use force to make enough money off of its dining facilities because the quality of their food is not up to par.

If the College were to allow students to make other decisions, it would be at the loss of our dining facilities.

The solution to this problem is not to force students to eat in the dining halls by requiring them to pay for a meal plan. Instead, the College should put substantial effort into upgrading Dining Services so that their food and convenience is worth choosing over other alternatives. At the very least, the College should expand the range of options so that we can use our meal swipes at other locations, similar to what they’ve done with Tribe Truck.

But the fact remains: college students are adults. We can and should choose the amount and frequency of our meals, and the meal plan policies at the College need to reflect that.

We’re all already paying enough to attend the College without being forced to pay extra for other people’s food.

The College should be improving its services so that they are more convenient and appealing to students rather than depriving students of money and choice.

Email Chloe Folmar at csfolmar@email.wm.edu.

variety

Variety Editor Matthew Kortan Variety Editor Gavin Aquin Hernåndez flathat.variety@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Page 7

T w eets be t we e n t he sheets

“william & mary crushes 3.0” serves as cute, quirky community for students to express missed connections, long lost loves; most commonly used words reveal insights ETHAN BROWN // FLAT HAT EDITOR IN CHIEF

Since spring 2019, hopeless romantics at the College of William and Mary have found solace in “william & mary crushes 3.0,” a Facebook group created solely to publish anonymous crushes and missed connections around campus. With over 2,000 followers, “crushes” is now a fixture of College kitsch, and it has quickly become a premier campus-specific social media page.

According to Gavin Meister ‘21, one of the four moderators on “crushes,” the page is designed to foster cute and meaningful interactions between students, especially those who see each other around campus without ever actually formally meeting — referred to in “crushes” lingo as missed connections.

Meister said that roughly five to 10 crushes are published each day and indicated that the frequency of crush

submissions is so high that moderators have to schedule them several weeks in advance. As of late February, Meister and his fellow moderators have already scheduled most submitted crushes to be posted through March, creating a substantial backlog of miscellaneous notes.

While it is obvious that “crushes” occupies an important place on a campus full of shy, awkward twamps, my conversation with Meister sparked curiosity: among the dizzying dozens of crushes appearing on our newsfeeds, what themes are most common? Are crushes primarily submitted by individuals interested in romantic or platonic relationships with their unrequited love? What locations around the College are most likely to be hotspots for missed connections? Most of all, what traits and attributes are most frequently mentioned when students confess their affections?

Using the 80 most recent crushes posted on the page as of Feb. 21, I created a word cloud to visualize the most commonly used phrases and words employed to describe long-lost crushes and connections in Williamsburg. I omitted names and personally identifiable information, which were common denominations among many crush submissions.

The three words battling for supremacy include “know,” “today” and “cute.” I was wholly unsurprised by their frequency, since it seems that almost every other post that pops up on my newsfeed is some variant of “Does anyone know the cutie in [insert location] today?”

Looking beyond the top few most common words, I became increasingly intrigued by the generated word cloud’s results. A disappointing finding was our campus’s lack of diverse syntax. Most of the positive adjectives used to describe crushes are trite, pithy words that seem more at home in a fifth grader’s essay about what they did over the summer. Words like “amazing”, “sweet” and “beautiful” are so painfully cliché that their inclusion on the “crushes” page undermines their appeal.

Another particularly interesting find: of the dozens of academic buildings, residence halls and random spots around the College, only “Sadler” jumps out as a prominent reference on the submissions I examined.

There must be something about the dining hall that brings out the friskier side of people, or at least something about the dark side of Center Court since the favorable lighting there occludes even the most unattractive of bodily flaws.

It is also clear from the word cloud that students at the College are a dramatic bunch, due to our thorough enjoyment of superlatives like “really” and “best.” I know I am guilty of this, having submitted crushes on a fair share of my friends with approximately eight superlatives describing them in each post, but seeing it thrown in my face here makes me somewhat concerned that we are too easily enamored.

Most depressing, though, is the size of the word “wish” in the word cloud. It makes sense that on an anonymous crushes page that many people would be forlorn about their missed opportunities to meet the individual of their dreams; the whole purpose of “crushes” is to cast loneliness out into the void in hopes of finding reciprocal affection. But in the busy and chaotic world of a college student, it is discomforting that so many people are letting love, platonic and romantic, pass them by, only to post longingly about it on social media.

As a hopeless romantic, I see “crushes” as a true fixture of campus since it seeks to replace those sad, isolated moments with joyous ones — and that is something worth supporting.

Meister echoed these sentiments at our meeting, and regardless of content, he said that “crushes” will be here for time to come.

“Keep having crushes,” Meister said.

“Not only so we don’t run out of things to post, but because it’s good to have things to think about and look forward to, crushes, in general, make us move towards something in some way.”

COURTESY IMAGE / WORDCLOUDS.COM Most commonly used phrases and words from 80 most recent crushes posted on “william & mary crushes 3.0” page as of Feb. 21

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Page 8

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Up in the Air Members of College’s queer community debate merits of anal douching, make recommendations based on personal experience

“PHILLIP MAIBUT” // BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST s a gay man at the completely unnecessary to have College of William an enjoyable experience in the and Mary, I’m boudoir, or in the backseat of constantly inundated someone’s Jeep Cherokee (we’ve with questions from my straight all been there, right?). There are friends about anal sex. Through plenty of alternative methods of suppressed giggles, they curiously preparation that are less invasive ask if it hurts (yes) and if it’s and equally effective. I’ve been enjoyable (also yes), acting like having anal sex without any I’m revealing incidents since secrets from before Donald the “Kama Trump became Sutra” even president — and though that feels like an If you’ve ever dreamt a simple eternity ago. of squirting water in Google There are an d ou t of yo ur se lf as search would plenty of other you lay awkwardly in suffice. ways to wash out However, your backdoor. a moldy bathtub, then the largest Whenever I anal douching might quer y I hear anticipate being on be fo r yo u. from my the receiving end heterosexual of anal sex, I have friends a steady recipe for surrounds success. First, I the tradeoffs wake up and have between anal’s sexual pleasure several cups of coffee alongside a and the act’s unenviable fiber-rich breakfast of fruit, soymilk processes of cleaning, preparing and oatmeal. Eating a meal like this and loosening. Granted, if not early in the morning is healthy and properly prepared for, anal empowering, while also having the can be an uncomfortable, added benefit of expelling any and all embarrassing and sensually substances within my body. Then, I go unpleasurable experience — and for a run, followed by another cup of taking time to clean yourself is coffee; throughout all of these errands, an imperative step of any fun I sip on tap water, which relaxes and jaunt downstairs. But when hydrates me. recently chatting with another queer man about his pre-anal prep, I found myself completely shocked when he looked at me with disgust mid-conversation.

“You don’t douche?” he screeched in horror.

The most important step: “That’s disgusting!” taking a shower and rinsing His response downstairs. Use floral, exemplifies a scented soap for the rest prominent rift in of your body, but don’t the community mix any of that noise up of bottoms — in your bits — stick to which in gay a warm, steady flow of terminology clear shower water and denotes you’ll be right as rain. people who If I’m feeling receive during particularly cautious, penetrative I apply a baby wipe sex — and for a quick postdemonstrates shower touch-up, an astounding making me feel lack of confident and awareness clean for whatever about anal lies ahead. sex itself. Some This strategy bottoms swear by anal douching, has never failed me, and it’s the physical act of propelling far less unpleasant than anal water inside of oneself to rid of douching is. If the point of anal any waste or unwanted excrement, prep is to maximize enjoyment as the only tried-and-true and minimize awkwardness, then technique to prepare for anal sex. I fail to see how putting oneself If you’ve ever dreamt of squirting through douching should ever be water in and out of yourself as considered — unless you enjoy the you lay awkwardly in your moldy sensation of water dripping out bathtub, then anal douching of your behind, I’d recommend might be for you. avoiding it at all costs.

Doesn’t that sound awful?

“Philip Maibut” wants you to Douching sounds like an awful explore the wonderful world of experience because it is an awful anal pleasure — without subjecting experience, and it’s one that is yourself to discomfort.

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Douching offers beneficial preparation for penetrative sex, provides courtesy to sexual partners “MIKE KEASTER” // BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST nlike “Phillip,” I do not spontaneous anal sex (this is never the live in some cloud cuckoo move) while on poppers (which loosens fantasy land. While I’m the sphincter muscles — don’t do drugs, happy that he thinks that kids). Needless to say, the classroom in he’s attained the status of some ultimate Blow Hall where this unholy black mass ice queen with the most-perfect, defect took place experienced quite the mess free tuchus, the reality is that most gays that cursed day. struggle with the fear that something — Now I know that these are extreme anything — will go wrong down there situations, but did I want to be listed and that leads to a not-so-fun anal sex as the cause of death on Fido’s death experience filled with crippling anxiety. certificate? Did I want to be the I have yet to have an embarrassing person who had to put in a facilities anal experience in my 20 years of life — emergency clean up request because baruch hashem I didn’t have the — and I’d like decency to clean up to credit that to beforehand? I think the fact that I not. So, I have taken douche before these cautionary The reality is that the 99.9 percent tales to heart. anus is a two-way of my anal The reality is that st re et op er ating only in the anus is a twoexperiences. on e lane — kind of like way street operating However, not everyone is this only in one lane the I-64, but so much lucky when they — kind of like the more appalling. venture into I-64, but so much ass-play, and for more appalling. the unprepared, Consequently, you they are in for a can always expect world of mess. that sometimes The first time that I was exposed to the when a semi is driving down the freeway, messy side of anal was when I was a baby that maybe a few Volkswagen Beetles gay listening to my first horror story of might want to be driving the other way. anal gone awry. Obviously, as hormonal Best way to prepare? Clear out all of the teenagers, we become obsessively curious traffic beforehand. about sex. For LGBTQ+ people, this is only So yes, while squirting a bottle of water up amplified from the fact that we don’t get your behind until it comes back clear might to passively not be your consume ideal vision relationships of a Sunday like ours from afternoon, think popular media. of the kind of However, messes you’re the flip sparing yourself side is that from. When sometimes combined straight people with healthy get bored eating habits too, and they and all of the decide to other quirky experiment things that with the dark “Phillip” side… or the thought up as backside, I “alternatives,” should say. douching can Essentially, be your failsafe this girl I knew method to decided to ensure a lose her anal smooth ride. virginity to her Us bottoms all GRAPHICS BY ASHANTI JONES AND REBECCA KLINGER / THE FLAT HAT boyfriend — want a smooth but like many ride, right? heterosexuals, she knew nothing about Do you want to create a mess for anal douching. Despite the fact that it’s facilities to clean up? Do you want really easy to Google (or Bing if you’re to be directly responsible for the truly morally depraved) “how to have death of a cherished family pet? Can anal sex,” she really went into the anal you face yourself in the mirror after experience blind. committing that crime? The chutzpah As you can imagine, it was a — dare I say, selfishness — of the all wonderfully explosive experience. In the gays who shun douching, while the midst of a steamy night of sex, she taking no other precautions. made a mess. When her boyfriend Unless of course you like causing asked, she conveniently decided messes. I won’t kink shame you if you do, to blame the dog. The dog was but if you decide to blame the dog, you subsequently put down the next week can burn in hell. by his parents due to the incident of “Mike Keaster” wants you to consider supposed incontinence. your sexual partner and their pets Unfortunately, it doesn’t end here. before you decide to get anally railed.

Another friend of mine decided to have Don’t be a douchenozzle — just douche!

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Anal douching unnecessary, uncomfortable, alternatives deserve more consideration

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sportsinside

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Page 9

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tribe dominates CAA foe Delaware 78-60 College ties NCAA record with 11th road win, five players score in double digits ZOE BEARDSLEY FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR Sunday, Feb. 23, William and Mary (19-7, 10-5 CAA) bounced back from its overtime loss to Drexel Friday, Feb. 21 to beat Delaware (6-8, 1015 CAA) 78-60 in its last road game of the season. The Tribe saw multiple players score in double figures as it secured a team win to stay in third in the Colonial Athletic Association standings.

Delaware scored the first points of the quarter, building a 5-0 lead that would end up being its biggest of the night, before the Tribe was able to put points on the board when senior forward Victoria Reynolds made a layup under the basket. After the Blue Hens went ahead 9-4, the Tribe responded, tying the game up 9-9 thanks to a jumper by junior center Gabby Rogers with four minutes and forty-three seconds left in the first quarter.

The College would take its first lead of the game with 3:28 left after sophomore guard Eva Hodson hit a three pointer and gave the Tribe a 14-11 lead. Delaware didn’t let the gap grow too big, outscoring the Tribe by three in the final three minutes to tie the game 18-18 at the end of the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter, neither team was able to build a large lead. After the College went ahead 23-20 after another three-pointer from Hodgson, Delaware responded once again with a jumper and a free throw to tie the game up. With 4:00 left in the half, the Tribe took a 29-23

lead when Reynolds made a layup — its largest lead of the game so far.

Delaware fought back once again, making a layup and a three pointer to cut the lead to 31-28 with 1:57 left in the half. As the clock ran down, freshman center Bre Bellamy made a jumper for the College, and freshman guard Chaniqwa Gilliam hit a three pointer, helping the Tribe finish strong and take a 36-28 lead into the locker room. Reynolds put up eight points at the half and redshirt sophomore Sydney Wagner added seven.

Hodgson and Rogers both contributed six each. The Tribe went 15 of 31 from the field and shot 4-10 from the three-point line. Delaware on the other hand could not buy a basket, shooting a miserable 27 percent from the field and going 1-6 from the three-point line.

The Tribe came out hot to start the third quarter, continuing its momentum from the previous half. Reynolds made a layup in the paint, followed by two made free throws by junior guard Bailey Eichner and a layup by Rogers to push the lead to 42-28.

After Delaware hit a jumper, the Tribe kept the scoring going as Rogers made another layup. Hodgson would add on, capitalizing off a Blue Hen turnover and scoring the layup in transition, while junior guard Nyla Pollard joined in, making another layup and giving the Tribe a 51-34 lead with 4:31 remaining in the quarter.

From the start of the third, the College went on a 15-6 run to take a commanding lead over Delaware and break the game open. The Tribe would push the lead to 20 after Reynolds made a layup under the basket to

make the score 58-38 with 1:18 on the clock. The College ended the quarter winning 60-42, outscoring the Blue Hens by 10.

The fourth quarter saw the Tribe defend its lead, as Delaware attempted to chip away. The Blue Hens could never string together a run, as the College was always able to quickly respond and stifle any hopes of a comeback. After the Blue Hens got a steal and scored a layup early in the quarter, Bellamy scored an easy layup off a fast break. The Tribe would continue to score, as Hodgson hit a three-pointer with 5:53 left in the game, making the score 70-47. There wasn’t much excitement, as the College was able to sit back with its hefty lead and defend, doing so successfully. The game would end with the Tribe winning 78-60.

The victory was a complete team effort, with five players scoring in double figures. Hodgson was the leading scorer for the Tribe, contributing 19 points and three assists — her 25th time in double figures this season.

Hodgson needs just 11 more points to set the single season school record for scoring in a season, as she is currently sitting at 525 total points scored this season. Reynolds added 18 points and seven assists, her ninth straight double-digit scoring performance. Rodgers, Pollard and Wagner each scored 10 points in the victory. The Tribe shot 53.6 percent from the field for the game, and 31.3 percent from three. The win was the College’s 11th road win this season, which is tied for the most in the NCAA. The Tribe returns home for its final three games of the season, its first one coming against Elon Friday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The College narrowly escapes upset bid by James Madison

Loewe scores career high 27 points; Knight, Barnes each add 12 as Tribe wins fourth straight against Dukes

NATHAN SEIDEL FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR The 27 points earned from junior guard Luke Loewe helped the Tribe (20-10, 12-5 CAA) escape James Madison (9-18, 2-14 CAA) 78-74 Saturday, Feb. 22 and maintain its hold on the two seed in the impending Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

The Dukes had a shot to tie the game with less than 30 seconds remaining, but tight defense from senior center Nathan Knight forced the miss that allowed the College to avoid the major upset.

The Tribe led by as many as 14 in a first half that featured the Dukes doing all they could to pressure the post and shut down Knight. After the game, Head coach Dane Fischer noted the importance of having shooters on the outside to counter the Duke’s strategy and the importance of placing freshman guard Miguel Ayesa in the game.

“To start the game, they really packed it in the

paint and they just didn’t guard a couple of guys on the perimeter,” Fischer said. “They really made a conscious effort to keep it out of there. One of the big things was getting Miguel in the game, and he hit a three to stretch it out for us. And, obviously, Luke got going from the outside.”

Loewe started warm and only got hotter throughout the game, burying 10 of his 11 shot attempts including six of seven from three-point range. He noted that his confidence continued to build throughout as shots kept falling.

“You see that first one go in, and it kind of feels better as the game goes on,”Loewe said. “I just kind of got in a rhythm and felt good the whole game.”

A Loewe jumper with just over two minutes to go in the opening half delivered that 14-point Tribe advantage, 38-24. But it was then that the Dukes found their footing, notching a 7-0 run at the end of the period and continuing into the beginning of the second half to tie the game with just over 18 minutes remaining.

The College fought back with a run of its own, with a Knight bucket off an Ayesa feed extending the lead back to nine with 13:36 left in the game. The Dukes once again responded, putting together another run to tie the game with just under six minutes to play and then gained the lead 72-71 on a triple from JMU forward Zach Jacobs with 2:55 left on the clock.

A three and layup from Loewe on the next two Tribe possessions then made it 76-74. A missed three from the Dukes and a Knight free throw gave James Madison a chance to tie it, but the attempt from Jacobs was off the mark. A free throw from senior forward Andy Van Vliet secured the win.

In addition to Loewe’s career-high 27, graduate transfer guard Bryce Barnes and Knight scored 12 apiece and Van Vliet added eight. Ayesa chipped in eight and graduate transfer guard Tyler Hamilton added six with three assists.

After the game, Barnes noted the necessity for a short memory in games where the opponent goes on multiple prolonged scoring runs.

“One thing we talk about as players is the nextplay mindset,” Barnes said. “There were a few times when we needed that stop … but we didn’t get it. In the past, we might have broke down or let it affect us.

But in our minds, we had to get it on the other end.”

Fischer was pleased with the team’s response to the multiple comeback attempts from the Dukes.

“That was a really entertaining game,” Fischer said.

“Great atmosphere in here today as we anticipated it would be with it being their final home game in this building. I was really proud of our team’s ability to withstand the runs that JMU kept making. They really got going in the second half. We kept talking about trying to keep them out of the paint and get some stops. They kept scoring, and our guys did a really nice job of answering the call on the other end.

And Luke Loewe was pretty good for us on offense.”

The Tribe returns to Williamsburg for its final game of the season against Elon Saturday, Feb. 29 at 4 p.m. It will also be senior night for Knight and Van Vliet.

BASEBALL

Tribe sweeps Farleigh Dickinson in first home series, improves record to 3-4

The College outscores Knights 37-13 over all three games, trail for only one inning in the series ZOE BEARDSLEY FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR William and Mary (3-4) completed the three-game sweep against Fairleigh Dickinson (1-3) this weekend in its first home games of the season, winning 12-3, 16-8 and 9-2 over the course of the series.

The Tribe only trailed for one inning during the three games, putting on a dominant performance.

After the poor weather Friday Feb. 21 caused the first game of the series to be rained out, the game was pushed to Saturday, creating a doubleheader. This new development didn’t hinder the College, as it started off the first game with an offensive barrage, notching four runs in the first inning alone, thanks in part to back-to-back doubles by sophomore Jack Cone and second baseman junior Matt McDermott.

The College didn’t get any more offense going until the bottom of the fourth, where excellent baserunning by Cone saw him

score on a wild pitch, making the score 5-0. The next inning saw the Tribe take advantage of the opposing pitcher’s struggles. After senior outfielder Brandon Raquet walked, then advanced to second because of a wild pitch, sophomore designated hitter Cole Ragone drove him in with a single.

On the next at-bat, freshman third baseman Ben Williamson was hit by a pitch, and after another wild pitch advanced both runners to second and third senior catcher Matthew Trehub brought them both in with a single to right field, giving the Tribe an 8-0 lead.

Baseball isn’t just about offense though.

Redshirt senior starting pitcher Chris Farrell pitched five innings, giving up no runs and only four hits, while striking out seven. After Farrell came out at the end of the fifth inning, freshman Matt Howat and freshman Tom Mayar closed out the game, combining to pitch the last four innings.

Even though Farleigh Dickinson would score three runs off Howat in the eight, it

was too late for the Knights. The College would win the game 12-3, with Farrell getting his first win of the season.

The second game of the Saturday doubleheader got off to a less than ideal start for the Tribe. Fairleigh Dickinson was able to get a 1-0 lead in the first inning after a single to right field drove in a runner from third. It looked like the Knights were going to do more damage in the first inning after loading the bases, but the College’s starting pitcher junior Justin Pearson was able to get out of the jam with a timely groundout to third to end the inning and only give up one run.

The Tribe would respond in the second inning, as Ragone scored off a sacrifice fly by graduate transfer Carlos Garrido. A single later in the inning would give the Tribe the 2-1 lead, which they never relinquished. After the teams went back and forth in the next couple innings, the Tribe offense exploded for 10 runs in the sixth.

Sophomore Hunter Hart got the scoring

started, driving in two runs with a single to center field. A few batters later, after a pitching change by Farleigh Dickinson, Garrido sent a double down the right field line, bringing two more Tribe players home, and extending the lead to 10-3.

After loading the bases, the pitcher for the Knights would walk in three more runs.

When the inning finally ended, the Tribe had a 16-3 lead and control of the game.

Farleigh Dickinson would score five more runs over the next three innings, but they were not able to threaten the Tribe.

The College won the second game by a final score of 16-8. Sophomore Rojo Prarie, who pitched in relief for the Tribe, got the win, giving up one hit and no runs in 1.1 innings. The 16 runs were a season high for the Tribe, and Hart was the top performer, notching four RBI’s in the game.

The final game of the series was another easy win for the Tribe. The first inning saw the College once again get off to a fast start.

After Williamson walked and sophomore Matt Thomas singled, Raquet smacked a

triple down the left field line, scoring both runners and giving the College a 2-0 lead.

Raquet recorded three triples over the course of the three games, adding to the Tribe’s nine total triples as a team.

Farleigh Dickinson would not score a run off of Cone until the fifth inning, where they were only able to get one run. The Tribe would also score in the fifth inning, as junior David Hogarth drove in Ragone with a sac fly, and later in the inning junior Tyler Solomon stole home, making the score 5-1. The Knights would only score one more run, and the College would get the win by a score of 9-2. Cone would record his first win of the season, after pitching six innings, giving up three hits and one run. A two-way player, Cone also recorded four hits and three RBI in the series.

The wins were the first of the season for the Tribe after it dropped its first away games to tough opponents. The College plays in-state rival Virginia Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. in Charlottesville.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The College upsets No. 48 East Carolina at home, outplay Pirates in doubles, singles matches

Tribe uses strong performances from Mila Saric, Vitoria Okuyama to shock Pirates, win fifth game of the season LEXIE HIESTAND

FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR

After returning from a twogame road trip, William and Mary (5-2) found its stride at home. Feb. 22, the Tribe defeated East Carolina (3-5) in a 4-2 win.

The Pirates are ranked 48 in the nation, and key performances from the Tribe’s entire lineup helped topple them.

The Tribe fought hard to win

their doubles point. On the third spot, freshmen Elisa Van Meeteren and Raffaela Alhach teamed up for an athletic win. After being tied at two, the Tribe pulled ahead to win 6-2. Seniors Rosie Cheng and Natalia Perry earned a 6-3 win on the second spot, clinching the doubles’ point.

Cheng and Perry took the top two spots in singles. Perry, on the No. 1 spot, could not get off of her

back foot. She was blitzed 0-6 in the first, and lost the second 2-6.

The court besides Perry, Cheng went down 0-3 in the first set.

Pirate Sibel Tanik cut steep angles that Cheng couldn’t reach, and the first set culminated in a 2-6 loss.

In the second set, Cheng fought back from a three-game disparity and locked the score at 4-4. An overturned line call stopped Cheng’s momentum, allowing

Tanik to take the match 4-6.

Sophomore Mila Saric made quick work of her Pirate opponent Michelle Ncube. After a 6-0 blitz in the first set, Saric took the next 6-2.

“My first serve, I had a high percentage,” Saric said. “That led me to be more aggressive and step on the court, go for the match, and win.”

Van Meeteren took the No. 6 position She played a long court,

and even though she didn’t make use of its width, she went up 4-0 in her first set. After a berth, she tried a few new moves and won 6-2. The second set, she took 6-3.

The Tribe’s clinching win came from junior Vitoria Okuyama. Okuyama won her first set 6-3, but struggled in the second set. Pirate Nastja Rettich tried to get around Okuyama’s long-court hustle

by dropping balls just over the net, resulting in her winning the second set 3-6. In the third set, Okuyama figured out Rettich, and accommodated to her strategy. She took the final set 6-1, giving the Tribe a 4-2 upset over the number 48 ranked team in the nation.

March 1, the Tribe faces the Duke Blue Devils, who is ranked 10th in the nation.

sports

Sports Editor Zoe Beardsley Sports Editor Nathan Seidel flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | Page 10

SWIMMING

CAA Championships go swimmingly

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Junior Colin Wright won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle while contributing to victories in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays and the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Anna Kenna and junior Megan Bull earned all-conference honors in backstroke and breaststroke.

Wright’s seven wins lead men to sixth straight CAA crown, women earn all-conference honors individual medley. Skopic took the gold with a 3:50.12, the fourthfastest time in school history. Right behind Skopic was Balbo, who swam a 3:51.07. In the 100 butterfly, the College kept its winning William and Mary travelled to Christiansburg, Va. to compete streak when Doherty swam an NCAA provisional qualifying 47.21 in the Colonial Athletic Association Championships Feb. 19-22. seconds for a Tribe victory. Sophomore Steven Thalblum was sixth The men won their sixth consecutive CAA championship with a with a very close 48.65 seconds. total of 874.5 points while the women earned second place with Not content with his already impressive performance, Wright 626 total points. won his eighth individual gold in conference-record fashion, Entering the championships, the 200-medley relay was swept swimming 1:35.04 to win the 200 free for the second year in a row. by the Tribe for the fifth year in a row. Senior Colin Demers led the This event was another NCAA provisional qualifier for the Tribe. group on the backstroke, finishing with a 21.17 split and breaking Also making the podium, Pfuhl finished third overall with 1:38.18, his own previous record of 22 seconds. Ahead by almost a second, followed by freshman John O’Hara with 1:39.67 in seventh. senior Ian Bidwell dove in on the breaststroke, swimming 24.30.

In the 100 breaststroke, Bidwell swam 54.99 seconds in a tie for Senior Jack Doherty grew the College’s lead with a jaw-dropping the 10th fastest race in school history and placing him third overall 20.6 butterfly leg, while senior Ian Thompson was able to bring the to earn all-conference honors. Freshman Flynn Crisci swam his Tribe home with his 19.45 second anchor. The Tribe’s total time of second personal best of the day to take fourth in 55.04 seconds.

1:25.52 shattered the CAA championship record, along with the In the 100 backstroke, Demers broke not only his own record, Christiansburg Aquatics Center record. but also the College’s record, the conference record and the meet In the 800 free relay, the Tribe continued its sweep of the record despite the fact that he took second place with a time of day. Junior Christopher Pfuhl focused on endurance when he 46.69 seconds — an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Senior Lee spent most of his leg cruising comfortably in second before he Bradley was fifth with a time of 49.40 seconds. overtook his opponent in the final 50, finishing in 1:37.45. Junior After the fiving break, the Tribe swam the 400-medley relay led Colin Wright continued the lead, finishing his leg in 1:33.96, with off by Demers. Reversing fortunes, he swam the best 100 back split the College having a seven-second lead during the handoff to of the field and broke a conference record with his time of 46.43 sophomore Graham Hertweck. seconds. Bidwell followed behind, splitting with 54.11 seconds Hertweck, making his CAA championships debut, finished before handing off in second place to Doherty, who returned the his leg with 1:38.96 before handing off to senior Ben Skopic, who Tribe to the lead with a punishing 47.48 butterfly split. Wright, brought it home in 1:37.31. With a time of 6:26.86, the Tribe earned serving as the anchor, split 19.42 and 41.87, two seconds faster than its 10th straight title for the 800 free. anyone else in order to give the Tribe the gold with a time of 3:09.89.

Entering the second day of the championships, the 500 free Breaking the existing conference, meet and school records set by resulted in a 1-2 finish for the Tribe. Senior Chris Balbo swam a the Tribe last year, the relay also broke the pool record. Likewise, the calm and controlled race, propelling from the back into the lead event was the Tribe’s 15th straight relay victory and the sixth Tribe in 4:29.74. Bidwell followed Balbo closely behind in 4:30.45, taking win in the 400 medley over the past seven years. For Wright, the win second overall. Pfuhl took fourth in 4:30.54 — just 0.01 seconds was also notable due to the fact that he is now tied with JMU’s Mark away from a Tribe sweep of the podium.

Gabriele ’95 for the CAA’s all-time record in championships with 22 In the 200 individual medley, the College set its first record gold medals. He is also the first CAA swimmer in history to win five of the night when Skopic, in fifth after the fly leg, propelled into or more titles all four years of his career. second after the backstroke by a 1.54 second margin. Entering the In the final day, the Tribe — and Wright — continued its breaststroke, he closed the gap by 0.9 seconds. Enduring through amazing spectacle in the 100 freestyle, where Wright earned the the freestyle, he moved into the lead at the final turn before taking top seed. He swam 42.01 seconds, shattering his own conference, the event with a record time of 1:45.33. meet and school records and ranking him third in the nation in For Skopic, this time served as a National Collegiate Athletic the 100 free. Doherty likewise swam a lifetime best of his own with Association provisional cut, as well as being the College’s first win 43.33 seconds, earning an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. in the event since 2016.

Entering the 1650 free, Balbo capped off his career when he Wright, likewise, continued the Tribe’s impressive streak when took the gold. In the first third of the race, Balbo kept up his pace, he swam 19.18 in the 50 free — he is now tied for the NCAA lead steadily speeding up as the laps increased. In the final 300 yards, in the 50 free with defending national champion Ryan Hoffer he sped up and took the win in 15:32.38. For Balbo, it was the first at California. In the 200 free, Wright led off, swimming 18.98 time that he managed to win this event. seconds. Behind him, Thompson split 19.7 for the fastest second In the 100 free, Wright picked up his sixth gold of the leg, followed by Hertweck in 19.93. championships, swimming 42.19 and taking yet another NCAA On the anchor, Doherty came up with a massive split, bringing provisional qualifier. Doherty took second with a lifetime-best the College a time of 1:17.42. This astonishing time broke the 43.39 seconds, the seventh-fastest race ever and likewise an NCAA conference, school and pool records, as well as being an NCAA qualifier. Skopic likewise tied up a bow at the end of his impressive “B” standard time as the 12th fastest in the nation this season. career with his third individual championship, swimming a Entering the third day, the Tribe started the night with the 400 lifetime best of 1:58.79.

On the first day, the women began in the lead with a pair of all-conference honors. In the 800 free relay, the team of Junior Megan Bull, sophomore Inez Olszewski, freshman Katie Stevenson and junior Tara Tiernan, brought home a strong Tribe win with 7:15.42.

Bull led off for her third time in three years, methodically taking out her competitors and finishing her leg in the lead with 1:47.59. For the College, it was the third-fastest 200 free and gave the Tribe a 2.5 second lead. Olszewski kept up the lead with 1:50.20 before handing off to Stevenson who turned in a 1:48.55 leg while extending the lead to 3.5 seconds. In the final leg, Tiernan turned in 1:49.08, earning the Tribe its second gold in three years in the event.

Entering the second day of the championships, the women continued their impressive performance. In the 200 free, JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT sophomore Missy Cundiff let things off with The men’s team swept the 200 medley relay for the fifth year in a row and set a CAA championship record behind strong performances from seniors Colin Demers, Ian Bidwell, Jack Doherty and Ian Thompson. a 22.57 showing. Entering the second leg, GAVIN AQUIN HERNÁNDEZ FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR

the Tribe was behind 0.6 seconds, but Stevenson erased the deficit with her 23.11 split, putting the College in a strong lead.

Oszewski took her leg with a 23.06, priming sophomore Anna Kenna to charge into the water and emerge the leader of the pack, giving the Tribe a total time of 1:32.36. For Stevenson and Oszewski, this was their second gold — an auspicious sign for their upperclassman potential.

Friday of the championships, the Tribe earned an all-conference honor in the 100 back when Kenna swam a lifetime-best 54.58 seconds for second overall, with the seventh fastest race in school history. Sophomore Sonora Baker was able to win the consolation finals for ninth overall in 56.33, while junior Madeline High swam her second final in 57.21 seconds for 14th overall.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Tribe 800 freestyle relay team Katie Stevenson, Inez Olszewski, Tara Tiernan and Megan Bull posted a 7:15.42 to win their event at the CAA Championship.

Entering the final day, the College earned its first all-conference honor in the 200 breaststroke when Bull broke her own record, taking second overall. She timed 2:14.6 and was followed by freshman Peyton Proffitt with eighth overall in 2:19.57. In the 200 butterfly, sophomore Rebecca Rogers earned her first podium finish, timing 2:02.39 to take third. Sophomore Gabby Zhang was right behind, stopping the clock in 2:02.87 for fourth overall and freshman Maura Graff took seventh with a time of 2:04.20.

For the Tribe, the season is now complete. However, several members of the squad, including Wright, will begin preparing for the NCAA Championships which will be in Indianapolis, Ind. March 25-28.

Selections for who will be going to the championships will be announced March 11. Though Wright is almost guaranteed to be selected, the College has a few relays that could potentially be cause for other Tribe swimmers to be invited.

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