The Flat Hat February 5, 2019

The Flat Hat

Vol. 108, Iss. 25 | Tuesday, February 5, 2019

The Weekly Student Newspaper

WILLIAMSBURG

While I did not appear in this photo, I am not surpirsed by its

Rowe set to be inaugurated at Feb. 8 event

appearance in the EVMS yearbook. In the place anD

abhorrent today were Common place. My belief

that I did not wear the costume or attend that party

mistakes I made in this same period of my life.

stem in part from my clear memory of other

As painful as yesterday was for Virginia, I hoped that today would bring healing, truth and transformation. I pray Sunday will be that day...This isn’t just about an old racist photo. It has opened wounds when we should be building a more inclusive Virginia.

After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign.

faithfully for many years, but the events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the

Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we will not

condone hatred bigotry

The Waynesboro Democratic committee calls on Governor Northam to resign. As we work towards a more just world,

this is a reminder of how much work we have yet to do. This behavior should not have had and does not now have a place in the Democratic Party.

We believe that Ralph Northam’s admitted past actions, combined with his failure to surface & address them before others called him out, disqualify him from being a leader who can lead us in dismantling systems that support the continued oppression of people of color.

and

I believe that I am not either of the people in that photo.

I spoke with Governor Northam this morning. His past

Tomorrow can be better for people who too often face , harassment or violence because of their race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation

SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

actions are completely antithetical to everything the

discrimination

See INAUGURATION page 4

We expected Governor Northam to resign this morning. Nothing we have heard since changes our view that his resignation is the the only way forward for the Commonwealth.

trust Virginians must have in their leaders. He should step down and allow the Commonwealth to begin healing.

Charter Day will include block party

With one semester and a summer under her belt, the College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe is looking ahead to her formal inauguration, a ceremony that will occur during the weekend of Charter Day. In preparation for the day, Rowe has busily spent the last seven months getting acquainted with the campus and its many traditions.

“The traditions are amazing,” Rowe said. “Every tradition is brand new for me, every single one. I’ve studied them; I’ve been watching videos of Charter Day, thinking about how to connect with the community. For whom is the tradition? It’s really important that Charter Day be for this campus.

It’s our celebration even though it’s inauguration. I hope the students are part of it, so many students have been a part of the planning.”

Rowe will be inaugurated Feb. 8 during the annual Charter Day ceremony, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Kaplan Arena. The re-investiture of Chancellor Robert Gates ’65 will occur during the same ceremony.

Charter Day chair and Inauguration Committee member Connor Glendinning ’19 said that he feels that it is a privilege to help plan the ceremonies for Rowe. To help make it more personal for Rowe, Glendinning said the committee worked to incorporate symbols and songs that are important to her so that she feels welcomed.

“I was here in the summer when she was sworn in, and I am so happy to see her full transition into being part of William and Mary,” Glendinning said. “Being a senior and having seen three years of Reveley’s presidency, it’s a privilege to give her this formal entry in this way. She’s tried really hard in the last six months to understand the community; she’s working to serve the community in a way that is uniquely her and in a way that is aligning with our values and ways our community has existed. I am excited to see her come into her own.”

FALL FROM GRACE

time

where I grew up, many action we recognize As

Governor Northam has served the people of the Commonwealth

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of The College of William and Mary

Democratic Party stands for. Virginians and people across the

It is no longer possible for Governor Northam to lead our Commnwealth and it is time for him to step down.

I have spoken with Lieutenant Governor Fairfax and assured him that

country deserve

I am committed as your Governor to fight every day for the hope that tomorrow will be better — for all of us, not just some of us

better from their

We just finished meeting with the Governor. We fully appreciate all that he has contributed to our Commonwealth. But given what was revealed today, it is clear that he can no longer effectively serve as Governor. It is time for him to resign, so that Virginia can begin the process of healing.

leaders, and it is clear that Ralph Northam has lost their trust and his ability to govern. The Democratic Party believes that

diversity is our

We share the outrage, alarm and sadness voiced by our alumni, the press and many on social media regarding the picture published in the 1984 student yearbook. The picture is shockingly abhorrent and absolutely antithetical to the principles, morals and values we hold and espouse of our educational and research institution and our professions. Racism and discrimination in any form is not acceptable.

greatest strength and that

Governor Northam must search his heart to determine whether he can or should continue in office. I fear that the breach of trust this represents for those who entrusted him with their votes and confidence cannot easily be recovered and the profound hurt those pictures evoke cannot easily be healed.

hatred and racism have no place in our

Earlier today the yearbook page of Ralph Northam from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984 was posted on several social media sites. The pictures show one man with a black face and another in full KKK garb. Governor Northam has acknowledged that he posed for that offensive picture, apologized and asserted that he no longer holds those racist views. I take him at his word.

Whether the year is 1984 or 2019, the image on Governor Northam’s yearbook page is simply inexcusable. Such bigotry has no place in American life, let alone the highest levels of government. While we are mindful that youth and young adults can make regrettable mistakes that may merit leniency, this image perpetuates some of the worst hate in our nation’s history and undermines the ability of all Virginians – particularly those of color – to have faith in the integrity

democracy.

And we will never hesitate to hold accountable people who violate those values, regardless of their party affiliation. It’s time for Ralph Northam to step aside and let Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax serve Virginians as their next Governor. Justin is a dedicated public

I am asking for the opportunity to earn your forgiveness ... I am far from perfect and I can always strive to vehemently condemn do more

servant who is committed to building a brighter future for the Com-

monwealth of Virginia.

We racism regardless of the political party of the offender, and Governor Northam is no exception. His apology is insufficient, and we demand his immediate resignation.

We strongly condemn Governor Northam’s past actions and call for his immediate resignation. We look forward to working with a Justin Fairfax administration going forward to advance conservation and environmental quality for all Virginians.

We need leaders who will bring us together instead of driving us apart. While it was proper for Governor Northam to apologize, there is no excuse for this type of photograph then or now,” Congresswoman Luria said. “Unfortunately, the existence of this photograph does not bring us together. I ask Governor Northam to resign. This isn’t about politics, this is about what is right and wrong.

I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that

It is no longer possible for career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this Governor Northam Governor Northam should resign. Our Commonwealth is better than to lead our Commnthis and deserves better than this. decision shakes Virginians’ wealth and it is time for him to . I have spoken with Lieutenant GovThis is a deeply sad moment for Virginia and all Virginians. This not a time for political or partisan posturing and any individual or or- The Governor’s yearbook picture is deeply offensive and reprehensible. The images are, and were, contemptible and inexcusganization attempting to do so is unconscionably divisive. As Virginians, we must come together to reject our past wrongs and identify ernor Fairfax able. We strongly urge Governor Northam to resign. what each of us can do to build a better and more inclusive future for every resident of our Commonwealth. and assured him that, should he ascend to the governorship, he will have my complete support While I did not appear in this photo, I am not surpirsed by its appearance in the EVMS yearbook. In the place and time We are so deeply saddened by the news that has been revealed today. We are having trouble and commitreconciling our experience with Governor Northam with what we see in this photo. where I grew up, many action we recognize As abhorrent today were Common place. My belief that I did not wear the The Governor Northam we know is a great friend and ally, who ment.

This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in

This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my

THAT PHOTO AND THE RACIST

faith in that commitment AND OFFENSIVE ATTITUDES IT REPRESENTS DOES NOT REFLECT THE

step down

PERSON I AM TODAY OF THE WAY I HAVE CONDUCTED MYSLEF AS A SOLDIER, A DOCTOR AND A PUBLIC SERVANT

At

That same year I diD participate in a dance contest in San Antonio in which as part of a Michael Jackson costume. I look back now and regret that I did not understand the of an action like that.

I darkened my face

juncture in this

harmful

leGAcy

costume or attend that party stem in part from my clear memory of other mistakes I made in this same period of my life.

a critical

has served and dedicated himself to our Commonwealth the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment

I am not the person in that photo

legislative session, we need to focus on the important work of governing. We cannot continue this work- with Governor Northam at the helm. The damage that has been done by these revelations is irreparable. Our confidence in his ability to govern for the over 8 million Virginians has been

Ralph Northam served in our nation’s military, treated thousands of families as a medical doctor, and had the audacity to ask for Black votes when he wanted to become governor, yet never once mentioned that he thought it was ok to be in black face or dressed as a Klansman.

horrific

When I was shown this last night, it was . It really horrified me. We did what we needed to do last night and that was to reach out and apologize to , but the more time I’ve had, I’ve realized I have no recollection of dressing up like that.

eviscerated. Another moment should not pass before we hear Governor

those who may be hurt

Northam do the

Calls for Resignation

honorable thing and

resign.

An apology now isn’t enough. The governor needs to learn that it’s not about what you do once you’re caught. Instead, it’s about the things you do when you think no

The Commonwealth of Virginia has a long history of bigotry and racism. And in 2019, there is absolutely no place for racism in Virginia. The message this photograph sends is in direct conflict with the values that NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia fights for every day: equality and freedom for all people.

one is watching.

We now know what Ralph Northam did when he thought no one was watching. The person in that photo can’t be trusted to lead. Governor Northam must resign immediately

I can’t explain the pictures,..Ralph, back then and even now, is not a

racist

GRAPHIC BY HEATHER BAIER

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam will not participate in annual Charter Day festivities amid blackface scandal initially said that he was in that photo, but in a press conference Saturday, Feb. 2, he denied appearing in the picture. However, he did admit that during another party he had dressed in partial blackface to portray Michael Jackson. While many have called for Northam to resign, he has said that it would be the easy way out and he would prefer to make things right from the gubernatorial office.

“On Friday, like others in our community, I was appalled and saddened by the revelation of the racist image on Governor Ralph Northam’s medical-school yearbook page,” Rowe said in her campus-wide statement.

“The behavior depicted in that photo is a painful reminder of the hate, divisiveness and racism that so many in this country have

Joe Biden • U.S. Sen. Cory Booker • U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown

SARAH SMITH // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF As politicians, state leaders and community actors called for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign, members of the College of William and Mary community joined the conversation. Northam was set to participate in the inauguration of College President Katherine Rowe Friday, Feb. 8. However, after students signed petitions and expressed their concerns, Rowe announced the morning of Monday, Feb. 4 that Northam would no longer participate in the Charter Day ceremony.

Friday, Feb. 1, Big League Politics, later confirmed by The Virginian-Pilot, broke the news that photos in a 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook featured two men, one in blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe, on Northam’s page. Northam

• Former Vice President

• U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine

sought for generations to overcome.”

According to College spokesperson Suzanne Clavet, the President’s Office communicated with Northam’s office over the weekend.

These conversations culminated in the announcement that Northam would not participate in the Charter Day or Inauguration ceremonies. It is not clear whether the College disinvited him or if his office decided that he would not participate.

“As you will see in [Rowe’s] message, it became clear over the weekend the Governor’s presence would fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire for with the

• U.S. Sen. Mark Warner • Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass • U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria • U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez • U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger • Former FBI Director James Comey ’82

See NORTHAM page 3

FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity chapter loses charter for violating international standards Campus fraternity loses recognition as student organization until after fall semester 2022 following protocol SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Student Leadership Development Assistant Director Joe Wheeless notified the Fraternity and Sorority Life community Tuesday, Jan. 29 that Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity’s international organization had suspended the charter of the Gamma Chapter at the College of William and Mary. Wheeless said that the international organization responsible for the announcement indicated that violations of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity standards resulted in the suspension.

Prior to the Jan. 29 announcement, Pi Kappa Alpha had been an active fraternity on campus for 147 years.

The chapter was founded in 1871 and was only inactive during the years the College was closed from 1880-88. The College’s chapter was the second oldest Pi Kappa Alpha chapter in existence.

“The Interfraternity Council is saddened by the closure of any IFC Chapter here at William & Mary, especially those which have been part of the community for such

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a long period of time,” Interfraternity Council President Liam McLoughlin ’20 said in a written statement.

“Standards and accountability are key tenants to the fraternity experience, and as such the IFC supports the decision of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity in holding the Gamma Chapter accountable for their actions. We look forward to working with the 15 remaining Interfraternity Council Fraternities in efforts to maximize safety, inclusion and sustainability for the community as a whole.”

Wheeless said that he was notified Nov. 14 that Pi Kappa Alpha’s international organization had put the Gamma Chapter on administrative suspension while they conducted an investigation based on allegations that the chapter had violated fraternity standards. While Wheeless said he was not informed what specific violations the chapter was found guilty of, violations of fraternity standards can include things like hazing or drug and alcohol abuse.

According to Wheeless, the decision of a fraternity’s national or international organization to suspend a

chapter’s charter is uncommon at the College. The last time such an event happened was over five years ago, when Lambda Chi Alpha’s charter was suspended in 2013. That was a joint decision between the College and the fraternity’s national organization. When the College was notified of Pi Kappa Alpha’s decision last week, the fraternity also lost its status as a recognized student organization.

“So only the national organization has the authority to remove the charter or suspend the charter like Pi Kappa Alpha did,” Wheeless said. “The university can only remove or review recognition as a recognized student organization.

Generally, the practice is that those two things happen concurrently. When one removes one, the other does the same. In this case, Pi Kappa Alpha decided to suspend the charter. With common practice, in consistence with the policy, we don’t recognize an organization that can’t exist.”

Because students formerly affiliated with the Gamma chapter no longer have official fraternity recognition and are not entitled to their former status as a recognized student organization, they may neither act as an

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Recent revelations of Northam’s past misdeeds demand his swift resignation

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

Sunny, High 71, Low 45

organization nor do anything that signifies they are part of the international organization, such as publicly wearing letters. Wheeless said that enforcement of those policies is largely the responsibility of the international organization.

The College’s responsibility is to notify departments that have frequent interactions with Fraternity and Sorority Life to inform them to watch for former members of the Gamma chapter acting in any way associated with an recognized student organization. For example, Wheeless will reach out Campus Recreation Sports in regards to intramural teams, the Bursar’s Office in terms of outstanding debt and Residence Life in terms of housing.

Pi Kappa Alpha’s international organization has said that it plans to return to campus no sooner than the fall 2022 semester, to allow all students who were associated with the Gamma chapter to graduate. Then, they would send staff members to campus to begin navigating the RSO process and the IFC’s expansion process. Additionally, the international organization told Wheeless that it would not allow members of the chapter from the last five years to participate in the fall 2022 expansion process.

Cody Mills ’20 says that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam should resign immediately due to his recently publicized medical school yearbook page. page 5

Women’s basketball: Dragons edge Tribe, 62-58

The Tribe fought back from a six-point deficit at the half, and Drexel’s errors late in the game let the College tie with seconds on the clock, but a missed layup cost the game. page 10

“

newsinsight “

News Editor Leonor Grave News Editor Madeline Monroe fhnews@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

A lot of people in power now have been putting this off for forever to the point that we’re actually in crisis mode now, and I think that we need to have representatives that will be held accountable and actually take action on this problem that is risking the health and safety of everyone.

— Sunrise Movement and Student Environmental Action Coalition member Hannah Ferster ‘19 on initiating urgent action on addressing global warming and holding people in positions of power responsible for rectifying the issue of climate change

Directing a bayou biopic

POLICE BEAT

Feb. 1 - Feb. 2

Nathan Rabalais talks French language study, film production in Quebec and Louisiana ALYSSA GRZESIAK // FLAT HAT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

1

Friday, Feb. 1 — Shopping around: Richard Ayers was arrested on charges of shoplifting at Richmond Road.

2

Friday, Feb. 1 — Stepping over the line: Ronald Moore was arrested on charges of violating protective orders at Henderson Street.

3

Friday, Feb. 1 — In the fast lane: Angelique Ottobre was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended or revoked license at the intersection of Second Street and Parkway Drive.

4

Saturday, Feb. 2 ­— Off limits: Carlton Duncan was arrested on charges of trespassing at Richmond Road.

POLICE BEAT BY SARAH GREENBERG / THE FLAT HAT

A THOUSAND WORDS COURTESY PHOTO / NATHAN RABALAIS

Nathan Rabalais worked with his brother David Rabalais to complete “Finding Cajun,” a documentary which examines Cajun identity throughout North America.

JAMIE HOLT/ THE FLAT HAT

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

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Assistant professor of French and Francophone studies Nathan Rabalais adds director to his many titles with his production, “Finding Cajun.”

Rabalais has been teaching at the College of William and Mary since 2015 and was hired immediately following graduate school. He is currently on research leave until January of next year.

After receiving a bachelor’s in music theory/composition and guitar performance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Rabalais continued to study music, this time at the University of Strasbourg in France.

He went back to Louisiana to obtain a master’s in French, followed by his doctorate in French studies from Tulane University. Rabalais also holds a Ph.D. in langues et littératures from the Université de Poitiers.

“I pretty much work and teach on Quebec, Acadia, which are both in Canada, and Louisiana,” Rabalais said. “So I teach, you know, literature and popular culture and cinema in those areas.”

His primary area of study is the diverse literatures, cultures and languages of Francophone North America, including regions such as French and Creole Louisiana, Acadia and Quebec. He also explores the related folklore and orality, but more specifically, the interaction between a community’s language and the identity that stems from that linguistic heritage.

“I pretty much focus on French-speaking Louisiana, Creole culture and the Acadian culture of Canada,” Rabalais said. “Acadia is not an exact region. It’s more defined by like the French-speaking Acadian people that live in certain areas. … I’m interested in how language and identity interact.”

Rabalais, with the help of his brother, David, directed a documentary highlighting the origin and evolution of the Cajun identity in North America, titled “Finding Cajun.” One of his goals with the documentary was to move away from the myths that surround the Cajun identity and history.

“I wanted people, especially my own community in Louisiana, to hear these ideas because it’s kind of dismantling a lot of myths about identity and where this culture came from,” Rabalais said. “It’s been kind of distilled into one group that came to Louisiana a long time ago, the Acadians, when the British deported them from the original colony. That’s kind of been like the origin myth of Cajun culture, is that one group, when there’s a lot more to it.

Rabalais said that recognizing different aspects of Cajun culture in his documentary would help make his work more accessible to viewers.

“There’s the Haitian revolution, there’s slavery … It’s really complex,” Rabalais said. “I kind of wanted to make a documentary to have it more, I say accessible, but you know, a way for people to hear these ideas and re-evaluate what Cajun means to them today.”

While the film received a portion of its funding from his research fund, Rabalais and his brother had to cover a significant portion of the film’s expenses. According to Rabalais, most of the money went toward traveling to Canada, where over half of the film was shot.

“The hardest part was just not having money,” Rabalais said. “We were really grateful to have about a little over $2,000 … but that was it, which is like nothing. $15,000 is like a bare minimum, you know, for a documentary. …

Pretty much what that did was it allowed us to drive up to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to film there.”

While most directors outsource tasks like editing the final product and creating music, the Rabalais brothers were responsible for all the post-production steps.

“We had to do everything ourselves,” Rabalais said. “The sound, all the editing, the subtitles. Directors don’t usually do their own subtitles, you know, they usually outsource, so that was the most difficult part was just doing every single little thing ourselves, just me and my brother.”

Their hard work paid off — “Finding Cajun” won an award at Cinema on the Bayou, a film festival in Lafayette, Louisiana, just days after being released. “[Finding Cajun] just premiered this past Wednesday at … it was called Cinema on the Bayou festival, and so we did closing night,” Rabalais said.

“It was awesome. We sold out. On Sunday … we won the director’s award.

That was really exciting because … when we talk about identity and you play it in the heart of that community that you’re talking about, I was just really nervous … I didn’t know how [people in the audience] were going to react. So, that was a nice surprise.”

Apart from interacting with those being interviewed for the film, Rabalais greatly enjoyed the finishing touches: the music.

“The most fun part was definitely playing the music,” Rabalais said. “…

Once it was done, I just got to play the music for it, which actually only took like three hours, but it was the most fun part because it was all done.

I just had to set the mood for it basically, and that was neat.”

Just a year prior to the release of the documentary, Rabalais completed a collection of original poetry titled “Le Hantage,” which was published

by Les Éditions Tintamarre in 2018.

“It’s about processing memory, especially kind of traumatic memory, and how memory kind of has a will of its own, a time of its own,” Rabalais said. “It might come in like waves. There’s a lot of water imagery. Sometimes it’s a trickle, sometimes it’s a flood, which ties into the Louisiana landscape and it’s in a very Louisiana, French kind of dialect. My brother did the photography for [the book].”

While on leave, Rabalais is working on a new book. This time, he is compiling research on Louisiana folklore.

“It is a book on Louisiana folklore and it looks at different folklore figures that all came from somewhere else,” Rabalais said. “So like France, or Africa, or Canada, and how they changed. … Did any bad guys become good guys or vice versa, or did the moral of the story change.

I try to look at that in the context of the history and what these groups went though and try to figure out ‘it would make sense if this happened because this experience, this shared experience.’ That’s kind of the premise of the book.”

Looking forward, Rabalais is interested in creating another documentary.

“I’m kind of already thinking about another documentary on coastal erosion in Louisiana,” Rabalais said. “That’s going to talk about the human aspect because there’s a lot of indigenous French-speaking Native-American tribes that live there on the coast and sort of the more scientific aspect of it. That’ll be for maybe in a couple of years.”

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COURTESY PHOTO / NATHAN RABALAIS

All of the editing and music of “Finding Cajun” was handled by Nathan Rabalais and David Rabalais, the film was celebrated at the Cinema on the Bayou Festival.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Page 3

ACADEMICS

Researching policy, fighting patriarchy PIPS forum discusses gender inequalities within IR field

CHARLES COLEMAN FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

Friday, Feb. 1, the Project on International Peace and Security held a forum in celebration of the 10th anniversary of PIPS and the 100th anniversary of women at the College of William and Mary. The forum took place in Tyler Hall and featured some of the College’s female alumni who have careers in international security and international relations. A panel discussion was held and was followed by a question-and-answer period.

PIPS is an undergraduate think tank that identifies and examines international issues and creates policy suggestions based on research. PIPS, which is led by government professors Amy Oakes and Dennis Smith, also consists of six student fellows and six student interns who all contribute to research and policy recommendations.

PIPS held this forum to provide students the opportunity to listen to female panelists’ experiences within the workforce and to allow the students to ask questions about what they could potentially experience in the workplace after leaving the College.

The forum’s panel consisted of three College alumnae who all work in the international relations field: Elizabeth Train ’83, Heather LeMunyonBatement ’09 and Amy Schafer ’13. The forum began with questions for the panelists prepared by the moderators.

The conversation segued into a discussion about times when the women felt that their contributions had been disregarded because of their gender and how they dealt with those obstacles. All three women shared similar stories about struggling with equal respect.

Train spoke about the assumptions and expectations she faced as a woman in international relations and how she used them to her advantage.

“If I was one of few women in a room where a meeting was going on, and I was inevitably asked to be the notetaker I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to leverage this.’” Train said. “If you’re the note taker, you can actually control

the room … take advantage if you’re a woman, or any minority in the room, and you’re assigned what you think is typically an admin role. Turn it around and into a leadership role, and people will respect you for that.”

LeMunyon-Batement shared how she often felt immediately discredited because of her gender and the inequalities she has faced as a female as most men were assumed to have the appropriate skills.

“I’m very often the only woman in the room,” LeMunyon-Batement said. “… I’m very often the youngest person in the room. I almost always feel like I’m working from a deficit. I work with a wonderful young man who was my intern … I convinced him to come work at the commission. … If we walk in a room together, I’m very frequently the subject matter expert, but I have to work from a deficit to prove that to the room, where he gets the assumption that he knows what he’s talking about.”

When asked about how to deal with sexual harassment and assault faced by women in their workplaces, the panelists shared stories and offered advice to current students. Train spoke about where she has seen sexism in her career and how predatory behavior is fueled by ignorance.

“There is predatory behavior, and there is ignorant behavior,” Train said.

“I always try to give somebody the benefit of the doubt. [Sexual harassment] is absolutely unacceptable … it impacts readiness, people’s ability to expand their energy — their mental energy or physical energy — on the task at hand.”

Following the forum, PIPS held a reception that allowed all guests to meet and speak with the panelists. The audience’s questions continued to center around the three panelists’ experience as women in their careers and delved into the specifics of the difficulties they have faced.

One audience member asked the panelists if the perceived trade-off between a successful career and a family is indeed a severe problem, and if so, how the panelists have best navigated that trade-off.

Schaefer shared how consumers are beginning to support or avoid businesses based on policies toward their employees. She explained how

businesses are making positive changes to better support working mothers and fathers because they realize the need for them.

“In the spheres that I work in … what I’ve seen change is that consumers have really been reacting more to business or other large foundations,” Schaefer said. “One of the good things I’ve really noticed is that there have been changes, slowly, and certainly not everywhere. … This is something that not only consumers are demanding, but they’re also going to see [that] this [change] does make employees better employees too.”

Sadie Peloquin ’19, a senior administrative intern at PIPS, explained how she and Smith planned this event to celebrate the College’s 100th anniversary of coeducation and PIPS’s 10th anniversary.

“We were talking this year about wanting to do some event that was with the 100 years of women theme,” Peloquin said. “We started planning in October … this has been a lot of months of planning and thought, and seeing it all come together was amazing.”

Peloquin talked about how she thinks the role of women in international relations is changing and the future of the field looks like.

“Statistically, it’s pretty clear that women are becoming a greater share of not only senior positions, but just positions in general,” Peloquin said. “I think there’s a trend in that … even just looking in the room and the amount of women who were there at William and Mary studying international relations was an indication of where this field is going to go.”

Audience member Johanna Weech ’20 shared her thoughts on the forum and the impact of these women’s stories on her perspective. Weech hopes that women will continue to be heard in the workforce and work together to raise up their fellow female employees.

“I think that women are being listened to more, and I would hope that the conversation will continue and that women will be more heard but [minority] groups in general,” Weech said. “I think that one of the things that women have to contribute to that is their sense in team work … generally women pay more attention to try to foster a team dynamic.”

WILLIAMSBURG

Lila Sugerman works to destigmatize periods in India 15-year-old filmmaker discusses Pad Project mission, documentary with students ETHAN BROWN FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

The College of William and Mary’s Global Research Institute welcomed 15-year-old director Lila Sugerman to Williamsburg Friday, Feb. 1 for a sneak preview and discussion of her documentary, “Period. End of Sentence.” The full screening took place in Tucker Theatre Saturday, Feb. 2. as part of the College’s Global Film Festival.

The short film, which is currently the only Academy Award-nominated documentary with an exclusively female cast, investigates how insufficient access to sanitary products in rural India often prevents young women from obtaining secondary education. The Global Research Institute’s director of programs and outreach, David Trichler, introduced Sugerman and said that the purpose of bringing Sugerman to campus was to engage students in thought-provoking conversations about global issues.

“The goal of these lunch talks is not to go too deep, but we talk about something that’s interesting, and to bring someone that’s doing interesting things in the world, and then we have a conversation afterwards,” Trichler said.

Sugerman began working alongside her peers at Oakwood School in Los Angeles, California, to create a formal organization devoted toward the empowerment

of young women in Hapur, a rural area outside of Delhi, India. Access to women’s education is limited in India, and institutional restrictions and social barriers cause many to fail to complete secondary school.

According to Sugerman, these obstacles are intensified when girls get their period because menstruation is considered taboo. Sugerman also explained that for poorer families, many must choose between purchasing sanitary products and essential goods, like food, due to limited financial resources.

Sugerman said that lack of access to pads often forces girls to stay home instead of going to school.

Furthermore, Sugerman also explained that girls face intense social pressure from boys when they attempt to attend school while on their period, often suffering from taunts and shaming by their male counterparts.

Among the motivating factors for the project’s creation was how strongly Sugerman and her partners identified with the girls in India, especially due to their shared age and experiences.

“This [organization] is pretty much run by 15 girls, half are alumni, half are still in high school,” Sugerman said. “Everyone is under the age of 25, except for our teacher advisor.”

Sugerman’s organization, eventually dubbed The Pad Project, sought to aid girls in India by setting up machines that produce affordable and biodegradable sanitary pads for their communities. The Pad Project

obtained nonprofit status in California two years ago, and after announcing plans to film its efforts in India, sparked media attention and rapid financial backing.

“We used Kickstarter to raise all our money … we raised $200,000 altogether,” Sugerman said. “The main way we did this was through trailers, commercials and reaching out to companies.”

The money was allocated to the establishment of pad machines in Hapur as well as to the filming of “Period. End of Sentence.,” which sought to encapsulate The Pad Project’s work in a short documentary. The documentary, which draws from over three days of footage, has been screened at twenty film festivals in the United States and India.

The film, which integrates interviews of young women in India alongside depictions of the machine’s impacts on Hapur, is currently nominated for an Academy Award and will be available on Netflix International within the next two weeks. Despite the project’s success and the film’s critical acclaim, Sugerman intends to tweak aspects of The Pad Project before expanding the program to other countries.

Moving forward, one of her primary objectives is to be more selective with the infrastructure that the project uses, rather than blindly choosing whatever technology is most readily accessible.

“If we had looked into it more … with time, things become more innovative, and there are more options,”

Sugerman said. “When we were first [starting the project], we just picked out a pad machine, and it was like, the only one there.”

Beyond an intensified selectiveness for the pad machines they send to India, Sugerman also expressed the project’s interest in fostering a stronger partnership with its Indian collaborators through sustained communication and open dialogue. Sarah Baker ’19 echoed these concerns and expressed her hope that The Pad Project’s goals would not dissipate following its recent media hype.

“I know after the Oscars and the hype dies down a little bit, and when [the project] intends to expand, I wanted to know what [their] plans were to keep this project strong and sustainable in this one community,” Baker said.

Sugerman emphasized that The Pad Project is continuing to subsidize the pad machine’s operation in India, and that her team engages in frequent Skype calls with peers in India to ensure an open line of communication. The project is sponsoring travel to Los Angeles, California, so several of the women featured in the film can attend the Academy Awards Feb. 24.

“We really want to stay in contact with the communities that we work in,” Sugerman said. “That’s the biggest part of the nonprofit; we care about the communities we work in, and we really want to have communication with them.”

Rowe releases official statement in wake of governor’s blackface controversy College has yet to announce who will replace Northam as guest speaker at Charter Day, Inauguration event NORTHAM from page 1

Inauguration/Charter Day event this week,” Clavet said in an email. “We have conferred with the Governor’s office and he will not be attending.”

As of Feb. 4, the President’s Office had not announced who would replace Northam’s role in the ceremony. Charter Day Chair and Inauguration Committee member Connor Glendinning ’19 said he felt confident that in the coming days, a new speaker who had connections to Virginia and the College would be announced.

“I had heard on Saturday from the President’s Office that clarity would come after the weekend,” Glendinning said. “I think it was a really well put together statement. I wholeheartedly support her.

It makes a lot of sense, politics aside, to disclude [sic] any narrative of hate from our campus. I do think it would have really detracted from the event being about William and Mary and the introduction of Rowe to that community. That event is not about that controversy and it would have detracted from the work we have done over the months. That is where my support comes in.”

Over the weekend, student groups also drafted letters and petitions asking for Northam to resign and to ensure that he would not attend the Charter Day and Inauguration ceremonies. Two groups, the College’s chapters of the Young Democrats and the Young Democratic Socialists of America, drafted a joint letter in response.

“In addition to our calls for his immediate resignation, we are also asking the College of William & Mary to formally uninvite Governor Northam from this year’s Charter Day celebration,” the groups said in the letter. “We also request that the College does not grant Governor Northam

an honorary degree. As an institution, we cannot support these offensive acts out of respect to not only our students, but also our own personal values. His presence will detract from the experience of the student body, faculty, and staff.”

Last year, following a tradition to honor newly inaugurated Virginia governors, the College had Northam serve as the keynote speaker at Charter Day and conferred an honorary degree. At the time, Northam commended the College’s recognition of the 50th anniversary of African-American students in residence and spoke about issues of socioeconomic diversity at public universities in Virginia. Over the summer, Northam also participated in Rowe’s swearing in.

Rowe also emphasized in her statement that Northam’s behavior would not be acceptable in today’s world and was also not acceptable in 1984.

In preparation for Tuesday night’s Student Assembly senate meeting, Class of 2020 President Kelsey Vita ’20 and Sen. Anthony Joseph ’21 have drafted a resolution titled The Expectations of Gubernatorial Leadership. Sen. Cody Mills ’20, Sen. JonDavid Nichols ’20, Sen. Zie Medrano ’19 and Sen. Alexis Payne ’19 have also signed on as sponsors. In addition to these sponsors, several other senators, SA secretaries and SA undersecretaries have signed on to the resolution.

This resolution, which has not officially been discussed on the floor at an SA Senate meeting, acts to condemn Northam while simultaneously supporting his dismissal from Charter Day and demanding his immediate resignation. Since the resolution’s introduction, Northam has already been removed from Charter Day. “If passed, we intend to disperse this resolution to the student body via email, deliver it to the

Board of Visitors, and send it to other student governments of Virginia public institutions,” Vita said in a written statement.

Vita said that she hoped that if passed, this resolution would have a larger impact in uniting universities across the state in condemning Northam and calling for his resignation.

One point of the resolution calls to have Virginia Lieutenant Gov. Justin Fairfax replace Northam as a guest speaker at Charter Day. However, allegations have surfaced that Fairfax committed sexual assault in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention. Vita and Joseph said that they were unaware of these allegations at the time they wrote and shared the resolution, but they will research in time for Tuesday’s meeting.

William and Mary Students United posted on their Facebook page about these allegations.

Dalton Jared ’20, one student who organizes with Students United, said that he was proud of students who spoke out against Northam. He also said that he hoped future conversations about Fairfax would be led by sexual assault survivors. “... We must trust the individual who has come forward and follow their lead regarding proper reparations — if that is their wish,” Jared said in a written statement. “... Survivors should always be central to discussions such as this, so we should all strive to be good listeners rather than commanding the situation or absolving Fairfax of his violence simply because we may agree with his politics. Therefore it would be appropriate for the College to distance itself from Fairfax as well.”

The resolution will be officially discussed Tuesday, Feb. 5, during the SA Senate meeting at 7 p.m. This meeting, like other SA meetings, will be open to the public.

FEB. 4 STATEMENT FROM COLLEGE PRESIDENT KATHERINE ROWE On Friday, like others in our community, I was appalled and saddened by the revelation of the racist image on Governor Ralph Northam’s medical-school yearbook page.

The behavior depicted in that photo is a painful reminder of the hate, divisiveness and racism that so many in this country have sought for generations to overcome.

That behavior has no place in civil society – not 35 years ago, not today. It stands in stark opposition to William & Mary’s core values of equity and inclusion, which sustain our mission of learning, teaching, and research. Recognizing how much work remains to be done to advance these values, in support of our mission, these images must renew our sense of urgency. At William & Mary, the path forward requires sustained dialogues about what counts as respectful and appropriate behavior in a vibrantly diverse community, especially with regard to the legacy and persistence of racism in this country.

In my seven months as William & Mary’s president, Governor Northam has been a welcoming ambassador for the Commonwealth. He officiated at my swearingin ceremony in July and was scheduled to participate in the upcoming Charter Day and inauguration ceremony.

However, under the circumstances, it has become clear that the Governor’s presence would fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to and hope for with this event. We have conferred with the governor’s office, and he will not be part of Friday’s program.

My thoughts are with the leaders of our Commonwealth as they seek the best path forward to rebuild trust. My focus, however, is on the William & Mary community: on reckoning with our own history with humility and dedication, and on joining you in the continuing work of ensuring our university community is welcoming and respectful of all.

Page 4

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

POLITICS

Climate activists persist despite arrests

Campus group pushes for passage of Green New Deal legislation

WILLIAM ALLEN FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER

Students at the College of William and Mary are taking action to advocate for a government response to climate change. Student environmental activist Hannah Ferster ’19 was arrested Dec. 10, 2018 with over 100 other Sunrise Movement protestors during a sit-in at the U.S. House of Representatives offices for the Green New Deal.

The Sunrise Movement is a youth organizing group focused on advocating for the passage of Green New Deal legislation. The Green New Deal is a series of proposed policies to fight back against climate change with progressive economic and social legislation.

“After the UN IPCC climate change report, I was feeling pretty despondent about the future of the world and being able to address this threat,” Ferster said. “I read an article about the Green New Deal and Sunrise Movement that was talking about new efforts that had cropped up and were more a positive source of hope. So, I got really excited about Sunrise Movement and what they were doing.”

Ferster began listening in on Sunrise Movement conference calls and later decided to join the organization at its lobbying day Dec. 10. The lobbying day was focused on the creation of a Green New Deal select committee and included a planned sit-in in front of Democratic leaders’ offices, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Reps. Steny Hoyer and Jim McGovern.

Before the lobbying day, activists like Ferster were given protest arrest training to be prepared for being detained by the Capitol police.

“I went through extensive training,” Ferster said. “They walked us through how to interact with the police and basically if we got arrested what that process would be like.”

Out of 1000 Sunrise Movement protestors, Ferster was among the 143

who were arrested for unlawful obstruction while sitting outside of Pelosi’s office. The protestors were handcuffed and led to a mass holding area where they were detained for six hours. They were let out after paying a cash bail.

“I feel like that as a cisgender white person that’s a very relatively low risk experience for me and a good way to use that privilege in a way to fight for a cause that I really care about,” Ferster said.

Ferster said that the urgency of climate change was what pushed her to risk being arrested with the Sunrise Movement.

“A lot of people in power now have been putting this off for forever to the point that we’re actually in crisis mode now,” Ferster said. “I think that we need to have representatives that will be held accountable and actually take action on this problem that is risking the health and safety of everyone.”

Ferster and other members of the College’s Student Environmental Activism Coalition are looking to bring Green New Deal advocacy onto campus. SEAC plans to recruit Sunrise Movement members as a branch of its sub-organization.

Feb. 5, the Sunrise Movement will be hosting a Green New Deal launch party where students will be introduced to goals of the Sunrise Movement.

The Sunrise Movement’s national group will also livestream into the event to discuss the strategies of their organization.

“I feel like in general, William and Mary students are already pretty passionate about getting involved with the legislative process,” SEAC member Kendall King ’19 said. “I think this is exciting for people who are interested in environmental issues.”

Sunrise Movement hopes to recruit the political base of the College’s students to help lobby for statewide Green New Deal resolutions led by Virginia delegates Sam Rasoul and Elizabeth Guzman. Both delegates have partnered with the Sunrise Movement and other groups like the Virginia NAACP hope to form a Green New Deal coalition.

“I think with the Green New Deal we’re building a base of people to advocate for climate justice and forcing the conservation,” King said. “I think that this will appeal to people who already love to go canvass for Democratic candidates and whatnot.”

The Sunrise Movement’s Green New Deal launch party coincides with SEAC’s history of environmental activism and education on campus. Last semester, the organization arranged a William and Mary climate change and migration panel with groups such as UndocuTribe, students are the Muslim Student Association, the already pretty Middle Eastern Student Association and College staff to initiate a discussion passionate on the overlap between climate change about getting and immigration that contained diverse perspectives. involved with SEAC has also raised more than the legislative $1000 for anti-pipeline grassroots organizations in Virginia and has sent process. student protestors to the People’s — Kendall King ’19 Climate March and anti-pipeline protest camps.

“I think one of the most important ways to make an impact on the environment is policy and policy initiative,” SEAC member Alexis Jenkins ’19 said. “In order to make large impacts, doing advocacy for groups like the Sunrise Movement is crucial.”

Sunrise Movement’s Green New Deal Launch party will be held in Blow Hall 333 from 7-9 p.m.

“

STUDENT LIFE

Roland Martin urges campus to rethink MLK’s history Students march, engage in discussion on race relations to commemorate King’s legacy EMMA FORD FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

In below-freezing temperatures at 6 p.m. Jan. 31, a group of students huddled around the Sir Christopher Wren building, hugging, dancing and talking in attempts to stay warm. They were there to participate in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration March.

Attendees first listened to a few speeches and poems about King conducted by members of the Kappa Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the College of William and Mary’s chapter of the NAACP and the Black Student Organization.

Afterwards, the students were led by Featuring Lyrics of Other Worlds A Cappella toward the Sadler Center, where they had the opportunity to listen to journalist Roland Martin speak about the true MLK, race relations in present day America and the media’s role in covering black voices.

Arman Jones ’20 came out to the march in hopes of supporting his fellow students and the legacy of King.

“Even though it’s cold outside, MLK’s legacy still speaks volumes for itself,” Jones said. “It’s only right for us to support the march and continue to speak the word.”

Martin is known for his role as host and managing editor of “#RolandMartinUnfiltered,” a daily online show that focuses on news, entertainment and sports from an African-American perspective.

Martin is also a current senior analyst for the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

The event opened with Assistant Dean of Students Bobak Kasrai moderating a question-andanswer session with Martin. Before Kasrai began asking questions, Martin set the foundation for what he wished the audience knew before discussing King and his legacy.

“Let’s start this way,” Martin said. “Here’s a

fundamental problem that I have had historically with these events — and I’ve done any number of them — is that we focus on sanitized Dr. King. I use the phrase, ‘Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has become America’s civil rights mascot.’”

Martin went on to discuss how King’s approval rating was lower in the final years of his life and that during that time King had a lower approval rating than President Donald Trump’s approval rating, which according to the Gallup Poll has a term average of 39 percent.

After his speech on the Vietnam War, Martin explained that King’s black popularity drastically decreased.

“America hated King when he was fighting for black freedom,” Martin said. “It’s easy to love a martyr, but did America love him when he was here?”

According to Martin, many of the celebrations over King are superficial, with most people only knowing small parts of two of his speeches, “Normalcy No More,” which many refer to as the “I Have a Dream” speech, and the last two minutes of his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech.

Martin challenged the audience to be honest with themselves over whether they were celebrating the sanitized King or the King who would be challenging multiple controversial issues pertaining to today’s society.

In addition, Martin reminded the audience that the Black Freedom Movement, often referred to as the Civil Rights Movement by the media, was not solely King’s movement. Instead, it was an immense network of individuals working to make the movement successful.

“I get it; this is to recognize the federal holiday of MLK, but go back to 1964 when he took the Nobel Peace Prize,” Martin said. “He accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the movement. I believe King would find it problematic that the day was about him.”

The questions then changed to how young people

could evoke change today. Martin referred to the Black Freedom Movement, explaining how many of the initiatives of movement were driven by young people. However, Martin reminded the audience that for every movement, there is the energy and passion of young individuals and the wisdom and knowledge of older individuals.

“The problem is when we get stuck on stupid by saying you dumb and young, and you old and tired.

Both won’t listen to each other,” Martin said.

According to Martin, the Black Lives Matter Movement struggled because the movement did not set up a strong foundation.

Martin told the audience that King said that black America’s greatest enemy is the white moderate, and that any progress black America makes is followed by white America responding with a feeling that black America had made enough progress.

He listed the ending of slavery followed by the Reconstruction and the Black Freedom Movement followed by white flight, and he suggested that the election of Trump acted as a response to the election of Barack Obama as the first black president.

Martin then segued into discussing the media and his role as a black journalist.

“I’m a black journalist,” Martin said. “Okay, I know why I’m there. I’m there to say some stuff other folks won’t say.”

He talked about his show’s coverage of the disappearance and death of black men who were later found dead in the home of Democratic donor Ed Buck, and how he and other black journalists were following this story long before predominately white media outlets began their coverage.

“I can’t assume somebody else is going to say it,” Martin said. “I can’t assume somebody else is going to raise the point, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I have lost opportunities in being what

MLK said, militant.”

He explained that America is not concerned with individuals being deemed as revolutionaries if those individuals are white. He argued that if the Founding Fathers received praise as revolutionaries, then MLK and the Black Panthers should receive the same level of praise.

Martin discussed that white supremacy has affected the term “militant,” and in that sense has degraded black militancy, while rewarding militancy if the individual is white.

He argues that America does not need to have a national conversation about race, but that individuals need to engage in challenging dialogue within their families about how they speak about race in America.

“It is hard for white Americans to listen to what I am saying because it requires them to do something that white America has never done en masse and that is confront the reality of whiteness in America and how it has benefitted them, even if they are not rich,” Martin said. “… it is hard for them to understand that because they grew up reading his story not history.”

Martin refers to “his story” as the white-washed version of events, which he does not view as objective history.

The event was then opened up to questions, where audience members asked Martin to discuss the role of Malcolm X, slum conditions in northern cities and the role Martin plays in upholding King’s legacy.

Collin Parker ’20 found the event to be informative and inspired him to take this information and use it within his life.

“He brought to light a lot of problems that you don’t really think about when you think about the Civil Rights Movement,” Parker said. “He kind of made me want to go back and do research and really think through things and things that you see and understand what’s real — what’s real history.”

Rowe to be inaugurated at Charter Day as College’s first female president Keynote address will reflect on importance of recognizing history of College’s charter, future initiatives INAUGURATION from page 1

Glendinning has led the efforts to plan a social media challenge, which Rowe said she is particularly excited for. Now, students and community members will still be able to share their reflections on Charter Day or well wishes to Rowe through a message board. He’s also helped facilitate the student gift, something that will be revealed to Rowe during the ceremony. The gift was created

by Amy Zhang ’19 and Matt Parciak ’19.

“This tradition, Charter Day, for me, is one of those important moments where we get to pause and think about what has been our history, what do we want to carry forward and what do we want to change?” Rowe said.

“How do we imagine a future? Having moments like that where we can pause and reflect regularly as part of the cycle of the year is incredibly important for William and Mary.”

These reflections will be at the heart of her keynote address during Charter Day. Rowe said that during her fall semester, her “Thinking Forward” conversation series gave her opportunities to reflect

on what defined the College through hearing about students’ “William and Mary moments.” Two stuck out to her in particular: hearing a freshman talk about the warmth he experienced walking around campus and hearing a senior talk about taking the risk of walking across the Crim Dell bridge with her freshman year roommate.

“These are the defining moments I have heard over and over again,” Rowe said. “So that might be the most important thing to carry forward, the intentional creation of community together and the way students here in particular think about how do we really do that well.”

Rowe strives to set a strategic plan next semester. In the meantime, Rowe and her senior leadership team, like Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Sam Jones, have been meeting with students, staff and faculty to connect with the campus and develop a set of priorities. Through these meetings, Rowe has heard individual student stories and also learned how important issues of justice and activism are to the campus community.

“It was exhilarating,” Rowe said. “I

would say I was in motion all the time to be able to connect with so many different communities. The days were long and full and satisfying in an incredibly joyful way. I was being a learner, learning William and Mary, students understand that, really being stretched, feeling your heart and your mind being stretched while you seek to understand deeply and fast what is the mission at the core of the institution. What pulls people here? What makes alumni return?”

She said that one of her biggest accomplishments during the fall semester was launching the College’s Sustainability Plan, which is a five-year plan that focuses on campus planning and culture, academics and engagement, energy and climate and operations. As part of the Sustainability Plan, Rowe secured funding to extend the Green Revolving Fund.

Rowe also said she has enjoyed working with Student Assembly and wants to learn how to better help SA connect with the student body and take action on issues that matter to other students.

Beyond her “Thinking Forward”

series, a lot of her communication with students comes from the frequent messages she receives and individual conversations she has with students.

Occasionally, Rowe has also been the recipient of petitions calling for action or campus-wide statements. From these, she’s learned that activism is at the heart of the student experience at the College, and she’s developed a strategy on how to respond as president.

“Anybody who writes to me by name, respectfully, reasonably respectfully, will get a direct answer,” Rowe said. “I will also engage my senior leadership team.

I really want to empower them in their domains to speak with authority, so it’s not only going to be the president who speaks. … When the president speaks, I am speaking as the president, as William and Mary, for William and Mary. There is no time that I get to speak as an individual, personally, in public. What I will speak out on are issues that are directly relevant to this campus or higher ed, because the range of things that one could speak out on is incredibly vast.”

Over the fall semester, Rowe also worked with her president’s aides to

develop communication strategies to reach the campus. With her background as a media historian, she has sought to understand the limitations of different strategies such as emails, social media posts and announcements. She’ll bring a new form of communication to the table in just a few weeks when she launches her own Instagram account.

Once Charter Day is over, Rowe said she is looking forward to continuing to develop relationships with different community actors like the City Council to pursue pedestrian safety. She’s also working to identify priorities in different fields. For example, with Chief Diversity Officer Chon Glover M.Ed. ’99 Ed.D. ’06, Rowe has identified recruiting and retaining diverse faculty as a top priority. “[The question is] what is the president’s role and one aspect of that is understanding where the great ideas are coming from,” Rowe said. “How do we gather those ideas and implement them effectively, coordinate them effectively, and that is a question I am asking. We have a very networked leadership team that values effective collaboration really highly.”

opinions

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

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Page 5

GUEST COLUMNS

Students demand action regarding Northam Revelations of Northam’s misdeeds demands his immediate resignation

College should rescind honorary degree due to Northam’s actions

Cody Mills

Lauren Smith

FLAT HAT GUEST WRITER

FLAT HAT GUEST WRITER

There is no other logical or fair conclusion to the controversy surrounding Gov. Ralph Northam than his immediate resignation. As someone who interned on his campaign and worked for months to get him elected, he made me excited because of his socially progressive stances and especially his commitment to reproductive justice. However, I definitely think this is a moment where a call for Northam’s resignation is both necessary and even more important to come from the mouths of those who played a role in helping him to achieve the governorship. I canvassed for hours every week, made hundreds of phone calls and even vocally argued for his platform in front of hundreds of students, and I take full responsibility for the role I played in his victory.

While I’ve also heard some people attempt to argue that this was the stupid action of a young boy, these individuals need to be reminded that he did this at the age of 25.

Northam wasn’t in high school and he wasn’t starting college. He was going off into the world to work as a doctor. If we are expected to trust someone to perform surgeries and write prescriptions, we should expect them to be fully capable of straying away from blatant racism. In conversations I have had with several older friends of mine who were alive in 1984, they have all conveyed to me that these actions were equally unconscionable in that time period and equally jarring to individuals of color as they would be today.

Furthermore, many have made the claim that everyone acts with stupidity in college and that this time period is one where you get a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for your actions. This is quite possibly one of the most destructive mental frameworks I can imagine for dictating who we hold accountable for what and when.

Do we disregard individuals who commit sexual assault in college just because it was a “poor decision of their youth?” The fact of the matter remains that while in college you are legally recognized as an adult and should therefore be held fully accountable for your actions.

Also, this is not to say that people can’t grow and learn but, rather, to argue that it doesn’t seem like too much to ask that individuals seeking elected office have no clear history of racism, sexism or homophobia.

We should hold our elected officials to a higher bar than we hold most human beings and despite this, the bar of not expressing racist sentiments does not seem to be one set in the clouds. I can’t make any judgement about whether or not thoughts that are influenced by racist ideologies continue to be present in his mind and soul today, but I can say that every argument I have seen in his defense has come from a white individual who clearly has no reason to view these actions as violent or dangerous.

Furthermore, in his talks and discussions on his progressive platform, he has consistently mentioned the institutionalized struggles of LGBTQ individuals and women, but consistently failed to directly mention the issues that many black Virginians face in terms of voter discrimination, pay gaps and lack of access to adequate forms of medical care, as well as the ways that many medical care providers tend to undervalue claims of pain that come from patients of color.

In moments like these, it is central to recognize the individualized privilege that comes with being white in order to understand why this is an issue that both divides us as a community and minimizes the pain and struggles of people of color, both in Virginia and across the country. The people of Virginia deserve better, and any history of blatant hatred and racism should be deemed unacceptable to hold public office.

Email Cody Mills at cdmills@email.wm.edu.

The College of William and Mary is getting ready to celebrate its 326th year next weekend. Do you know who is not celebrating now? Gov. Ralph Northam.

There are two components to the political firestorm Northam is facing. One is his despicable comments on late term abortion, and the other is the now infamous photo from his old yearbook.

Is Northam’s honorary degree, which he received last year, still appropriate given the recent political storm of his yearbook photo from medical school?

The photo in question is on his yearbook page from the 1980s and displays a blackface costume along with a person dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member. The photo was first published by Big League Politics and then confirmed by The Virginian-Pilot with widespread condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. Kamala Harris stated on Twitter, “Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the strain of racism should have no place in the halls of government. The Governor of Virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward.”

Gov. Northam released a statement, “Earlier today, a website published a photograph of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that was clearly racist and offensive.”

Now, he is vehemently denying that he is either person in the photograph, which is odd considering he already apologized for the photo. Backpedaling aside, he is now claiming that he did not see the photo until this February.

I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as so full of you-know-what. Northam refuses to resign, even after both the Virginia Republicans and Democrats have called for his removal from office or the condemnation of the photo itself.

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez wrote: “It’s time for Ralph Northam to step aside and let Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax to serve Virginians as their next governor.”

Lt. Governor Fairfax was accused of sexual assault by a woman named Vanessa Tyson and the story broke right after Northam’s photo debacle. While Lt. Governor Fairfax denies this alle-gation, it certainly puts an interesting spin on Virginia politics. Will this paint Northam as a “better” alternative and allow him to hold on to his seat? Will Lt. Governor Fairfax face a massive falling out? Time will tell.

Northam has turned his cheek and refuses to resign. While we may not have any control over his direct removal from office, we have the responsibility as members of this community to uphold the values of the College.

As a member of the Tribe, and because of the personal values I hold, I believe it imperative that we uphold justice in our beautiful state. The College is an inclusive, diverse and accepting community.

Our values demonstrate acceptance and tolerance for others. Last year, Northam received his honorary degree mere weeks after being elected. Where is the honor now? It is my hope that the College administration revokes his degree and supports those affected by the racist photo.

GRAPHIC BY SARAH BRADY/ THE FLAT HAT

Email Lauren Smith at lsmith02@email.wm.edu.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Northam shattered Virginians’ trust, should resign to allow new leadership The Flat Hat Editorial Board would like to join the chorus of voices on campus, in Virginia and across the United States calling for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign.

When the news first surfaced Friday afternoon that Northam’s medical school yearbook page included a picture of two people dressed in blackface and Ku Klux Klan hoods and robes, Northam initially admitted guilt and apologized.

The next day, in a baffling press conference, he said he would not resign despite the calls for him to do so and denied that he was in the photo yet simultaneously admitted to dressing in blackface on a different occasion in the 1980s. This is unacceptable for anyone, let alone someone in such an important position.

2019 marks 400 years since the first enslaved people from Africa arrived in Virginia. Slave labor was legal in Virginia for 244 of those years, until 1863. Jim Crow laws and other racist policies continued to disadvantage black people in Virginia for decades. A Klan hood is an unequivocal symbol of racist violence, and blackface

minstrelsy has been used to mock, belittle and play on harmful stereotypes of black Americans since its inception.

The legacy of this institutionalized racism persists today, and Virginia needs a governor who will work to dismantle oppression. In light of the discovery of this picture, it is evident that Northam cannot and will not be able to do that important work.

College President Katherine Rowe’s choice to pull Northam from the upcoming Charter Day ceremonies was the right thing to do. While the College of William and Mary has a long way to go when it comes to racial reconciliation, we commend the administration’s decision and Rowe’s recognition and condemnation of Northam’s racist behavior.

Following last year’s commemoration of 50 years of African-American students in residence and the Board of Visitors’ statement in April apologizing for the College’s role in slavery and segregation, welcoming Northam to campus would have been an insult to the work campus activists and researchers have done to promote

reconciliation and racial equity.

Many students at the College campaigned and voted for Northam in 2017. In Williamsburg, 70 percent of voters cast their ballot for Northam, hoping he would stay true to a commitment to racial justice, especially considering the threat of Ed Gillespie’s racist campaign rhetoric, which included support for Confederate monuments and opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s police brutality protests.

Whoever succeeds Northam as governor should uphold the progressive values that Virginians voted for in 2017. Recently, an allegation of sexual assault has surfaced against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become interim governor should Northam resign. False allegations of sexual assault are incredibly rare, and we hope this matter will be investigated properly.

If this troubling allegation is true, we could not trust Fairfax to fight for survivors of sexual assault, and we could not in good faith endorse him as governor.

We hope that Virginia can soon have a leader in which we can place our trust. We

cannot definitively say who that leader ought to be, but it should not be Northam. If the allegation against Fairfax is true, it should not be him either.

If Northam has any modicum of respect for the Virginians who voted him into office and trusted him to advance progressive values in the Commonwealth, he will step down as soon as possible. Only then can the pain the picture has caused begin to be dealt with.

The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Flat Hat. The editorial board consists of Brendan Doyle, Kiana Espinoza, Leonor Grave and Julia Stumbaugh. The Flat Hat welcomes submissions to the Opinions section. Letters, columns, graphics, and cartoons reflect the view of the author only.

Email submissions to fhopinions@gmail. com.

Editor’s Note: Flat Hat Editor-in-Chief Sarah Smith recused herself from this editorial in order to remain neutral in her reporting.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

STAFF COLUMNS

Page 6

STAFF COLUMNS

GUEST COLUMN

March for Life a reminder to value all human life

Colleen Wilson FLAT HAT GUEST WRITER

I believe that humans have an incredible dignity that is theirs from the first moment they come into existence, and it should be protected every day of their lives. That dignity, shared by all of humanity, is the reason why I, along with my fellow members of Tribe for Life, attended the 46th annual March for Life Jan. 18. In gathering in mid-January, pro-life activists recalled the decision of Roe v. Wade made Jan. 22, 1973. Therefore, it was no surprise that abortion was the most prominent issue addressed by demonstrators.

The pro-life movement certainly recognizes abortion as the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, but in reflecting on this year’s march, it is important to take a step back to consider the fact that abortion is only one of many pro-life issues. To be consistently pro-life, we need to be more than just pro-birth. We need to protect the dignity of all human life through its full course.

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The death penalty, euthanasia, ineffectual relief for the poor and disabled, classrestrictive access to education and healthcare, unjust treatment of refugees and indigenous peoples — if we are truly pro-life, we need to address these threats to human dignity as well.

Many politicians are simply pro-birth. That is to say, they oppose abortion because it is an attack on life in the womb, but they do not take measures to protect life outside of the womb. The pro-life cause should seek to combat all affronts to the dignity of the human person, whether that person be one moment old, newly born at nine months old, 20 years old or 99 years old.

The death penalty, euthanasia, ineffectual relief for the poor and disabled, class-restrictive access to education and healthcare, unjust treatment of refugees and indigenous peoples — if we are truly pro-life, we need to address these threats to human dignity as well.

All people need to be reminded that life is good, and it is always worth living. When children in America and elsewhere are being born and raised in inhumane conditions, suffering from neglect in their families and prejudice in their society, it is no wonder that so many people feel it might just be better if those children were never born. If we want to see the end of abortion, we need to have systems in place to assist the vulnerable starting after they have been born and until they die.

Before any change in legislation could be effective, a change in public perspective must take place. The overturning of federal policies which destroy life could begin on a very personal level. No one will believe that a politician or demonstrator who claims to be pro-life cares for the dignity of all human lives if that care is not shown in an active effort to protect the dignity of their neighbors by giving them the respect they deserve.

The March for Life was a vibrant celebration of human personhood, and in the crowd of marchers, there was a great sense of joy and a real love for life. It is a shame that political differences which reduce the protection of life to partisan debates about control and choice taint this issue with a spirit of animosity.

To all who recognize the dignity of human life from its first beginnings in the womb to its natural end in the tomb, please take some time to consider how we as individuals and citizens can respect each other’s dignity and the dignity of all persons on a daily basis. Help us build a culture which loves life!

Email Colleen Wilson at cmwilson01@email.wm.edu.

GRAPHIC BY CAITLIN MCCLAIN / THE FLAT HAT

Morton Hall: Vintage or falling apart?

Morton Hall desperately in Despite age, Morton Hall need of sizable renovation better than students say

Anna Boustany

FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC. EDITOR

Last fall semester, I came to school excited about all my classes, only to discover that despite my international relations major, three of my classes were in Morton Hall. Not only was I stuck in Morton every day for a language, I also had to sprint from Morton to the Sir Christopher Wren Building at 3:20p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday to make it (barely) on time to my 3:30p.m. religious studies class that was housed in its departmental building.

While I can complain for far too long about the fact that despite my major, I’ve never had a class in Tyler Hall, the real shame is how much it sucks to be stuck in Morton.

Ideally, it shouldn’t really matter where your classes are, if every building is as wonderfully renovated and modernized as some of our academic buildings are. To be fair, renovation takes time, and it will take time for all buildings to be renovated to the same beautiful standards as buildings like the Integrated Science Center and Tyler Hall. However, there is a vast difference between buildings that are simply old and in need of a new paint job like Washington Hall, and Morton, a building that is deeply flawed and should have been built completely differently.

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Morton’s classrooms always manage to disappoint.

Firstly, Morton is one of the most confusing architectural buildings, and the strange room numbering doesn’t make it easier to find your way around. The building basically has two first floors depending on where you enter, and the “basement” numbering, like room 20, or 1, is especially not helpful. Looking online to see that I had a class in Morton 4 gave me absolutely no help to figure out where I was supposed to go for the first day of classes.

Beyond the confusing architectural layout, perhaps the worst part of Morton’s structure is the bathrooms. The bathrooms are covered in weird graffiti, perhaps reflective of the unhappiness the lack of a full stall door causes. The pink tile choice is just a desperate attempt to cover up the sadness of the bathrooms themselves, and it doesn’t work. Bathrooms are an important place to take a break, and unhappy bathrooms lead to unhappy students.

There is also the matter of Morton’s classrooms themselves.

If the classrooms were nice, welcoming places to learn, perhaps the rest of Morton’s flaws could be forgiven or at the very least overlooked. Yet the opposite is true. Morton’s classrooms always manage to disappoint, whether it be in their chalkboards (which are worse than white boards) always lacking chalk, or the chairs with either tiny desks or broken backs. It is quite upsetting (and not particularly good for the health of students) to have to sit in uncomfortable, often broken chairs for hours on end.

Morton is also inconveniently located, which might be unavoidable but adds to the general unpleasantness of the experience of taking a class there.

I am beyond grateful that I have escaped Morton this semester, though I have yet to make it into the beautiful building in which my major is housed. Still, too many students are forced to take classes in a building that is aesthetically and functionally displeasing Renovating Morton should be on the College of William and Mary’s list of top refurbishment priorities, but I wish I could travel back in time and beg whoever built it to fix the problems then.

Email Anna Boustany at aeboustany@email.wm.edu.

Lauren Cohen

FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC. EDITOR

How would you like it if you were constantly made fun of by people around you, even people with whom you spend copious amounts of time? How would it feel to be constantly called mean names such as “outdated,” “ugly,” “smelly” and “useless”? Would you enjoy being vandalized by angsty twamps with inappropriate messages and images that would make your grandmother cry?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, I have one more inquiry for you: Have you ever made fun of Morton Hall?

I’m writing today on behalf of my unrequited love for the best building on this campus: the one and only Morton.

I won’t lie to you, I started off as a Morton hater. In my defense, it was all I knew as a measly freshman. Before registering for first-semester classes, my trusty Orientation Aides informed me that Morton was, certifiably, the worst academic building on campus. And of course, I believed them, because as a freshman, that’s what you do. So, I went forward that semester with no classes in Morton, not knowing what I was missing but glad that I was missing it. I don’t see it that way anymore, though, and frankly, I enjoy my time in Morton.

“

Frankly, I enjoy my time in Morton.

Morton sure takes a lot of heat from the student body here at the College of William and Mary, with complaints ranging from the height of the bathroom stalls, the size of the classrooms and the sheer number of stairs. Other qualms include cockroach sightings, confusing room numbers, outdated furniture and paint jobs and the fact that the building itself is just so old. However, I feel that many of these grievances have a silver lining.

My least favorite Morton-induced complaint is about the stairs. Objectively, they are just normal stairs. Sure, there are a lot of them. Sure, it’s annoying that you enter from the basement, so a second-floor class requires climbing three flights of stairs. But they’re still just stairs, and even though they may not be pretty, they get the job done. And hey, your calf muscles will thank you.

I can tell you that after numerous classes in Morton, walking to my third-floor dorm room is a breeze.

Next, I understand that short bathroom stalls aren’t ideal, but is it really that big of an issue? Men, I can’t speak for you, but women aren’t standing up in the stalls anyway. Believe it or not, the short stalls in Morton can even lead to human interaction — you can’t make eye contact with a fellow student over the stall wall and not give a little “howdy.” Look at that socializing!

Thanks, Morton.

Another pro of the Morton bathrooms is the delightful pink tile on the walls. The color reminds me a little bit of PeptoBismol, but that can be comforting in a way. Looking at them with the right mindset, they can be pretty cheerful.

Lastly, if you survived your freshman dorm, you can most definitely survive the stray cockroach occurrences in Morton. I’m not saying that cockroaches don’t freak me out, because they do, but if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.

As a sociology major, I’ve learned to love Morton, and it has become somewhere I feel at home. Maybe it’s the friendly environment made up of dedicated professors I’ve had there and cool students I’ve met in classes, or maybe it’s the pink bathroom walls that can always provide a colorful pick-me-up. Whatever it is, I strongly believe that Morton has character, and if personality is what I look for when picking my friends, then why wouldn’t it be what I look for when picking my favorite academic building?

Email Lauren Cohen at lhcohen01@email.wm.edu.

variety

Variety Editor Heather Baier flathat.variety@gmail.com

| Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Page 7

COURTESY PHOTOS / STACIA PHALEN

The Flat Hat

Women graduates take TV Alumnae give advice, inspiration from the entertainment industry SOPHIA CARONNA-MORSEMAN // THE FLAT HAT Five women sat on the stage of the intimately lit Kimball Theatre Saturday, Feb. 2, as the audience waited in anticipation of their insights and inspiring histories. These women together formed the “W&M Women in TV” panel, a group of alumnae from the College of William and Mary who are now professionals in the television industry.

This event was hosted by the Cohen Career Center in partnership with the William & Mary Global Film Festival — a four-day series of discussions and film screenings across campus from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3.

Associate Director and Liaison to Arts and Education at the Cohen Career Center Anna Umbreit noted in the opening remarks that this panel stands as a further recognition of the College’s 100 Years of Women campaign.

“I hope you each are inspired by hearing each panelists’ perspectives and advice,” Umbreit said.

Umbreit introduced the moderator, Megan Gilbride ’00, with a long list of accolades. Gilibride is a two-time Emmy Award winner, has received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for producing narrative and documentary films, produced the Emmy Award-winning documentary “TOWER” and was shortlisted for the Best Documentary Academy Award. Gilibride accepted the floor and the applause with casual self-deprecation, addressing the audience with the hopes of inspiring students who may wish to work in television in the future.

The speakers sat in a line across the stage, each holding their own microphone and listening respectfully as they discussed their niche in the television industry one by one.

Kim Wilcox ’88 is a costume designer most recently known for her work on the second season of “Stranger Things” and the first season of “Mr. Robot.”

Chitra Sampath ’06 is a TV drama writer and producer on shows such as “Southland,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Good Behavior.”

Kristin Boos ’08 is a creative director with TNT, also credited as a promotional campaign director, and is responsible for the content production needed to advertise a show, from promos and trailers to influencer events and podcasts.

Jill Twiss ’98 is a comedy staff writer on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” She is also the recent author of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” a satirical children’s book critiquing U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s anti-LGBTQ stances by detailing the gay romance of Pence’s real-life pet rabbit.

Signed copies were available for purchase at the entrance to Kimball Theatre after the panel.

Boos said she enjoyed a wide variety of activities as an undergraduate and decided to go into television because she enjoyed watching it so much. “[I was] all over the place with my interests, as we should be as a William and Mary student, overcommitted and doing a thousand things that make you happy,” Boos said. “I watch television all the time. … Sometimes it’s as simple as that.

What do you spend a lot of your time doing, and wouldn’t it be fun to do that for a living?”

Twiss’s sarcastic sense of humor struck throughout

the panel.

“I was a music major, obviously at William and Mary, specifically clarinet, which really panned out for me,” Twiss said.

With resume entries that spanned from “congressional intern” to “touring thespian,” and then from “stand-up comedian” to “comedic writer,” Twiss communicated how indirect paths to success can be.

Sampath double majored in operations and information systems with literary and cultural studies with a film track.

She accepted a consulting job based in Los Angeles, California with Accenture post-graduation. Within six months, she quit, moved into an apartment with eight roommates and started seeking unpaid internships in the entertainment industry through Craigslist.

“In hindsight, I was always writing, it just didn’t occur

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ou spend What do y ur time a lot of yo ’t d wouldn doing, an do that o t n u f e b it g. for a livin ’ 8 8 s o o B n i t — Kris

to me that someone like me could actually do the job that I have now,” Twiss said. “There was a gap between the empowerment that I needed and the clarity of vision that I needed to get there.”

Even Wilcox, who had a clear interest in design and theater throughout her undergraduate and postgraduate education, acknowledged the shifty nature of career paths.

She recalled her realization during graduate school that she wanted to pursue costume design as opposed to set design, and the “knock-down, drag-out fight with [her] Master’s director” to let her change programs.

The panelists repeatedly discussed the importance of informational interviews in the industry. An informational interview consists of an informal request for 15 minutes of an entertainment professional’s time to ask questions and to learn about their job, more often than not over coffee.

Gilibride described them as a vital part of working in the television industry. “[They’re a] secret golden ticket to get access to really smart people in the industry in a no-stakes situation,” Boos said. “You’d be surprised at how many people take you up on that, because we all got where we are because many people along the way gave us those 15 minutes for coffee.”

The panelists advised the audience to be brave, to come prepared with informed and insightful questions, and to do

research on the company and the position’s current projects.

“It shows inquisitiveness, it shows motivation, it shows enthusiasm for the craft you’re going into,” Boos said.

Boos and Sampath also emphasized the importance of the follow-up email and the “thank you” — it is at this juncture that they say a student may inform the interviewer of their willingness to provide a resume or fill a future position.

“If you do an informational interview, don’t expect to get a job,” Wilcox said. “Sometimes it takes two years.

You’re just putting a seed. You’re spreading as many seeds as you can, you’re learning as much as you can about as many different things as you can, and then just wait for it to germinate. Because pushing them will make you kicked out of the queue.”

The panelists were eager to convey the cooperative and supportive nature of the entertainment industry, despite its reputation for competitiveness.

“There’s this notion that it’s a cutthroat industry, and in a lot of ways it is, but because it’s an industry of people and it’s an industry of creative people and relationships, there’s a lot about support,” Gilibride said. “I still ask people to do those [informational] meetings with me.”

Sampath offered other final pieces of advice for budding creatives.

“Do not just send your script along afterwards,” Sampath said. “It’s a total no-no, but you can say, ‘Would you mind reading my material?’ in your reply, and when they tell you it’s OK to send a script, send it.”

Twiss gave those in the audience a tip as well.

“Make sure your stuff is out there for people to see,” Twiss said. “There’s a ton of content out there but a lot of it’s not great. The good stuff really will be seen.”

Wilcox also provided some advice to students who were considering moving to larger cities after graduation.

“If you decide to move to New York or L.A., live with as many people as possible because you’re not [going to] make a lot of money, and you need that money to network,” Wilcox said. “So spend as little as you possibly can on rent, live with as many people as you can stand — people that you like — and go out as much as possible. Because in the bar and over the beer … that’s how you get in the door. It’s a lot better to spend less on where you live and more on how you socialize.”

Gilibride’s last question brought the conversation to the unique William and Mary undergraduate experience — how the panelists believe the College prepared them for the industry and their careers.

Sampath was grateful for her non-linear path to screenwriting.

“I got to live real life and learn, have all of these other classes and all of these other experiences for several years longer,” Sampath said. “Now I have more things to write about.”

Wilcox ended by saying that the biggest key overall is work ethic. “[Most important is] work ethic and tenacity,” Wilcox said. “It matters if you have a work ethic, you pay attention, you put in the work, you stick around. … You survive.”

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Film ‘!Women Art Revolution’ looks at past of women in art Friday night, the film “!Women Art Revolution” took center stage in Tucker Theatre. Part of the William & Mary Global Film Festival, the film depicts a raw outlook on the lives of female artists throughout the late 1900s anti-war period.

Organized by Marcus Fussell ’19 who has organized most of the events at Tucker Theatre in the past years, the event attracted a wide array of both students and members of the community. To Fussell, who plans on moving to New York after graduation, this coalition of artists and devotees has helped him begin to establish his place in the world.

“I already have a family here that has helped connect [me] to another in New York,” Fussell said. “!Women Art Revolution” explores the radicalism of rape, the prejudice against the establishment and self-discovery of

a woman’s sexuality as well as feminism as a whole. Their nature and prominence embody the female figure today. The film uses personal interviews with the artists to distill information, and the expressionism seen in the interviews is a cogent representation of the self-articulation that became central theory to the art itself during the era.

“The film really nailed the point of the movement, expressionism, in a personal manner,” Muscarelle intern Emma Efkeman ’19 said. “It is because of these women that current female artists are not required to name other female artists as a central identity to their work.”

Following the resignation of Muscarelle Museum of Art Director Aaron De Groft and the retirement of museum curator John Spike, David Brashear was asked by College of William and Mary President

GRACE OLSEN // THE FLAT HAT When asked where he sees women’s art going from here, Brashear expressed hope that it would not be separated from art in general.

“The future of women’s art is the future of art,” Brashear said. “It’s the future of men’s art; it’s the future of art of people of color; it’s the future of art of people of different cultures. Hopefully, with the direction we are going in we no longer have to talk about the future of women’s art; we can talk about the future of art.” “!Women Art Revolution” was simply a reminder that the manner in which the space is inhabited can either be revolutionary or just another mundane miscellany of stereotypical art. The name is fitting. “!Women Art Revolution” is nothing short of revolutionary.

Katherine Rowe and the board of directors to fill the position as interim director at the museum. Already deeply involved, Brashear held a distinguished resume for the position. “[I] really fit into it and hit the ground running, January 1st,” Brashear said.

Moving forward, Brashear expressed a desire to incorporate more women’s art into Muscarelle exhibitions and discussed the intricacies of curating a space like the Muscarelle. “[Curators] look at the inhabited space and who is defining the habitation of that space and then focus on opening it up in a different way and making space for people.”

IMPROV OUTREACH

Amelia Bane ’12 builds communication through comedy, improvisational theater SARAH SMITH // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

After growing up in Hampton, Virginia, Amelia Bane ’12 wasn’t sure that she wanted to go to the College of William and Mary, practically in her backyard, even if she thought it was wonderful. Choosing to go to the College ended up being the right choice for her, but it would not be the last unexpected decision that she would make.

While at the College, Bane double majored in English and film and media studies, which at the time was called literary and cultural studies. She said she was primarily involved with 7th Grade Sketch Comedy, the Bosnia Project — now called the ABC Project — the Global Film Festival and University Communications.

“My favorite days [at the College] were always show days for 7th Grade Sketch,” Bane said. “We would meet three times a week and write for two hours. Every six or eight weeks, we would put on a show with all of this energy and excitement going into one hour on a Friday night.

I work with people all the time putting on shows, but it’s never quite as pure.”

A f t e r graduating, Bane packed up and moved to New Yo r k

City. She had always planned on pursuing comedy and TV and film production, and those passions were solidified after ending up in the city. However, her current career path is not what she initially predicted.

Just over a year after moving to New York, Bane enrolled in a master’s program at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, where she designed her own master’s degree in communications and improvisation. Because her program was a low-residency program, she still spent most of her time in New York and designed her own syllabi and projects for her master’s.

“I went there planning to make a film about anxiety and ADHD, particularly in adolescent girls, and I was encouraged to think about what skills that I had that I could actually use,” Bane said.

“I am a comedian; I am an improviser, so I went down this rabbit hole of research.”

From this research, Bane created a film exploring how improvisational theater could be used as a complement to therapy for adolescent girls dealing with anxiety and ADHD. This research also sparked a passion that led to Bane founding her own nonprofit called Community Building Art Works.

Bane had been working as an art teacher while pursuing her master’s, and as the Trump administration came into office, Bane became worried that the funding that allowed her and other artists to work with service members and veterans at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center would disappear. Not wanting to turn her back on the service members, she started a nonprofit almost two years ago to keep providing art workshops, just under a new name.

Bane teaches improvisational theater to service members and veterans alongside other art teachers who lead workshops on poetry, writing and visual arts.

“We are generally trying to do community building,” Bane said.

“With improv, we are working with communication. When people come back from being deployed or working in these jobs that can be challenging, they lose the ability to have normal interactions.

There is not a lot of resources [for them]. Through improv and playing, we do work with emotions. We’ll have people improvise a different emotional state and someone will guess what they are feeling and unpack what that looks like and what that feels like.

The most important part of it is that it’s an hour of their day where … they can kind of relax. When you are able to relax in your body, you are able to relax in your brain as well.”

Bane said that, in the future, she hopes her work as a board member for Community Building Art Works will become her full-time job. As of right now, she spends about one week a month in Washington, D.C. working COURTESY PHOTO / AMELIA BANE at hospitals leading her workshops. She spends the

rest of her time working to apply for grants to secure funding for the nonprofit. She estimates that the nonprofit works with several hundred veterans and service members each month.

Coming full circle, Bane came back to visit the College this past weekend because “We Are Not Done Yet,” an HBO documentary about her nonprofit, was screened at the Global Film Festival.

“It’s very cool; it’s weird,” Bane said. “One of my first classes I took was in Tucker Hall, and my film screened in the theater in Tucker Hall. I had this moment where I felt like I was running late for class, but I was walking into a screening for my film. I used to be in the audience, but I was answering questions from the podium.”

Making the transition from art teacher to founding Community Building Art Works might seem linear, but Bane said that if it hadn’t been for her time with the ABC Project, she never would have felt comfortable working with veterans. However, even signing up for the ABC Project happened on a whim — especially when most of her classmates in the project were government majors.

Adam Stackhouse ’04, who ran this year’s Global Film Festival, worked with Bane on something called Audio Adventures. Every so often, students would download an audio file, put on their headphones, and explore the campus on a guided adventure.

Other students, like Bane, participated as actors in the stories.

Stackhouse encouraged Bane to get involved with the ABC Project.

“I told [government professor Paula Pickering], the professor that teaches the course on Bosnia, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to start the nonprofit without her class,” Bane said.

“I went with mostly people more interested in government; they each co-taught with a Bosnian teacher. Over the course of the month, we wrote films with the students because I had the film experience, and I shot and edited them, and we put on a screening for their families.”

Bane still performs regularly. She performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and does some stand-up comedy routines as well. Soon, she will be traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada to perform with another group.

“I think performing is a way to get out of my head,” Bane said. “I feel most comfortable on stage, oddly, which is why I love the work that I do. I know what that has done for me, so I see the potential that I can do for others.”

Bane said that while she still works very hard, since leaving the College, she has learned how to work smarter and has calmed down just a bit.

“I think I loved my time here,” Bane said. “I don’t feel intimidated by a lot because I felt intimidated when I first came here. I learned how to work well with people and be challenged by other people here.”

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The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Page 9

MEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Chase Audige and Nathan Knight each contributed 17 points to the College. Thanks to the efforts of both starters and bench players, the Tribe was able to play a stellar second half and defeat Delaware soundly with a score of 84-63.

Tribe strikes gold against Delaware After slow start to match, College picks up score of 84-63 in second half of Gold Rush game AVERY LACKNER FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR

In this weekend’s Colonial Athletic Association matchup, William and Mary (9-14, 5-6 CAA) blew past Delaware (14-10, 6-5 CAA) in a runaway victory at home Feb. 2.

The first few minutes saw the College commit a series of easy errors, early fouls and offensive turnovers as the Tribe worked through some game-day jitters in front of a packed Kaplan Arena. Delaware scored six points off Tribe turnovers in the first five minutes alone.

The College found its stride midway through the first half, led by freshman center Mehkel Harvey and freshman guard L.J. Owens, who took turns driving to the basket to cut the Blue Hens’ lead to two with just under 11 minutes left in the half.

The Tribe’s offense turned up the intensity when freshman guard Chase Audige and junior forward Nathan Knight returned to the game

after having gotten into early foul trouble.

Audige proceeded to hit three three-pointers in just over a minute to give the College a lead at 31-23.

The pace increased markedly after that, and the Tribe continued to outscore the Blue Hens in fast breaks. However, it was the College’s defense that maintained the lead, led once again by Audige, who contributed four of the 16 defensive boards the Tribe grabbed in the first half.

“Chase gives us another level defensively,” head coach Tony Shaver said. “He makes everybody better, quite honestly.”

The Tribe’s veterans were noticeably quiet early in the game. Knight played just six minutes in the first half of the game and scored only once. While sophomore guard Luke Loewe and redshirt junior guard Matt Milon were on the court for a substantial chunk of the first half, they put up just three points combined.

At the half, the College led the Blue Hens 3732, owing almost entirely to points scored by the

TRACK

College falters at Sykes-Sabock Team comes up short against Cornell and Penn JULIA STUMBAUGH FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Feb. 2, William and Mary competed at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup at Penn State. The men claimed a third-place finish overall at a six-team meet, stealing the bronze and coming in behind host Penn State and challenger Cornell. The women finished seventh out of eight teams in a tight spread of standings where seventh place was just three points behind fifth.

The men’s team saw three individual wins. Senior Ryan McGorty came in at 4:04.66 in

the mile run for a career best and the best time of the meet.

Redshirt senior Daniel Giliomee claimed the gold on the pole vault with a height of 5.05 meters, while redshirt senior Preston Richardson came in first in the shot put with a distance of 17.48 meters. Sophomore KJ Cook, coming in just behind with 17.23 meters, claimed second place.

The women’s squad saw some monumental individual performances, as several Tribe athletes shattered career and lifetime bests with their efforts.

The meet was highlighted by redshirt sophomore Victoria

Gersch, who set a school record with a 25.05 in the 200-meter dash. Meanwhile, senior Grace Becker claimed second in the high jump with a lifetime-best 1.74 meters and set the fifth-best height in school history. Junior Liv Paxton cleared her lifetimebest time by 10 seconds with a 9:50.90 in the 3,000-meter race.

Junior Lauren Graves tied her all-time best on the pole vault, while senior Lindsay Schott beat her indoor-best record in the 800-meter.

Both teams are back in action at the Vince Brown Invitational Feb. 3 in Newport News.

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Senior Jack Hasenkopf earned the meet’s top score in the vault and matched season high, landing an impressive 14.0.

Men sweep Virginia State Open College gains decisive victory over Temple GAVIN AQUIN FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR

William and Mary competed against Temple at the Virginia State Open Feb. 2. The College defeated the Owls 388.5-342.65 to win the State Open.

Sweeping all six events and earning a season high on the floor with a 65.7, the Tribe put on a good performance. Leading the College, sophomore Cutter Fugett won two titles himself on floor and parallel bars. For floor, the College earned its best team total of the year in this event — with a tally of 65.7 — boosted by Fugett’s 14.1 and sophomore Ian Creelman’s career-high 13.35, earning first and third in this event, respectively.

On parallel bars, Fugett earned his career high of 13.25, followed closely by freshman Andrew

Lyubovsky (13.1) and sophomore Ian Creelman (13.05). On pommel horse, senior Jacopo Gliozzi led with a 13.8, followed by sophomore Spencer Schrandt with a 13.1 and freshman Christian Gulotta with a 12.6.

Senior David Watkins posted a 13.85 on rings, giving him the rings title for three consecutive meets. Junior Nate Winneg finished second with a 13.3 and Gliozzi finished third with a 12.85.

On vault, senior Jack Hasenkopf earned the meet’s top score with a 14.0, followed by Lyubovsky’s 13.9 and freshman Reid Ross’ 13.4. Tying for top honors on the high bar, Creelman and senior David Allen earned 12.5 each — representing a career high for Creelman.

The men’s team will return to action when it travels to compete against Army Feb. 23.

bench. Junior forward Justin Pierce continued to dominate offensively well into the second half, alternating between shallow jumpers and layups with great success.

Pierce wasn’t the only asset to come off the bench, having plenty of support from Harvey and Owens. They nabbed key rebounds and put points on the board, but Owens’ most important contribution was his passing. He created muchneeded space on the floor, allowing Pierce and Audige a variety of shot opportunities. “[Harvey, Owens, and Audige] have given us a great lift all year long,” Shaver said. “They are still freshman, but in a sense, they’ve gotten a lot of minutes, so we treat them differently than freshman. Really, really proud of what they’re doing … and have great confidence in putting them in in key situations.”

Milon and Knight got back in the game with 12 minutes to go, and the College began to pull away, widening an already substantial lead to 20 points.

Despite taking an elbow to the face from Blue Hen’s forward Collin Gross, who was promptly ejected, Knight continued to dominate, making up for a sluggish first half. He scored 15 points in as many minutes as the game wound to a close.

“I think the thing that’s so exciting is that our energy was consistent today,” Shaver said. “Our defensive effort was consistent today. … We still have a long way to go offensively, but defense will give you a chance to win every game.”

Overall, it was the bench that won the game for the College, though its starters’ comeback performance lengthened the lead quite a bit, making the final score 84-63.

During the game, Audige scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds earning him CAA Rookie of the Week honors for the third time this season.

In the coming days, the College will hit the road to take on the top two highest ranked teams in the CAA, going head-to-head with Northeastern (13-9, 7-3) on Feb. 7 and Hofstra (19-4, 9-1) on Feb 9.

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

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | Page10

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

Dragons edge Tribe, 62-58

The Tribe fought back from a six-point deficit at the half, and Dragon errors late in the game gave the College the opportunity to tie the score with seconds on the clock. Boggs’ layup was unsuccessful, and the Dragons came out on top.

Boggs, Birdsong, Hodgson put up double figures but fall short in game’s final minute KEVIN RICHESON FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. EDITOR William and Mary looked to bounce back from a 70-59 loss to Delaware at home in a game where the Tribe never led when it welcomed Drexel to Kaplan Arena. The College was 7-0 in its previous seven games following losses this season. The Dragons came into the contest with a perfect 8-0 record in true road games and as one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association with a six-game winning streak.

Sunday, the Dragons (15-5, 7-2 CAA) pushed their winning streak to seven, as the College (119, 4-5 CAA) suffered a dramatic 62-58 setback.

The Tribe was scoreless on its first two possessions but senior guard Bianca Boggs gave the College an early lead on the its first threepointer of the afternoon. Boggs was able to force a steal on the ensuing possession, leading to two free throws for freshman guard Eva Hodgson.

The Dragons, who led 2-0 in the opening minutes, were able to creep back within one on a couple of occasions early in the first quarter, but the College still held a 9-6 lead at the 5:41 mark after a Drexel turnover. The Tribe led by as much as five before guard Hannah Nihill stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer to make the score 11-9 at the media timeout.

“I was real happy with our intensity and our effort level coming out of the gate,” head coach Ed Swanson said.

The College upped its lead to four points out of the timeout, but the Dragons responded with five-straight points to take their second lead of the game, 14-13, with just over a minute to play

in the quarter. The Tribe was unable to score for the remainder of the quarter and the Dragons held a 17-13 edge after 10 minutes.

Redshirt sophomore guard Harper Birdsong finally ended the College’s scoring drought with a three-pointer to open the second quarter, but forward Niki Metzel answered with a layup at the other end to keep the Dragons up by three.

The Tribe continued to get back within one point of the lead, but the Dragons were able to answer with a basket on each occasion, leading to a 23-20 Dragons lead at the six-minute mark of the second quarter. Nevertheless, the College regained the lead at the midway point of the quarter on a layup by junior forward Victoria Reynolds off an assist by Boggs. That lead lasted for just 23 seconds, though, and the Dragons were back on top 31-26 at the media timeout with 2:48 to play before halftime. Boggs scored the College’s next four points after the timeout, but the Dragons still clung to a 34-30 advantage as the clock ticked under one minute to play.

Second-chance points really cost the Tribe in the waning minutes of the half, allowing the Dragons to extend their lead to 36-30 at the break.

Neither was able to score for almost two minutes to start the third quarter, but sophomore guard Nyla Pollard got the College on the board first with a jumper. However, the Dragons answered immediately to push the lead back to six at the 7:38 mark. Freshman forward Emma Krause was able to slice that deficit in half with her first three-pointer of the game after missing her first four attempts. Drexel continued to struggle on the offensive end and Pollard scored again to make it 38-37 in favor of the Dragons with 5:53 left

in the quarter. The Dragons called for a timeout and were able to bounce back with a basket by forward Bailey Greenberg. Nevertheless, the College finally pulled even at the 2:27 mark in a low-scoring quarter. Boggs completed a threepoint play to tie the game at 40 with the Dragons only mustering four points in the first eight minutes of the quarter. The Dragons responded with five points in a 20-second span to reclaim a five-point advantage before Birdsong buried a three with 1:15 to play in the quarter. Birdsong hit another three on the next possession to get the College back within one point, 47-46, with 10 minutes left in the game.

The Dragons started the fourth quarter with a three-point play, but the College got back within two and had multiple chances to tie or take the lead before the Dragons finally scored again to go up 52-48 with just over seven minutes left in the game. The Tribe managed just two points in the first four minutes of the final quarter but a strong defensive effort kept it within four points at the 5:40 mark of the fourth quarter.

Birdsong cut the Dragons’ lead to two again on two free throws, but guard Keishana Washington responded with a clutch three to push the edge to five points, 55-50, at the final media timeout.

As the clock ticked under four minutes, Boggs drove to the basket for a layup to pull the Tribe back within one possession. Nevertheless, the Dragons had the answer again with another three by Washington. Birdsong nearly brought the deficit back to one point, but her three came up just short and Greenberg scored at the other end to give the Dragons a six-point advantage with two minutes to play.

The College enacted a full court press to force several costly turnovers down the stretch and two free throws from Hodgson brought the Tribe within two points, 60-58, with 44 seconds remaining. The Dragons missed a jumper that would have put them up by two possessions and then failed to take advantage of an offensive rebound, allowing the Tribe to finally secure the defensive rebound and call a timeout with 14.8 seconds left. Boggs received the inbounds pass and tried to tie the game with the layup but it was heavily contested and the Dragons came up with the rebound, forcing the Tribe to foul to extend the game. Metzel knocked down a pair of free throws to essentially seal the Dragons’ 62-58 win.

The Dragons were led by Greenberg’s doubledouble on 24 points and 11 rebounds. “[Greenberg is] a great player,” Swanson said.

“She can score in a variety of different ways. … I have a lot of respect for her, she’s a terrific player.”

In the loss, the College had three players in double-figures. Boggs led all scorers with 17 points on just 10 shots. She came up one rebound short of a double-double with nine boards. Birdsong and Hodgson added 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The Tribe will look to get back on track next weekend with two road games at Charleston and North Carolina-Wilmington. The College lost to the Cougars at home, but the Tribe will look to avoid another upset Friday evening.

“We’ve proven we can win on the road,” Swanson said. “This team just has to keep maturing and keep getting better.”

MEN’S TENNIS

Loss to Princeton snaps home-opener win streak Tribe takes defeat at home following three straight losses on the road; Pellerito, Volk only victors FERNANDO CASTRO FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR William and Mary looked to start off its first home match strong Feb. 2, as it hosted Ivy League opponent Princeton. The Tribe attempted to continue a winning streak of 10-straight in home openers, all under head coach Jeff Kader. Unfortunately for the College (0-4), the streak of victories would end with a 5-2 loss to Princeton (4-1).

This match was the first of the Tribe’s four home matches against the Ivy League in February. The Tribe started its season 0-3 after a tough opening schedule. It faced Virginia, Louisville and Florida, three-straight power conference opponents. The last time the Tribe played three power conference opponents in a row was 2009; the last time it happened at the beginning of the season was 1993.

The doubles set featured sophomore Finbar Talcott and senior Tristan Bautil at the No. 1 spot, squaring off with Princeton’s Damian Rodriguez and Ryan Seggerman. At the No. 2 slot, junior Brenden Volk and sophomore Chen Ruo faced Karl Poling and Justin Barki.

At the No. 3 spot, freshman Danny Pellerito and sophomore Sebastian Quiros would play Payton Holden and Bill Duo. Pellerito and Quiros struggled in a 6-2 loss, while the two other matches would feature more competitive bouts. Both Talcott and Bautil and Chen and Volk would lose by 6-4 margins. Princeton claimed the first point of the match with a 3-0 doubles sweep.

Singles matches followed, and in the No. 6 spot, Pellerito would face Duo, winning both sets 6-1 and ending the first singles match of the day. The No. 1 spot would feature Volk and Seggerman, where Volk won a comprehensive first set, 6-1.

In his second set, Volk faced more adversity, but his early pressure and battling at the net ultimately overcame Seggerman, 7-5, giving the Tribe its first point of the day, 2-1. The contest at the No. 3 spot featured a first set tiebreaker, where Poling would overcome Quiros, gaining Princeton another 7-6 set win. In the second set, Poling wouldn’t be able to recover, and lost 6-2. But he bounced back to win the match as Princeton took a decisive 3-1 lead overall.

Chen and Davey Roberts played at the No. 4. Roberts took a 6-2 victory in the initial set, but Chen brought the pressure back with a 6-3 victory in the second, taking the match to a third. At the No. 2 spot, Talcott and Rodriguez had a competitive first set, coming down to a tiebreaker won by Rodriguez, giving him the first set 7-6. The second set would be another neck and neck match, but ultimately Rodriguez would close it out 6-4 as well, clinching a Princeton win.

Chen rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third set at the No. 4 slot, bringing the score to 5-5.

Roberts would sweep the 11th game to gain a 6-5 lead. The 12th went to a deuce where Chen would ultimately fall, giving Peters the set 7-5 and Princeton a 5-1 lead.

The No. 5 spot featured freshman Jack Kelly and Will Peters.

Kelly took the first set 6-4, taking hold of the match with a strong forehand.

The second set went to a tiebreaker, where Peters had a 7-6 victory. Kelly and Peters played their third set after the match was decided, and Kelly took it 6-3, giving the Tribe another point to end the day with a 5-2 loss.

This match places the Tribe 0-4 to start the season, and breaks their streak of success in home openers. Feb. 10, the Tribe will host Brown, its next Ivy League opponent.

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT Junior Brendan Volk won the Tribe their first point of the day with his singles match against Seggerman.

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