T HE F LAT H AT
Vol. 113, Iss. 16 | Wednesday, February 7, 2024
The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
flathatnews.com | @theflathat
RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT
COURTESY IMAGE / LAUREN GERSON
PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI / THE FLAT HAT
BOV TO INCREASE MUSCARELLE FUNDING BY $2.2M Board poised to hike art museum budget, award honorary degrees to Smithsonian Sec. Lonnie Bunch, former Rector Trammell '73
PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI // CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, Feb. 7 to Friday, Feb. 9, the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary will hold its third quarterly meeting of the year. Items on the agenda include the elimination of the Master of Arts degree in physics, which has not been awarded since 1970, increasing funding for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the Martha Wren Briggs project and the conferring of honorary degrees and professorships. According to the board’s schedule, board members will meet with members of the Cypher Society, an association of former board members and their widows, the William and Mary Foundation Board of Trustees (whose membership includes Colonial Williamsburg Foundation President and CEO Cliff Fleet ’91, M.A. ’93, J.D. ’95, MBA. ’95), the Alumni Association Board and the Annual Giving Board. The board will meet primarily in the Grimsley Board room in Blow Memorial Hall, while the joint meeting with other board groups will take place in the Alan B. Miller Hall on Thursday. According to the College’s website, the boards will discuss the Democracy Initiative at the joint meeting. “W&M has played a pivotal role in the shaping of Democracy since the founding of the United States, and since 1693 our university has been a home to and educated some of our country’s most exceptional leaders — great minds, scholars, innovators, and thought leaders,” a pre-
read document on the website reads. “The Alma Mater of the Nation is committed to producing scholars and graduates who bring those critical capacities to the communities where they live, work, and lead.” The board’s Committee on Institutional Advancement will also meet at the joint meeting. During its November 2023 meeting, the board had yet to receive a final report from the Values and Rankings working group regarding the College’s actions in response to its drop in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings. College President Katherine Rowe established the group in July 2023. “Anyone who discounts William & Mary because of our rankings misunderstands where our priorities lie — they misjudge the end game we’re striving for,” Chair of the Institutional Advancement Committee S. Douglas Bunch ’02, J.D. ’06 wrote to The Flat Hat in September 2023. “Where the rankings depart from William & Mary’s values, William & Mary will not follow.” The Committee on Administration, Buildings and Grounds will also consider a resolution to provide $2.2 million in additional funding for the Muscarelle Museum, increasing the total budget to $46 million. “WHEREAS, unpredictable inflation and rapid cost escalation heavily impacted the construction industry during 2022, necessitating the postponement of several components
of the project in order to remain within budget,” part of the resolution reads. The board will also grant honorary doctorate degrees to Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III and former College Rector Jeffrey B. Trammell ’73. Their formal conferral ceremony will take place at the Charter Day ceremony Friday, Feb. 9. “The ceremony continues the university’s observance of the Year of the Arts and will feature student performances,” a W&M News announcement reads. “The celebration began last semester when William & Mary opened its state-of-theart Fine and Performing Arts Complex, which includes the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall and a new music building. The expansion and renovation of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, which will be part of the new Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, is expected to be completed later this year.” Trammell served as the first openly gay board chair of a major university in the United States. Former College Chancellor and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor officiated his wedding in the Supreme Court in 2013. The annual Charter Day ceremony will take place in the Kaplan Arena on Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., with Lonnie Bunch giving the keynote address.
STUDY ABROAD
Undergraduates attend human rights program in La Plata, Argentina over winter break
Hispanic studies professor Catherine Brix leads students in South America trip, group meets Argentine concentration camp survivor CLARE GIFFORD FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.
Tuesday, Jan. 3 to Friday, Jan. 20, assistant teaching professor of Hispanic studies Dr. Catherine Brix led a group of 18 undergraduate students from the College of William and Mary during a human rights work-focused study abroad program in La Plata, Argentina. The Comisión Provincial por la Memoria, a partner with the College, designed the program itinerary and guided the attending faculty and students through local museums, art collections and other sites of memory. Brix began teaching at the College in 2021 after completing her doctorate in Spanish at the University of Notre Dame. This past fall, she taught a course on human rights in Argentina that coincided with the La Plata curriculum. The Winter La Plata program was open to students from all majors and of all Spanishspeaking abilities. Prior to attending, students completed a one-credit prerequisite in the fall. While in Argentina, they earned three credits for GBST 390: “Field Research in Human Rights.” “Some didn’t speak a lick of Spanish when they went,” Brix said. “Some had, you know, functional knowledge and were able to, you know, communicate on basic things. But it was pretty widespread in terms of majors, as well as the degree of fluency.” Oscar Lazo ’25, a double major in government
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and Hispanic studies, found the trip to be an apt mix of his academic interests. “I focus a lot on political stuff on campus, but also just like the Spanish language,” Lazo said. “So to be able to go on a study abroad program which blends the two together, because it is so human rights-focused, and I do a lot of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work on campus. So, it was kind of like the nexus of everything that I do.” Brix credited the College’s long-standing relationship with the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria, or the Commission for Memory, for the group’s decision to hold the program in La Plata. “I would say first and foremost, our partnership with the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria, who we work with on many of our programs in Argentina,” Brix said. “They are probably the foremost institution on the subject of human rights in the country.” According to Brix, part of Argentina’s current excellence in the human rights field is due to its handling of the past. “In Argentina, I think particularly, there is a culture that is very open to discourse on the need to protect human rights,” Brix said. “They’re very cognizant and aware of their position historically, politically, socially on these issues and being a leader in prevention too.” From 1976-83, a military dictatorship under the name of the National Reorganization Process ruled Argentina during the Cold War.
During the period, the NRP brutalized many of its own citizens. “Over 30,000 people were systematically tortured, murdered and disappeared during this period of time from 1976 to 1983,” Brix said. “After that took place, Argentina was extremely active, in my opinion, in looking at the human rights abuses that took place during that period of time, and [was] very active in seeking mechanisms to achieve accountability and justice for those crimes.” Upon achieving liberation in 1983, the Argentinian government established the CPM, among several other organizations, for reconciliation. “They have several different functions,” Brix said. “They’re part of the government, it’s a state institution. They provide education, obviously, for programs like this where they work with students. They do a lot of public outreach and communication in terms of journalism and things like that. They also serve very important functions in terms of continuing to ensure that rights are not being abused.” Of all the sites of memory visited during the two-week program, both Brix and Lazo felt particularly taken aback by their tour of the Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada. Over the past 50 years, the ESMA has been converted from a military institution to a concentration camp to a site for human rights. A survivor of the ESMA camp during the dictatorship period led the group’s tour.
“Being led through her experiences, being led through where she was detained, being held, where she was tortured and abused, as she put it,” Lazo said. “It just really puts into reality the atrocities that occurred in Argentina.” Cade Bridges '26 experienced a similar sentiment during the visit to a maximum security prison in Bueno Aires. “It made the abuse feel more human,” Bridges said. “Like, 'why don’t we treat prisoners as humans?'” The CPM program visits the sites, in part, to provoke reflection afterwards. “We regularly have a meeting space where we reflect on the experiences we live in the Program,” CPM’s website reads. “The space is in English and with two [professors] from William & Mary University where we can exchange ideas about the sensations that the people and place we met left us.” After the program, Brix said her experience leading the La Plata program is a highlight of her academic career. “Obviously, I’d love to go back,” Brix said. “It’s a fantastic place. It’s a transformative place. It’s a beautiful experience. It’s challenging, but one of the most transformative experiences that I’ve had as an educator.” In early March, the College’s Hispanic studies department is hosting a symposium for students from Brix’s Human Rights in Argentina course and students from other Hispanic studies majors to present their final projects.
Inside Opinions
Inside Variety
Inside Sports
Vivian Hoang '24 criticizes Stanley cup shoppers page 5
Student-run theater group Sinfonicron adds new depth to classic fairy tale in'Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella' page 7
Young-led offense slays Dragon defense, secures season’s sixth CAA win page 10
Stanley obsession exposes stupidity of consumerism
Royal reimagining
Tribe dominates Gold Rush game, beats Drexel 75-62
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News Editor Abigail Connelly News Editor Emma Henry News Editor Daniel Kalish fhnews@gmail.com
THE BUZZ
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THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | Page 2
Iʼve been blessed to be surrounded by phenomenal teachers my whole life.
̶ Claire McKinney, Assistant Professor of government FLAT HAT NEWS BRIEF
College recognizes students, faculty in 2024 Plumeri, Jefferson, Monroe awards Monday, Feb. 5, the College of William and Mary hosted a ceremony recognizing students and faculty with achievements in leadership and teaching. Jaden A. Spady ʼ24 received the James Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership, Robert K. Gourdie ʼ24 received the Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy, Assistant Professor of Government Claire McKinney received the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, while Virginia Institute of Marine Science Professor Linda C. Schaffner M.A. ʼ81, Ph.D. ʼ87 received the Thomas Jefferson Award. “This is one of my favorite events of the year. And, this is not only because we get to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues. Itʼs also because we recognize what goes into these accomplishments, and on occasions, sometimes the sacrifices,” Provost Peggy Agouris said in her opening statement. “This is a very well-earned honor that weʼre going to be presenting to some people today. And Iʼm very, very happy to be part of this process.” According to the program of the event, the Plumeri Awards celebrate faculty members who work collaboratively with students to take risks, think creatively and pursue their passions. READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI // FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
A THOUSAND WORDS COURTESY PHOTO / MAXWELL CLOE
Cloe, who graduated from the College in 2020, started working at the Charles Center in 2021. Cloe was a Monroe Scholar their freshman year.
“William and Mary is a place that I can call home, at least academically.”
Maxwell Cloe ʻ20 discusses academic journey at the College, recent research in Appalachian Mountains
JAKE FORBES // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR
LIISA COLEMAN / 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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Graduating from the College of William and Mary with their undergraduate degree in 2020, the pandemic complicated Maxwell Cloe’s ’20, M.A. ’21 post-grad plans. “I was applying to a couple of grad programs outside of William and Mary, just to kind of see what was out there, and those did not really pan out,” Cloe said. “And then when the pandemic hit, I was like, ‘I really don’t know what I’m going to do.’” Then their advisor, professor of American studies, history, and gender, sexuality and women’s studies Leisa Meyer, suggested that Cloe spend an extra year in Williamsburg to obtain a master’s degree in American Studies. Little did Cloe know, their decision to spend an extra year at the College would lead to at least several more years with it. “Pretty much the entire thing was on Zoom, which was a really weird way to get a master’s degree,” Cloe said. During their year in graduate school, Cloe worked as a graduate assistant with the Sharpe Community Scholars Program. This program is a living-learning community for freshmen students at the College interested in community engagement, social justice and collaborative research. According to the College’s website, the program works to advance community-based research and teaching in courses with integrated community partnering. As an undergraduate student, Cloe was a Monroe Scholar but did not learn about Sharpe until they worked with the program in graduate school. “I really enjoyed my time doing that, and as I was approaching the end of my master’s degree, I was thinking about what careers I wanted to pursue,” Cloe said. According to Cloe, their top career option was to work for a museum. However, Cloe also considered working in higher education and applied for jobs in both sectors. During their search, Cloe received an email from Monica Griffin, the director of Engaged Scholarship and the Sharpe Community Scholars Program, about an opening. Cloe started working part-time at the Roy R. Charles Center with the Sharpe Community Scholars Program in 2021. Throughout the year, they began taking on more responsibilities and started full-time in July 2022 as program coordinator for the Charles Center. In this role, Cloe implements and manages the Sharpe Community Scholars program, the Woody Internship in Museum Studies and the Sharp Journalism Seminar. “I think the Charles Center is also something that helps with the research project as it begins,” Cloe said. “We have fellows for all our different scholars programs that are really there to help develop you as a researcher and strengthen your research ability to answer questions as it relates to research and help point you towards the right direction and connect you with other resources that might be able to help you. So I think every step along the way, the Charles Center is there to help support research, whether that be you’re just interested right after your first year and you want to do something, or if you’re writing an honors thesis and you’re a senior year finishing up.” In an attempt to increase its visibility within the College community, the Charles Center started an undergraduate communications team to report on student research affiliated with the Center. “I think the communications team is doing a lot of really cool work getting the Charles Center out there, and I think we’ve seen a lot of increase in student traffic since then,” Cloe said. Cloe reflected on what the College means to them, and how the College supports their personal research, too. “I love the people here,” Cloe said. “But I think also more broadly, William and Mary is a place that I can call home, at least academically. And working with William and Mary provides me with a lot of lenience and ability to focus on things that I’m interested in, as well as things that serve the mission of the Charles
Center, because the research that I do in my free time is communitybased. So working with community-based research and Sharpe is really helpful.” Cloe’s research focuses on LBGTQ+ histories and cultures in the Appalachian Mountains. According to Cloe, their interest in the subject began during the 2016 elections and emerged from personal experiences in the Appalachian Mountains visiting their grandmother. “I grew up, spending a lot of time in that area in the mountains and getting to know a lot of the people up there,” Cloe said. “Then in the 2016 election, when we had Donald Trump being elected, we saw all of these news stories come up, from all sorts of outlets talking about how Appalachia is Trump country, and it was painting this region with a pretty broad brush. I think hearing that sort of rubbed up against my understanding of the region. I was really interested in exploring the parts of the region and the people in the region and the organizations there who are doing work that is counter to this understanding that we have of the region.” As Cloe dug deeper into the research, their focus started to narrow. “I started enjoying that so much, and then I was coming into some more realizations about my own identity,” Cloe said. “So I was like, ‘I’m really interested in how the queer aspect of this really fits into it.’ And so I would say the overall big goal of my research is to investigate why Appalachia is seen as this sort of stereotypically rural area in the United States, and what does it mean to be a queer person in this rural area?” Much of Cloe’s research focuses on oral history and art. “I’ve set up this oral history practice where I talk to artists, I interview them,” Cloe said. “I’ve also integrated some digital aspects to it. I have a website where I’ve loaded up all of these artists and my interviews with them, as well as their art and their thoughts on the artistic process.” Cloe then reflected on their enjoyment of oral history as a method for conducting research. “I’m talking to human beings, especially artists,” Cloe said. “They always have some very interesting ideas. They present themselves very interestingly. I think they present their surroundings very interestingly. Naturally conversations are going to flow and tangent, and they’re going to vary in all sorts of ways that maybe reading a document might not. And so I think there’s a lot of value in these sorts of person to person connections.” Recently, Cloe conducted research on the intersection of LGBTQ+ Appalachian artists and environmental justice. “How do these queer Appalachian artists not only blur the boundaries between gender and sexuality, but how do they also blur these boundaries between what we consider to be human and what we consider to be natural?” Cloe said. “I think we typically view humans and nature as two separate things, but humans are animals, too. What does it mean for us to exist alongside and within nature? I think these artists are doing a really cool job of investigating what that means.” Cloe recalled one interview from their research that stood out from the rest. They interviewed Bob Morgan, an artist in Lexington, Kentucky that makes sculptures out of trash, old baby dolls and car parts, then burns the elements so they melt together. “I did an interview with him, in his house, and so I was surrounded by these, which is kind of creepy, but it’s really awesome,” Cloe said. “He’s like, in the 70s, this older gentleman surrounded by some of the strangest sculptures I’ve ever seen, chatting about his experiences.” In their free time, Cloe enjoys casual activities, including reading, watching movies and riding their bike. Cloe also enjoys playing the old time fiddle, a hobby they picked up while a student at the College.
THE FLAT HAT
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Page 3
STUDENT ASSEMBLY
New 2026 senators sworn into office, SA Senate discusses new proposed constitution SA discusses Funding Spring Concert Act, new beer policy, other initiatives in first meeting of calendar year PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Senate of Student Assembly of the College of William and Mary met and discussed two bills, The Funding Spring Concert Act, sponsored by Tyson Liverman ’27, and The In Support of the New Beer Policy and In Thanks of the Athletics Department and Aramark Resolution, sponsored by Sen. Connor Cheadle J.D. ’25 and Sen. Connor O’Neill J.D. ’25. Brendan Clark J.D. ’24, who previously served as a senator, was also listed as a sponsor of the resolution as “Sen. Emeritus” before being removed following a recommendation from SA Attorney General Owen Williams ’23 M.P.P. ’25. The Senate also heard a finance report from Chair of the Finance Committee Sen. Matt Swenson ’26. Two new Class of 2026 senators also took their oath of office, Sens. Laayba Tanoli ’26 and Meaghan Jain ’26. They filled the vacancies created by the departures of former Sens. Ashlynn Parker ’26 and Jiexi Lin ’26. Tanoli and Jain took their oath of office, officially taking up their seats as Class of 2026 senators. Earlier this year, Parker and Lin resigned their seats, citing commitments outside of SA. Former Virginia Institute of Marine Science Sen. Quinn Girasek M.S. also resigned her seat. In contrast to the undergraduate vacancies, which Class President Zoe Wang ‘26 filled, the Graduate Council will name Girasek’s successor. Swenson presented a report on the finances of SA for the fourth quarter. During the presentation, Swenson highlighted that $151,571.08 was spent in this academic year, leaving $572,574.04 in the currently available SA Reserves, excluding encumbered funds. Swenson also pointed out that the deadline for Registered Student Organizations to apply for Quarter four funding from the Organization Budget Allocation Committee is Friday, Feb. 16. S A V i c e P re s i d e n t Ta y l o r Fo x ’ 2 4 commented on Senate spending for t h e re s t o f t h e y e a r. “With reserves being at the point that it is, you guys can slow down the amount that you are spending drastically, as you guys have hit your goal, quite well and on point,” Fox said. The Senate discussed two new bills, The Funding Spring Concert Act, sponsored by Liverman. The bill aims to provide an additional $50,000 from SA Reser ves to fund the Spring concert,
on top of the currently appropriated $80,000 and Alma Mater Productions’ contribution of $70,000. If passed, the total funding for the Spring concert would amount to $200,000.” Last year, the Spring concert cost $192,014, with contributions from SA , AMP and the College. The chamber also discussed The In Support of the New Beer Policy and In Thanks of the Athletics Department and Aramark Resolution, sponsored by Cheadle and O’Neil. “The TLDR is that in other major collegiate sporting events, fans and whatnot can take beverages and beer and whatnot back to the stands,” Cheadle said. “And there’s also no separate ticket line to get tickets and go get beer which was just needlessly encumbersome for the whole game.” The title of the bill was changed from the “We Want Beer” resolution to its current name. Various parts of the language of the bill have also been changed to reflect a more serious nature. “NOW THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that the (of-age members) of the Student Assembly of William & Mary want beer,” the bill’s last resolved clause reads. Williams, the cabinet’s chief constitution officer, laid out the process for reviewing the new proposed SA constitution. The Senate created the Constitutional Reform Committee through the passage of SR 331-01: The Student Assembly Constitutional Reform Resolution, sponsored by Chair of the Senate Justin Bailey ‘24, Arts and Sciences graduate Sen. Morgan Brittain, former Sen. Eugene Lee ’23 and Swenson. “Just to make things easier for ever yone, we decided that we want to break up that Senate comprehensive review of the new document up into chunks,” Williams said. “So over the next three weeks, we’re going to be sort of putting it up on the agenda piece by piece.” SA President Sydney Thayer ’24 said while she did not have many updates given that it was still early in the semester, she said events on TribeLink now also are displayed on William and Mary Events. She also laid out a plan for cabinet office hours this semester. “We are hoping to get started on more office hours, instead of having each like department do their office hours, we’re gonna do joint office hours,” Thayer said.
PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI / THE FLAT HAT Members of Student Assembly convene in the the James Room of Sadler Center at the College of William and Mary on Tuesday, Jan. 30 to discuss pressing matters.
MUSIC
Students complete survey using 2023 listening data, express variety of taste Spotify dominates Apple Music in popularity; Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan top studentsʼ end of year charts ABHAYPRAD JHA FLAT HAT DATA ASSOC.
Wednesday, Nov. 29, Spotify released its 2023 Wrapped, which analyzes listener data to create a personalized array of infographics outlining users’ top songs, artists and genres of the year. Wrapped has quickly become an annual tradition, with music fans eagerly awaiting their results to post on social media. Similarly, Nov. 28, Apple Music released Replay, their annual listening recap. The Flat Hat asked 212 students at the College of William and Mary to share their Wrapped or Replay results. Here’s what we learned about
their listening habits. Our respondents love to listen to Taylor Swift. Fifty-six respondents reported Taylor Swift as their top artist, representing 26 percent of responses. That is more listeners than the next 17 artists combined. Noah Kahan followed Swift with nine respondents listing him as their top artist. However, his hit single “Stick Season” was tied with Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” for the most popular top track of the year. Sydney Shoulders ’26 was among five responders that had Lana Del Rey as their top artist. She cited the release of Del Rey’s album “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under
Ocean Blvd” as a driving factor for her listening habits. “I think it’s because she has an album this year. My top artist is always the artist I like that had an album this year,” Shoulders said. Lace Grant ’24 has an alternative view about her top artist. “Mitski has been my top artist for two years in a row. Never changes. I’ve been a fan for a long time,” Grant said. Adam Farris ’24 connected his top artists to his listening habits. “My top artist was Lizzy McAlpine,” Farris said. “I listen to specific artists when I’m doing specific things. I listen to her when I’m studying, walking, anything. Adele, I just have on, sometimes. Yaruma is a pianist I listen to when I’m trying to study. Shibi is fun to have in a car with people.” The students surveyed collectively listened to over 8.5 million minutes of music in 2023. The classes of 2025 and 2026 recorded the highest averages, with north of 40,000 minutes on average each. The class of 2027, however, lagged far behind the overall average for the College, reporting just 33,145 minutes of listening time. Seventy-four percent of respondents reported typically listening to music while studying, while just 40 percent reported it as being an activity they did while with friends. “I listen to music for a lot of reasons,” Joey Scappa ’24 said. “Sometimes to invoke a certain vibe, I like listening to slower atmospheric music when it’s raining. Sometimes to just fill the space, usually when I’m driving.” For Farris, listening to music is a medium that allows his mind to focus on the task at hand.
“Listening to music is a way to keep my thoughts centered on what I’m doing,” Farris said. “Studying is one of those things where, if I’m studying, it’s classical or instrumental. If I’m driving, I’m listening to music instead of picking up my phone.” Pop music emerged as the favorite genre of those surveyed, with 58 respondents out of 212 listing it as their Wrapped or Replay top genre. Indie and rock were similarly ranked, with 28 and 26 respondents listing each as their top genre, respectively. Shoulders was not surprised when her Spotify Wrapped listed indie rock as her top genre. “Indie rock just goes with everything. It can be happy or sad. It’s very broad in its emotionality,” Shoulders said. Maya Lewis ’24 listed R’n’B as her favorite genre. “It’s not too fast, and it gets the message across,” Lewis said. In 2023, our respondents listened to 201 unique top tracks by 112 artists in 44 distinct genres. Lace Grant ’24 has a positive outlook looking forward to the coming year. “I’m excited for the future of music,” Grant said. “Lots of people are on the rise, longtime artists are becoming experimental, and new artists are using the internet to make it to the top. Music has gotten more accessible in
the last few years.” Pooja Muthuraj ’26 sees the future of music as a tool for change and activism. “I think, in 2024, music will become more of a political tool and medium towards social change than it has been in the recent past,” Muthuraj said. “We’re in an era where all of our behaviors and consumptive choices are taking on a political and moral connotation, whether intended or not, and I think our listening habits are no different.” The data featured in this story was collected by The Flat Hat Data Section in a survey conducted online during the period of December 4, 2023 to December 19, 2023. Participation in this survey was voluntary, and responses were anonymous unless respondents opted to self-identify. The survey was distributed via Flat Hat social media, the William and Mary Student Happenings Newsletter, and by word of mouth. Members of The Flat Hat Staff were permitted to take the survey provided that they were not involved in the writing or editing process of this article. In total, 212 respondents completed the survey, representing 3.05 percent of William and Mary’s total undergraduate student body.
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THE FLAT HAT
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
AROUND THE ʻBURG
Art department hosts new faculty exhibit in Andrews Gallery
Faculty artists discuss pieces, exhibit director details reception planning process, future endeavors MONA GARIMELLA THE FLAT HAT
Thursday, Feb. 1, the College of William and Mary’s department of art and art history and Andrews Gallery hosted a reception celebrating the opening of a new art exhibition titled, “BIG WORLD: the 2024 Faculty Exhibition and Spring Semester Celebration.” The exhibition included art across various mediums, such as painting, photography, ceramics and sculpture. Patrick Harkin, who became the coordinator of the Andrews Gallery in November 2022, organized the event. Attendees also enjoyed live music by PROSPECT and Pile 3, two musical acts from Richmond. Prior to the Muscarelle Museum of Art going under construction, the art and art history department hosted a faculty show every other year at the museum. Harkin wanted to continue that tradition regardless of the location and chose to curate this exhibition in Andrews Gallery. “I thought it would be a really cool idea to get students excited about seeing the work from their professors again,” Harkin said. “And trying to just add some extra programming into the busy gallery schedule for the year, we decided that this show would double as a faculty exhibition, but also as a spring celebration for the department.” The event included the work of 13 faculty members. The planning started off in late November 2023 with deciding what artwork the gallery should include. Harkin used the winter break as a time to collect the art pieces and organize the show, and enlisted the help of students interested in the installation process. Associate department chair and professor of art and art history Nikki Santiago explained the process behind her exhibited piece, “Lonely Places.” Santiago and Brian Kreydatus, also an art and art history professor at the College, run open model sessions every Thursday night at the Matoaka Art Studio from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m, where they also draw with the students. Some of the aspects of “Lonely Places” were inspired from these open model sessions Santiago hosted. “And then I sort of started to invent,” Santiago said. “I felt like there needed to be a window and that this figure was looking out the window, and I didn’t really know what it was about. But as I started to do this, this person seemed kind of lonely.” Santiago, who has been a part of over 150 exhibitions, does not generally title her pieces until she is ready to exhibit. “The making of the work — none of it is from the verbal part of my brain, so sometimes it’s hard to describe what I’m doing in words,” Santiago said. “The title came out when I decided to frame it years after I made it. I think I made it a couple years ago.” Because Santiago started this piece at one of the open model sessions, the process of creating “Lonely Places” was quick. She hopes for the piece to create some sort of a mood rather than a literal interpretation. “I hope that it makes the viewer ask questions and doesn’t really tell everything,” Santiago said. Also exhibited at the gallery was associate professor of art John Lee’s piece “Octopus’s Garden.” Lee has been teaching at
MONA GARIMELLA / THE FLAT HAT
John Lee was inspired to paint “Octupusʼs Garden” after watching a documentary on ocean life that connected to visuals he was seeing in his studio in Matoaka Building.
the College since 2008. “I’ve been around art my whole life. My father teaches, so I kind of grew up around it,” Lee said. Lee’s studio in the Matoaka Building inspired his piece for the gallery. As he was in the studio, he turned his head and saw the scene now presented in “Octopus’s Garden.” “I see color everywhere, and I see light that I want to paint and I want to express,” Lee said. “As I’m working, I’m working on one painting, and I turn my head and notice another view. And so I have several paintings of that studio that are kind of prompted by just sort of looking around, not trying to find something to paint.” Lee painted “Octopus’s Garden” while he was on sabbatical. He worked on the piece for six months, every day. “I was in and working on that, and I didn’t work on any other painting at the time. And so I pushed through with it, and that’s where it landed,” he said. Lee titled the piece, “Octopus’s Garden,” because of a documentary titled “My Octopus Teacher.” The documentary is about a marine biologist who swims without scuba gear, and he saw an octopus as he was exploring. “I saw it, and, after I thought about it, it related to painting and related to teaching for me,” Lee said. In the documentary, the biologist visited the octopus daily. “ They’re going below sea level, and it was kind of a murky feeling,” Lee said. According to Lee, he emanated this feeling in his painting because the light shining in his studio felt somewhat similar to an aquarium. “I kind of want the feeling of being able to swim like a fish through those table legs and get the atmospheric light and color into the painting. So, it’s really not about the octopus. It’s more about the space in the light of the lagoon, I suppose, that I’m seeing my studio as,” Lee said. At the gallery’s reception, attendee Elizabeth Upright ’24 expressed enjoyment with the exhibition. “I wasn’t expecting as much of a mix between both paintings and 3D art, which I thought were really cool,” Upright said. “Especially the carvings from the reclaimed lumber – I thought were super interesting and very unexpected. And so I thought those were really cool to see here.” Harkin has many shows lined up for the remainder of the year. The 2024 Catron Scholars Exhibition is the next event the art department is hosting, Thursday, Feb. 22. “That is a student exhibition for [the] really talented, and they’re just an amazing group of artists who have been awarded this Catron grant,” Harkin said. The grant allows students to spend a summer studying different art topics. “There will be a video exhibition and experimental short film exhibition that will coincide with the Ampersand Film Festival, so that’s coming up soon,” Harkin said. This event will host media from five to 10 video artists from around the world. “Later on in the semester, we’ll have the seniors exhibition, and we’ll have a non-major show as well. So we’re booked solid until the end of 2025,” Harkin said.
CAMPUS
College alumna speaks on film production career, challenges, successes Nekisa Cooper ʼ99 discusses journey through occupation changes, racial barriers to career
CHARLOTTE CASTLE THE FLAT HAT
Thursday, Feb. 1, the College of William and Mary hosted award-winning producer Nekisa Cooper ’99. Currently taking a year off from producing, Cooper serves on the board of Chicken and Egg Pictures and is an advisor to Mindshare Partners and Masterclass. She has won multiple awards from the Sundance Film Festival – most notably for her film “PARIAH” – Independent Spirit Awards, NAACP and many others. Cooper graduated from the College as a government major and Japanese studies minor. She previously worked corporate jobs for Colgate and L’Oréal before becoming a film producer. Inspired by screenwriter and director Dee Rees, who left her job to begin a career in film, Cooper similarly moved on from the corporate world to become a producer. On her first day of class at New York University, Rees’s professor told her 36-person class only two students would make it in the film industry. When Rees told Cooper this story, Cooper shared some invaluable guidance and wisdom. “Your mentality has to be you and who else – that is the mentality you have to have moving forward, no matter what,” Cooper said. “And so [Rees and I] became business partners. I didn’t know what producing was at the time. I was just helping her with logistics.” Although going from the corporate world to the film industry seems like a discrepant career move, Cooper found her skills transferable. She found producing similar to making brushes – it was just a different product, language and business. Rees included the first act of Cooper’s most well-known film, “PARIAH,” as part of her graduation thesis for NYU’s film program. It took two or three years to finance the entirety of the film through grants, funding from various organizations and the personal finances of both Rees and Cooper. “PARIAH” was shot over 19 different 12-hour days, and later accepted to the Sundance Film Festival. “If you’ve got a film that’s in the festival, you’ve got to be concerned about the legal aspect,” Cooper said. “You’ve got to be concerned about the sales aspect. And the thought is you want to build your team with people who know more than you and have a
proven track record. So that’s what we did.” Following “PARIAH’s” acceptance into the Sundance Film Festival, Cooper hired a sales agent, publicist and lawyer to help with marketing the movie and foster relationships with distributors. This exposure resulted in IFC, Focus Features, Searchlight and The Weinstein Company expressing interest in Cooper and Rees’s work, culminating in their collaboration with Focus Features for their next project. “By the end of the development cycle, when we had the script ready and polished and ready to turn in after we’d been working with them the entire time, they put it into turnaround, meaning they evaluated the script and said, ‘Hey, we don’t feel like we can do this,’” Cooper said. “Why do they feel like they can’t do it? Because it had too many people of color in it, and it didn’t have enough folks to justify the budget because the cast, based on all the algorithms, sales agents, etcetera, has a certain value.” Although the racial barriers Cooper faced at the beginning of her career have lessened to a certain extent, she believes inclusion is still a widespread issue in the film industry. “I mean, across all the ways you can define the word diversity, it’s still a thing that needs to be talked about and worked on and all that,” Cooper said. “I think the fact I can be sitting here and not having an MFA and all this other stuff and talk about the success of my career means that maybe some things have changed, but not enough.” When asked about advice she would give to students hoping to pursue a similar career, Cooper highlighted the importance of networking and meeting people as much as possible, as well as others for career advice. Through this process, Cooper noted she discovered that she was not interested in writing or directing, but rather, producing. “When I found film I was like, ‘Wow, I can actually help support voices that need to be heard,’” Cooper said. “I can put art into the world that can make a difference, can make people talk about things differently, see things differently. That was everything. And so I wanted to pursue that wholeheartedly.” Lauren Smythers ’25 and Sophie Rush ’26 attended Cooper’s talk as a requirement for their class, Introduction to Production, but also to learn from an alumna of the College who holds a
similar position to what they hope to one day achieve. “I like seeing that somebody who went to this college was able to go out and do basically what I want to do,” Rush said. “It’s inspiring seeing that they’ve been successful and that I’m in the same
place they once were.” “I really love when alum that got into the industry come back and do talks,” Smithers said. “I just love to see people who start in Williamsburg, Virginia and then make it to LA. I think that’s really awesome.”
COURTESY IMAGE / GLOBAL PANORAMA
Cooperʼs film, “PARIAH,” won numerous awards and had its initial screening at the Sundance Film Festival.
opinions
Opinions Editor Mollie Shiflett Opinions Editor Avi Joshi fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat
THE FL FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | Page 5
STAFF COLUMN
Stanley obsession exposes stupidity of consumerism Vivian Hoang
FLAT HAT EXECUTIVE EDITOR
GRAPHIC BY ARIANNA STEWART / THE FLAT HAT
Humor me for a moment and pretend that you are a minimum-wage Starbucks barista. At 4:00 a.m., you groggily wake up for your 5:00 a.m. morning shift and roll out of bed, still half-asleep, to put on your bright green apron emblazoned with a smiling siren in its center. You even practice your customer service voice in the mirror before you make the trek over to face corporate America: “Hi, welcome to Starbucks, what can I get for you?” Just a few minutes later when you ask that very same question to the person at the front of an anxiously humming line of early birds, you’re cut short by a man hopping the sacred barrier between barista and customer, roughly pushing
you to the side and savagely ransacking the protected goods stashed away from public view. Holy sh–t, you think as you anxiously try to recall corporate policy for what to do in a situation like this, we’re being robbed. But, in an unexpected twist of dystopian fate, the man lunges not for the hundreds of dollars in cash nestled inside the locked cash register but instead … for a cup? You stare in shock, stepping back in a daze as your brain scrambles to process the scene of chaos unfolding before you. But nope, you’re not imagining it. The man has caused an enormous scene in your workplace and broken several laws all to steal nothing but bright pink cups.
What in the fresh hell is going on here? I’ll break the unfortunate news to you: this is the freak consumeristic nightmare that we as a society continue to descend into and a horrific reality that one Starbucks worker had to live through just a few weeks ago. Over the course of the last few months, the brand Stanley has completely dominated the reusable bottle market and infiltrated the hearts and wallets of women across America. What is now known as the “Stanley Cup” does not refer to a National Hockey League championship trophy, as many older generations have thought, but to a stainless steel insulated tumbler cup. The Stanley is distinguished by its large size (typically 40 ounces), a slim base meant to solve the common issue of reusable water bottles failing to fit in the average car’s cup holder, a large handle and straw. The 110-year-old brand initially advertised their cups to men who would need a cup to keep their drinks cold as they worked outside, such as outdoor enthusiasts or construction workers. Stanley has now completely and successfully pivoted its marketing toward young girls and women once it unexpectedly found its niche there. Just walking around campus today, you’re bound to spot quite a few students with Stanleys in hand or poking out of backpacks. Indeed, over the last year, the cups have exploded in popularity across social media, producing a wave of viral videos that show people quite literally setting up camp and sleeping overnight outside of Target to be the first in line when the store opens at 8 a.m. sharp when new Stanleys are released, such as the limited edition Stanley x Starbucks collaborative cup that a man attempted to steal as described above. People are even sprinting towards aisle displays of Stanleys at the crack of dawn, many of them not even interested at all in the cup itself, but the money that can be made off of it. Though they retail
STAFF COLUMN
‘Saltburn’: indie sleaze makes comeback, leaves ‘clean girl’ behind Elizabeth Brady
FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.
GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT
If there’s one thing we love, it’s a piece of media with a clear aesthetic. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” gave us pastel pinks and purples, kitten heels, bows and miniskirts. Before that, we waited raptly every week for “Euphoria’s” chunky glitter and strobing LEDs. So, it should be no surprise that Emerald Fennell’s very pretty, very dirty “Saltburn” is getting so much attention. “Saltburn” is well-casted, well-written and well-shot. It has all of the technical moving pieces that make a movie good and interesting to watch and talk about. But to call it merely good and interesting is missing an entire facet of its appeal. “Saltburn” is smart and sharp and lush and magnetic, but it’s also sticky and sexy and grimy and strange. Its heavy atmosphere of over-ripeness and debauchery is largely achieved through careful visual choices. And Fennell’s choice to set the movie in the early 2000s gives her the opportunity to pull from an entirely new
range of aesthetics and signifiers. In order to communicate her chosen era, Fennell pulls from the great tradition of indie sleaze. It’s a smudged smokey eye, a cigarette break in the rain. It’s layered patterns, ripped tights, a digital camera flash. Clothes in “Saltburn” cling to bodies; they rumple, they ride up, they fall off. The key elements of the style, the messiness and the careless chaos seamlessly place us in the world our characters move through. Such immaculately crafted, visual worlds have a certain pull to them. We too want to live in glamorous, cohesive environments where beautiful people do sometimes awful things in a deeply entertaining way. Imitating the media we love is a natural human practice. In real time, a “Saltburn Venetia Eye Makeup Tutorial” and a vintage fur coat are helping us form visual kinship with the things that we like. So indie sleaze is back – back with a messy, slouchy vengeance. The true “it girl” of the indie sleaze era has an unnatural hair color with a healthy two to three inches of grown-out roots. Her haircut was done with kiddie scissors (or kitchen scissors), her nail polish is cracked, she’s cradling a large gas station coffee and hiding behind a pair of dark, large-framed sunglasses. The disheveled ethos of indie sleaze bears a marked difference from its shiny counterpart, the “clean girl.” Popularized on TikTok and Pinterest, the clean girl is a matcha latte and an organized planner. She has an 8:00 a.m. pilates class and a slicked-back ponytail. Forged
in the image-centric crucible of the internet, the clean girl is about artful curation, matching sweatsuit sets and water bottles. Indie sleaze is about eccentricity and nonchalance, zebra print sweatpants and a child’s t-shirt. The clean girl and indie sleaze are two diametrically opposing aesthetic forces. Our recent turn toward the messiness of indie sleaze perhaps reveals where the clean girl chafed us. After a while, anyone will tire of the laboriousness of a perfect blowout and will turn to the easy embrace of a blunt bob with a microbang. Maybe we are finally ready to fully embrace what it means to be a dirty woman. Maybe what fizzled out with Fleabag-core will get a second wind, and it will finally turn the tide of the way we think about a “dirty” girl. Indie sleaze’s embrace of awkwardness and imperfection is exactly what we need right now, when it seems like life is an endless treadmill of self-optimization. The maximalist imperfection of indie sleaze allows one to experiment and take up space in a way that the clean lines and matching sweatsuits of the clean girl does not. “Saltburn” did a couple of things. It told a story, it scared a bunch of parents and it made everyone fall in love with Barry Keoghan. But as an interesting social side effect, it also brought back to our attention the enticing power of truly dirty glamor, and for that I am forever grateful. Elizabeth Brady ’25 is a public policy major and an English minor, and she is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She loves art, music and movies. Email her at eabrady@wm.edu
between $45-55 (already a steep price in my frugal opinion), Stanleys have shot up in value so drastically that they are reselling online for hundreds of dollars — even making an appearance on StockX, a site typically used for reselling designer items and rare sneakers. Any sneakerhead can tell you why a Stanley being on StockX is certifiably insane, but I’m personally ashamed to share space on this planet with people who are willing to spend $250 on a trendy cup… just in case they need yet another container for their $8 venti Starbucks frap. Those who do indeed purchase these cups to use rather than resell claim that they are enticed by the durability and practicality of the cup, citing a viral video showing the Stanley cup allegedly surviving a car fire as bona fide confirmation of their claim. However, if the cup really is so strong and can survive an entire explosion, why would you ever need more than one? Collecting Stanley cups, a product meant to reduce waste by being reusable and long-lasting, is excessive and antithetical to the initial purpose of nonsingle-use bottles. You’re meant to have ONE that you wash and reuse over and over again; otherwise, you might as well go back to buying 24-packs of plastic water bottles at Costco, and you can say goodbye to those baby turtles you claim to care so much about with your woke purchases of bamboo straws and, oh, just a casual 67 Stanleys as one 16-year-old girl has collected. And it gets worse. A woman was recently arrested for stealing over $2,500 worth of Stanleys: her entire car filled to the brim with dozens and dozens of the now infamous cups. Parents are coming out in droves claiming their elementaryschool-aged children are being bullied in school for bringing off-brand insulated cups to class. Online users are swearing off all other brands of cups as if they weren’t obsessed with Hydro Flasks several years ago, blindly declaring loyalty to a brand that has zero personal investment in them whatsoever. Every day, more and more people join the Stanley cult, meaning our Goodwills and landfills will be filled with these very same cups in just a few months when the next huge trend takes TikTok by storm. This sort of frenzied craze is not exclusive to the Stanley cup. Nike sneakers, Squishmallows, toilet paper and any other hot commodities that attract a massive spike in online attention have also led people to buy out entire displays the minute a store opens, hiking up retail prices by over 200%. Even decor and clothes
from discount stores like T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s are being scooped up en masse by maniacal scalpers and collectors, defeating their purpose of providing an inclusive space for lower-income shoppers to participate in trends at a reduced price. Gone are the days of being able to walk into your favorite store, browse and buy a product that piqued your interest. Now, a select selfish few have turned shopping into a hyper-capitalistic competition that denies the general working population access to goods that were once mass-manufactured for all. Oncefun fads are squeezed into limited edition releases, which have supposedly upstanding American citizens fist-fighting one another in department store aisles like feral dogs over scraps of rotted food. Many stores have even resorted to imposing “two per customer” limits on popular products in hopes of staving off mayhem from occurring on their floors, proving that if left unchecked, the average American simply cannot help themself but to indulge in capitalistic greed. Indeed, I can’t recall the last time I haven’t seen a viral product sell out online in a mere minute then reposted on eBay for ten times the retail price. Again and again, we chase these trends believing they will allow us to more convincingly maintain a pretense of wealth and status, but the primary beneficiaries of these trends are the multibillion dollar corporations producing these products and encouraging overconsumption, thus keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer. We’ve allowed a damn WATER BOTTLE to turn into an elite status symbol that has kindergarteners recognizing and enforcing socioeconomic hierarchies on playgrounds before they can even read a full sentence. So, please, I’m begging you: put that extra Stanley back on the shelf. Dig deep and rediscover your human morality. We need not always be so beholden to American capitalism and its spoils. Vivian Hoang ’24 is from Fairfax, Va. and hopes to use her history and journalism and digital media double major to uplift marginalized voices. Outside of being The Flat Hat’s Executive Editor, she is a Communications Student Partner with STLI and a Reporting Fellow with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. As a journalist, she is especially passionate about reporting on topics related to race, community, displacement and power. Contact her at vvhoang@wm.edu.
COMIC
Earl the squirrel COMIC BY TOBY KANT / COMIC BOOK CLUB
THE FLAT HAT
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Page 6
GUEST COLUMN
STAFF COLUMN
Election reform must start within Student Assembly
Rethinking existence as graduating senior
John Powers
Seth Novak THE FLAT HAT
FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.
GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT
As The Flat Hat previously reported, three student senators resigned from the William and Mary Student Assembly in January, and a fourth resigned in December. Two of these senators represented the class of 2026, which left my class without half of our representation. I, along with most of the class of 2026, appreciate the service of our former senators and wish them well as they embark on their next endeavors. What should not be appreciated, though, is the poorly executed and flawed appointment process of their successors. Thursday, Dec. 21, Class President Zoe Wang announced an application process for former Sen. Jiexi Lin’s seat in an email to sophomores. A follow up email sent in January read in part, “the deadline to apply to be our appointed 2026 Senator is THIS WEEKEND!” Take note that it read “our appointed 2026 Senator” and not “our appointed 2026 senators.” Clearly, the application process was meant to appoint a single senator. Yet, Wang announced later that both vacancies had been filled in a recent email without further explanation. Former Sen. Ashlynn Parker’s resignation came after the application process had already started, so one could assume that Wang picked the top two applicants for both senatorial seats instead of just the seat that opened after the application process ended. Nevertheless, a second application process should have been initiated, or at least the application deadline should have been extended. That way, sophomores who may have reconsidered applying could have gotten the chance to represent their class. Beyond the poor execution of the recent appointments, these developments call into question the very nature of the appointment process itself. According to Article V Section II Part III of the Student Assembly Constitution, class presidents must fill senate vacancies by appointment. Special elections may be held only when “an Undergraduate Class Presidency is vacant, or if another class office or class Senate seat is vacant prior to that year’s Freshman Elections.”
This clause ought to be amended through a referendum. To begin, other universities use alternative processes to fill vacancies. According to the University of Virginia Student Council Bylaws, vacancies may be filled by appointment or special election. At Washington and Lee University, student representative vacancies are filled through a by-election within two weeks. I’ll admit that appointments are a more common solution, but this is no reason to dismiss the alternative. Special elections are consistent with the ideas of democracy and self-governance. Giving students the chance to select their representatives means they have a direct say in how the Senate improves student life on campus, directs funding and protects student rights. A lot has changed at the College since the most recent SA election in March 2023. This includes campus protests over the events in the Middle East and AI in the classroom becoming a more relevant issue, all while our community prepares for the inevitable tension that the 2024 U.S. presidential election will bring. Changing times means students have different priorities for their elected representatives. The best way to capture those preferences is through a special election. One objection to the special election might be that the next general election is just under two months away, so voters could express their changing preferences in the spring election. This line of argument neglects the idea of the incumbency advantage. The two newly appointed senators will likely be re-elected in part because of their elevated platform. Indeed, last year, all SA incumbents were re-elected. A special election would level the playing field. Of course, we see the appointment process as a necessary exception to the democratic process for efficiency’s sake. Holding a special election is logistically challenging, which is especially true at our institution. The Independent Elections Commission is hosting six information sessions before the spring election on March 28. During the campaign, the commission will monitor candidate conduct, ensure candidates stay within the spending limit and tabulate votes, among other responsibilities. Student Leadership Development plays a role as well, by organizing a candidate fair. All of this is to demonstrate the heavy administrative work required for an SA election at our college. Still, consider that the recent appointment process means half of the sophomore class’s representation is unelected. It is essential to balance democracy with efficiency, and the recent actions are overlyweighted in the direction of efficiency. To make a special election more feasible, the election season could be shortened and the number of information sessions could be reduced. Those who serve on the IEC choose to do so voluntarily, and we should not hesitate to ask them to take on additional responsibilities when there is a clear need. In March, students will have the opportunity to place questions on the ballot for the student body to vote on. Special elections should be one of them.
John Powers ’26 is a public policy major hailing from Brooklyn, NY. Besides serving as Chief Opinions Writer, he sits on the executive board of the Undergraduate Moot Court Society, works as a Resident Assistant, and is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. John is a huge Adele fan. Email him at jdpowers@wm.edu.
We know that semesters are lim-
ited by hours and minutes and sec-
onds, so instead of asking how it has ended already, focus on what we
gained from it. Iʼm asking what last semester has meant to you, to me, to anyone.
Like neck restraints, makeup’s harmful societal effects have begun to extend to progressively younger girls. This practice is very ironic: one of the biggest uses of makeup is to make age-textured features look more youthful. Why, then, are 14-yearolds in 2024 wearing mascara and concealer as often as they wear shoes? Teenage girls’ bathroom sinks brim with hyaluronic acid, glycerine and beta-glucan products. Marketers separate makeup products into subtly different uses — one for every fathomable skin color, texture, oil level, sensitivity and glow (whatever that even means). I write about the harms of everyday makeup use knowing full well that I applied kohl to my eyes at least five times today. This may jump out as hypocrisy to you, but I think it even better demonstrates my point on its dependence. If you apply eyeliner like you brush your teeth, I’d like you to reconsider the next time you reach for your Almay pencil. Just for a day or two, leave it there. You can get into the dining halls without it.
Sheoli Lele ‘26 is a prospective math and philosophy double major. She uses her free time to paint, take photos around campus and debate. Contact her at smlele@wm.edu.
Seth Novak ‘24 is majoring in Government and American Studies. He works with the Conduct and Honor Advisory Program and the Community and Civic Engagement office. Contact him at stnovak@wm.edu.
What dystopian neck restraints, makeup have in common Sheoli Lele THE FLAT HAT
one is assigned a lifelong mental health consulting job in 2174, they are subject to the implications of the neck restraint trend, whether or not they choose to opt in; if they do, they stomach the discomfort and long term health consequences; if they don’t, they are seen as less than those who do. This is how I see makeup in the context of my life. The world pits us against each other in constant comparison based on our willingness to cake our faces with powder each morning. Aside from its trendy value, I struggle to find anything appealing about either wearing a neck restraint or putting on makeup. I imagine that in a parallel universe where makeup had never been invented, the resulting world would not be significantly more efficient, happy or healthy than ours in which makeup has been invented. Both makeup and neck restraints bring discomfort and negative health consequences to wearers. We expend nothing but time, money and mental resources just to keep it living rent-free in our daily routines. And for what? The next shared feature between neck restraints and makeup is the druglike dependence that wearers develop. Seriously, the more I think about my relationship with makeup, the more I’m reminded of my middle school health instructor’s warnings. For example, after wearing makeup for enough time, I find myself needing more and more of it to feel as whole as I did before. In its absence, I see myself as a shriveled, discount version of myself. In its presence, it serves as an escape from the discomfort of facing myself without its destructive crutch. I often leave social gatherings to use it in the bathroom — okay, maybe things are getting a bit dramatic.
Once again, we are being ambushed by time. Somehow, some way, another semester has ended. And another is beginning, and on and on and on, until it doesn’t. Time has passed a little too quickly for comfort this time around, and I’m mad. What are we even supposed to do for a semester? Learn, I suppose, but there are so many other things that must also be done with utmost importance. We’re here to make mistakes, to succeed, to fall on our faces. I come back each semester to learn a little more about myself, and I can’t do that by just sitting in a classroom. I don’t quite believe I’ve done a good job of that this semester, so I implore you all to examine yourselves, just as I am. Stop and think for a little while, wonder what you’ve been up to. Looking backwards is a good way to move forwards. Maybe not to excess, but let us rewind our last semester. Let us think about what it has done to us, and what we have done to it. What exactly did each one of you do that further defined yourselves? Rarely is this done on purpose. Instead, it happens without our knowing, and one day we wake up a different person than the one we were the day before. Think critically about what moments molded you into yourself.
Frankly, I’m annoyed. I have one more semester left, and I’m wasting it all away! Since even before I came to this wonderful institution, I have tried to escape it. First, it was transferring, and now the name of the game is graduating early. I’m not even really sure what is being wasted, though. Maybe one of you knows. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s impossible to waste time — that it all is worth it somehow. I hope that in every moment, I’m growing, one way or another. I can’t really know for sure, because we don’t grow on a linear path. There are detours along the way, but does that really count as wasting time? I don’t think it is. If I’m wasting time, though, what should be the operationalization of it? What scientific measurements can we use to understand wasted time? Maybe I’ve wasted a good bit of it this semester (sorry Mom), but I don’t know how. Maybe it was staring at my phone, oversleeping, not sleeping enough or maybe watering my plants. In all these actions, though, I find myself reflecting. I always end up asking why I’m doing it. There’s always a reason behind what you do, so spend some time finding those reasons. Really, really think about what your last semester has meant to you. Think about it as you’re walking to class, or even as you’re in class. Waste some time thinking about time. If you couldn’t tell, I sure do. This is asking a lot of you, but I swear it’s worth it. This is all an attempt to help us figure ourselves out, and there is no better time to do it than now. Perhaps that’s the wrong angle on it. Instead, how are we to come to terms with yet another chapter being closed on us without our permission? I didn’t ask for that. I don’t exactly know what I asked for, but fall 2023 could have stood to be a little longer. All I see are days passing me by, and I’m just along for the ride. With no agency, you and I are standing on a train, stumbling backwards as it surges forwards. Time continues its march forwards, riding on tracks that don’t show the next turn. Understanding it this way, it becomes about bracing ourselves for when the train will stop next. We know that semesters are limited by hours and minutes and seconds, so instead of asking how it has ended already, focus on what we gained from it. I’m asking what last semester has meant to you, to me, to anyone. I am telling myself, and you, that we don’t have to fall every time. We can grab the handrail, and maybe just sway with the thundering of the train. There is no difference between it meaning something or nothing, only that you still experienced it. So, what happens this semester? I haven’t a clue, but I will reminisce on my time here, ponder my completely unstructured future (I have no job prospects at the moment) and spend little time in the present. I shouldn’t, though, so I’ll try to accept yesterday, tomorrow and also today. When it finally comes around. You should too. Stop for a moment every so often next semester, take a deep breath and recognize where you are. We are a culmination of everything we once were, and sometimes we have to remember that. Salutations to all the versions of you and I, refractions of a human still to grow.
GUEST COLUMN
The year is 2174. While most occupational diversity has been lost to increasingly robust artificial intelligence, the world is hardly without work. In fact, a majority of the world’s population above age 21 works in one of two professions: machine evaluation and mental health consulting. People are arbitrarily appointed to their professions as infants, and switching professions is discouraged and difficult, if not impossible. The year 2080 has marked the rise of a meteoric trend among mental health consultants: wearing a cobalt restraint around the neck. While the restraint is both uncomfortable and known to do damage to the neck in the long term, the trend has become ingrained in global fashion culture. Now, the few mental health consultants who opt out of the trend are largely viewed as less likable than their fad-following counterparts. The restraint-wearing ideal has even seeped into the lives of little kids headed for careers in mental health consulting. I hate to say it: 150 years from now, such a description won’t be far from reality. The confidence in my claim comes from the fact that today, our global community behaves similarly toward what I find hard to leave my dorm without: makeup. You may find this claim overblown. In the rest of this article, I will reference parts of my unpalatable dystopian vision and explain the link between each part and today’s reality. My hope is that by the end, you will feel a greater awareness about the harms of something so rooted in daily life and hence overlooked as a threat. In my 2174 dystopia, the trend of neck restraints affects only and all members of one group. As you probably guessed, this binary is a metaphor for gender. If some-
GRAPHIC BY ARIANNA STEWART / THE FLAT HAT
GRAPHIC BY YELENA FLEMING / THE FLAT HAT
variety
Variety Editor Miles Mortimer Variety Editor Agavni Mehrabi flathat.variety@gmail.com // @theflathat
THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | Page 7
Royal reimagining
Sinfonicron student-run theater group adds depth to classic fairy tale through modern production, performance of ʻCinderellaʼ 30
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CHLOE COHEN // THE FLAT HAT Thursday, Jan. 25 to Saturday, Jan. 28, students and guests crowded Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall as the clock struck showtime to see Sinfonicron’s performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.” Sinfonicron, the College of William and Mary’s student-run light opera company, brought its audience symphonies, song, stagecraft and dance that enriched Rogers and Hammerstein’s unique spin on a classic fairytale. “It was beautiful,” Jacqui Zimmerman ’24 said. “It was amazing. It was probably the first time something of this scale was done in [Phi Beta Kappa], and it was phenomenal. From the pit to the costumes to the lighting to the acting and the singing, obviously — incredible.” Like Zimmerman, whose housemate Amanda Reed ’24 was a townsperson and a footman in the show, many audience members say they not only enjoyed the show itself, but also the opportunity to support their friends along with the College’s student-run theater groups. “I have a lot of friends in the show,” Rhys McKee ’24 said. “I really wanted to come out and support them, and I also wanted to endorse William and Mary theater, especially William and Mar y student theater. You know, they need all the support they can get. And I love helping out and going out to see a really good show.” Many of the changes made in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s original telling of “Cinderella” were meant to support the development of more multidimensional characters. While the story remains rooted in its quintessential narrative of a charming prince and a destitute housemaid finding “love at first sight,” viewers are given sincere reasons to believe Cinderella and Prince Topher are a strong pairing. The production also dedicates a large subplot to the kingdom’s civilians, whose homes have been unjustly seized and whose voices go unheard. Just before midnight, when the magic used by Cinderella’s fairy godmother to create her luxurious dress and carriage is set to expire, Cinderella uses her final moments with the prince to implore that he listen to and help his people. The prince, too, demonstrably values civilians’ well-being. Such nuance is also achieved via the production’s original characters, who often give Cinderella and the prince opportunities to grow and shine. Cinderella’s kindness, for example, is displayed early on in the show when she is the only one willing to extend a helping hand to Crazy Marie, an impoverished woman who later reveals that she is Cinderella’s fairy godmother. Gabrielle, one of Cinderella’s two stepsisters, is another welcome addition. Whereas Cinderella’s original stepsisters treat her with only contempt, Gabrielle gradually becomes a supportive sibling and friend as she helps Cinderella attend Prince Topher’s banquet, which he hosts solely to find Cinderella. Gabrielle’s character development continues throughout the show as she defies her mother’s outspoken wishes to pursue her love interest : the revolutionary JeanMichel. Jean-Michel contributes immensely to the revolution subplot as he mobilizes the townspeople and relentlessly attempts to tell the prince of the civilians’ plight. In addition to a successfully reworked plot, Sinfonicron’s use of music was also a major part of the production. Before the curtains rose, viewers were treated to a lengthy sonic performance from the pit orchestra led by Orchestral Director Calder Sprinkle ’25.
Sprinkle said he takes note of auditory reactions, such as laughter and gasps, and gauges an audience’s emotions prior to beginning a song. The variation in audience reactions between the different showings of Sinfonicron’s productions are what make the live experience so special, Sprinkle expressed. “Having an audience makes a big difference,” Sprinkle said. “One of the cool things about theater is the live performance aspect and the fact that you’re playing off the energy of the audience, so every night is different.” Additionally, costumes 30 like Cinderella’s two-in-one transformation gowns stood out throughout the show. Each outfit, crafted by Cinderella’s fairy godmother, was transformed on stage and, as Sprinkle noted, earned gasps from the audience. Sinfonicron continued show ing its creativity with its props. The decision to represent a giant, whom the prince battles at the start of the show, with a pair of giant, papier-mâché feet can be attributed to the show’s director Joshua Mutterperl ’24, who hoped to avoid the “logistical concerns” associated with alternative approaches. Audience members were also audibly amused by the use of a robotic mouse, which skidded off the stage as Cinderella’s fair y godmother got to work transforming it into horses to steer Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage. Spacing also factored heavily into the production. Characters appeared on the theater’s balconies, running down an aisle or in a break between rows. Mutterperl suggested this use of space was intentional 30 and took time to praise the larger stage and location, which he said could bring to life a bolder set and bring innovative lighting ideas into play. “I wanted to kind of make the full use of this space to celebrate having it,” Mutterperl said. Cinderella was Sinfonicron’s first show in the recently renovated PBK Memorial Hall since 2018, according to Mutterperl. “So I think, hands down, the best part about being in the new space is just having a place for everyone in Phi Beta Kappa,” Mutterperl said. The return to PBK Memorial Hall also supported Sinfonicron’s emphasis on community. Sinfonicron’s members return to campus at the beginning of January to KWWSV GULYH JRRJOH FRP GULYH IROGHUV $6 B8 .1UFMI0 NK %$ [\J-O7 =8, dedicate three weeks (and the bulk of their winter breaks) to the show. During that intense rehearsal period, known as “camp,” 30 members keep 9 to 5 working hours on weekdays and living in off-campus housing together before dorms reopen, Marketing and Outreach Director Andrew Eastep ’25 noted. “You really build community at the end of the day,” Eastep said. “Through all the work that people put in, through all the effort that people put in, you build something a little bit more than just the show itself. I forget so many times that all of this was done in three weeks. You know, I forget that these are friends that I — up until the beginning of January — didn’t know them, and now I couldn’t imagine what my life was like without them.” Though Sinfonicron prides itself in prioritizing both community and craft, both Mutterperl and Sprinkle emphasized the importance of, first and foremost, having fun together. “We want to make something really cool — we’re here to make art — but we’re also here to really enjoy it,” Sprinkle said. “And, KWWSV GULYH JRRJOH FRP GULYH IROGHUV $6 B8 .1UFMI0 NK %$ [\J-O7 =8, hopefully the audience enjoys it as well.”
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GRAPHIC BY EMNET ABRAHAM/ THE FLAT HAT
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Page 8
THE FLAT HAT
YOU BELONG WITH THEM Taylor Swift Club debuts for devoted fan community MEGAN RUDACILLE // THE FLAT HAT
With her songs in the charts, her name in the news and her face on every screen from television to TikTok, Taylor Swift is a figure you can’t shake off. A new addition to the College of William and Mary will bring the superstar’s presence even closer to home. The Taylor Swift Club launches this semester, its founders aiming to create a haven for the artist’s diehard fans, nicknamed Swifties, to bond over and celebrate their shared interest in the pop icon. The Taylor Swift Club will hold their inaugural interest meeting Tuesday Feb. 6 at 7:00 p.m. in Washington Hall 302. The club plans to host bi-weekly meetings at the same time and place. Board members’ plans for future meetings include friendship bracelet making, a tradition popularized during Swift’s recent Eras Tour, as well as Swift-themed trivia, karaoke and listening parties for any upcoming album releases. “I definitely want input from the members because there are definitely going to be things that I didn’t think of that I’m sure will be so much fun to do as a group,” Taylor Swift Club President Addy Al-Saigh ’27 said. Al-Saigh was inspired to found the Taylor Swift Club after seeing coverage of other universities’ Swift-centered classes and clubs online but finding no equivalent representation of the singer at the College. Al-Saigh began the process of starting the club last fall, from attending meetings to writing and revising a club constitution. “I think this would be such a great addition to William and Mary, to have this place, because she’s so popular, and I just feel like it would get a lot of interest,” Al-Saigh said. Taylor Swift Club Vice President, Nat Burg ’27, was introduced to Al-Saigh by mutual friends, who heard both Swifties express their love for the artist and their interest in starting a related club. Al-Saigh contacted Burg to collaborate on leading and launching the organization after having set up most of the club logistics on her own. “I just feel so honored that she trusts me and that she came to me,” Burg said. Even before their first meeting, the Taylor Swift Club is attracting a reputation of its own. Al-Saigh reflected on her amazement at the immediate interest shown in the club, with their Instagram page amassing over 100 followers in the first few days following its launch. Prospective Taylor Swift Club member Lauren Leister ’27 recalled her excitement upon seeing the club advertised on Instagram and remembered adding the upcoming interest meeting to her calendar as soon as the announcement popped up on her feed. Leister acknowledged that the large presence of Swift’s fan base on campus made the club’s early momentum no surprise. “We’re everywhere — you can find a Swiftie in every room that you enter,” Leister said. “So to be able to bring all of those
people to one place to be able to connect and bond over something that, to me, is really important and has been a big impact on my life is something that I wanted to be a part of.” Taylor Swift Club members attribute some of the club’s popularity to recent surges in Swift’s fame beyond her already established stardom. Al-Saigh observed how Swift’s
lives in some way, shape or form,” Burg said. “Everybody will always know the lyrics to ‘Love Story,’ ‘You Belong With Me.’ If you go to any of the parties, as soon as you hear that famous guitar riff, everybody will be screaming.” Leister further emphasized that the devotion of these longtime Swifties has been strengthened by the many controversies that Swift has been involved in over her career, from disputes over ownership of her older albums to feuds with celebrities like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. “Throughout all of that, she’s just gained more people who see her side of things and want to back her up, and because of that, we can all connect over that,” Leister said. Aside from her music, club members mentioned their admiration for Swift and her positivity in the face of such controversies. Leister expressed an interest in emulating these ideals as a part of future club activities. “I know she’s very involved in charity, so I feel like we could try to take on some of those roles too, giving back to the community and the organizations that she also values a lot,” Leister said. Despite the scale of Swift’s stardom, though, club members also consistently named the profound relatability of Swift’s lyricism as a major factor that draws them to the musician. “I really related to her music because I saw her as an older sister figure who went through the same heartbreaks, went through the same growing pains and same conflicts,” Burg said. “Whenever I couldn’t talk to my mom or couldn’t talk to a friend, I thought, ‘wow, here’s this amazing singer who’s putting into words exactly how I feel.’” Some Swifties note that the deep connection fans hold to Swift’s lyrics makes for a more vulnerable, connected fan community, which stands to be an advantage in creating a tight-knit club atmosphere. “She writes about things that people experience and don’t think anybody else GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT experiences, but then you listen to the song, accomplishments reached new heights in 2023, as she was and you’re like, ‘Wow, somebody else has also felt those things, named Time’s Person of the Year and broke records with her and that’s okay,’” Leister said. “So because of that, I think a lot Eras Tour. of people have connected, and not only connected with her, “This tour just changed some kind of dynamic, and it made but then connected with each other because it’s just such a big her so much more popular,” Al-Saigh said. “I’ve met some people bonding point.” who are only fans of her as of recently, not way back, and they With Swifties secure in the unity of their fan base, Taylor Swift say that it’s because of what she did over the pandemic because Club leaders expressed hope at building a club environment nobody else was putting out music.” characterized by strong community and friendships built on a Swift’s extensive career history was also acknowledged shared ‘love story’ with Swift’s music. as a significant contributor to her continued appeal. Burg “Figuring out that people are less alone, and they go described how the nostalgia associated with Swift’s biggest through the same things that we do—I think that overall makes hits maintains the singer’s status as a household name at the it so much easier to connect with others and overall provide, College and beyond. hopefully, a distraction, maybe a good part of somebody’s “She’s shaped a part of the soundtrack to everybody’s day,” Burg said.
Luck of the Irish Chiara Luepke advances to Irish Dance World Championships LORENZO SHORT // THE FLAT HAT
The College of William and Mary has more than 175 active clubs and organizations on campus, ranging from interests in cheese to distance running. In a school known for its prolific student activities, it should come as no surprise that the College has an active dance community. One member of the dance community, however, has taken their talents far beyond the College: Chiara Luepke ‘25, who will be competing in the Irish Dance World Championships in March. A dancer can qualify for the World Championships through either the regional championships or the national championships. In both competitions, the competitor must be in the top half to be “recalled” and then be in the top five or within a certain percent thereafter to qualify for the World Championships. In her most recent attempt at regionals in December 2023, Leupke placed fifth in the region, which covers the southern United States. Luepke first began dancing at five years old, and she described how that early experience turned into a lifelong passion. “I did a summer camp and just really loved it and wanted to keep dancing,” Luepke said. “But I did it very casually until I was 12 or 13. And then I decided to start competing and also doing performances, which was really fun. We would go all around the D.C. area for Saint Patrick’s Day
and do performances at schools and dance in parades and restaurants. We danced at the Harlem Globetrotters halftime show, which was fun.” Luepke’s journey to the international stage has had its fair share of roadblocks. She has qualified multiple times before, for the 2020 and 2021 championships, only for the championships to be canceled. Upon arriving at the College, Luepke decided to take a step back from competing while still dancing for enjoyment with the Irish and Ballroom dance clubs. Even though she was no longer competing, difficulties still presented themselves, as the dance community required some rebuilding after the pandemic. Luepke recalled the state of the existing Irish Dance Club when she joined as a freshman. “It had been here,” Luepke said. “It had kind of dwindled during COVID, so we had to work to build back the membership.” Dancing in the Celtic Fyre show at Busch Gardens this past summer convinced Luepke enough to return to competition. “I didn’t decide to start competing until the end of August,” Luepke said. “I loved being in Celtic Fyre. That was an awesome experience, to be in a professional show.” With her renewed enthusiasm to give her competitive career another chance, Luepke got to work quickly, joining a new dance school in Richmond and making the roughly hour-long
drive regularly. The comeback story, however, was not without its setbacks. Luepke faced a stress injury during her time rehearsing for Celtic Fyre, which led to her having to take a month off. Later, during her training to return to competition, Luepke developed chronic blistering on her foot, which she had to quickly work through, as she didn’t have much time to spare. Luepke’s time last semester was primarily spent training and drilling to prepare for regionals while also entering her first competitions in years. Despite her absence, she found she was able to regain her confidence, as well as a renewed appreciation for her craft. “The stamina of getting through the dances actually went better than I was expecting,” Luepke said about her first competition back. “And I think one thing that helped is that I was just so grateful to have the opportunity to be competing again and be back on the stage. I was in a really good mindset going into that competition, and rather than overthinking any parts of my dance, I just got up, did what I had learned and enjoyed it, and I think that helped.” For Luepke, confidence and preparedness are key to managing nerves in a competition where two minutes can make or break a performance. “That’s part of it, having a plan,” Luepke said. “I really
focused on that before the regionals because I had been out of it for a couple of years and had trained a lot to get back. So a lot of it was just focusing on the mindset and being ready the day-of and confident because that’s a big part of it.” Luepke continues to engage with dance at the College, where she currently serves as the copresident of the Irish Dance Club. There, she continues to promote dance through weekly meetings on Wednesdays, and the club offers lessons for beginners on Tuesdays. “It’s never too late to start,” Luepke said. “If you’re interested, come to our beginner lessons. It’s a great way to meet people. It’s great exercise too, and we do a lot of group dancing, which is really fun.” For their next on-campus performance, the club has been in talks with local Irish bands to put on a Celtic festival later this semester. Dance remains a passion for Luepke, and she hasn’t ruled out dancing professionally before she settles down in a career. “There are a lot of other touring shows, so I’m definitely going to apply to some next year and just see what happens,” Luepke said. “I would love to go on a tour for a few months before I start an office job.” Whatever happens in Glasgow this March, Luepke can hold her head high knowing the College community remains ready to welcome her home.
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sports
THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | Page 9
WOMENʼS TENNIS
William and Mary finishes 2-0 in weekend season openers Womenʼs tennis wins doubles points against Longwood, Georgetown
MADDIE MOHAMADI THE FLAT HAT
Saturday, Feb. 3, William and Mary women’s tennis (2-0, 0-0 CAA) defeated Longwood (0-4, 0-0 Big South) 7-0 at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. The season-opener began with the Tribe earning the doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, William and Mary graduate student Mila Mejic and senior Kensie Cricchio won 6-2 against Longwood seniors Sophia Marchetta and Nina Hederich. Cricchio attributed the team’s close bond to her success. “We have worked together really well and have a common goal,” Cricchio said. “At the end of the day, we are all teammates, and we want to meet our goals.” The No. 1 doubles team of graduate student Yu Chen and junior Emma Fernald defeated Longwood junior Karina Rizvanova and freshman Feline Van Eijkelenburg 6-2, clinching the doubles point for the Tribe. The Tribe swept Longwood in singles, racking up six more points. In the No. 6 slot, sophomore Yaelle Vaissaud won 6-0, 6-1 against Longwood sophomore Alexis Broderick, earning the first singles point for the Tribe. At No. 1, junior Hedda Gurholt defeated Van Eijkelenburg 6-3, 6-2. Chen won both sets against Longwood sophomore Oriana Izarra 6-0 at No. 2. With the wins, both Gurholt and Chen advanced
to 6-4 on the year. Juniors Ine Stange and Fernald — ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively — topped Marchetta and Rizvanova 6-2, 7-5 and 7-6, 6-4. In the No. 5 match, freshman Francesca Davis defeated Longwood sophomore Kashmira Manohar 6-1, 6-4, marking her fifth win of the season. Following the impressive win, the Tribe faced Georgetown (2-3, 0-1 Big East) at the McCormackNagelsen Tennis Center Sunday, Feb. 4. William and Mary won 5-2, securing the doubles point and four singles victories. Chen and Fernald defeated Georgetown graduate student Chloe Bendetti and freshman Katie Garofolo-Ro 6-2 in the No. 1 doubles match. Ranked No. 2, Gurholt and Stange earned the doubles point for the Tribe, winning 6-3 against Georgetown senior Olivia Ashton and freshman Tatiana Zelenko. Garofolo-Ro won the first singles point of the match for Georgetown, defeating Mejic 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 and equalizing the dual-match score 1-1. Gurholt’s 6-2, 6-4 victory against Zelenko placed the Tribe back in the lead, but Stange’s 7-5, 6-1 loss to Georgetown senior Avantika Willy tied the score 2-2. Ranked No. 6, Davis won her first set against Georgetown sophomore Paige Gilbert 6-0. Gilbert responded with a 6-1 win in the second set, but Davis defeated Gilbert 6-4 in the final set, earning a much needed point to lock in the Green and Gold’s lead. At No. 1, Chen’s hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 victory
RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT
After a hard-fought singles victory against Georgetown, graduate student Yu Chen won the fifth singles point for the Tribe.
against Bendetti secured the Tribe’s victory. Fernald won her first set against Georgetown freshman Emily Novikov at No. 5, but Novikov reacted with a 7-6 second-set win. Fernald’s third-set win cemented William and Mary’s 5-2 victory. As the 2023 Coastal Athletic Association champions, Tribe women’s tennis hopes to extend its early winning streak. “Doing well in the conference again like last year and the year before would be really great,”
freshman Parker Debnam said. “We did well in the fall, so we’re trying to bring that into the spring.” As a senior, Cricchio looks forward to her last season with the Tribe. “It’s my last year, so I want to enjoy my last semester of tennis and just have fun with my teammates,” Cricchio said. William and Mary women’s tennis will face Maryland (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) Saturday, Feb. 10 at McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va.
MENʼS BASKETBALL
Tribe’s struggles continue, drops consecutive CAA matchups at home
Gold Rush game attracts high fan attendance despite defeat against Charleston LACI MILLER AND SYDNEY WITWER THE FLAT HAT Thursday, Feb. 1, William and Mary men’s basketball (8-15, 3-7 CAA) lost to Delaware (14-9, 6-4 CAA) 81-53 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. In an attempt to bounce back, the Tribe faced the College of Charleston (16-7, 7-3 CAA) in its annual Gold Rush game at Kaplan Arena Saturday, Feb. 3 in Williamsburg, Va. but lost 84-83. Another Coastal Athletic Association loss for the Tribe came thanks to a dominating performance from the visiting Blue Hens, who shot 60% from the floor. Junior guard Gabe Dorsey started the game strong with back-to-back threepointers, giving William and Mary an early 6-4 lead. Delaware responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead, which they held the entire rest of the game. After a layup from sophomore guard Chase Lowe, William and Mary managed to narrow Delaware’s lead to one point, bringing the score to 17-16 with 10 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the first half. Delaware dominated the rest of the half, winning 39-24.
Junior guard Matteus Case and junior forward Caleb Dorsey opened up scoring in the second half, bringing the deficit within 10. Delaware responded by scoring eight points in a row, extending their lead to 18. The visiting Blue Hens continued on their offensive advances for the remainder of the half, posting a 23-4 run in less than seven minutes of play to put any chance of a Tribe comeback out of reach. The contest ended in a Tribe loss, 81-53, the second largest margin of victory in the Blue Hens’ season. Delaware fifth-year guard Christian Ray led the visitors with 17 points, and graduate student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr. and sophomore guard Cavan Reilly both posted 16 points for the Blue Hens. Gabe Dorsey led William and Mary with 12 points, followed by Lowe with 11. William and Mary shot just 32.3% from the floor. Despite exceptional performances by Lowe and sophomore guard Trey Moss on Saturday, the Tribe fell just short to the Cougars, losing by one point. The Tribe got off to a dominant start in the first half, leading 21-12 after the first seven and a half minutes of play.
RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT
Sophomore guard Chase Lowe hit one of two half-court buzzer-beaters to help Green and Gold.
The team capitalized on its three-point opportunities, with baskets coming from both Dorseys, as well as graduate guard Sean Houpt. On the defensive side, the Tribe struggled overcoming screens set by the Charleston offense. Junior forward Ante Brzovic and graduate guard Bryce Butler were lethal for the Cougars’ offense, finding multiple scoring opportunities on pick-and-rolls. As the half progressed, the Tribe picked up three fouls within one minute, giving Charleston the opportunity to capitalize on free throws and tie the score at 33-33. The Tribe regained its lead to end the half with a three-pointer by sophomore guard Miles Hicks and an impressive buzzer beater shot by Lowe. The Tribe entered the second half with a three point lead, largely thanks to an impressive 10-10 start at the free throw line in the first half. Lowe shot 4-5 from the field, making his only three point attempt and knocking down all three free throws. Despite this impressive shooting performance by the Tribe, Charleston was able to pull ahead in the second half. The first few minutes of the second half were back-and-forth between the two teams. Gabe Dorsey nailed another threepoint shot, but Charleston junior forward Ben Burnham quickly responded with a successful layup. After the first two minutes of the half, the score was tied again at 47-47. Charleston then went on a six-point scoring run to extend their lead on the Tribe, who went cold from the field. The Tribe trailed by one point with nine minutes, 20 seconds left in the half, but an aggressive scoring run by Charleston halted its momentum. Charleston led 65-56 with 10 minutes left in the game. With little time left, Gabe Dorsey and Lowe narrowed the deficit to just four points with four seconds left to go in the game. As time expired, Gabe Dorsey nailed a three-point shot to narrow Charleston’s lead to one. Unfortunately, there was no time left in the game for the Tribe to make a full comeback, despite its strong late-game effort from the team as a whole. Though the game ended in a loss, the fight and determination of the Tribe against the former CAA Champions proves that this William and Mary team remains persistent, even while battling multiple injuries. The Green and Gold will look to bounce back Thursday, Feb. 8 when it takes on conference opponent Monmouth at the OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, N.J.
RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT
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THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 7, 2023 | Page 10
WOMENʼS BASKETBALL
Tribe dominates Gold Rush game, beats Drexel 75-62
Young-led offense slays Dragon defense, secures seasonʼs sixth CAA win
MAX GRILL FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR
Sunday, Feb. 4, William and Mary women’s basketball (10-10, 6-3 CAA) put on an absolute show, beating Drexel (10-10, 5-4 CA) 75-62 in its annual Gold Rush game at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. In front of a gold-flooded crowd, the Tribe dominated almost every aspect of the game. Sunday’s matchup began blistering hot for the Tribe, who started the game in a lethal full-court trap. After a series of quick defensive stops, sophomore guard Alexa Mikeska started the scoring for the Tribe, knocking down one of two free throws after drawing a foul. Immediately after, Mikeska picked the pocket of a Drexel guard, setting up senior forward Rebekah Frisby-Smith for her first three-point make of the day. Frisby-Smith, who finished Sunday’s game with three three-point field goals, commented on the Tribe’s fiery start after the game. “We just had energy and were feeling it,” Frisby-Smith said. “I don’t know what we did differently, but it was great.” After the Tribe took an early 6-0 lead, Drexel graduate forward Hetta Saatman finally put the Dragons on the board. Graduate forward Nylah Young quickly extended the Tribe’s lead with a layup, her first of many points on the day. The Tribe capitalized on its defense throughout the first quarter. Possession after possession, the Green and Gold forced the Dragons to turn the ball over, leading
to easy fast-break baskets and breakaway threes early on. By the end of the first quarter, Drexel turned the ball over seven times and found itself down by nine, shooting only 30% from the field. The second quarter started with yet another Dragon turnover. After coming up empty despite two offensive rebounds, the Tribe finally got on the board after a crafty pass from Young found Mikeska, who cut toward the basket for an easy layup. Mikeska added another tough layup through contact on the next offensive possession, extending
JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT Junior guard Bella Nascimento had a strong showing in Sundayʼs game, finishing with 13 points, four assists and three steals in 30 minutes off the Tribe bench.
the lead to 13 with just under seven minutes left in the half. Just as quickly as the Tribe momentum took off in the first quarter, the Tribe went cold, allowing the Dragons to crawl back to just a six-point deficit entering the half. In the third quarter, the Tribe wasted no time reestablishing the lead it once had. The Tribe picked the Dragons’ defense apart, finding open forwards all over the court for easy layups. Junior forward Anahi-Lee Cauley started the scoring in the second half with an easy layup, courtesy of a Mikeska assist. Frisby-Smith then knocked down another three-point shot, just before Mikeska found Young for another strong look inside the paint. After a brief lapse on the defensive end, Young capitalized on an and-one, finishing through the contact and converting the free throw to extend the Tribe’s lead to 39-27. Young dominated the paint all day, finishing with a game-high 27 points. When asked about her impressive offensive production, Young attributed her success to staying focused on helping the team win. “I’ve been trying to focus on what I need to do to be better for the team, like throughout the week,” Young said. “I’ve really been trying to focus in and am glad it kind of showed today.” Young also praised her teammates for giving her the opportunity to contribute to Sunday’s success. “I’m really grateful for my teammates, that they were passing me the ball,” Young said. Junior guard Bella Nascimento and freshman guard Monet Dance also contributed valuable minutes for the Tribe on Sunday. In 30 minutes, Nascimento totaled 13 points, four assists and a whopping three steals. Dance, a true freshman, assisted on five Tribe baskets in just 11 minutes, also swiping two steals along the way. When asked about Dance’s performance on Sunday, head coach Erin Dickerson Davis had nothing but praise toward her freshman guard. “I could not be more proud of Mo,” Dickerson Davis said. “She’s yelling. She’s talking to her teammates. Monet just plays with a lot of energy, and so when she starts to get these assists, her energy just kind of turns up, and then everybody else’s energy turns up.”
After a 11-point third from Young, the Tribe entered the fourth quarter with momentum, leading 52-40 with just 10 minutes left in the game. To the Tribe’s dismay, however, the Dragons continued to fight back. After converting on an and-one of their own and knocking down multiple tough shots from inside the paint, with just under six minutes left in the game, the Dragons successfully cut the Tribe’s lead to single digits. Despite the visitor’s attempts, the Green and Gold had no intention of giving up its lead. After buckets from senior center Kayla Beckwith, Nascimento and freshman guard Cassidy Geddes, William and Mary finished the game on top, winning 75-62 in front of a roaring home crowd.
JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT Senior foward Rebekah Frisby-Smith finished with three 3-pointers against Drexel.
“This was definitely a team win,” Dickerson Davis said. “We had almost four people in double figures, and almost everyone that played scored today. It’s a true team effort.” The Tribe looks to keep the strong interconference play going as it travels to the Bob Carpenter Center to face Delaware Feb. 9 in Newark, Del.
TRACK AND FIELD
Green and Gold chases university records at Doc Hale Elite Meet
Senior Jackson Cooley ties school record in 60-meter dash, takes third in event MADDIE MOHAMADI THE FLAT HAT
Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3, William and Mary’s men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Doc Hale Elite Meet at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va. On Friday, senior sprinter Jackson Cooley ran 6.81 seconds in the 60-meter dash, tying a program-record time set by Davion Hutt ’18 and finishing in third place. Sophomore sprinter Austin Rice and freshman hurdler David Seekford placed ninth and 14th in the 400-meter
dash, respectively. With a time of 49.28, Rice ran the 14th-best time in school history. Seekford — who recorded a time of 49.80 — ran a top-20 William and Mary time and recorded a personal best performance. Composed of junior Lucy Young, sophomore Lydia Wallis, freshman Becca Harkness and senior Emily Sell, the women’s distance medley relay team placed first, winning with a time of 12:13.29. Freshman distance runner Wyatt Townsend and junior mid-distance runner Arianna DeBoer competed in the men’s and
women’s 3,000-meter runs, respectively. Townsend placed sixth overall on the men’s side, recording a personal best of 8:32.26. Placing third in the women’s 3,000-meter run, DeBoer ran a time of 9:44.66. Saturday, DeBoer ran 4:54.76 in the women’s mile, finishing 12th while recording a season best time. Freshman mid-distance runner Jacob Robinson set a freshman record, running 21.93 in the men’s 200-meter dash while placing eighth overall. Rice ran 22.20 in the same event, recording a top-
16 program finish. Sophomore distance runner Jonathan Kumer ran a personal best of 1:50.35 in the men’s 800-meter run, placing second and recording a school top-10 time. The Tribe also posted several program and personal records in field events. On Friday, freshman jumper Katriel Amoyaw placed ninth in the long jump, recording 5.81 meters and marking a top-10 performance. Sophomore thrower Jason Nwosu threw the 13th farthest throw in program history, recording a distance
of 17.55-meters in the weight throw event. Saturday, senior jumper Megan Heidebrecht tied the eighth best performance in school history with a 12.5-meter mark in the
women’s triple jump. Tribe track and field will compete next at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
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