The Flat Hat January 23, 2018

The Flat Hat

Vol. 107, Iss. 26 | Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | The Weekly Student Newspaper of The College of William and Mary

Students joined members of the Williamsburg community for a second annual women’s march on Duke of Gloucester Street Jan. 20, 2018 . page 3 SYDNEY MCCOURT / THE FLAT HAT

ACADEMICS

Northam to take the stage Recently inaugurated Virginia Governor Ralph Northam will serve as Charter Day’s keynote speaker SARAH SMITH // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

J

ust a few weeks after his inauguration, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam will speak at the College of William and Mary’s Charter Day ceremony, marking the university’s 325th birthday. Every year, this event marks the anniversary of when the College received its royal charter. This year, Northam will speak at the ceremony in Kaplan Arena, which is scheduled for Feb. 9.

Over the years, it has become a Charter Day tradition to have the state’s newly elected governor serve as the keynote speaker and receive an honorary degree. Northam, along with Trudier Harris, the College’s first tenured African-American faculty member, and two alumni, Frances McGlothlin ’66 and Hunter Smith ’51, will receive honorary degrees. Last year, Canadian football star Michael Clemons ’89 served as the keynote speaker and was also presented with an honorary degree.

Additionally, following another Charter Day tradition, College Chancellor and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ’65 will attend the ceremony and offer his remarks.

“This 325th milestone is a testament to William & Mary’s indomitable spirit over the centuries,” College President Taylor Reveley said in a press statement. “This school year we also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first African-American students in residence at William & Mary. Ralph Northam has been a longtime friend of higher

education in general and William & Mary in particular.”

Previously, Northam served as the state’s lieutenant governor under Terry McAuliffe.

In November 2017, he became the 73rd governor of the state. Northam attended the Virginia Military Institute, then Eastern Virginia Medical School. He later held residences at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Hospital, and also served in the U.S. Army, where he treated soldiers wounded in Operation Desert Storm.

His career in politics began in 2008, when he was first elected as a Virginia state senator, a position he held until 2013 when he was elected as lieutenant governor.

During his tenure in that position, he focused on economic development, early childhood education, mental health reform, women’s health care access and protecting environmental resources.

Harris, another recipient of an honorary degree, was the first tenured AfricanAmerican faculty member at the College.

Harris joined the English department in 1973. She then went on to teach at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill an Emory University. Now, she is a research professor at the University of Alabama and is considered one of the nation’s leading scholars in African-American and Southern literature and cultural theory.

Additionally, Harris has written and edited books including “The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature” and “Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South.” She founded the George Moses Horton Society for the Student of African American Poetry in 1996 as well.

She most recently returned to the College last year as the English department’s Sara and Jess Cloud Distinguished Lecturer, when she received an award to honor her historic role.

McGlothlin and Smith are two alumni being honored for their philanthropic contributions. McGlothlin and her husband, James McGlothlin, contributed to the renovation of Zable Stadium, are honorary co-chairs of the “For the Bold” campaign, the College’s current fundraising effort and have endowed scholarships at the Raymond A. School of Business and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law. Smith, the other alumna recognized this Charter Day, has also maintained ties to the College since graduating in 1951. She has endowed scholarships for freshman seminars, financially supported the renovations of the Alumni House and Zable Stadium and is also an honorary co-chair of the “For the Bold” campaign.

While a student at the College, Smith was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and was a philosophy major.

FORMER GOVERNMENT PROFESSOR FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST THE COLLEGE David Dessler, a former government professor whose 32 years of employment at the College of William and Mary ended with a series of cryptic emails and four charges of harassment by computer, filed a lawsuit against the College Dec. 27.

In the complaint, Dessler alleges that the College violated his First Amendment right to free speech, declined to grant due process protections associated with termination and failed to provide reasonable accommodation for a disclosed mental disability. Dessler further claims that the College’s actions — from placing him on medical leave to barring him from campus and spurring his eventual resignation “to avoid continued arrest and harassment by the College” — stem from his September 2015 announcement of a joint student-faculty mental health initiative.

According to the complaint, Dessler, who had previously been diagnosed with depression, decided to launch the initiative after the College experienced multiple student suicides in one academic year. The afternoon of Oct. 21, 2015, the complaint states, he emailed his government students with a description of “a professor suffering from mental illness, intending to discuss the email in class that day as part of a class on implicit assumptions.” However, upon arriving on campus, Dessler found himself barred from the classroom by William and Mary Police.

Soon after the Oct. 21 incident, Dessler was placed on medical leave and banned from contacting College employees and students. Between February 2016 and January 2017, he was arrested five times — on four charges of harassment by computer and one failure to appear in court — after allegedly sending emails containing “vulgar and obscene language” to College officials. Four of the five charges were later dropped, and the deposition for one harassment charge was deferred until May 2019.

In a statement provided to the Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily, College spokesperson Suzanne Seurattan said the school had not had a chance to thoroughly review the complaint. “[The Equal Opportunity of Employment Commission] found no evidence of discrimination or retaliation on the part of the university,” Seurattan said, citing a claim Dessler filed with the EOC in 2017. “We expect the same outcome from this proceeding.”

— Flat Hat Chief Staff Writer Meilan Solly

ACADEMICS

College’s Washington Center to host class co-taught by James Comey ’82 Comey, Drew Stelljes will teach class focusing on ethical leadership for three consecutive semesters beginning fall 2018 SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

For the last 11 years, Comey has maintained a relationship with the Washington Center, and for three years, has hosted students at the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Starting Former FBI Director James Comey ’82 will begin teaching this fall, he will co-teach with Assistant Vice President for a three-credit course on ethical leadership at the College of Student Leadership Drew Stelljes and will teach during the fall William and Mary beginning in the fall 2018 semester. Classes 2018, spring 2019 and summer 2019 semesters. will be held at the College’s Washington Center.

“Jim Comey is among William & Mary’s most distinguished alumni,” College President Taylor Reveley said in a press statement. “Over the years, he has been deeply committed to his alma mater. He understands to the core of his being that our leaders must have an abiding commitment to ethical behavior and sacrificial service if we are to have good government. Our students will benefit significantly from his experience and wisdom.”

According to Executive Director of the William and Mary Washington Center Adam Anthony ’87, the idea for the course came from Comey’s consistent involvement with students at the Washington Center. He said that Comey has always been a popular guest lecturer.

“We have been doing these [programs in D.C.] since 2006, and Comey has been coming since then,” Anthony said. “I have lost count of how many times he has spoken to our students.

When he became FBI director, he hosted our classes three different summers. Then, he came last winter and spoke to our winter class and spoke in March to our spring break class. The students absolutely adored him, and after he spoke, they were hanging out with him and talking to him — it looked like they were ready to hoist him on their shoulders. … It started us here thinking that maybe someday we could think about having COURTESY PHOTO / WM.EDU Comey spoke at the College’s Convocation ceremony in August of 2009. him teach a class.”

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Anthony said that ethical leadership, the focus of the class, is a topic that Comey has previously discussed with students at the Washington Center. Additionally, Anthony said that Comey touches on leadership in his forthcoming book “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” which is set to be released in May. “I am thrilled to have the chance to engage with William & Mary students about a vital topic — ethical leadership,” Comey said in a press statement. “Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly the truth.

Building and maintaining that kind of leadership, in both the private sector and government, is the challenge of our time.

There is no better place to teach and learn about it than the W&M Washington Program.”

Comey and Stelljes will administer online discussion and research paper components for the course. Stelljes will also prepare lectures and provide background information on Comey’s classes for students. While the curriculum for the course is not yet set, Stelljes said in a press statement that students will be using historical texts and contemporary critical theory to map leadership paradigms and analyze relationships between leadership education and democratic engagement.

The course’s sessions will be held at the Washington Center, with the exception of one session which will be held at the School of Education in Williamsburg. According to Anthony, hosting one session in Williamsburg will help students based at the College by easing the burden of traveling for the class.

Brittany Acors ’ 18, employee at the Peer Scholarship Office encourages students to seek resources for the new semester. page 6

Tribe tops Elon on the road

Senior guard Connor Burchfield led the College to a road win after two straight losses. page 10

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THE BUZZ

I’m a queer woman. I’m married to another queer woman. I’d kind of like not to be murdered for being married to a Jewish woman.

— Kit Schaaf-poms at the Women’s March on Williamsburg, on the rise of neo-Nazism

Contemplating comics

The Flat Hat Page 2 Spotlight

Ravynn Stringfield analyzes comics, writes blog posts, pursues doctoral degree LEONOR GRAVE // FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

@theflathat

@theflathat

theflatchat A THOUSAND WORDS

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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an ideal place for scholars interested in interdisciplinary approaches to American culture.

One thing that Stringfield said drew her specifically to the College’s American studies program was the chance to work with associate professor of English and American studies Elizabeth Losh, whose areas of specialization include media theory, technology studies and digitalrhetoric.As partofherprogramrequirments, Stringfield must complete an assistantship each year. Her first year at the College, she worked as the editorial assistant for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.

This year, she is the graduate assistant for The

“

that students might not get otherwise during their time at the College and recognizes that the College’s history is expansive and includes many different types of people. Stringfield also chronicles her graduate school career through her blog titled “Black Girl Does Grad School.” Stringfield wanted to document her experience but also provide a resource for other African-American girls and women considering grad school. A year and a half later, Stringfield had published over 60 posts on “Black Girl Does Grad School.” Sometimes she writes about the conferences she attends or the projects she works on, sometimes she writes about her personal experiences with mental health.

“It’s a way for me to process, but also a resource book for other people doing grad school to know that you’re not alone,” Stringfield said. “There’s a tendency to hide the pain with a smile and say everything is going really well, but the reality is grad school is really difficult, it’s very lonely and it can be really isolating. I want to be honest about the fact that it is very tough, but all of my successes have been really great successes.”

Now that she has completed her master’s degree, Stringfield is focused on continuing her coursework and passing her comprehensive exams.

While she has not yet decided what the focus of her Ph.D. dissertation will be, she is interested in continuing to further her knowledge in the fields of African-American literature, comics studies and afrofuturism. Another potential focus for her research? The upcoming Marvel “Black Panther” movie, set to be released Feb. 16.

“It’s so important to see an African-American hero in a live action film, on his own,” Stringfield said. “Not as a supporting character, not in someone else’s movie, not as a background character, not searching through the film to find the one black character and hope they don’t die.”

For Stringfield, superheroes occupy a distinct place in American society, because they represent specific values of the American population.

“It’s a way to think about us as a culture and what we think is important,” Stringfield said.

“This is an African-American superhero, and an African-American superhero is going to have values that are probably a little bit different from the average American hero because we have a different take on America.”

However, much like the stories Stringfield wrote about as an undergraduate, the titular protagonist of “Black Panther,” an African in the United States, has an outsider perspective on the culture he occupies.

“He’s both an outsider and an insider,” Stringfield said. “He’s always treated as an African American, which is a very particular place to be, but as an outsider he can offer some interesting comments about white America and black America both.”

She said she has high hopes for the big-screen treatment of “Black Panther.”

“I bought a ticket the day that they were available for the first viewing possible,” Stringfield said. “I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a movie in a long time. I’m ready to enjoy it. But I’m ready to do some critical work on it, too.”

“We still have buildings named after Confederate leaders and we live in a campus that doesn’t always see the need to acknowledge the presence of African Americans at the College.

SEBASTIAN YE / THE FLAT HAT

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When College of William and Mary doctoral student Ravynn Stringfield was a little girl, the first thing she did after the newspaper arrived Sunday mornings was read the comics.

For several years, Stringfield would cut out her favorites, paste them on a sheet of paper and add them to her collection, which she still keeps today. Stringfield credits this early love of comics in part to her father, a lover of fantasy and science fiction who made sure to bring her along when he watched superhero movies. As she got older, she became interested in the psychology of the American superhero story, a path which eventually led her to Williamsburg, Virginia.

Stringfield is currently in her second year as a graduate student in the College of William and Mary’s American studies department. As a joint master’s degree and Ph.D. program candidate, she completed her master’s coursework and thesis this past year and will spend the rest of her time in Williamsburg working toward her Ph.D. Stringfield’s academic passion, which brought her to the College’s American studies department, is the intersection of comics and culture.

Stringfield’s master’s research focused on exactly that.

Her thesis, “Black Capes, White Spies,” stitched together two essays about the representation of African Americans in comics. The first was a character biography of Marvel Comics’ “Black Panther,” the second a literary analysis of “Incognegro,” a graphic novel published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo about a light-skinned African-American reporter who investigates lynchings in Mississippi.

“I was interested in the time period and what [Black Panther] may have represented to AfricanAmerican people reading the comics,” Stringfield said. “We’ve seen this resurgence of Black Panther in a moment of Black Lives Matter and I wanted to go back and see if there was any correlation between Black Panther, social movements and the representation of African Americans.”

The connection between comics and identity was not as straightforward for Stringfield as her path might suggest. As an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, Stringfield studied French and comparative literature, but it wasn’t until she studied abroad in Paris and went to an exhibit about “Aya of Yop City,” a graphic novel about a girl in Côte d’Ivoire, that she became fascinated with the idea of using tools of literary analysis to look at comics. Her undergraduate thesis incorporated “Aya” as well as “Persepolis” and “The Arab of the Future” — all graphic works that tell stories of outsider identities in France.

“That was when I first realized that I could do studies about people of color and graphic novels, together,” Stringfield said. “From there, I realized that I was asking these questions about identity and about race of other countries and I wasn’t being reflective of my own culture, so I decided that I needed to turn my attention to America.”

Stringfield described the field of American studies as a haven for misfits of the academy,

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POLICE BEAT

— Ravynn

Stringfield

Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation, the ongoing research and restorative justice initiative for African Americans at the College. Stringfield is active within the community engagement and student outreach branches of the Lemon Project.

She organizes events like Porch Talks, drum circles and the upcoming eighth-annual Lemon Project Symposium.

This work, Stringfield said, is incredibly important to an understanding of the College’s unadulterated history. The anniversary celebrations of the first three African-American students in residence at the College going on this year are an example of the College’s efforts to recognize its history, but it has not been without the continued effort of activists and the AfricanAmerican community.

“We’re at a college campus where things have stood still in time,” Stringfield said. “We still have buildings named after Confederate leaders and we live in a campus that doesn’t always see the need to acknowledge the presence of African Americans at the College. … African-American people have a history that is not something that you’re taught unless you seek it. For a lot of white students in particular at the College, you’re taught a certain sort of history, and unless you have a professor that’s particularly sensitive to African-American issues, you could go all semester without reading anything about a black person. You could go all semester without reading anything written by a black person. It’s important that the resources are there for the people who want a different perspective.”

For Stringfield, that is the great strength of the Lemon Project — it offers a different perspective

Jan. 19 - 20

1

Friday, January 19 — A death investigation occured at Richmond Rd.

2

Saturday, January 20 — Credit card theft was reported at Page St.

3

Saturday, January 20 — A hit and run was reported at N. Henry St.

4

Saturday, January 20 — Richard Gaskins was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana on Capitol Landing Rd.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Page 3

WILLIAMSBURG

ALL PHOTOS BY SYDNEY MCCOURT / THE FLAT HAT

2,000 gather, march on DoG Street

Second Women’s March in Williamsburg brings national event to campus MADELINE MONROE // FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR Students and community members gathered near the courthouse on Duke of Gloucester Street in preparation for the Women’s March on Williamsburg Saturday Jan. 20.

Partnered with Common Ground, a local group dedicated to finding community agreement on political issues, and Williamsburg James City County Indivisible, the annual march included a line-up of speakers from the political sector, including 2017 Democratic Candidate for District 94 Shelly Simonds and 93rd District Democratic Representative Mike Mullin.

Core Organizer for Common Ground Elizabeth Polster ’14 said that her organization partnered with the march in order to continue advocating for local change, despite the fatigue experienced by new organizers the previous year.

“We wanted to show and to see that there are other people who are still here,” Polster said. “There was a lot of exhaustion from new activists or organizers who started off early last year who had been frustrated by the election, came out and started to get involved.”

According to Polster, the Women’s March on Williamsburg last year had grown from a spontaneous idea from a local woman named Sue Dickler.

“She had the idea to do it, invited friends, and then they had [2,000] people turn out was what they estimated,” Polster said. “So that was very much on the fly. It wasn’t planned or organized as much like this one.”

A member of Common Ground and WJCC Indivisible Alice Pastorius attended the march in Williamsburg last year and noted how she and other attendees found out about the march by chance.

Pastorius also emphasized the dramatic change from

“mostly old, white people” in attendee turnout last year to “many more young people [with] so much more diversity” in this year’s march.

Members of Peninsula Indivisible, an affiliate branch of WJCC Indivisible, also attended the march.

One member, Diann Smith, said her organization’s goal was to urge others to get involved “from the ground up” in progressive politics.

“I believe we have to fight even harder this year,” Smith said. “We were very active last year campaigning for local progressives and we got so close with Virginia and we just need to fight even harder this year to win Congressional Districts 1 and 2. I think this is encouraging. I’m so excited to see so many people. It’s a time to be reinvigorated and celebrate before we start fighting again.”

Other marchers also saw elections as a way to challenge the current political climate. J.P. Cordial of Gloucester said he felt energized by the recent elections and the possibility of more diversity in government positions.

“I think that institutionalized discrimination for 250 years has created a horrible problem in our government, and right now one of the biggest and most important qualifications for any leader that I’m going to vote for is that they’ve experienced that institutionalized discrimination, whether they’re women, people of color, they’re lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual,” Cordial said. “Those are the people who need to be in office right now because I think that’s the only way at this point that we have any hope of leveling the playing field.”

Kit Schaaf-poms, who attended the Women’s March on Washington last year, said the rise of neo-Nazism spurred

her to march again this year.

“I’m a queer woman,” said Schaaf-poms. “I’m married to another queer woman. I’d kind of like not to be murdered for being married to a Jewish woman.”

Schaaf-poms believes that since the last march in Washington, people have become more aware of the problems that need to be addressed in order for culture to change.

“People seem to be a lot more aware and a lot more willing to talk about things and say, ‘Hey, that’s just wrong.

We shouldn’t be doing that,’” Schaaf-poms said. “It doesn’t seem to have actually reached the point of actually changing anything in the government, but it’s at least changing it down here and the fact that Virginia is swinging blue is kind of a huge thing.”

Tribe marchers Rochelle Belton and Nori Thurman ’21 agreed that an increase in awareness of sexual assault has occurred because of the #MeToo movement.

“I think this year after the MeToo movement a lot more people are marching because they see that progress can be made and a lot of people are inspired by that because last year it hadn’t emerged as much,” Thurman said.

Praising the empowering nature of the march, Elizabeth Dannenfelser ’18 encouraged those interested in enacting change to get involved.

“Even if it’s just going to a march, even if maybe you don’t feel comfortable going or you don’t really know anyone, you feel weird, I think it’s a really enriching experience and also a really good way to motivate yourself and to motivate others to get involved politically, to go out and vote and to do things that really initiate change.”

Local politicians, College students and City of Williamsburg community members gathered Saturday, Jan. 20 to march on Duke of Gloucester Street, in solidarity with sister Women’s Marches in Rome, New York City and Washington, D.C.

STUDENT ASSEMBLY

SA to host symposium on early Virginia history, race relations Levine, Yackow to plan conference in conjunction with UVA student government SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

This March, the College of William and Mary will host a conference titled “Tending Our Roots: First Annual Virginia Student Symposium on Race in Higher Education.”

Student Assembly President Elijah Levine ’18, Vice President Annelise Yackow ’18, and Chief of Staff Noah Ferris ’20 are planning the event as a three-day, statewide conference.

According to Yackow, following the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, she and Levine began reaching out to student government leaders at the University of Virginia. This conference is the result of early conversations. Levine said the conference is also relevant because this academic year marks the 50th anniversary of African-American students in residence at the College.

“All of it definitely comes back to our motivation, our two big anniversaries of our schools,” Levine said. “These are such salient topics that it seems very apropos to hone that energy into a very constructive conversation. I think that at the basis of it is a premise that we have a platform, have access to our wonderful faculty, a network of students both here and beyond in other Virginia schools, that we would be selling ourselves in the position short if we didn’t capture that and use it to, in the broadest way possible, make a conversation that involves promoting as many voices as possible.”

The conference will be held March 29-31

on campus. According to Ferris, Thursday will serve as a networking day. Friday and Saturday will feature group discussions, lectures and panel talks on topics such as immigration, the history of colonial America, early Virginia history and how to reconcile the history of colleges built by slaves.

Ferris said they do not have a finalized list of speakers, but he anticipates a mix of professors from the College and UVA, in addition to activists. There will also be a keynote address Thursday, which he hopes will tie in the current climate on race and race relations.

“From the inception, we were talking about a more robust way to bring these ideas to the forefront of campus; we talked about curriculum change but didn’t know if it was feasible,” Ferris said. “This conference seemed like a robust way to further discussion and bring student leaders from around the state and promote ideas and get these ideas on people’s radars.”

The conference will be open and free to all students at the College. Levine said that students will be able to RSVP for the event on a website that is not yet live, but that College students will not be required to RSVP. Student government leaders from the College and UVA are preparing to send out invitations to students at approximately 27 other Virginia schools, including private and public universities, community colleges and historically black colleges. Levine said ideally, each school will send around eight student representatives. Admission will be $15 for each

student from another university.

“That component that brings in students from other schools, it shows that these aren’t problems that only affect people on our campus,” Levine. “It would behoove everyone to exchange ideas about and gain more recognition … bolster solidarity, show that this is important.”

Levine also said that he hopes to make the event as accessible as possible for students around the state by inviting all students instead of just student government leaders.

“This is where it becomes important, doing as much work as we can both within SA and by reaching out to student groups on campus, to make it not just an invitation to student governments elsewhere, but all actors engaged in this conversation,” Levine said. “We want to make sure on the front end that we are making it accessible, letting these campuses decide who makes up the conversation on their campuses, so that they can engage in this curriculum, engage with our students in this exchange of ideas and take in what I think is going to be a pretty substantive curriculum.”

As for funding the event, Levine said the only expenses will come from potentially providing lunch for attendees and reserving the rooms for the event. All students who choose to travel to the conference will be responsible for transportation and housing costs, although he said he hopes to arrange subsidies and block rooms with local hotels.

Levine, Yackow and Ferris have applied for grants from the College and from UVA for this

event, and said student government leaders at UVA have also helped in applying for grants.

They also said they would be able to use SA reserves to cover these costs.

Yackow said that this event fits with several themes in the current political and social climate.

“I think this is very much going forward with a lot of attitudes coming forward that we are now just discovering have always been there, which has surprised many,” Yackow said.

Levine said that his goals for the conference are to create a space to promote marginalized voices and to use a statewide symposium to offer those voices legitimacy.

“I think there has to be a solid space that has a concerted effort to bring legitimacy to voices that are marginalized, treating them with the same respect that a statewide symposium affords. I think that does a lot for informing the solidarity of a movement that seeks to genuinely take seriously the interests and experiences of students not just on our campus but on campuses around the state,” Levine said. “With that being at the front end and at the informational end, it is then going to be necessary to bring institutional actors and actors from other student groups and other activist groups into a place where the channels of communication are open and where ultimately, they can have a conversation with much more open ears than mouths at times and then feel more emboldened, question some assumptions they had before, be more informed citizens and participants.”

Page 4

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

WILLIAMSBURG

CW art museums on track with renovation

$40 million expansion to include new exhibit space, visitor engagement tools

MAX MINOGUE FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg’s $41.7 million expansion and renovation continue to progress toward a completion date of early 2020, according to Ronald Hurst ’81, who serves as the vice president of collections, conservation and museums, and the Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator.

The renovations will bring a new wing to the block-long museums, along with a new entrance.

“You used to walk through the Public Hospital of 1773, go down through a tunnel and go upstairs to the main gallery,” Hurst said. “It’s confusing for the uninitiated, a counterintuitive experience as it stands today, which is one of the big reasons for the change.”

Additionally, Hurst said that the renovations will increase guest amenities and gallery space.

“There will also be a 22 percent increase in gallery space, and there will be, in addition to that, guest amenities like a bigger, better restaurant, basic things like bathrooms and luggage storage and a

new museum store,” Hurst said. “The restaurant, store and some bathrooms will be located outside of the ticketed zone. So if you just want to come and have lunch or go shopping, you can do that. Those businesses support the education program here, so it’s in our best interest to put them where more people can get to them.”

The funds have come from private donors from all over the United States, including New York, Texas, California and Virginia.

The expansion and renovations were originally envisioned in 2001, when the property was acquired. Since then, time has been spent planning architecture, design and fundraising.

“We’ve needed to do this for a long time but pledged to ourselves that we would not undertake the work until we had actually acquired all the funds,” Hurst said.

According to Hurst, winter weather and snow have slowed down progress, but there have been no major delays.

“The first big job is to locate underground utilities — you have to get those out of the way before you dig,” Hurst said. “And so that’s taken a bit longer

than expected. Sometimes you encounter things in the ground that you didn’t know were there, like the foundations of old buildings.”

Hurst also said that the construction, which began in the fall of 2017, does not currently affect visitors in any way. He said for visitors, renovations won’t be apparent inside the building until July or August of this year. Then, construction will begin on the back side of the building, which will require creating new openings in the back wall. Hurst said that these openings will not be made until the new wing has been completed to ensure that security and environmental protection is guaranteed.

For Hurst, one of the main takeaways from the construction is its goal to improve the learning experiences of visitors.

“The whole point of this is to make the learning experience more fun and pleasant and effective for our guests,” Hurst said. “We’re also in a building that is now 33 years old, and there are things in the mechanical systems that are due for replacement.

This is our time to deal with those issues as well.”

As part of this attempt to improve visitors’ learning experiences, Hurst said the renovations

will involve adding new technology to the museum.

One goal is to add technology that amplifies the museum experience without overshadowing the artifacts. For example, Hurst said more sound sticks will hopefully be added to the instrument section of the Museums, allowing visitors to listen to samples of the various historical instruments.

“We’re also looking forward to incorporating more technology in the experience, to give people new tools for figuring out how to enjoy what they see and what they hear,” Hurst said. “We’ve just got back from museum visits in New York and Ohio, looking at our sister institutions to see what they’re doing with technology that really works.”

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg consists of the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, which holds British and American fine art up to 1840, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, which contains American folk art up to the present day, all under one roof.

The renovations will allow more artifacts and art to be on display.

“We have an awful lot that we would like to get out to view,” Hurst said.

POLITICS

Professor, student concerns about changes to MBTA take flight at College Incidental bird killings will no longer be subject to prosecution, raising concerns for bird deaths CARMEN HONKER FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR

The long-standing, 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) was reinterpreted through a 41-page memorandum released Dec. 22, 2017, with the subject line: “The Migratory Bird Treaty Act Does Not Prohibit Incidental Take.” The new interpretation of the law stems from Principal Deputy Solicitor of the Department of the Interior Daniel Jorjani, who redefined the MBTA in his memo stating that the DOI will now only prosecute intentional and not incidental killings of birds.

Bryan Watts, biology professor and director of the Center for Conservation Biology, said he is dedicated to the idea that the quality of human life is very much dependent on the state of the environment and that the protection of that environment should be at the forefront of humanity’s priorities. Watts said that the recent alterations to the MBTA threaten conservation groups’ goals when it comes to bird populations.

“There is no question that this weakens our ability to protect bird populations,” Watts said. “What the memo has done is redefine ‘killing’ as only intentional killing, and excludes ‘incidental take’ from the definition of killing.

By redefining the term, the solicitor has effectively eliminated [protections for] a large portion of the killing of concern.”

Human threats to birds have changed over the decades since the MBTA was first implemented. Watts said that the act was passed during a time when North America was experiencing broad scale bird declines related mostly to the hunting of birds for millinery. He said that at the time of the first implementation of the act there were large scale killings of egrets and terns in order to make popular hats and garments, as well as other contributing human activities.

“At the same time, there was widespread collection of birds; it used to be a hobby, it was like collecting stamps or coins,” Watts said. “And so people had these large collections of eggs, nests, birds, so forth. Also, at the same time there was widespread market hunting, where people made a living going out and shooting birds, that were then sold in markets. There was ongoing concern about the decline in populations here in North America, and there was an attempt through Congress, there were a couple of bills attempted to be put through Congress, that were unsuccessful, and so the strategy of having an international treaty was dreamed up.”

The initial reason for implementing the law was to stop the widespread, intentional killings of birds. This has changed since 1918. Watts said that in more recent decades, the act has served as the primary legal tool to protect bird populations in the United States.

Watts said that because parts of the law are vague, regulatory agencies, in this case the Fish and Wildlife Service, need to interpret these passages to be able to apply the law on a daily basis.

These interpretations are issued in the form of memos, such as Jorjani’s.

Historically, Watts said, there have been a couple types of killing that have

been recognized and covered under the law. There is intentional killing and there is unanticipated or unintentional killing, otherwise known as “incidental take.” Instances of plowing a bird’s nest, birds flying into a house window and oil spills all fall under incidental take.

Watts said that cases of incidental take are common.

“There are many of these cases. They oftentimes involve corporations that are resource corporations, but there are many other applications of this, it could be an actual government agency that has an incidental take,” Watts said.

“This happens oftentimes with military bases, where there is some issue that happens, and the responsible regulatory agency may suggest to them how to mitigate the problem and reduce the mortality.”

Under the new interpretation of the MBTA, perpetrators of incidental take are no longer punished. “[The] BP [oil spill] for example, would no longer be considered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act because it was not an intentional killing, it was incidental take,” Watts said. “That is the unfortunate thing about using memos to interpret and apply the law, when somebody else comes into a position of power they can change the terms and that effectively changes how the law is applied. If this is upheld long-term, I am sure there will be challenges to this, but if it is upheld, there is no question in that it weakens the ability of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, number one, and number two, the Fish and Wildlife Service, as a regulatory agency to protect birds long-term.”

Watts said that he thinks complaints from the energy sector are behind the change to the MBTA, noting that he has not spoken to anyone in the conservation field who is in favor of the change.

“The greatest impacts will be in restraining the Fish and Wildlife Service’s ability to mitigate large kills,” Watts said. “What is behind the change is complaint by the energy sector, wind or mining, oil drilling, those types of industry to be penalized for killing birds, and so those populations that are most vulnerable to the energy sector are likely to bear some of the initial impacts. But it is widespread, this change has far-reaching implications for bird populations in North America.”

In addition to unrest among the conservationist community, The Bird Club of William and Mary is also responding to the MBTA changes.

The club organizes weekly outings and monthly birding trips. BCWM also directs several conservation projects, including managing nest boxes and bird feeders, as well as advocating for the use of window treatments to prevent window strike bird deaths.

BCWM President Megan Massa ’18 said that the club helped to get the Muscarelle Museum of Art’s lobby windows and some windows of the Earl Gregg Swem Library treated to prevent birds from mistakenly flying into the windows. Massa said that the club targets the windows around campus that are known for killing a large number of birds, and that it is hoping to treat more windows in the near future, such as those in the new Integrated Science Center walkway.

The new definition of the MBTA no longer promotes legal actions to be

Comey to co-teach Washington class Course on ethical leadership to begin in fall 2018 semester COMEY from page 1

“We will have students from the D.C. semester program and students from campus — they will be doing a lot of traveling,” Anthony said. “It will help ease the burden to have him come down once.

We thought maybe it would be a nice mix to have students who were going to be down on campus be able to engage on campus.”

Students who are undergraduates enrolled in the Washington Center’s fall 2018, spring 2019 and summer 2019 programs, graduate students in the School of Education’s Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership Program, and undergraduate students minoring in educational studies will receive priority registration for the class.

Students who meet one of these requirements can look online for more registration information.

According to Anthony, final numbers for enrollment are not set, but it will most likely be a small class to allow for maximum engagement between students

and Comey. Anthony said that he wanted students to be able to ask questions and share ideas with Comey, and get his feedback on topics they discussed in their class.

In previous years, Anthony said students have gained a lot from their conversations with Comey after he has spoken at semester in D.C. events.

If there is available space, other students will be able to enroll in the course if they are able to travel for sessions held in D.C. While on campus, Comey was a chemistry and religion double major.

Since graduating, he has spoken at both Convocation and Charter Day ceremonies and received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 2008.

In 2014, Comey received the Alumni Medallion, the highest honor given by the Alumni Association.

Before serving as director of the FBI from 2013-17, Comey held senior leadership positions in the government, including U.S. attorney and deputy attorney general.

Residence Life Campus Center 212 living@wm.edu Off Make checks payable to: William & Mary Pay at: The Cashier’s Office in Blow Hall Or mail to: The Cashier’s Office P.O. Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 Or: Paid on-line using an e-check or credit card from the room selection website.

IMPORTANT NOTE: POSTMARKS WILL NOT BE HONORED. DEPOSITS MAILED AND/OR RECEIVED AFTER FEBRUARY 16TH WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

taken in the event of accidental or situational killings of birds. Massa said that this ramification may be felt on campus and make it more difficult for BCWM to push for window treatments, as now there are no legal consequences for the indirect, unintentional killings of birds.

“Before, the MBTA could be invoked for accidental bird deaths, not just intentional ones,” Massa said in an email. “For campus, the biggest impact is that the MBTA is no longer a legal motivation to prevent bird deaths. Many buildings on campus kill birds, [as] glass windows reflect trees and sky, a bird tries to fly through it and it dies from the impact. These deaths are preventable, but getting treatments on the windows is usually expensive. One reason to justify that expense was that those birds’ deaths were illegal, even though they were killed accidentally. I hope that building managers will still be receptive, but there isn’t a legal reason under this interpretation.”

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, an average of 303,500,000 birds die from “building window” collisions annually.

Massa said that there are easy ways to prevent these accidental deaths.

“It’s estimated that domestic buildings are a huge source of window-strike deaths, so anyone can take action in their own home,” Massa said. “Covering your windows, even just having the blinds down, can keep birds from hitting them and dying. Putting reflective decals on the outside of windows or hanging tape on the inside can break up the reflections. And if you see a dead bird on campus, you can email the Bird Club about it. It’s important to know when and where birds die so we can work to prevent it, even without the MBTA.” Watts said that the changes to the MBTA put more pressure on the shoulders of conservancy groups and that these groups must look to the public for assistance in supporting bird populations.

“In terms of how we do work, I think it really puts the burden [on conservancy organizations],” Watts said. “Let’s say we are talking about a generic corporation, [and that] over the past few decades they have acted or behaved in a certain way in order to protect birds and not be liable to [MBTA].

Now, [because of the changes to MBTA], [this company] has been brought out from under that particular concern. So, the next option that we have is to effectively put them in front of the judge of public opinion.”

Watts said that most corporations are upstanding and will continue to take precautionary measures to protect birds, even without the impending threat of legal ramifications; however, he said that public opinion can be a strong tool when companies do not comply.

“In lieu of a legal instrument, [society’s] most likely tool is to shame corporations into doing the right thing,” Watts said. “Most of [the corporations] want to do the right thing. I think birds are popular in North America, and these corporations want to do the right thing. If they don’t do the right thing, without a legal instrument then we are forced to use other types of leverage, one of which is the court of public opinion. I think it puts the burden on us to be watchdogs and to be vigilant, and so what the public can do is to be vigilant of these types of widespread mortality events and hold corporations responsible in any way that they can.”

ROOM SELECTION 2018 If you plan to live in campus housing for the 2018-2019 academic year and want to participate in any part of the Room Selection process, you must pay the $200 non-refundable Room Reservation Deposit by the Friday, February 16, 2018 deadline.

Pay it now to alleviate the stress of trying to pay it while you are away or forgetting until the last minute.

This includes students who plan to live in Fraternity/Sorority Houses, Language Houses, Africana House, Mosaic, and Flex Housing, students with Priority Housing Approval, and those planning to live with student staff or apply for a student staff position.

Students on full scholarship, including full scholarship athletes, must complete paperwork at Residence Life before the Friday, February 16th deposit deadline to be included in the Room Selection process.

All Special Interest Houses will conduct their room selections prior to spring break; all others who submit a deposit will select their rooms during the on-line section process in March or April.

For more information visit: http://www.wm.edu/offices/residencelife/rsp/undergraduate

opinions

Opinions Editor Brendan Doyle Opinions Editor Kiana Espinoza fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | Page 5

STAFF COLUMN

For freshmen, dorm reputations ring true

Ethan Brown

FLAT HAT ASSOC. OPINIONS EDITOR

ANGELA VASISHTA / THE FLAT HAT

GUEST COLUMN

Despite imperfections, Comey a logical choice

Julia Wicks

FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST

Recently, the College of William and Mar y announced that alumnus and former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey ’82 will be co-teaching a course on ethical leadership in the next academic year.

Some William and Mary students have taken to social media to voice their disapproval. Their view seems to be that the appointment suggests Comey is not an ethical figure, and so it must be condemned because certain actions he took as FBI director are considered by many to have been unethical.

I believe their concern is misplaced. I am not here to argue that James Comey always made ethical choices as FBI director. Rather, I hold that it is not required that Comey have done so to be an appropriate co-teacher of the course. Regardless of how well he personally applied ethical concepts as FBI director, Comey will bring a unique perspective and

directly relevant experience to coursework on ethical leadership.

I believe this controversy is happening because some students have failed to ref lect enough on what it means to “teach” an ethics course. Having Comey co-teach a course on ethical leadership does not suggest that he comes from a point of ethical clarity, only that he is well-versed in ethical concepts relevant to organizational leadership. Comey’s work experience qualifies him to co-teach the course, regardless of the choices he made as FBI director.

Those still concerned about William and Mary giving Comey a podium might also consider who is likely to be taking the course. They will be students who have an interest in political leadership, and who have been educated to critically evaluate what they are told — even by a professor. Simply hearing another’s thoughts will not weaken the integrity of an educated mind. I believe many students will be interested in the perspective of a former senior government leader who often had to make decisions that raised difficult ethical questions.

In short, my support for Comey’s co-teaching the course on ethical leadership comes from my view of what qualifies a person to teach ethics, and my faith in the critical mindset of his future students. If ethical perfection were required for a person to be deemed eligible to teach the course, it seems likely there would be no one to teach the course at all.

Email Julia Wicks at jhwicks@email.wm.edu.

“

Comey will bring a unique perspective and directly relevant experience to coursework on ethical leadership.

“What dorm are you in?”

For the initial weeks of the fall semester, the freshman class seemed stuck in a conversational Twilight Zone. Days of grueling small talk and orientation-mandated icebreakers had worn us out completely. As we trudged toward the brink of social exhaustion, asking substantive questions of our new acquaintances became impossible. I figured more hackneyed diatribes about hometowns or intended areas of study would have bored anyone to death, so by the fourth day of freshman orientation, asking about someone’s dorm was the only question left in my increasingly barren repertoire of polite interactions.

Luckily for me, freshman housing is an endless source of intrigue at the College of William and Mary. Long before I stepped foot in Williamsburg for freshman orientation, I had heard all about the College’s dorm-related stereotypes. If you lived in Yates, you were destined to go out ad nauseum. Students relegated to the distant outskirts of campus in Botetourt were doomed to unbearably long walks to Marketplace. Jefferson was always passed over as insignificant; personally, I only recognized it as a freshman dorm in mid-September. Living in Monroe was rumored to be an academic death sentence, but it was redeemed by its proximity to Wawa. Who needs a social life when you have free water?

I initially thought that dorm-related stereotypes were fairly ridiculous given the random nature of freshman housing assignments. We were incapable of selecting a specific dorm and assignments were made solely on the basis of a laughably brief survey; it seemed idiotic that an individual’s personality could even vaguely coordinate to a certain residence hall. Aside from the iconic “tag yourself” freshman dorm memes, I thought the whole premise of evaluating individuals based on their hall was nonsensical.

A semester later, my perspective has evolved. After having the opportunity to meet people from across campus, there seems to be a certain degree of truth to the residence hall stereotypes that preceded my enrollment at the College; people in Yates actually do seem to go out more. At most, I’ve met three people from Jefferson.

I can personally attest that living in Monroe truly has resulted in a crippling addiction to free 32-ounce cups of water.

To my surprise, freshman housing appears to be a fairly accurate reflection of an individual’s personality. Unlike fickle Myers-Briggs and Enneagram tests that fluctuate on a daily basis, the blissful permanence of residence hall assignments is redeeming; and, after all, it makes sense that individuals would self-select into dorms that fit their interests and temperaments. The reputations associated with each residence hall exist for a reason, as decades of residents have cultivated communities from our college’s decrepit dormitories. It seems shocking, but our responses to a measly freshman housing survey might actually provide us with a strong indication of our social and residential preferences.

Obviously, there are exceptions. There are plenty of introverts in larger dorms and extroverts in smaller ones; stereotypes should never be interpreted as a comprehensive evaluation of a group of people. But regardless of how arbitrary they seem, it is fascinating how our residence halls sometimes so bitingly reflect our identities.

Only time will tell if next year’s freshman class perpetuates the trend.

Email Ethan Brown at ewbrown@email.wm.edu

GUEST COLUMN

Participation on campus: A new tradition to support the College

Caleb Rogers

FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST

Institutions of higher education, like the College of William and Mary, have been proactive in offering new ways for their alumni to stay involved post-graduation. It takes a different type of engagement now to maintain a college’s strength through alumni giving. No longer do the universities atop Princeton Review listings only ask for high-dollar donations from the high-dollar alumni. That kind of strict focus on monetary gifts has proven both ineffective and somewhat disingenuous. Today, one word is the living, breathing embodiment of how our culture at the College has changed in an effort to best represent a love of our alma mater: participation.

I do not mean that everyone must send an envelope with their nearest $5 bill in it. No, “participation” is engagement with your place of education. The days of returning only for

five-year reunions and nothing else, as was customary decades ago, are over. Now, the College seeks to continue a lifelong relationship with its students and alumni through our continued participation in undergraduate traditions. The traditions we know and love — like Opening Convocation, Homecoming, Yule Log, Charter Day and more — are today’s ways of participation. A lifelong relationship with the College is constantly changing but ever-constant.

From undergrad to graduate, from Young Guarde to Olde Guarde, methods of engagement change slowly but drastically as you progress from going to an 8 a.m. class to going to a 60th reunion.

What prompts each trip back, or each fond memory, is lifelong appreciation and reverence for the College. This is the tradition of participation at work, and it has produced better results. This past Homecoming boasted the highest numbers of attendees in recent years.

More alumni are tuning in to the live streaming of traditions like Yule Log or the Convocation speech than ever before. The “Class Ambassador” program has skyrocketed since its inception only a few years ago to almost 1,000 members. My favorite stat to quote, for the competitive streak in everyone who goes through William and Mary, is that five years ago we were top 35 in the country for alumni giving, now we are top 20, and at the end of the For the Bold campaign we’re expected to be in the top 10.

Behind the scenes are many directed, effective organizations pushing for greater involvement and connections. Two of those that I am involved in are the Annual Giving Board and Students for University Advancement. Both organizations have a similar mission to promote this new culture, but with different scopes. The AG Board, per the College’s website, “plays an active role in developing volunteer networks, reaching out to donors and advising in the development of strategy and operational plans to drive success of annual giving.” SUA operates on the undergraduate level to both promote timehonored traditions and impart the impact of regular participation with the school.

Our efforts, strictly for those who have not yet graduated, have also seen upticks in interest and engagement, specifically with Impact Week (a week-long event in which organizations compete for a school-sponsored grant for community service purposes). Having begun just last year, the week-long philanthropic and supportive effort has already seen more clubs applying and more students voting. Impact Week is growing in relevance on campus, and even many students seemed interested in listening to our competing three finalists talk about their proposals and partnerships.

This is only one of William and Mary’s many traditions and a new one at that. It accomplishes its goals of student participation and noble

community service endeavors. All of our traditions communicate something unique like this. Convocation serves well as the yearly reminder to all students, and alumni as well, to keep an open mind, strive for your goals, and love the College. Homecoming shakes us with spirit and shouts of “Go Tribe!” to tell us that the love of alma mater is strong within. Tag Day — in which buildings and equipment provided by financial support have a “tag” on them — is for the students to reflect, to realize how giving has provided us such a wonderful school to call home. And here we are now, almost to Charter Day — a day well known by American history buffs worldwide, but especially well by those who love the College. Your participation in the weekend’s events, in all ways you choose to, keeps William and Mary’s strong alumni network still visibly dedicated to the place.

Precedent is being set with traditions like these and the individual aspects of the College they support. Their annual renewal with growing support feeds into our culture of participation.

The goal is letting not a year go by with slipping numbers, but to grow the engagement and participation in William and Mary’s endeavors each year. We are a historic college madly competing in a modern world. To do this, our culture has changed to become a constant one of participation.

Email Caleb Rogers at ctrogers@email.wm.edu

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Page 6

Maturing with cooking: Spicing up Sinfonicron

Anthony Madalone

FLAT HAT ASSOCIATE OPINIONS EDITOR

I have never felt more independent in my life than during the train ride home coming out of my first semester at the College of William and Mary. After paying for the ticket myself, I confidently strode out of my last final, picked up my bags and hopped on my train, feeling well prepared for not only the eight-hour solo voyage lying before me, but whatever other challenges I would face in my now fully adult life. I opened a sandwich I had snagged from Marketplace before my final and proudly ate it, a reward for being such a well-functioning adult.

About two weeks later, I was back at the College, eating a hastily assembled mimic of my train meal made with pre-sealed Oscar Meyer turkey, a Kraft single and what was once one long piece of sourdough economically folded in half. It was at this very moment that I realized the irony in rewarding my adulthood with the very thing that was holding me back from it: the dining hall food at the College.

The reason for my early return to campus was Sinfonicron, devoting the final two weeks of my break to rehearse a show to be performed during the first week of classes. Although I was back at the College, the College itself had not yet returned, with my freshman dorm locked and the usually ample watering holes of Sadler, Commons

“

I realized the irony in rewarding my adulthood with the very thing that was holding me back from it: the dining hall food at the College. and Marketplace barren. I lived off campus and discovered that my image of how a successful adult eats and lives could not be more distant from what my first semester had taught me.

Going to a supermarket to buy food for myself was uncompromisingly foreign. For the first time in my life, I actually had to make the choice of choosing between name-brand and store-brand foods. What once was an easy decision with my parents on the tab turned into just as easy a choice the other way, as I ignored my Italian instincts to buy high-quality pasta and instead reached for the Great Value-brand rotini.

I also found myself trying to get only just the right amount of food that would be needed to feed me throughout my time living off campus. As it turned out, the instinct to eat and take as much as possible that I had developed through eating at dining halls was a nearly polaropposite train of thought than the one needed to most efficiently use food in real adulthood. Eating more food was actually the equivalent of losing money rather than gaining it.

The shock of the real world only increased when it came to actually preparing meals for myself.

At Sadler, I would, without fault, be disappointed if I went at an inopportune hour and ended up with my only options being the pasta or a salad, scorning the simplicity presented before me. After spending an hour of my life haphazardly throwing together a mismatched Ragu sauce to adorn miraculously well-cooked pasta and throwing pre-made salad into a bowl, pasta and salad wasn’t a disappointment: It was a feast of biblical proportions, sacred and satisfying beyond belief. There was something about cooking for myself and others that had turned food from something merely existing to end my hunger to a shared experience of appreciation for not only what I owned, but for what I could achieve within my own means.

This week, after fully moving back into my dorm, I went to Marketplace and obtained the very sandwich that I had replicated. Although it was quite tasty, I found myself longing for my imitation, missing the freedom I was once granted and knowing that I was still that one extra step away from independence. I knew my own sandwich had been a poor re-creation of what Marketplace had assembled for me on a purely culinary level. Beyond this, however, was the intrinsic satisfaction of knowing that, while the sandwich was a mess, it was my mess. My beautiful, homemade, adult mess.

Email Anthony Madalone at asmadalone@email.wm.edu.

GRAPHIC BY KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT

Spotlight on student resources: The Peer Scholarship Office

Brittany Acors FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST

When I came to the College of William and Mary four years ago, I was not expecting to get a job. However, when I saw a position advertised a few days after moving in that offered to pay me to edit essays — something I enjoyed helping my friends with in high school anyway — I decided to apply.

I’m so glad I did, because being a Peer Scholarship Advisor has been one of my favorite things I’ve done in college. Each day that I’m in the office, I have the chance to help someone make their dreams a reality by informing them about scholarships, fellowships and research grants that pertain to their area of interest and by guiding them on their application journey.

I have personally applied for several of the scholarships we promote, which has not only made me a more empathetic PSA, but has also given me amazing opportunities to fund study abroad and summer research and to know myself better through countless drafts of my personal statement. After being on both sides of the desk, I can confidently say that the PSAs are one of the best academic resources on campus.

The College produces dozens of successful scholarship recipients yearly, many of whom have worked with the PSAs. The College remains a top producer of Fulbright scholars. The Fulbright program allows graduates to either teach English or conduct an independent research project abroad for a year.

We have had applicants spend their year teaching English in Bosnia, researching school funding and equity in Canada and studying LGBTQ jurisprudence in India. The College also

has recipients every year for the Gilman Award, which funds study abroad for Pell Grant recipients; the Critical Language Scholarship, where students spend the summer studying a critical language in the country where it is spoken; and the Goldwater Scholarship, which provides undergraduate tuition scholarships to students planning a career in STEM research.

The Roy R. Charles Center for Academic Excellence in Blow Hall, where the PSA office is located, also hosts its own scholarship opportunities for summer research, including the Catron Scholarship for Artistic Development, the MeyersStern Scholarship for study in Israel or related Judaic Studies and Charles Center Summer Scholarships that fund seven weeks of full-time summer research in any field. These are only a few of the opportunities the PSAs love to help students apply for, but they represent the range of scholarships and fellowships the office works with.

Whether you are interested in any of these specific scholarships or just want to bounce a research idea around, the PSAs are an incredible resource. We work with every class, from seniors to freshmen, and we especially encourage underclassmen to come in early in their academic career to begin planning ahead for major national awards, like the Truman Scholarship or the Rhodes Scholar program.

The PSAs host frequent information sessions, some of which relate to specific scholarships, and others, like the Personal Statement workshop, which will prepare you for any future application.

We also post weekly “Feature Friday” spotlights that highlight a different scholarship every week on Facebook, “W&M Peer Scholarship Advice,” and on Twitter and Instagram @wmPSAs. Our blog, peerscholarshipadvisors. blogs.wm.edu, features more information about our major opportunities, interviews with successful applicants about their process and advice for your own success. We recommend an in-person office visit as the best way to get personalized advice on opportunities for you. The PSA office is located in Blow Hall, room 254C. Feel free to drop

by Monday to Friday from 9 to 5, or book an appointment at wmpeerscholadvice.youcanbook.me. We look forward to helping you fund your future!

Email Brittany Acors at baacors@email.wm.edu.

“

Each day that I’m in the office, I have the chance to help someone make their dreams a reality by informing them about scholarships, fellowships, and research grants ...

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variety

Variety Editor Heather Baier flathat.variety@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, Januray 23, 2018 | Page 7

Tribe Travel Adventures

William and Mary Students Span Six of Seven Continents over Winter Break

France

Mumbai

Australia

LEXI GODFREY // FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER

KAELYN ELEUTERIO // THE FLAT HAT

NAOMI GRUBER // FLAT HAT ASSOC.VARIETY EDITOR

Erika Jaimes ’18 traveled to Paris, France over break for an article she is writing for the Sharp Seminar about the Pierre Claver School for refugees in Paris.

“I’m just really curious about refugee integration and how that works in France, especially because France is just so specific about being French and what that is,” Jaimes said. “So I was wondering where others fit in that scheme.”

Jaimes found that Claver School is not actually a language school, but rather a school for history, poetry, theatre, music and many other things. “[The school] is really about trying to create a space for [refugees] to belong and to feel like they can contribute,” Jaimes said. “It’s really familial, you can feel a sense of community there.”

COURTESY PHOTO / ERIKA JAIMES

Galápagos Islands

COURTESY PHOTO / KATIE MUEHLBAUER

COURTESY PHOTO / ELLIE GOSLING

HEATHER BAIER // VARIETY EDITOR Penguins and winter break may seem compatible, but penguins, beaches and winter break are not so commonly thought of together. For William Ryu ‘20, winter break meant all three and much more.

“I went to South Africa,” Ryu said.

“I stayed mostly in the Cape Town area — the country’s capital. I went there specifically because my fraternity little’s family lives there, so I visited them and stayed with them for a couple weeks.”

Ryu said his favorite experience was paragliding over the city of Cape Town.

“I paraglided off a hill and the instructor was like ‘Just run and jump off the cliff’,” Ryu said. “I just paraglided off one of the peaks in the nearby mountainous areas and just flew over the city, and so it was a really cool way to overlook the city from the air while falling to my descent.”

For Kate Muehlbauer, winter break meant summer — all the way on the opposite side of the world in Australia.

When most people think of Australia, the country’s diverse wildlife comes to mind. While in Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Muehlbauer held a koala, fed kangaroos and saw emus, dingoes and platypuses. During one of her hikes through Lamington National Park, Muehlbauer witnessed the Australian wildlife up-close.

“The hike that day we got to see wallabies, which are the smaller version of kangaroos,” Muehlbauer said. “There was a whole group when we were leaving, so that was really cool to be able to see them in their natural habitat.”

New York City

South Africa

SARAH FARNEY // FLAT HAT ASSOC.VARIETY EDITOR Ellie Gosling ‘21 and her family traveled to Ecuador over winter break where they saw Quito and then took a cruise around the Galápagos Islands.

“At each island we would take a dingy off the main boat, take a hike for about three hours normally, then go snorkeling around part of the island and see some of the marine life there,” Ellie said.

The giant tortoises many people associate with the Galapagos Islands were in Santa Cruz.

“They have a reserve where they’re trying to boost the population of every tortoise species so they can introduce them back into their native habitats,” Ellie said. The efforts to preserve the tortoises has increases since Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise in his species, died in 2012.

Srijoni Sengupta ’20 spent 10 days in India to attend her first cousin’s wedding in Mumbai.

“I was lucky that I got to witness a wedding that was a fusion between 2 different ethno-linguistic groups; my side of the family, the side with the bride, is from West Bengal and the groom side are Sindhi,” Sengupta said in an e-mail.

She added that Indian weddings are full of local tradition, and the approximately three-to-four-day ceremonyconsistedoftraditionalIndian events before the wedding even began.

In addition to the gorgeous ceremony, Sengupta spent her New Year’s watching multiple firework shows from the 18th floor of a building as the crowds cheered in celebration.

NAOMI GRUBER // FLAT HAT ASSOC.VARIETY EDITOR

COURTESY PHOTO / SARAH SHEVENOCK

Despite the freezing temperatures and snow that hit New York City this winter break, Sarah Shevenock ’18 traveled up north to the Big Apple to conduct interviews for the Sharp Seminar. For her Sharp project, Shevenock decided to write about mental illness in the musical theater community.

“The best part of the trip was getting to speak to so many people in the theatre community who are passionate about using their art to make a difference,” Shevenock said in an email.

While not working on her project, Shevenock walked the streets in subzero weather. Because of the bomb cyclone, Shevenock was able to experience the city at its coldest — and also its most charming.

“The strangest part of the trip was honestly just being in New York City for such an odd weather event,” Shevenock said in an email.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Page 8

The Flat Hat

“The Grand Duke” A Grand Success The Sinfonicron Light Opera Company’s 53rd production hits the PBK stage

SEAN WILLNER / THE FLAT HAT

Students came back to campus early from winter break in order to work on Sinfonicron’s 2018 production, “The Grand Duke.” The show was the last opera written by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan and was performed at PBK Jan. 18-21.

MAGGIE MORE ASSOC. VARIETY EDITOR

A deadly duel using playing cards, four weddings with the same groom but different brides, and far too many sausage rolls for anyone to stomach, all in the short period of 24 hours. These are the oddly shaped pieces of the plot of “The Grand Duke,” the play put on from January 18-21 by the completely student-run Sinfonicron Light Opera Company.

“The Grand Duke,” also known as “The Statutory Duel,” is the last opera written by the nineteenth century collaborative team of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Originally set in a German duchy in 1750, the Sinfonicron Light Opera Company brought on Alex Bulova ’19 to adapt the script and make it more engaging for modern audiences, with great success. This edition of the play, directed by Madelaine Foster ’18 and performed at the College of William and Mary, was set in an English duchy in 1898, the very time period in which Gilbert and Sullivan originally wrote and produced their works. The changed gender of the lead character was the most noticeable and intriguing of these alterations. The lead role of Lesleigh, formerly Ludwig in the original, added the little-known background of male impersonators in Victorian England while allowing for a lesbian relationship between two of the lead characters.

Lesleigh, portrayed with great dramatic flair by Catherine Smith

’18, is engaged to Liza, played gracefully by Amy Folkerts ’19.

However, they are unable to get married on their wedding day. All of the parsons in the town of Penny-Halfpenny are called to meet with Grand Duke Rupert, played well by Jacob Miller ’18, to discuss his wedding to a baroness. Situations like this are not uncommon with the Duke, and as such, his people despise him. Lesleigh and Liza are also part of an acting company that is plotting to dethrone the Duke and replace him with the company’s manager and substitute the current court with the rest of the company. The signal for being involved in the conspiracy is to eat a sausage roll.

Somewhat predictably, Lesleigh misinterprets a regular meal as the signal, revealing the plot to the Duke.

Luckily, the company’s notary, Richardson — who is played

by Matt Spears-Heinel ’18, — has a solution. Death expunges all crimes. However, through a statutory duel where cards are drawn instead of guns, the loser can “die” socially and legally, while remaining physically alive. The winner then takes the loser’s place in society. Lesleigh challenges the company manager and the Duke to statutory duels, and both times, she pulls an ace to beat the other party’s king. She then takes on all of their responsibilities — including three separate marital engagements. Hilarity ensues. The cast as a whole was brilliant, handling Gilbert and Sullivan’s typical extravagant style of humor with triumph. Especially successful was Olivia Thomas ’18, who played the ambitious Moira with a perfect balance of intensity and absurdity as well as great vocal

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

skill. Theocles Herrin ’19 was equally hilarious in his performance of company manager Ernest Dalcop, which was both exceptional and reminiscent of British actor Matt Smith. In their scenes together, Thomas and Herrin’s performances built off each other wonderfully.

The series of scenes leading up to the entrance of the Prince of Monte Carlo was especially dazzling. From the completely hysterical performances of Quan Chau ’21, Conor Wilson ’19 and Hope Wright ’18, to the beautiful costumes and false mustaches designed by Erin Wiggins ’19, to the intricate and complicated choreography put together by Andi Nealon ’19, the play was truly delightful. The sets designed by David Garrett ’18, which recreated a quaint English town in the countryside and a beautiful castle with masterful detail, were also impressive. Although the timing of the execution was occasionally a bit slow, the lighting — designed

by Chris McDonnell ’18 — was cleverly done, with spotlights indicating characters talking to themselves or to the audience. And in the background of it all was the music and orchestra, directed by Emma Chacon ’18 and played with excellent skill and timing.

Overall, “The Grand Duke” was a grand success. It started strong and kept its stride in the second act, keeping the audience on its toes with ridiculous and delightful shenanigans the entire time. The Sinfonicron Light Opera Company should celebrate its abilities, because — to paraphrase Ernest Dalcop — if one can manage a theatre company this well, one can rule anything.

CONFUSION CORNER

Take time and talk dirty New year, new chances Communicating is more than just consent

William Watkins BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST

We’ve all heard that first bit of sexual advice you find in most articles about sexual wellness or sexual education, and, despite being a multigenerational cliché, we’ve heard it for good reason. It’s true; communication is key in a sexual partnership. The next question to ask ourselves, however, is, “What exactly does communication look like?”

Well, most people who hear this will typically think about how communication is key while in the bedroom. Many people would hear this phrase and the ever-important topic of consent may come to mind. They would think about the gravity of making sure that consent received is explicit, continuous, and affirmative and that it is perfectly acceptable to choose not to give someone consent. Others may instead be reminded of sexual communication in its direct, physical form. This is typically found in the form of an exasperated, slightly hushed tone of guidance, often willing its partner to go up, down or faster. While this is an important step in discovering each other’s sexual habits and tendencies, there are still many conversations that aren’t restricted to the bedroom, yet may help things go more smoothly there in the future.

The first of these conversations is in a similar vein as our heat of the moment “direction talk.”

Early on in a partnership it would be beneficial to describe what has worked the best. This talk would serve to give more general guidelines related to specific turn-ons. If the spot that’s just right is slightly behind the knee or that one area just above the hip line, then now is the time to let it be known. Expressing a general overview of which sorts of things work helps to provide a useful jumping off point for the individual’s partner to build from.

Speaking of having something to build from, this brings me to the next conversation which involves dissecting the sexual compatibility of a set of partners by way of connection dynamics.

The sad truth is that there are instances in which partners have difficulty satisfying each other due

to a conflict in preferences. These preferences may include the relationship between dominance and subordinance or the issues of intense versus passionate sex. This conversation could also include the simpler things such as dirty talking or having socks on. The important thing to remember is that these are big brush strokes which are designed to provide a subjective perspective of the compatibility of a partnership.

The results of this conversation act more as a guideline for future partnerships, instead of some preemptive compatibility test. Several of the topics that could fall under this category are either focused on temporary interests or are part of a give-and-take dynamic. A good example of these can be found in a lot of kink exploration attempts and practices.

The last type of important conversation that enhances the goings on of the bedroom is one

“

It’s true;

communication is key

in a sexual partnership.

focused on clarity. One great way to start this conversation is to have one member of the partnership ask themselves the question “Why am I having sex” and then to also ask their partner(s) the same question. It may be a good thing to know in advance if one member of the partnership is having sex to connect with somebody and have emotional intercourse when the other is just hoping to have some help with maintenance sex. Even though these types of desires have the potential to change, this conversation on clarity can help to guide the members of a partnership into a more in-sync experience.

The main goal of these conversations is to help make sure that all members of a partnership have a voice in deciding which direction that partnership proceeds in. Each person has their own preferences, intentions, and desires that would help to enhance whatever their sexual quest may be. Defining what these are for the self can improve efforts to find a viable partner in the future and defining these for the partnership may supply that extra “oomph” that they’re searching for.

William W. is a Behind Closed Door columnist who wants you to know that communication is key.

Remembering to stay open to new friends

people to protect yourself from rejection is a habit you fell into last semester or last week, the effect is traumatizing. Putting all of your efforts into one or two individuals is not so helpful when one of those people stops receiving. What is perhaps harder than losing the individual is remembering that they sometimes can never be regained. I am personally guilty of thinking that people change and bounce back and that, given Ellie Moonan enough time, things will go back to normal. But BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST it is at those moments that I have to pinch myself and remember to move on. Does that make the Welcome back to the strange alternate feeling of abandonment better? Well, no, that is universe that is Williamsburg, Virginia — look something only time can do. how vibrant and new the old colonial brick feels!

But it does help with the realization that not Before moving forward into a fresh semester, everyone deserves your intense devotion — save major reflection is needed on the chaotic blur that for yourself. But while you focus on yourself of emotion that was last term. Never before this semester, that does not mean that others are have I been so affected by the relationships second rate. Everything you do to better yourself I gained and lost as I have been in the past always affects the lives of others, who are just few months. Although the new year can be trying to practice the same self-care. And in such seen as a wonderful opportunity to break a strange, tight-knit community that college can ourselves out of the dangerous habits we fell be, the extra inch of self-confidence and support into last year, learning from what exactly caused for yourself strongly changes the atmosphere of those dangerous habits is even more crucial, those around you. especially as we begin again.

Instead of relying on others as a source of It is expected that once you arrive on campus your happiness this semester, hold yourself to start a new semester, you meet all sorts of accountable more, for the intense love you give new people that end up filling your days. The others is a sign that you are capable of hosting relationships you form during college are that same amount of emotion for yourself. And intense, since your independence and trust though it is a new semester, learning how to in others becomes especially complicated. begin again is sometimes not as easy as taking College is a community, after all, and it is your a month break and returning with a new course responsibility to build the community and watch catalog. it grow and prosper. And so, as the beginning of But this is a great opportunity to push the semester moves on, our relationships with yourself to open up, regardless of whether it others should only improve … right? is worth it or not. Take the chance and then I too would like to tell myself that I have an judge, and remember there is no perfect outline outstanding friendship with every single person for how relationships (no matter how small or in the William and Mary community (for there intense) function. Closure is not a guarantee. are some very wonderful people here). Though But with so many people to know, both in this college is a bubble, it still holds intense elements university and beyond, how else are you going to of reality, and the reality of relationships is that learn about yourself and the world if not through not everyone is going to stick around with you. others’ perspectives?

As we get older, we start to realize the power Also, it is crucial to remember all of the of investing ourselves in other people. The people that do stay with you on campus. connections we hope to gain from others also The ones who open your eyes when you are come with a dangerous price. The moment incapable of waking up. Remember the feeling we lose a relationship we tried so hard to of joy greeting them back as you are thrown gain is gut-wrenching. Suddenly, we begin to into yet another few months of chaos. Prepare lose faith in connecting with others, fearing yourself to blindly follow wherever your mind that the end result will be as drastic as cut-off takes you this semester and proceed with communication. And then you are stuck in caution and love.

Ellie Moonan is a Confusion Corner your room by yourself again eating noodles and columnist who wants to foster new watching “America’s Next Top Model.”

Whether the habit of cutting yourself off from relationships.

sportsinside

The Flat Hat

| Tuesday, January 23, 2018 | Page 9

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tribe drops two against Pride, Huskies College falls below .500 in conference play despite strong play from Boggs

a 42.6 shot percentage. Three of the Tribe’s four 3-pointers came from the first three attempts.

Boggs and Reynolds tallied 15 points apiece, leading the Tribe for the match. This marks the 15th time that Boggs has obtained double figures during a game this season and the 32nd time during her career. Reynolds has now registered double-digit points in 10 games this season. She sank seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Meanwhile, Boggs registered four boards, three assists and three steals.

Green totaled nine points for the Tribe with four rebounds and three assists.

Pollard followed closely behind with a CAA career high of eight points and four rebounds.

Sunday, the Tribe hit the road again to face off against Northeastern. The College dropped a 64-46 loss against the Huskies (9-9, 3-4 CAA).

The Huskies exploded with the first whistle and earned a 10-point lead COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS with a 12-2 run with Boggs putting the Senior center Abby Rendle will be key in helping the Tribe get back on track, as it had a strong nonconference campaign before a slow CAA start.

Tribe on the board.

D i g g i n g The Tribe fought back, cutting the The College gained its first lead of CATHERINE SCHEFER deep, the Tribe the game with a seven-point run after Pride’s lead to four, but was met with FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR decreased the trailing 14-8. Senior guard Jenna Green a 9-1 run in which Hofstra gained its Huskies’ lead Friday, William and Mary hit the road ignited the rally with five consecutive largest lead of the game. to five on a 9-2 Throughout the rest of the match, to play Colonial Athletic Association points preceding a layup from junior run. The run was opponent Hofstra, but the Tribe (12-6, guard Bianca Boggs, which pushed the Hofstra maintained its lead, and the opened by Pollard match concluded with a 65-54 victory 3-4 CAA) suffered a 65-54 loss at the Tribe into a 15-14 lead. with a 3-pointer The Pride regained a seven-point for the Pride. hand of the Pride (10-8, 4-3 CAA). followed by a During the match, the Tribe and Reynolds The Pride was able to jump out to a lead early in the second quarter after layup from Boggs. seven-point lead with a 10-3 run at the clocking in 10 points compared to Pride had comparable turnovers, 18 Green ran the length of the court start of the game. The Tribe was unable the two for the Tribe from a layup by and 17, respectively.

The Pride outdid the Tribe with and freshman center Gabby Rogers had to score until freshman guard Nyla sophomore forward Victoria Reynolds.

Pollard scored three points, following However, with a mere 3:43 left in the seven more rebounds and eight steals a putback to bring the score to 28-23.

The Huskies ended the half with a four points for the Pride. Three layups half, the Pride sank back-to-back three compared to the Tribe’s seven.

The College made 23 of 54 shots, final five-point push, with a half-court pointers, bringing the score to 26-19. for the Pride concluded the run.

COMMENTARY

shot at the buzzer which caused them to enter the half with a 33-23 lead.

The College fought back feverishly and cut the Huskies’ lead to single digits three times during the second half, but the Huskies regained a substantial lead after a six-point run with 2:12 remaining in the Boggs third quarter.

The Huskies maintained a considerable lead until the conclusion of the match.

Boggs led the College offensively with 15 points, matching her contribution from the previous match against Hofstra.

Reynolds was the only other player to reach double-digit points against Northeastern.

The Tribe shot a season low, completing 18 out of 58 shots, which clocks in at 31 percent. This was combined with a staggering 22 turnovers compared to 13 by the Huskies.

Looking ahead, the Tribe will host the first of a three-game homestand against the College of Charleston Jan. 26 in Kaplan Arena at 7 p.m. The College will then face off against Hofstra Jan. 28 at 2 p.m.

Sunday, the College will be hosting its first annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which will highlight fair play and awareness of Title IX, as well as work toward equal opportunity in sports.

GYMNASTICS

road matchups Sophomore Superstars Tough Men, women show promise despite results Knight, Milon, Pierce dominating for the College

Brendan Doyle

FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

Five years ago, William and Mary welcomed Daniel Dixon ’17 and Omar Prewitt ’17 to Williamsburg. Last year, the pair graduated, the most successful senior class in Tribe history. Dixon became the fifth player in school history to make first team all-Colonial Athletic Association his senior year.

Prewitt ranks fourth in points all-time for the College.

However, the distinction of “best class ever” may not be theirs for long. The trio of Justin Pierce, Matt Milon, and Nathan Knight are on track to make an indelible mark on the College.

Pierce, last year, was stuck behind Prewitt. He averaged only 3.7 points in his freshman season, primarily in a backup Knight role.

In his sophomore year, Pierce has stepped up. He has started at the forward spot this season, averaging 12.3 points per game and providing some much-needed defense for the team. Most impressively for Pierce, though, is his rebounding. He leads the team with 8.7 boards per game, including 17 in the team’s miracle win at home against JMU. Milon redshirted last year after transferring from Boston College. This year, he has slotted right in as a key offensive performer for the Pierce Tribe. Milon ranks 11th in the country in true shooting percentage, a stat that measures shooting efficiency by taking into account two-pointers, three-pointers and free throws. He has hit 49.1 percent of his threepointers, good for sixth in the nation. (Tribe senior Connor Burchfield ranks first at 51.4 percent.)

The redshirt sophomore has added a muchneeded scoring threat to the starting lineup. A lefty, Milon can get to the rim, pull up or let it fly from anywhere on the floor.

The most impressive of the trio is Knight, who has performed at an all-CAA level so far this season. The six-foot-ten forward split time last season with Jack Whitman ’17, who transferred out of the program this summer. Even so, Knight was named to the CAA all-rookie team after averaging 8.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

This season, after Knight Milon developed his strength and his shot, he has taken yet another step forward. He has scored 19.4 points, secured 8.0 boards and posted 2.4 rejections per game. If William and Mary keeps winning, Knight could be a candidate for CAA Player of the Year.

Those three players — Knight, Milon and Pierce — propelled the Tribe to their best CAA start ever and have helped sustain a tie for first place in the conference, along with clutch contributions from Burchfield Burchfield and senior David Cohn.

Of course, the past week or so has brought struggles, both for the team and the superb sophomores.

Two blowout losses at home will cause concern for fans and people involved in the program alike. But a rebound Sunday at Elon was just another sign that this class will be special.

This sophomore class has a great chance to achieve the one glaring omission from the resume of the men’s basketball program: that ever-elusive National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament bid. If not this year, with solid seniors in key roles, then sometime in the next two seasons.

All three of Knight, Milon and Pierce have room to grow. Milon can develop a drive to his right, as well as becoming an even more lethal shooter. Pierce can certainly stand to work on his three-pointer and get even stronger. And Knight has nearly unlimited potential. A more consistent perimeter game and post moves to his right hand might make him a legitimate National Basketball Association draft prospect.

If the sophomores live up to their potential, they could end up being the best class in Tribe history. And if they deliver the long-awaited NCAA tournament bid, they could end up with their numbers in the rafters.

EMILY CHAUMONT FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

The William and Mary men and women faced off against tough competition this weekend, both placing third in their respective meets on Jan. 20.

The men posted a team score of 383.5 in a quad-meet at Navy and the women scored 193.300 in a tri-meet hosted by North Carolina State.

The men were bested by both Navy (398.2) and Springfield (384.25), but defeated Temple (150.3) by a long shot.

The Tribe’s best showing was on floor, where the team placed second with a score of 68.05 and filled the podium.

Sophomore Tomas Palma took first with a career-high 14.25, a record that ties for seventh in school history.

Senior Juan Palma took second with a score of 14.15.

Finally, sophomore Tim O’Neill placed third with a career-high 14.1.

O’Neill and Juan Palma also placed in vault, where their matching 14.0 scores tied the Tribe pair at third place, adding to the College’s score of 67.35. Junior Jacopo Gliozzi also had a strong showing Saturday, placing second on both pommel horse and rings, where he posted scores of 13.3 and 13.15, respectively.

Gliozzi’s second place finish led to the Tribe’s 60.1 on pommel horse.

Junior David Watkins and sophomore Nate Winneg posted matching scores of 12.55 to add to the College’s 61.5 on rings.

Senior Griffin Antle led the way for the

Tribe on parallel bars, posting a 13.4.

Junior David Allen contributed to the College’s 62.05 on high bar with his score of 12.95.

Winneg (74.7) and junior Jack Hasenkopf (71.3) competed in the all-around.

The men’s next showing will be at Navy again in a dual meet Jan. 27.

The Tribe women were bested in a tri-meet at NC State by the hosts (196.350) and Ball State (194.750).

Freshman Katie Waldman placed fourth in the all-around with a career-high 38.925, the high point for the Tribe.

Waldman’s best event was vault, in which she tied for third with a score of 9.800.

Sophomore Erika Marr (9.725), junior Madison Dwyer (9.700) and freshman Mary Graceyn Gordon (9.700) also contributed to the College’s team score of 48.600 in the event.

Waldman tied for sixth on bars with teammate sophomore Evan Pakshong, both posting scores of 9.775.

Sophomore Tayler White’s score of 9.675 pushed the Tribe to its score of 48.100.

Waldman also matched scores with a teammate on beam.

She and junior Aaliyah Kerr both scored 9.750 in this event. The College posted a 48.175, with the help of Gordon’s score of 9.700.

On floor, the Tribe scored 48.425. Kerr and sophomore Elizabeth Snoddy tied for 10th, each with a score of 9.750.

The women will not be back in action until next month when they travel to Washington, D.C. to face off against George Washington, Kent State and University of WisconsinOshkosh in a quad-meet Feb. 4.

Tribe Gymnastics Upcoming Schedule Men:

February 4: at New England Championships February 15-17: Winter Cup

Women: February 4: at George Washington, with Kent State and UW-Oshkosh

February 11: at Maryland, with Rutgers and Brown

sports

Sports Editor Alyssa Grzesiak Sports Editor Chris Travis flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, January

23, 2017 | Page 10

MEN’S BASKETBALL

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Senior guard Connor Burchfield was one of four Tribe players in double figures Thursday against Northeastern, as well as the College’s top scorer on Saturday against Elon with 19 points on just 10 shots, adding a game-high of eight rebounds.

Tribe drops two conference matches at home College comes back against Elon, improving Colonial Athletic Assocation record to 6-2

KEVIN RICHESON FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR After Towson handed the Tribe its first loss of Colonial Athletic Association play, the College looked to bounce back against Northeastern at home Thursday. The Tribe trailed for almost the entire game and suffered its second consecutive loss, 90-70, at Kaplan Arena. The College dropped to 7-2 at home on the season after only losing one game at home last season.

“Effort has been inconsistent lately, and the same can be said about our team chemistry,” senior guard Connor Burchfield said.

The Huskies (12-7, 5-2 CAA) had a couple of chances to take an early lead at the free throw line in the first minute, but only made one of four attempts, and the College (13-6, 6-2 CAA) took a 2-1 lead on a layup by sophomore forward Justin Pierce.

The game between two of the top teams in the conference stayed close until right before the midway point of the first half.

Pierce made two free throws with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half to cut the Huskies’ lead to 15-13.

The Huskies responded with a quick 12-0 run in just over two minutes. They made four consecutive threes to extend their lead to 27-13 with 10 minutes to play in the half. Guards Bolden Brace and Vasa Pusica each made two three pointers during the run.

Pusica was on fire in the first half, scoring 18 points in the opening 20 minutes.

“Runs like that kill our chances, because as long as we keep it close, we know we’ll have a shot with the way we shoot the ball,” Pierce said.

A three by Pierce ended the run, but the College continued to fall further behind. With six minutes to play in the half, the Huskies pushed their advantage to 19. Six consecutive points by Burchfield at the end of the half cut the Tribe’s deficit to 47-34 at the break.

Burchfield continued his hot shooting at the start of the second half, making another three at the 18-minute mark to cut the gap to 12 points. However, the Huskies responded with their second 12-0 run of the game, putting the game almost certainly out of reach for the College with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

The Huskies took their largest lead of the game a minute later, 66-40. Over the next four minutes, the Tribe managed to cut the lead back to 16 after a free throw by sophomore forward Nathan Knight. The Huskies, who shot over 70 percent from the field for the game, responded with five consecutive points courtesy of Brace.

For the rest of the game, the College never threatened to come back and suffered its second consecutive loss after starting out 5-0 in conference. With the loss, the Tribe fell into a tie for first place in the CAA. The Huskies were paced by Pusica’s 20 points and nine assists.

As a team, they were a scorching 12-19 from three. The College had four starters (Knight, Pierce, Burchfield and sophomore guard Matt Milon) in double figures, but 13 turnovers and only 11 assists as a team. It also only shot 29 percent from three.

“Every season has its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows, but we’ve got to find a way to find our spirit again,” head coach Tony Shaver said.

After back-to-back losses at home, the College hit the road for three straight conference matchups. The first game of the road trip was against Elon. The College staged a comeback in the last few minutes to claim an 80-73 victory in a closely contested game.

Both teams started out slow, but Burchfield had a strong start with seven early points to give the College a 9-5 advantage with 14 minutes to play in the first half. The Phoenix (12-9, 4-4 CAA) tied the game at nine before Burchfield swung the ball to Milon, who drilled of a three of his own to give the College a 12-9 edge with 12 minutes to play in the half.

Milon hit another three a minute later to break yet another tie.

He finished 3-8 from behind the arc and chipped in 13 points for the College.

Later in the half, Burchfield made his second three of the game to stretch the Tribe’s lead to 27-22 with just under five minutes to play.

Senior guard David Cohn got in on the three-point barrage when he drained a three on a fast break with just under two minutes to play in the half. Cohn’s three gave the College its largest lead thus far, 36-29. However, the Phoenix closed the half with five

consecutive points. Burchfield exploded for 14 points in the first half for the College to help the Tribe take a slim advantage, 36-34, to the locker room.

The Phoenix struck first in the second half to tie the game at 36, but Cohn and Pierce quieted the crowd with back-to-back triples to push the advantage back to six. Cohn drained two more threes in the next minute to give the College a 48-40 lead. He went 5-7 from three for the game and finished with 16 points and six assists to pace the College.

Over the next five minutes, the Phoenix slowly chipped away at the Tribe’s lead and, with under 12 minutes to play, they took their first lead of the game. Forward Brian Dawkins banked home a layup to give the Phoenix a 54-53 edge.

Cohn quickly responded with his fifth three of the night to put the College back up. However, with under seven minutes remaining, the Phoenix finished off an 11-2 run with a three by guard Steven Santa Ana. The Tribe suddenly trailed 69-61 and was in danger of dropping its third straight game and falling out of first place in the conference.

However, the College responded immediately. Knight scored five points in a row, including a rare three from the 6-foot-10 forward. His classmate, Pierce, followed it up with a three of his own to tie the game at 69 with over four minutes left to play. Milon made a jumper a minute later and the College regained the lead.

After the Phoenix tied the game at 71, Milon and Burchfield each made clutch treys to clinch the comeback victory for the College.

The Tribe escaped Elon with a 80-73 victory. The College was led by Burchfield, who scored 19 points on just 10 shots and added a game-high eight rebounds.

The College will have a chance to win its second straight game and stay on top of the CAA standings when it travels to Towson Thursday. At Kaplan Arena Jan. 13, the Tribe will also be looking to seek revenge for the 99-73 shellacking the Tigers handed it.

Saturday, the Tribe will wrap up its road trip with a matchup against defending CAA champions North Carolina-Wilmington.

The College returns to Williamsburg Feb. 1 for a rematch against Elon.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Women get routed by foes North Carolina and Tennessee at home Sophomore Rosie Cheng secures Tribe’s single point in two matches at home at No. 2 spot ALYSSA GRZESIAK FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR Saturday, William and Mary welcomed North Carolina to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe fell to the Tar Heels 7-0 with only two singles matches going into close third set tiebreakers.

Senior Ekaterina Stepanova fell to No. 38 Sara Daavettila 6-0 in both sets at the No. 3 spot, the first pair to finish. Sophomore Natalia Perry followed at the No. 4 spot, losing both sets 6-3 to No. 18 Jessie Aney.

Senior Olivia Thaler and junior Clara Tanielian both dropped each set 6-2 against Alexa Graham at the No. 5 spot and Alle Sanford at the No. 1 spot, respectively.

Sophomore Rosie Cheng went into a third set against No. 11 Makenna Jones at the No. 2 spot after dropping the first set 6-3. Cheng came back in the second set with a 6-2 victory, but fell 11-9 in the tiebreaker set. Junior Lauren Goodman finished last in the No. 6 spot against No. 124 Chloe Ouellet-Pizer.

After taking the first set 6-4, Goodman fell short in the following sets 6-4 and 10-4, respectively.

As doubles commenced, Cheng and Goodman took on Aney and Graham at the No. 1 spot. They ultimately fell 6-1 to the Tar Heels pair. At the No. 3 spot, Perry and senior Cecily Wuenscher took on Jones and Marika Akkerman, also falling 6-1. Stepanova and Thaler’s contest at the No. 2 spot

went unfinished at 4-3.

Sunday, the College hosted SEC foe Tennessee, resulting in a 6-1 loss. The Tribe’s single point came from Cheng’s victory at the No. 2 spot.

Thaler’s match at the No. 5 spot was the first to conclude. Thaler fell 6-3, 6-2 to Tennessee’s Kaitlin Staines. Tanielian fell next to Sadie Hammond 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot. Stepanova dropped both sets 6-2 against Ariadna Riley at the No. 3 spot. Perry followed at the No. 4 spot, falling 6-4, 6-3 to Gabby Schuck.

After a long-fought battle, Goodman fell to Tenika McGiffin 7-5, 6-4 at the No. 6 spot.

Cheng’s match at the No. 2 spot against Elizabeth Profit was the final contest to come to an end.

Cheng took the first set 6-2 before falling 7-6 in the second set; she won the tiebreaker set 10-4, resulting in the Tribe’s single point against Tennessee.

Stepanova and Thaler fell 6-4 at the No. 2 double spot against Riley and Staines. The Tribe duo of freshman Vitoria Okuyama and Tanielian defeated McGiffin and Chelsea Sawyer 6-4 at the No. 3 spot, leaving the fate of the doubles point to the No. 1 spot.

Cheng and Goodman ultimately fell to Hammond and Schuck 6-4, concluding the contest.

This weekend, the College will travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to compete at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend.

The Tribe will begin by facing off against Illinois Jan. 26 before either competing against Winthrop or a rematch against North Carolina Jan. 27.