Vol. 108, Iss. 4 | Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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‘How many more deaths must we endure?’ GRAPHIC BY EMMA FORD / THE FLAT HAT
COLE COCHRAN / THE FLAT HAT
Students protest for improved gun legislation WILLIAM ALLEN FLAT HAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Chanting “Not one more!,” community activists, representatives and students marched together through the main dirt thoroughfare of Colonial Williamsburg Saturday, March 23 to express their outrage at gun violence in the United States and abroad. Holding up signs featuring slogans such as “Protest Kids, Not Guns,” “One Tribe, One Family” and “How Many More,” activists demanded gun safety legislation at Williamsburg’s March to End Gun Violence. The March started from the Capitol building of Colonial Williamsburg as marchers walked over half a mile down Duke of Gloucester Street to Merchants Square. The costs of gun violence were fresh on many marchers’ minds after the March 22 fatal shooting of the College of William and Mary student Nathan Evans ’21 in Norfolk, as well as the recent Christchurch mosque shootings. Rep. Elaine Luria, who represents Virginia’s 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke at the march to convey her dedication to passing gun safety legislation during her time in Congress. “It’s heartbreaking to see that Nathan lost his life at gunpoint,” Luria said. “We continue to have guns proliferating in the community and people who have a propensity to harm themselves or harm others. It’s really important for me that we move forward with legislation on gun safety.” The protest focused on highlighting gun violence’s human costs and encouraging the passage of gun safety legislation to prevent future violence. Numerous speakers from student groups and community organizations gathered to talk about the toll of gun violence on communities and entire generations. “I am 18, and I belong to the massacre generation,” Students Demand Action member Julia Gibson ’22 said. “It was last Saturday when it hit me that my entire life has been framed by violence … I remembered all the violence looming around me and my friends and my entire generation. I remember that for anyone born around the year 2000, this is all we’ve ever known.” Religious Chair for the College’s Muslim Student Organization Mariam Khan ’22 warned students against becoming complacent in the face of
Islamophobic hatred and senseless killing. “How many more deaths must we endure, must we be desensitized to, must we forget before change begins to happen?” Khan said. Board member of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy Reverend Anthony Fludd spoke out against the omnipresence of gun violence, and condemned gun violence as an avoidable form of devastation. “It amazes me that with all of the mass shootings, violence in our nation, even in our community, churches, and homes that we think innocent people aren’t going to get caught in a crossfire...” Fludd said. “War, violence, oppression and countless other forms of human cruelty are evident in the time we live and on this planet we got to do something.” Several U.S., state and city representatives were present at the march to show their support for ending gun violence. Luria, an advocate for anti-gun violence legislation in Congress, was invited to speak at the pre-march rally. Luria is a co-sponsor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which despite passing the House is currently stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Other proposed gun control bills, including the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 — commonly referred to as the Charleston Loophole bill — have also succeeded in the House with bipartisan support. The Charleston Loophole bill closes the background check loophole that allowed Dylann Roof, the Mother Emmanuel Church shooter, to purchase a firearm after his background check wasn’t conducted within three days. Virginia Sen. Monty Mason spoke about his frustration with the inability to push gun safety legislation through Virginia’s Republican-controlled state legislature. All gun violence prevention matters brought towards the current assembly have been killed in committee. “There are a lot of thing we do in Richmond that are very bipartisan,” Mason said. “We work together on a lot of matters. This issue is not one of them.” Mason spoke further about the importance of immediate action and the ties of solidarity in the fight against gun violence. “A lot of people care, and I can assure you I have never seen two William and Mary football coaches appear at a rally,” Mason said. “They’re not generally the politically oriented folks, right. But, it’s not about See MARCH page 3
CAMPUS
College community remembers life of athlete Nathan Evans ’21
Student body, faculty, alumni gather together for memorial in Kaplan Arena after death of Tribe football player CHARLES COLEMAN FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Monday March 25, members of the College of William and Mary’s community gathered in Kaplan Arena to mourn the loss of Nathan Evans ’21. Evans died the night of Thursday, March 21. The memorial and served to honor his life on the football field, on campus and in the world. The event, organized by the College, drew large crowds and featured speeches from his supporters, friends and family. In the entrance hall of the arena, tables were placed with index cards and markers, allowing students to write down their favorite memories of Evans for his family to keep. As people gathered in the stadium, a slide show presented pictures and videos of Evans’ time on the Tribe football team. The event began with a message and prayer from Wesley Campus Minster Max Blalock, dedicating the night to remembering and grieving Evans. The pastor emphasized the importance of togetherness during this time in grieving the life of Evans. “We are gathered here tonight to remember, to celebrate and to grieve Nate Evans,” Blalock said. “Tonight as we come together with his family, with his friends, with his team, with his community.
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…We know that together we can find enough to hope. Courage enough to grieve, together, and compassion enough to uphold each other as we see one another, together.” After the prayer, College President Katherine Rowe delivered a few words on the loss the College community has experienced. Rowe spoke to how the College community will help grieve the passing of Evans together as one tribe. “Nate’s life was vibrant and full of confidence,” Rowe said. “We feel his loss so heavily because we know how much promise lay ahead. I want to say to you, that if you feel that loss, in anyway, know that you are not alone. We will help you; we together will help you to show that we are one tribe and one family, always.” College Athletic Director Samantha Huge went up to the podium to speak on Evans’ legacy and to honor his life. Huge spoke of the love that Evans possessed and how the community will fondly remember him and support each other in grief. “Nate was loved,” Huge said. “Nate was loved as a son, as a brother, as a brother in law, as a grandson, as a nephew, as a teammate, as a friend. Tonight, we will laugh, and we will cry, and both are okay. None of us can tell another how to grieve; grief is deeply personal; what we can do, is sit with each other in our grief, hold each other, and ensure that no one is alone as we
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See MEMORIAL page 3
Inside Variety
Admissions scandal captures past and current stress culture
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grieve the loss of Nate.” Head coach of the College’s varsity football team Mike London shared his thoughts on how he believed Evans’ legacy should be remembered. London described Evans as an inspiring young man. “My speeches to the team, to get ready for games, are always full of energy because of the possibilities,” London said. “My speech today is still going to be full of energy and full of life because of [the] possibilities that everyone sitting in this room has the chance to achieve. Nate was competitive; he wanted the best out of everybody. ...” London then had the room help him recite Mother Teresa’s poem entitled “Anyway.” As London read the poem, the audience shouted the word “anyway” as it ended each stanza. The audience, together, created a large message dedicated to Evans and the lessons he shared. Evans’ close friend and roommate Carl Fowler ’21 spoke about his friendship with Nate, and how he wanted Evans to be remembered. “We’re going to remember him for the goofy kid that he was, and nothing less,” Fowler said. “…I know that if the roles were reversed Nate would be up here telling some outrageous lies about things
Lauren Cohen ’21, in light of the recent College admissions scandal, remembers her own experience applying to colleges and the stress she felt throughout the process. page 6
Short film “Solo Orange” premiers
Directed by Isaac Davis ’20, the film tackles the subject of the complexity of mental health, telling the story of Davis’ friend John Van Bergen, who died by suicide in 2018. page 7
newsinsight “
News Editor Heather Baier News Editor Leslie Davis News Editor Emma Ford
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The Flat Hat | Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Page 2
THE BUZZ
This will be a very quick tour of the blind spots, although there is no shortage of them in the Middle East. You don’t read about climate change. In fact, if you look at the origins of the Syrian revolution back in 2011, a lot of what triggered those initial protests were bread shortages as a result of drought.” — Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, a renowned political scientist, discussed her two global views, the Chessboard and the Web, and their significance on political thought.
POLICE BEAT
March 19 - March 26
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Tuesday, March 19 — Unwanted attention: Abdulkerim Ek was arrested on charges of stalking at Merrimac Trail.
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Tuesday, March 19 — Lending a helping hand: Police reported a recovered vehicle stolen from another jurisdiction at the intersection of Randolph Street and Harrison Avenue.
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Thursday, March 21 — Cracking up: A society victim of Drugs, Possession with Intent to Deliver Cocaine at York, Williamsburg was reported.
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Friday, March 22 — Sloshed on Scotland: Blaine Conrad Vanswol was arrested on charges of Public Intoxication Or Swearing at Scotland Street. POLICE BEAT BY SARAH GREENBERG AND KARINA VIZZONI / NEWS ASSOC. EDITORS
TODAY IN FLAT HAT HISTORY March 27, 2007 - News: Williamsburg resident Kristie Ross and her cousin Sheena Washington were denied service at the IHOP on Richmond Road as a result of racial discrimination. According to the Daily Press, there were witness accounts of white customers being seated while nearly 40 black customers were turned away. The matter was subsequently escalated to the local NAACP. March 25, 2005 - Sports: Men’s Golf ties for first with Richmond at the William and Mary Invitational with a score of 602. The College was able to persevere thanks to the efforts of sophomores Ryan Price and Matt Brantingham ’07, both scoring par and below. Senior Co-captain Tim Pemberton was honoured with CAA Golfer of the Week for his secondplace individual tie. This was the Tribe’s first victory since the El Diablo Intercollegiate in 2002. March 24, 2000 - News: Supreme Court rules in favor of student activities charges. This ruling states that public colleges can require students to pay activity fees for student groups that are not supported by all students. This ruling was in response to a University of Wisconsin student’s claim that he should not have to contribute financially to student organizations that support gay rights and other causes that violate his freedom of religion. March 28, 1980 - News: Carla Shaffer becomes the fourth woman in history to be elected Student Assembly president as the result of winning a plurality in a five-way race. However, the whole election was marred by scandal as the result of nearly 1,200 fliers being distributed against opponent Rob Mordhorst — which contained allegations against Mordhorst and his fraternity — in Yates and Landrum Halls the night before the election, along with other major buildings the morning of. HISTORY BEAT BY GAVIN AQUIN / SPORTS EDITOR
CORRECTIONS The Flat Hat wishes to correct any fact printed incorrectly. Corrections may be submitted in email to the editor of the section in which the incorrect information was printed. Requests for corrections will be accepted at any time.
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COURTESY PHOTO / THE LEMON PROJECT
Vineeta Singh earned her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies and is currently teaching students about the systemic racism, colonialism traits found in higher education.
Redefining the university culture Lemon Project-Omohundro postdoc fellow Vineeta Singh reimagines higher education LEONOR GRAVE // FLAT HAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER In 2009, Omohundro Institute and Lemon Project Postdoctoral Fellow Vineeta Singh was an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, College Park studying Latin American literature. That year, Singh witnessed her alma mater engage in a public debate regarding the different values possessed by both the university’s student body and administration. “When I was a student at that time, what that looked like on the ground for us was a lot of the programming that students had fought for was being taken away,” Singh said. After the 2008 financial crisis, the state of Maryland cut its financial support of College Park by 10 percent. In response, the school terminated several faculty positions and student programs. Among the choices the university made was the decision to fire Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity Cordell Black, and to combine several academic departments such as black studies, Latino studies, women’s studies and LGBTQ studies into one program. Student protestors took this decision to signify that the university did not prioritize racial and cultural diversity and organized in droves to protest that decision. “Your budget tells you what things you prioritize, right?” Singh said. “Nobody makes a budget and then puts rent as the last thing. So really, what you’re actually saying is that your priorities do not align with what we expect, and we expect you to do better.” This experience was pivotal in Singh’s decision to pursue her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. In addition to ethnic studies, Singh researches the emerging field of critical university studies, which explores the role of universities in society and examines how higher education can be restructured to become a more just and equitable force. Singh’s dissertation, which she worked on for seven years in San Diego, focused on the American higher education system’s contemporary “diversity problem” and its historical origins. This fall, Singh is taking her passion for the question of the role of the university to James Blair Hall, where she is teaching a course entitled “A People’s History of U.S. Higher Education.” This course — an interdisciplinary offering in the American studies, history and gender, sexuality and women’s studies departments — will explore how settler colonialism, racial capitalism and heteropatriarchy are present in the functional operation of modern colleges and universities, and what models can be taken up to dismantle those unjust systems. “I do think of education as a public good, as a public trust and as a service that the government has committed to providing its citizens and residents, and I’m committed to that,” Singh said. “I think [the university] is an institution that is incredibly problematic, that’s built on all kinds of violence and death and that continues to rely on racialized and gendered violence, exclusion and death to create often profits. But I am committed to the institution itself. I think it is possible to create an institution that is otherwise.” After Singh completed her degree, she began to look for gainful employment in her field. Coming to the College of William and Mary
during this employment pursuit was not on Singh’s radar, but when a friend told her about the Omohundro-Lemon Project opportunity, she discovered the position was right in line with her interests. The Omohundro Institute, which supports research focused on early American history, received a donation from the Ronald Hoffman Fund to fund this fellowship, which in turn was created to study the history of institutions and economies of oppression specifically in connection with the Lemon Project, the group founded by the College in 2009 to study the legacy of slavery. “The second I read it, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is my dream job,’” Singh said. “This initiative sounds like the university’s actually interested in putting its money where its mouth is.” This year is the first time this postdoctoral fellowship has even existed. Because of the fellowship’s infancy enjoyed a substantial degree of freedom in making this position her own. With the Lemon Project, she has helped organize the group’s annual symposium and the upcoming Lemon’s Legacies Porch Talk with Teresa Younger, the president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, this Thursday March 28 at 5.30 p.m. in the history department library in James Blair Hall. Singh is adamant that the Lemon Project’s work should extend beyond campus. Singh’s goals aim primarily at building connections and establishing trust between the College and the Williamsburg community, especially with the Lemon Project’s established community ties. Singh saw this fellowship at the College as an opportunity to bring the critical university studies conversation taking place on the West Coast, with its rich history of radical student activism, to a university on the East Coast currently processing through its own legacy of racist behavior. As a fellow, research is among Singh’s primary professional responsibilities. When she is not conducting research or teaching, Singh is working with community partners to create more meaningful bonds between the College and the community. Singh also stressed the importance of countering the norm of an extractive relationship between universities and communities. In an extractive relationship, the university will use the community as a research resource without giving too much back; Singh wants to flip that model and offer the Lemon Project and the Omohundro Institute as resources that are available to the community. Singh is not yet sure what she will do once her two-year fellowship comes to an end, but she is considering revising her dissertation into a book manuscript. In the past, she has mostly sought classes on black feminist thought, and in the fall she will be teaching a course largely related to her dissertation. In the future, she said she would love to teach a class on cultural depictions of black women in college, starting from the the first black female graduates at Oberlin College and going up to shows with seminal depictions of black women in college like “A Different World” and “Living Single.”
But for now, she is still intently focused on building community ties. One community cause she is particularly passionate about is the Village Initiative, a local organization that works for equity in Williamsburg-James City County schools. One of their goals is recruiting and retaining more teachers of color, who are largely underrepresented in WJCC classrooms. “At all levels, we know that having teachers of color in the classroom increases the likelihood of students of color being identified as gifted and talented,” Singh said. “It reduces their rates of disciplinary violations and suspensions and expulsions. It increases graduation rates. The presence of teachers of color in the classroom is empirically tied to all kinds of great results for students of color, who, currently at WJCC schools, are vastly overrepresented in suspensions and expulsions and massively underrepresented in AP programs and gifted and talented initiatives.” To try to combat this issue, the Village Initiative is establishing a project devoted to the collection of oral histories from the local community about the 50th anniversary of desegregation at WJCC schools, and will then use those oral histories to present their case for more inclusive hiring practices to the state school board and local legislators. For Singh, this is a prime example of how the university, with its resources and trained historians, can make a positive impact on the local community by advocating for more equitable education practices. “We’re going to use that to appeal to decision makers in the fall,” Singh said. “... We’re doing the work and we’re showing the community that we’re here we’re committed to creating a better community, or a better relationship to the campus community.” Singh is involved in other ways too. She makes an effort to show up to local NAACP events, volunteers at local after-school programs and attends faculty-led brown bag lunches at the College across a variety of disciplines. Even though so much of Singh’s research focuses on where universities have failed, she remains committed to the idea that a better path for the American university is possible and worth pursuing. In the field of critical university studies, Singh said that the question of whether the institution is even worth recuperation and reclaiming at all — as opposed to just abolishing it and starting over — is a contentious one. “The question of whether the institution is something that can be salvaged or if it’s so deeply shot through with this history that we need to start over — that’s a big conversation,” Singh said. While Singh admitted that she strives to keep an open mind on this issue, and deeply respects scholars who advocate for and against salvaging the university, her research on the issue has influenced her position. “I think for me, that’s an easier decision,” Singh said. “Because I study the history of student activism and community activism for access to higher education, and there’s such a rich history of black communities coming together and organizing for access to these institutions, that it would break my heart that the moment that the university becomes accessible, we tear it down.”
The Flat Hat
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Page 3
POLITICS
Former congresswomen visit College Lecture focuses on being a woman in politics, upcoming legislation AVERILL MEININGER FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Monday, March 18 in St. George Tucker Hall, two former congresswomen came together to speak to students at the College of William and Mary. Democrat Rep. Marjorie Margolies and Republican Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle both highlighted their experiences as women in politics. The pair’s presence on campus was sponsored by the College’s Public Policy Program and the Congress to Campus initiative. Margolies represented Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. Before her time in Congress, she worked as a broadcast journalist at several organizations, including CBS, and has received It was 1995 at the five Emmy Awards throughout her career. United Nations fourth A mother to 11 children, Margolies world conference became the first single mother congresswoman in Beijing. I was the to adopt a child from outside the United States. director of the U.S. Buerkle, who represented New York delegation. Our in Congress from 2011 to 2013, began a career commitment: to get as a nurse and had six children before even more women to the entering politics. At age forty, she returned to table worldwide. school and studied law at Syracuse University. John Gilmour, a professor of government and public policy at the College, introduced the congresswomen. He then asked Margolies and Buerkle about their experiences as women in Congress, a question increasingly relevant this year as the College celebrates 100 years of women on campus. Both women immediately looked at each
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— Democratic Rep. Marjorie Marglies
other and laughed.Buerkle started the conversation by conveying the difficulty of even reaching the House of Representatives in the first place. “You have to overcome a mindset that we as women sometimes limit ourselves,” Buerkle said. “As a professor said [to me] when I graduated from high school, consider being a teacher, consider being a nurse, a home economics major or a homemaker, or consider becoming a nun and entering a convent.” Buerkle reminded the audience that she chose nursing as her initial career, and that entering politics was an unexpected development that diverged from her initial intentions. “What I did was, at the age of 40 after having my six kids, I decided to go to law school, which was completely against what had been engrained in my head,” Buerkle said. “It really is a challenge to break through your own stereotypes and your own self-imposed limitations.” Margolies took the question in a different direction. She focused on the work she does to help women become global leaders and political influencers as president of the Women’s Campaign International, which advocates for female empowerment in countries including Ethiopia, Malawi, Afghanistan and Colombia. These efforts at fostering female empowerment have been a prevalent theme throughout Margolies’ career, and stretch back into her professional career. “It was 1995 at the United Nations fourth world conference in Beijing. I was the director of the U.S. delegation,” Margolies said in a short film she presented about the organization. Our commitment: to get more women to the table worldwide.” Margolies also lamented that many items of legislation she wanted to pass — on topics including sexual harassment, assault and family medical leave — were only possible for her to pursue because her male counterparts in Congress viewed these as inherently feminine topics. “We knew [this] was something we could do that as women made sense,” Margolies said. “The guys let us do it because we were women and these were ‘women’s things.’” After speaking to the lengths both women had gone through to support themselves and other women, Margolies expressed the difficulty of fundraising in politics. “You have to align yourself as a Democrat with groups that think that what you believe in are in keeping with their likes, and then you just push the rock up the hill,” Margolies said. “It’s really, really challenging. And, the more challenging the race the more challenging the fundraising.”
Buerkle added to the conversation and both politicians continued to talk about a day in the life of a congresswoman, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of serving in the nation’s highest legislative body. “The way you feel most effective is your constituent service,” Buerkle said. “That to me was the most gratifying part about being in Congress. You can pass a thousand bills, you can vote out a thousand bills, but in my case, it would go over to the Senate and very few would be taken up and enacted into any kind of law referring to the polarization in the government. Margolies agreed. Now as a member of the Consumer Safety Commission, Buerkle also discussed her appreciation for the degree of freedom she and all of the executive branch have. Margolies described her time in Congress as incredibly tiring but steeped in incredible honor. “It’s a huge honor,” Margolies said. “It’s a fascinating place to be. I’ve never been in a place where the day goes by so quickly.” When asked Congress’s current state, both women recognized legislative dysfunction as a significant issue, one that necessitates cross-party cooperation to solve. “If I had a wish, I would like members of Congress to get down there and make some really tough decisions and I don’t think that’s the equation right now,” Margolies said. Buerkle said that while polarization might have increased lately, it has also been written about more in the media. “I do think that there has been a certain amount of dysfunction always, and people talk about polarization as being more now than it has been, but I think probably part of that is more awareness of it,” Buerkle said. After listening to the two women speak, Claire Roberts ’19, a public policy major, mentioned the unique nature of hearing the two women speaking together. “I’m in a course right now about the legislative process, so we’ve talked a lot about polarization in Congress, so of course I thought it’d be interesting to see a Republican and a Democrat talk side by side,” Roberts said. Margolies offered a conclusion that summarized why discussion between politicians of different political affiliations is so critical. Despite so many differences in opinion, there is hope that there can be productivity in Congress. “At a fundamental level, we both want to get things done,” Margolies said. “I believe there is a power in disagreeing agreeably.”
March to End Gun Violence attracts diverse crowd
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Students, politicians, coaches gather to advocate for gun law reform MARCH from page 1
politics ladies and gentlemen. It’s about people. It’s about people’s lives. It’s about people you know, people you care about and people you don’t know.” With upcoming state legislative elections in November and a Democratic primary in June for the Virginia Assembly, a number of Democratic candidates for Virginia’s 96th House of Delegates district participated in the March to End Gun Violence. Candidates Rebecca Leser and Chris Mayfield both spoke at the march, and Dr. David Jaffee spoke on behalf of candidate Mark Downey. Leser, one of the candidates for the 96th district’s Democratic nomination, attended the march to support the community’s efforts to stop gun violence. “I came both as a local party chair and a candidate for office because I do support common sense legislation,” Leser said, “I wanted be there to support the William and Mary students who were marching for it, just to speak out that we need to address these problems in the legislature.” The March to End Gun Violence was organized by the College’s local SDA chapter and a number of other partner organizations such as the Peninsula Progressive Network, Williamsburg Indivisible Group and Moms Demand Action. The Williamsburg-James City County Democrats and other groups helped to fund the event. SDA is part of the larger gun violence national advocacy group, Everytown for Gun Safety. The group calls for common sense bipartisan gun measures such
The fact that Students Demand Action has started as a grassroots group and grown so astronomically over the last year and half is really a testament to the fact that young people are engaged in the political process. — Democratic candidate for VA House of Delegaes Rebecca Leser
as bans on bump stocks, universal background checks and assault weapons bans. The College’s local chapter
is one of the few college chapters of SDA, as most chapters are organized at the high school level. SDA and the Peninsula Progressive Network began work on the march after SDA’s Feb. 14 vigil for the victims of the Parkland mass shooting. Aiming to match the energy of last year’s March for Our Lives protests, SDA and the Peninsula Progressive Network worked together to highlight the issue of gun violence in the community. “Students Demand Action really wanted to maintain the focus on gun violence prevention, and we in the community have a good relation with Students Demand Action,” Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Moms Demand Action member Christine Payne said. “So, we decided we would be really happy to help them with their efforts to get the word out.” SDA also held a week’s worth of college and community engagement events before the march. These included events ranged from letter writing campaigns in the Sadler Center to a panel discussion featuring speakers such as William and Mary Police Chief Deborah Cheesebro. “We served in a supportive role for Students Demand Action,” Payne said. “They really did take the lead this year, and we were happy to help line up speakers and get the nuts and bolts of the march done such as secure our permit and interface with the law enforcement in town ... We did the bricks and mortars part of it, but it really was the actions of Students Demand Action that drove us this year.” Luria praised SDA for its local advocacy and the
strength of its advocacy on campus for the past year and a half. “The fact that Students Demand Action has started as a grassroots group and grown so astronomically over the last year and half is really a testament to the fact that young people are engaged in the political process,” Luria said. “I want to continue to see more of that on this issue and other things that are important to younger people.” Leser claimed SDA was a great example of the power of youth activism. “I am so excited to see other young people that are stepping up and saying enough is enough,” Leser said. “I think the students that did come out to the march yesterday are going to be tomorrow’s leaders. It’s nice that everyone is getting politically engaged and caring about this legislation because the older people that have been in office for decades don’t think this is a public health crisis.” Going forward, SDA plans to continue its advocacy against gun violence, in addition to also being a resource for those affected by gun violence on campus. “Because tragedy struck our campus, we want to be available to students,” SDA Chapter Lead Samyuktha Mahadevan ’19 said. “I think the first step is going to vigil and working with the football team and our administration to let them know that we as people are available.” Other items on SDA’s agenda include working on campus safety drills, gun safety education and participating in Gun Violence Awareness Month in June. There are also plans for a Stand Up Rally in April.
College holds memorial for football player killed in Norfolk March 21
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Afer death of Nate Evans ’21, students, coaches, administrators gather together for vigil honoring his memory MEMORIAL from page 1
that I did, and how cool and how awesome I was…but I don’t have to lie, … he was kind, loving and big hearted. … I was blessed to have known him and blessed to be able to tell the truth.” Fowler continued to honor Evans with stories that he felt embodied Evans’ genuineness and the kind of person he was. “Nate ended up being our ‘Freshman of the Year,’ and I didn’t even play [football],” Fowler said. “Every Saturday I would go up to him and say ‘Man,
JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT
London speaks at the memorial of late Tribe football player Nate Evans ’21.
you had a great game;’ he wouldn’t thank me or acknowledge what I said. He would say ‘Your time is coming big dog, keep working bro.’” Fowler also shared how fearless he remembers Evans was. “… Whatever you believe, Nate’s free,” Fowler said. “He’s free from things he woke up and battled every day, free from things on Earth that brought him pain. He’s free from fear, but Nate never feared anything anyways.” Fowler emphasized the positive legacy Evans left on this world: his kindhearted nature, his courage and his pride. “He saw people’s potential and believed they could do things they never considered,” Fowler said. “He went out of his way to make other people smile, even on days he couldn’t smile himself. … He picked people up who were struggling and told them to focus on the now. He was always his own person; he did what he wanted to; he wore what he wanted to, and he said what he wanted to, regardless of whether somebody else thought it was cool or not because if Nate did it, it was cool.” Near the end of the event, Stephanie Dulaney, mother of Evans’ teammate Josh Dulaney, read a letter written by Evans’ mother, addressed to her late son. The letter detailed the love she had for her son and the gift she believed him to be. “I thought long and hard about what to name you,” Dulaney read. “I wanted your name to reflect all that I knew you would be. When I found the name Nathan, meaning gift from God, I knew that would be your first name.
He saw people’s potential and believed they could do things they never considered. He went out of his way to make other people smile, even on days he couldn’t smile himself. — Carl Fowler ’21
… When I found Andrew [Evans’ middle name] — it meant strong warrior — I found your forever name, Nathan Andrew. …The people that really knew you, knew despite what you struggled with inside, you desired to make everyone else happy. …You were my world Nate, my everything. …Though the road ahead seems strangely dark without you, I will keep your light every minute of every day.” The event ended with Blalock asking the room to hold and embrace one another to grieve the loss of Evans and joyously remember his legacy. After, an audience member stood and sang “Amazing Grace” loudly to the crowd to end the ceremony.
Page 4
The Flat Hat
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
CAMPUS
Professor talks ‘blind spots’ of global relations Lecture focuses on underreported topics in international peace GRACE OLSEN FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER
Friday, March 22, students and community members lined the rows of a lecture hall in the Integrated Science Center to listen to a lecture delivered by Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, a renowned political scientist. In her George Tayloe Ross Address on International Peace, Slaughter discussed her two global views — the Chessboard and the Web — and their significance. Slaughter began her address by drawing the audience’s focus to current hotspots in international affairs, including Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East and North Korea; Slaughter emphasized that these regions are prone to “blind spots” of conflict that do not receive adequate media coverage. “What is happening is a conflict of East and West, with Russia on one side and the [European Union] on the other,” Slaughter said. “Here are some of thing things we don’t read about but are arguably just as important.” Slaughter highlighted Russia’s ongoing student demonstrations as an example of a global blind spot that has not been publicized sufficiently in Western media. “We didn’t read about the dissident networks between the students who are demonstrating and the many students, and not just students, who demonstrated in Moscow in 2011,” Slaughter said. “That has now entered American politics in part that Putin accused [Former] Secretary Clinton of instigating a lot of those riots and demonstrations and is one of the reasons he was so determined not to see her become president.” After discussing the United States’ obliviousness to blind spots throughout the international community, Slaughter transitioned to
discussing ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the struggle to devote attention to diverse issues in those countries. Slaughter said that the societal divisions between Sunni and Shiite people have overshadowed other issues, including climate change, in the region. “This will be a very quick tour of the blind spots, although there is no shortage of them in the Middle East,” Slaughter said. “You don’t read about climate change. In fact, if you look at the origins of the Syrian revolution back in 2011, a lot of what triggered those initial protests were bread shortages as a result of drought.” According to Slaughter, the 2011 drought alone caused 11 million people to leave their land and flood into Syrian cities. She predicts that another refugee crisis will manifest in the future because of changing environmental conditions, in addition to the active refugee crisis currently ensuing as a result of the Syrian Civil War. Slaughter then connected ongoing refugee crises in Syria and Yemen to the potential emergence of one in North Korea. “I have not managed to keep up with what has happened in the last hour in North Korea, but thinking more broadly about what we read about, the situation in North Korea seems to be the situation in the United States,” Slaughter said. Slaughter said that while South Korean President Moon Jae-in looks for reconciliation, the geopolitical influence of the United States’ tumultuous relationship with North Korea will impede this process. She emphasized the impact of a potential collapse of the North Korean regime, most notably in the form of an astronomical spike of refugees seeking residence in China. To conclude her talk, Slaughter provided a brief synopsis of her book,
“The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in Networked World.” In viewing the world like an elaborate game of geopolitical chess, Slaughter’s book focuses on the power struggle between the world’s 25 great powers and the ensuing “games” of international relations played between them. Alongside this chessboard, Slaughter conceptualizes a complex “web” of people that operate within the context of international affairs, offering networks of connected lights, which demonstrate of the connections among people, businesses and faith groups. “By using these views of the world, we can look at an article and think ‘what am I not seeing? What is that missing piece?’” Slaughter said. Many students, like Jordan Strong ’22, came to the talk because of Slaughter’s prestige in international affairs. “My professor said Dr. Slaughter was a big-name political scientist,” Strong said. “As an international relations major [myself], I was interested to see what she had to say.” After listening to the talk, Strong appreciated the different view to international relations that Slaughter offered. “The talk was really good,” Strong said. “She kept it very unbiased, in the means of domestic politics. And, of course, anyone with her level of expertise offers such a different view; I couldn’t not come.” Sophia Sabardine ’21 attended the lecture because of her interest in the subject matter but also remarked on Slaughter’s talents as a lecturer. “I came in not having many expectations, but it was great,” Sabardine said. “I thought it was a really good overview of the world, and I thought it was interesting to listen to her perspective of how she broke down the world into different views.”
CAMPUS
Former Berlin DJ talks resistance of East German punk scene Tim Mohr discusses German nightlife, political uprising research
DAISY GARNER THE FLAT HAT
Tim Mohr, a New York City-based author and former Berlin DJ, came to speak at the College of William and Mary about his book “Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall” March 21. Mohr’s talk was sponsored by the German studies, history and film and media studies departments. Mohr’s fascination with the East German punk scene began after he moved to Berlin in 1992, just two years after the reunification between East and West Germany. “I stumbled into the [Berlin] nightlife scene and immediately fell in love,” Mohr said. Mohr’s research on East German punks spans 10 years and, according to Director of the German Studies department Dr. Robert Leventhal, who interviewed Mohr at the event, his research goes deep into the subject matter. He initially attempted to conduct most of his research using records of the Stasi, the state security of the German Democratic Republic; finding these records extremely mundane, Mohr instead relied mostly on interviews to complete his research. According to Mohr, the punk movement in East Germany did not start out as a political resistance movement against the dictatorship of the German Democratic Republic — it started as a music scene. The punk scene only took its political turn after the punks faced oppression from the Stasi when in its eyes their alternative clothes were considered a potentially dangerous form of resistance. Mohr also noted how the punks’ entire illegal music scene took place in churches, which served as havens for taboo topics since members of the Stasi could not enter the churches. It was in these churches that the punks first encountered activists that influenced their budding political stances.
“The punks really did present a dire threat,” Mohr said. The punks were both radical and confrontational towards their oppressive government, but their centralized and unified approach to resistance made them a fundamentally different resistance group within East Germany. According to Mohr it was their simple, unified message: “F— the system. Let’s bring it down.” “But the Stasi was always two or three steps behind the punks’ activities,” Leventhal said. According to Mohr, the Stasi continued to insist that punk was a Western phenomenon, but the group did not want to communicate with Western media out of a concern that their anti-dictatorship messages would be misconstrued as anti-communist. Furthermore, punk groups feared that being associated with the Western world would intensify scrutiny from the Stasi. Mohr also noted how the punk movement was transnational within the Eastern Bloc, despite the fact that East Germans could not move across borders because of the country’s rigid martial law policies. In order to evade excessive restrictions on their freedom of movement, many punks would claim false familial ties in other Eastern Bloc countries in order to gain approval for leaving East Germany. “A bunch of punks signed up as cousins to various people in Poland,” Mohr said. These false labels allowed punks to override the travel restriction that came with martial law to play shows in Poland, thereby showcasing their musical talents throughout Eastern Europe. Lena Böse, a native of former West Germany who currently serves as the College’s German Language House tutor, commented on the nostalgia that some Germans feels for the former East Germany. “What I thought was really interesting was
REBECCA KLINGER / THE FLAT HAT
Tim Mohr, author and former Berlin DJ, discussed his research into East German punk at Andrews Hall, March 21.
what [Mohr] said about Ostalgie [nostalgia] for East German material items,” Böse said. “He stated that Ostalgie was really based on the fact that they cannot get their past back: they cannot smell the same detergent or eat the same cookies from their teenage years.” While agreeing with Böse’s sentiments, Sarah Jordan ’21, a German studies student, was also surprised by a lot of what Mohr mentioned. Furthermore, Jordan noted the parallels between some East German punk bands and others. “I wonder if the West ripped off punk from the East,” Sarah said, after noting the parallels
between some East German punk bands and Western punk bands like the Sex Pistols. Leventhal was also happy with how the event emphasized unique voices. “I am very glad to have something that talks about history from below instead of from a dead white guy,” Leventhal said. Mohr ended his talk by encouraging the audience to emulate the punks by fighting against complacency, and by exercising resistance whenever possible. “The lesson is not to pass out guitars, but don’t die in the waiting room of the future,” Mohr said.
POLITICS
Speaker encourages open-mindedness in polarized political conversations Christopher Phillips ’81 discusses solutions towards mending current tensions in society, discourse GAVIN AQUIN FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR
Students attended the talk entitled “Civil Discourse in a Civilized Society” given by nationally-recognised scholar and Williamsburg native Christopher Phillips ’81. Phillips’ primary objective in the talk was to convey that people with diverse viewpoints can hold a civilized discussion without reaching an abrupt, unproductive conclusion. “[Phillips] wants to help people figure out ways to address significant issues of societal and public policy, to think more deeply about those questions and to engage in constructive discussion with others.,” McGlennon said. Phillips remarked that his time at the College was characterized by a different atmosphere in terms of political discourse than the one found on campus today. “My professors at William and Mary were really critical at that time of my life for helping me discover what my views amounted to in the first place,” Phillips said. Through the inspiration of his experiences at the College, along with
the legacy of his Greek grandmother, Phillips came to found his organization, Democracy Café, which strives to facilitate conversations between people of differing opinions. “I started Democracy Café during the second term of the Clinton Administration when [Clinton] was undergoing impeachment proceedings,” Phillips said. “Most times when I would turn on the TV or the radio, it was billed as a dialogue… but most of the times it was not. It wasn’t even really arguing since that would entail actually listening to someone.” For Phillips, his organization desires to alleviate the dysfunction that is frequently evoked by people arguing without listening. Phillips theorized that if people could listen and keep a discussion going despite their differences, then they could begin to start understanding one another. Carmen Kleiser, executive partner at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, expressed her concerns for cordial discourse in the age of social media. “Social media has not necessarily helped our discourse,” Kleiser said. “That’s one of the big issues of the day. Working with MBA students here at William and Mary,
we have to fact check things and look at it from different perspectives to find the intersection where truth might lie. It seems on social media that people are not listening to each other. As an anonymous medium, people can be as obnoxious as they want.” Phillips likewise cautioned about discourse being able to tear friendships apart due to the inability to separate politics from their friendship. “I have two high school friends who graduated with me, and they had been in touch for decades, seeing each other at high school reunions,” Phillips said. “I noticed recently that they were no longer mutual Facebook friends. I finally asked why, and they got into it over abortion rights, or lack thereof.” Political polarization can happen offline as well, stemming from the lack of ability to understand others on a fundamental level. “After the tragedy in Charlottesville, I was asked to come over and hold a dialogue there and it was a diverse event with a wide range of views,” Phillips said. “Someone there wondered how people could have views of white supremacy. They start the world as babies, but how do they come to have these views?”
However, Phillips expressed his alarm that some people on both sides of the aisle occasionally espouse violence as a response to misunderstanding one another. “On the other hand of the spectrum, I was at a university in Portland, Oregon and I was asked to facilitate a dialogue and at one point, a professor there said, ‘I wish I had more free time to go out and kill white racists.’ He got this huge applause, and I got all these chills,” Phillips said. He said that being able to take a step back while seeking to understand one another is vital, especially when others hold views that contradict one’s own perspectives. Williamsburg native Michael McGurk expressed his willingness to accept people with different opinions and backgrounds. “I work with teams at my job and when I hire new people; I intentionally seek out people that I don’t necessarily agree with because it makes better teams when you get all the viewpoints,” McGurk said. “It’s okay to have friends you debate with that have much different viewpoints… You have to understand a little bit where they come from.” McGurk latched onto Phillips’ advice to understand someone else’s background
before condemning their political opinions. “A lot of people would say there’s no reason anyone should possess a semiautomatic weapon with a high capacity magazine,” McGurk said. “What if I told you that my parents were Jews in Warsaw in 1940, and they really would have liked to have a high-power rifle? You might change your mind. It all depends on your background and experience.” However, in the eyes of Lucy Painter, a board member of the League of Women Voters, polarization stems from a lack of voter education. “Education is an issue for voters,” Painter said. “I’ve come to understand how many people don’t understand the simple process of voting, how it works and where you need to go. Our goal is to educate people to become voters.” Phillips left his audience with an anecdote about Greek culture, with the hopes that people could apply it to their own lives. “Coming from my Greek heritage, we have this concept of philia,” Phillips ssid. “We’re a colorful people. We argue, yell and shout, but ultimately, we can hug and kiss each other no matter how much we differ. This is what American society needs.”
opinions GUEST COLUMN
Voucher plan necessary for mental health care Maxwell Sacher
FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST
Mental health care on campus has become increasingly important and deservedly so. Mental health has direct effects on students’ academic performances, social lives and personal lives. Unfortunately, our current wellness system is overwhelmed. With forty-day long waits, complaints about poor service and a general lack of access, something needs to be done. Everybody agrees that building a workable mental health care system on campus is of utmost importance, yet at the same time we all agree that some solutions are unfeasible. The College of William and Mary just does not have the resources to provide every student with a personal therapist. So, what is the middle ground? What are possible reforms that could solve this problem? There were several proposals put forth in the recent Student Assembly elections. Most proposals centered around increasing the supply of therapists and other workers on campus, expanding the resources of the Wellness Center, and hiring more diverse therapists. While these solutions would help deal with the large demand for services, they come with difficult trade-offs. Any increase from the supply side means one of two things needs to happen. Either the price of tuition needs to be raised in order to pay for new therapists or funding for other services needs to be cut. Neither of these choices is enviable. So, reform must focus on the demand side. This means deciding how to ration the scarce resource of mental health care on campus. Whether we decide to acknowledge it or not, this rationing is already being done in the form of “first come first serve.” Whoever manages to get into the office first is placed in the front of the long lines for access to therapists, while people who come later are stuck in the back of the line waiting for the line to slowly shuffle forwards. This completely ignores the heterogeneity of need for mental healthcare. People who could benefit and need the resource more are stuck waiting, while some people who may not be as desperate and could wait longer get the resource first. At the same time, in order to get through the line quickly, the quality is reduced as well. In the Flat Hat article, “Waiting for Help,” people reported numerous example of being disappointed the care they recieved feeling pushed into less-useful services and ultimately having an overall poor experience. Clearly the system in place is not working. I have a simple proposal that can alleviate many of these problems without any major trade-offs. It simply involves changing how we ration mental health resources. Currently the second largest fee every student pays, regardless of whether they use it, is the Health and Wellness fee. I propose that instead of having this be an upfront cost, every student is given a voucher equal to the fee. At the same time the Health and Wellness Center should charge a fee for all its services. If a student doesn’t use up the entire voucher, a portion of the money would then be returned to the student. This proposal will give back a choice to students that is being made for them, will help cut down and beneficially rearrange the line for services, and will help foster a community of wellness rather than a centralized system. Consider which of these scenarios will produce the highest benefits at the lowest cost: you order lunch for yourself using your own money, or somebody else orders lunch for you using your money. Clearly you would be much better off choosing how much to spend and what kind of lunch to get. Yet the current system restricts us to giving our money to somebody else and hoping that they get it right. By giving a voucher to students, we simply return the power of choice to them. That’s all the voucher is: a choice. Now students can decide for themselves whether going to counseling or reiki or even forgoing services and keeping the money is best for them. There is no person better to evaluate what is most beneficial for an individual than the individual themselves. More importantly, though, is the effect this system will have on how the services are consumed and allocated. Currently, demand for therapists is being artificially subsidized by this fee. This means that people who would rather not pay the fee and forgo therapy are being forced to go, and people who really need the service and would be willing to pay for it are being beat out by people who are on the margins or don’t need it as bad. By creating a voucher system and charging a price, people who would rather have the money will drop out of the line. Finally, people will search out substitutes that are less expensive, like group therapy. This frees up the most intensive resources for those who most value and need them and allows them to get it in a timely and effective basis. At the same time the quality will improve because there won’t be as much pressure to move through patients as quickly. Even if this doesn’t eliminate the line, it will still make it shorter and improve care and it will ensure that the neediest students are the ones receiving care. Finally, a voucher helps to promote a campus-wide community of wellness rather than a centralized system. A voucher helps students recognize the different levels of care available and what works best for them. As some students will still want care, they will search out alternatives, whether this be student groups, The Haven or their fellow peers. It will also help students to feel in control of their mental health and how to deal with it. Imagine if Chick-fil-A was financed by a fee rather than through dining dollars. The line would be enormous, the chicken sandwiches would be rushed out and nobody would be happy. That is the system we have now for the campus Counseling Center. While expanding the amount of resources dedicated to the Counseling Center would help solve problems, just as making Chick-fil-A the entirety of tribe square would solve problems, this comes with unfortunate and painful tradeoffs. By instead reforming how people choose care, we can alleviate the extreme demand, shorten wait times, improve quality of care, return choice to students, and foster a campus wide community of wellness. It seems clear to me that implementing a voucher system is a simple decision to make. Email Maxwell Sacher at mnsacher@email.wm.edu.
Opinions Editor Anna Boustany Opinions Editor Chloe Folmar fhopinions@gmail.com
The Flat Hat
| Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Page 5
GUEST COLUMN
Debate could avert climate fiasco Luke Campopiano FLAT HAT GUEST COLUMNIST
In his seminal work, “On Liberty”, John Stuart Mill argued that a process of free discussion and inquiry was the only sure way to gain knowledge. These ideas are paralleled in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Oliver Wendell Holmes’ ‘marketplace of ideas.’ This commitment to consensus through debate, while deeply ingrained in the political culture of the United States, is nevertheless under threat from the gaping partisan rift in contemporary America. What use is this discussion when it seems that different political sides aren’t even speaking the same language? An excellent illustration of this phenomenon occurred in early February, when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey released a proposal calling for a Green New Deal. The response was all too predictable, with liberal news sources heralding the plan as a panacea for America’s ills and conservative media decrying it as a socialist disaster. Response to the Green New Deal is best understood in a political context where the environment is a partisan issue. Even if, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, you think that the proposal is rather farfetched, it is clear that the future of environmental policy in the United States is heading in a progressive direction. Indeed, it is all too easy for liberals to slip into a smug contentment on the right side of history. For the Earth’s sake, they must not. Saving the environment is not a priority that appeals only to Democrats. A Pew Research Center poll in 2016 found that around 75 percent of Americans think that the country “should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.” Even with a broad partisan spilt, Republicans still had a majority in favor of the statement. Who are these Republicans and what do they believe? In the early 2000s, Rod Dreher created the term “crunchy conservative” to describe a subset of Republicans who endorsed typically liberal environmental views, who did so for a variety of religious, aesthetic and cultural reasons. A powerful strain of intellectual thought in the conservative movement fears that the uncontrolled economic growth will undermine the stability of traditional values, which include both
family and nature. The fictional works of J. R. R. Tolkien provide a vivid example of such traditionalism, if one calls to mind the sharp contrast that Tolkien draws between the contentedly pastoral Shire and Saruman’s rapacious industrialization. A seemingly more difficult case is that of the free market wing of the Republican Party. Yet here there is a case to be made for environmentalism. In a 2011 article in the Wall Street Journal, Terry Anderson argued for a Green Tea Party that would espouse the principles of free market environmentalism. Anderson pointed to policies such as economical use of extensive federal lands, water markets and fishery shares that would be more environmentally effective and less economically burdensome than current government solutions. This theorizing is not mere wishful thinking. Debbie Dooley, one of 22 founding members of the Tea Party, is a passionate advocate for renewable energy, particularly solar panels. While the Tea Party’s influence on Republicans has waned in recent years, it remains important in its complex relationship with Trump’s populism. I do not claim that political consensus on environmental policy will be easy to attain. I do hope to show that underlying intellectual sympathies demonstrate a shared valuing of the environment and make a positive outcome possible. The difficult work is to give political groups a common language which they can use to generate a robust and productive policy debate. Whether the goal be environmental justice, Biblical stewardship or liberty, Americans have powerful reasons to act together to save the environment. It can be done. Email Luke Campopiano at lhcampopiano@email. GRAPHIC BY SUNNY AHN / THE FLAT HAT
The Nature of Registration DAVID SOLINSKY // FLAT HAT GRAPHIC ARTIST
Email David Solinksyat dmsolinsky@email.wm.edu
The Flat Hat
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
STAFF COLUMN
Despite student body complaints, Sodexo omelets provide tasty, nutritious option
Anthony Madalone
FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC. EDITOR
The food at the College of William and Mary gets a nasty rap. Due to the prevalence of online content trashing our catering company Sodexo, our cuisine’s downfalls are permanently engraved into the College’s collective conscious, myself included. Cravings for salad never pass without the image of slug-inhabited kale immediately springing into my mind. I automatically slather my burgers with as many toppings as possible, making up for what I assume to be a cold, flavorless patty awaiting me. Every dining hall entrance is greeted with pessimism; rather than expecting a delicious meal, my initial glance over the food at Commons Dining Hall or Sadler merely searches for something palatable. Within our dining halls, however, lies a constant safe haven. A place where flavor and freshness are expected, not dreamed of. A place rarely talked about in the near constantly negative chambers of “Swampy Memes for Twampy Teens”. In an unforgiving food landscape, The College’s omelet bars are Shangri-La. As opposed to the drab offerings often displayed at the College’s salad bars, omelet station toppings are consistently top notch, appearing freshly washed and cut, rather than dumped right
out of a plastic bag. Diced green peppers have become a staple of my diet, with spinach, tomatoes, or mushrooms often joining them along the way. Additionally, since produce is sautéed before being placed into the omelet, it never disappoints. This freshness translates to the actual omelet. Made to order, there is never any doubt about how long an omelet has been out before eating it, as it is always delivered straight from the grill to your plate. Nothing about it looks manufactured, with refreshing asymmetries in shape flaunting the dish’s lack of artificiality. No additional toppings are needed to make the dish flavorful. The combination of freshly cooked egg, cheese and veggies are always enough to speak for themselves. With their quality, the omelets at the Caf and Sadler serve as testaments to the people working our dining halls, distinct from Sodexo and the College. With all the negativity surrounding the College’s food, it’s easy to assume that everything related to on campus dining is firmly not up to the standards we should be holding ourselves to. The College’s omelets, along with other freshcooked meals like those from Marketplace and the Caf’s Mediterraneawn bowls, prove that distinctly wrong, exemplifying the fact that our staff can indeed cook. It is not the staff that needs to change, but Sodexo’s systematic failure to provide options outside of those that are fresh. Regardless of whether Sodexo changes its ways, I am confident that I will be able to find a consistently excellent meal in our dining halls’ omelet stations. Blissfully open in the Caf until one p.m. most days, I know I will always be able to start my day with a satisfying, tasty meal. While it is a shame that the expectation of excellence is the exception rather than the rule, I can at least find solace in the fact that excellence does exist in our consistently maligned dining halls. Email Anthony Madalone at asmadalone@email.wm.edu.
Regardless of whether Sodexo changes its ways, I am confident that I will be able to find a consistently excellent meal in our dining halls’ omelet stations.
ASK A TWAMP
Q: What happens at the McLeod-Tyler Wellness Center? What kinds of services does it offer? A: The Wellness Center offers a number of different services for student use. To start, there are “Wellness Applications” which are one credit, semester long courses that students can sign up for via Banner. While these vary by semester, they tend to focus on topics including creative arts, yoga, ecotherapy, meditation, flourishing, taijiquan and quigong. There are also free “Wellness Series” workshops and classes which professional faculty, students and staff members from the counseling center facilitate on a weekly basis. Some series last three to five weeks, while others continue for the entire the semester. Lastly, there are “Wellness PopUp Events” planned and facilitated by wellness ambassadors throughout the semester. The true purpose of the Wellness Center is to help each person who enters the building discover what wellness looks like for them, whether that means they are sick and utilize the Health Center, come back for a follow up counseling appointment or perhaps just attend a yoga class. All of these options fall underneath the umbrella of our services. We firmly believe that there are multiple ways to be well and try to reflect this truth by offering an array of free wellness series classes: expressive writing groups, yoga classes, nutrition workshops, creative arts groups, exercise-is-medicine walks, meditations, resilience and empathy classes, animal therapy sessions and many other workshops. Massage therapy and Reiki services are available at the Wellness Center for an additional fee. These services
are provided by local licensed massage therapists or Reiki masters and are offered to students at a discounted rate. Given their popularity, appointments need to be reserved at least 24 hours in advance. Additionally, Campus Recreation offers chair massages by massage therapists allowing offices, halls or groups to reserve wellness services at events around campus.
GRAPHIC BY MEG CUCA / THE FLAT HAT
The value placed on student leadership is one of the many benefits of working alongside the Wellness Center’s staff. Because of this, wellness ambassadors have felt comfortable enough to express the desire to share our personal wellness outlets with peers. Our involvement in event planning allows for the majority of the Wellness Center’s work to be a reflection of student needs and wishes.
As an expression of this leadership and of the beautiful diversity amongst WAs, many of us lead writing workshops, tea stations, essential oil workshops or empathy popups around campus. We recognize that some students will find greater meaning in some activities than others and view that as one of the many benefits of a holistic, integrative wellness approach. So how do you find wellness on campus? I began by attending wellness workshops and series until I found the best fit for me.The yoga classes help to set — and often reset — the tone of my day. I also enjoy the creative arts classes because they remind me not to take myself too seriously. Going with friends to comedy, dance or a cappella shows by other student groups is another outlet for me. Out of all the information I could list out, the main thing I want to share is that these classes are not designed for experts. Simply put, they are invitations for us to take a moment to check in with ourselves. By making time for ourselves and engaging through a lens of curiosity, we nourish our stressridden community. The Wellness Center is designed to serve the community by inviting us in to learn and co-create a culture that values well-being and self-care. Madison Miller is a Wellness Ambassador at the Wellness Center. Email Madison at mkmiller01@email.wm.edu. If you have a question you’d like to see answered, please email it to fhopinions@gmail.com.
Page 6
STAFF COLUMN
Admissions scandal captures past and current stress culture
Lauren Cohen
FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC. EDITOR
With the recent college admissions scandal and the College of William and Mary’s undergraduate decisions coming out last week, my own experience with college admissions has been floating around my mind. I have been reading a lot about the recent admissions scandal, and to say the least, hearing about the fifty parents who bribed various colleges to admit their kids makes my blood boil. But even worse, it has brought back the all-too-familiar pit in my stomach that I had throughout my own college admissions experience and for most of high school, a feeling that I’m sure all students at the College know well.
At this Public Ivy, if you have time to breathe, you’re not involved enough. As students at the College, we have all had our fair share of stress and anxiety when it comes to academics and extracurricular involvements. Getting into the College is quite a feat, not to mention the workload we meet when we get here. The college admissions process overall is truly its own form of unique torture. Every fall, around two million high school students embark on the journey of applying to college, but it really starts years before that senior fall semester. We all know the feeling of sitting at the dining room table after dinner, narrowing down a list of schools based on average GPA, majors, location, price and a myriad of other factors. There are the practice SATs, the real SATs, the ACTs and then the SATs again, again, and again. Most painstakingly, there’s the task of trying to curate your life to fit into the box of what colleges are “looking for” in their students, a task that is virtually impossible. From my sophomore year of high school onwards, I never felt like I was doing enough. I wasn’t taking enough AP classes, wasn’t participating in enough clubs, wasn’t playing enough sports and wasn’t volunteering enough. Applying to college was an incredibly stressful time in my life, and I think I can safely say that anyone who currently attends the College would say the same. Not only has this college admissions scandal reminded me of how tough those few months were while I sent in application after application, but it has made me realize that those feelings never actually ceased. Finally, Dec. 2, 2016, I got into my dream school: the College. A huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in months. The rest of my senior year was all fun and games. Before stepping foot in Williamsburg, Virginia, I thought college would be like how it is in the movies — parties every weekend, students playing frisbee on the green, hanging out constantly with friends and being free to do what I want, when I want. In a lot of ways my experience at the College has been like it is in the movies, but what I didn’t expect was the constant weight on my shoulders that appears every time I take time for myself. Recently I have been struggling with the same worries I experienced throughout high school, and I completely blame it on the College’s stress culture. I am pretty involved on campus, and from a “normal” standpoint, the handful of clubs and social organizations I am a part of should be more than enough. However, at this Public Ivy, if you have time to breathe, you’re not involved enough. Students here love the word “involved.” By a landslide, the most common question I am asked on a day-to-day basis is, “So what are you involved in around campus?” Seemingly harmless, this question often leads to a race of who is doing more. It feels just like when I was filling out college applications and rambling off my extracurricular activities, and it doesn’t stop there. If you spend enough time in Earl Gregg Swem Library, you are bound to hear conversations from students practically bragging about how much they studied for their test this morning, how many meetings they had yesterday or even how little they slept last night. It feels like a competition of who can spread themselves thinner, and quite frankly, I feel like I am spread thin enough. However, no matter how much this mindset bothers me, I can’t say that I don’t contribute to the madness. I feel like I am constantly trying to prove to my peers that I am doing enough, whether it’s enough homework, studying or socializing. Even my closest friends often make me feel inadequate with comments about how I spend my free time or even how much of it I have. Even if we don’t mean to, I have to think that many of us undermine the accomplishments of our peers here at the College as a way to deal with our own stress and feelings of shortcoming that we are surrounded by on the daily. This kind of environment is so toxic, and I wish every day that I was able to leave it back in high school. Don’t get me wrong, I love this university with all my heart, but I do envy friends at other universities that can go out on a Friday night without having to set their alarm extra early on Saturday to get their homework done, or can play frisbee on a sunny day without having to sacrifice either sleep, meal time or study time later that night. Although us twamps often joke about “stress culture” and laugh it off, I feel like it has taken away from what my college experience could and should be. Email Lauren Cohen at lhcohen01@email.wm.edu.
variety
Variety Editor Zoe Beardsley Variety Editor Adithi Ramakrishnan flathat.variety@gmail.com
The Flat Hat | Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Page 7
Ho ga n /C la ire PH OT O
Director Issac Davis ‘20 uses real life events to create a story that tackles issue of mental health
“Solo Orange” moves audience, raises awareness
CO UR TE SY
CO UR TE SY
PH OT OS
/S ol o
O ra ng e
"The other actors were phenomenally talented, and the crew was incredible."
CLAIRE HOGAN // FLAT HAT ONLINE EDITOR
Commonwealth Auditorium was packed full of students and community members Sunday, March 24 for the debut of “Solo Orange,” a short film about what it’s like to live with anxiety and depression. The film was produced by Identity Production Studios, a student-led production company founded by Isaac Davis ’20. Inspiration for the film came from Davis’ friend John Van Bergen, a filmmaking student at Virginia Commonwealth University who commited suicide in 2018. The film was based on a true story, focusing on Van Bergen’s struggles with mental illness. Much of the film centered around the internal monologue of a young man suffering from anxiety and depression, interspersed with scenes of his experiences with friends. Dramatic visuals paired with voice-over audio created a highly emotional experience for the audience. At the end of the film, many in the audience were in tears. “We have been changed by making this film,” Davis said. “We understand that everyone will leave with their own opinions, with their own takeaways. ‘Solo Orange’ is an experience. We want you to feel, we want you to see what it is like for some people to experience anxiety and depression.” Davis founded Identity Production Studios in 2011, and has since made it into a small business, largely financed by donations. The production company has produced several short films before, but ‘Solo Orange’ stands out as the most personal. “We’ve done a lot of work everywhere, but we really wanted to come back and focus on something that was really close to heart,” Taj Zacharias, CFO of Identity Production Studios, said. For Identity Production Studios, ‘Solo Orange’ is its most ambitious project yet, produced over the course of four months and shot in 4K resolution, comparable to the video quality of a professional movie. The production studio had many sponsors, including local businesses in Williamsburg and the McLeod Tyler Wellness Center, who helped the production studio get equipment to shoot and edit high-resolution footage. After the main film, the audience watched behind-the-scenes footage of the production process. The video showed students spending long hours behind and in front of the camera, working smoke machines, reciting lines and editing footage. The cast and crew, largely made up of students from the College of William and Mary, worked tirelessly to produce the film. “The people that I worked with were incredible,” Karissa McDonald ’18, who plays Olivia in ‘Solo Orange,’ said. “The other actors were phenomenally talented, and the crew was incredible.” McDonald, along with a few other actors in the film, did not have much previous experience with acting or filmmaking. “I have very little acting experience,” McDonald said. “I was in one short film when I was 13. I acted in middle school theater productions, and I was in acting class last semester, but that’s it. I’m very unseasoned. I actually got myself into deep water here, because I met Isaac and he mentioned that he was a director and he was working on a project. I ended up auditioning for it, and I got into it, and then I showed up the first day of production, and it was a professional production set. We spent six to eight hours every shoot - it was a lot, it was intense. We had to go back and re-shoot things at times. It was definitely a lot of work, but I’m glad I did it.” The characters in the film were based off of real people who were deeply influential in the life of Van Bergen. For the actors, this created an interesting and emotional dynamic.
“Olivia is actually based on a real person,” McDonald said. “She was John’s best friend. We talked on the phone a bit, and then we hung out on set one day, so I got to know her a bit. But a lot was predetermined when they wrote the script.” The themes of the film were complex, diving into the consequences of mental illness and how someone can feel alone and isolated even when they have deep relationships with those around them. The audio varied between voice-over monologue of the protagonist’s inner turmoil and conversations between friends, while the visuals painted a stark and dramatic portrait of a young man’s struggle with anxiety and depression. One of the main takeaways of the film was to always reach out to those who may be struggling. “I hope that [the viewers] take away that this was a real story that affected a lot of people, and just to pay attention, and be more receptive,” McDonald said.
"We've done a lot of work everywhere, but we really wanted to come back and focus on something that was really close to heart."
Page 8
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
The Flat Hat
AN EVENING WITH
MITSKI
WCWM brings singer-songwriter to Commonwealth Auditorium
SOPHIA CARONNA-MORSEMAN // THE FLAT HAT The indie-alternative crowd was out in full force the evening of March 23. Crowds of women in long red skirts and hair tied back in scrunchies and men in short sleeve button downs with interesting patterns took over the lobby of Sadler, geometric earrings dangling from many an ear lobe and a palpable hum of anticipation vibrating from their voices and their hearts. A queen was soon to be in their midst, a goddess among artsy, angsty poetic youths hidden somewhere behind the stage of the Commonwealth Auditorium. Mitski was here, brought to campus through the efforts of WCWM, the College of William and Mary’s student radio station. Her presence was felt before she was seen. In the darkened auditorium, the audience’s gaze was fixated on the beaming stage throughout the night, seated in the tiered theater seats, in chairs placed close to the stage, and some crouching in walkways or leaning against door frames. The opening performer, Angelica Garcia, stood alone on the stage but projected a magnetic energy as she sang and chanted, aided by synthetic stylings and a loop machine. Her feet stood planted while she sang songs about identity and immigration. Her hands waved and punctuated her words while her eyes, smeared with green eyeshadow, stayed closed. “Cultura Chicana is alive today, I’ve been wearing my roots and flying this flag,” Garcia sang, her delivery a punchy, melodic exercise akin to slam poetry. In between songs, the strong voice that belted out unapologetically became soft and unassuming. When she announced her last song and the audience responded with audible disappointment, she expressed a meek surprise and thanked the crowd for caring. She used her loop machine to record and layer repeated measures of singing and vocalization, constructing a song before the audience. In her final song, the music swelled and gained a heady depth with each additional layer — she did not solely perform, did not just breathe life into a memorized set of notes or animate a dusty sheet of notation in her mind. She created. The intermission between her set and the headliner’s was filled with an easy chatter that emerged after the roar of applause for Garcia. Blue light backlit the stage. Garcia’s equipment was cleanly moved away, leaving only a microphone stand. For a brief moment, a woman with short black hair in a white t-shirt crouched on stage, placing water at the base of the stand and momentarily tuning a shiny blue electric-acoustic guitar. Barely anyone noticed, but on a second glance, one would come to the realization that the unassuming stagehand at the front of an empty stage was in fact the beloved indie rock queen, Mitski herself. She was noticed when she wanted to be noticed. At 8:01 p.m., the audience roared with throaty, shrill exhilaration. She played her songs without accompaniment, without any attention for showiness or glamour. Her face was stony, her voice was soft. From the very start, the room was captivated by the regular-looking woman playing the shiny, plastic, blue guitar who serenaded the audience with a sweet, tender sort of pain.
All of the songs that Mitski played, from as far back as her 2014 album “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” to her 2016 album “Puberty 2” and including her most recent 2018 release “Be the Cowboy,” resonated with feelings of devotion, loneliness and that bitter kind of love that you can’t let go of because it hurts too good. Her solo renditions of songs ranging from “First Love/Late Spring” to “Bet on Losing Dogs” were barer and more vulnerable without the cushion of the bass guitar or drums. She played her songs nearly always back to back, teasing in a monotonous voice that she had nothing to say. “Sorry that I have no banter. That’s probably the whole reason I started making music, because I have no banter,” Mitski said. Her stories shared with the audience were few but fostered a powerful sense of connection to an artist and a discography that already drives straight to the listener’s private relationship with love and pain. “I’ve never had friends until my adult life,” Mitski said. “It means a lot for me to have you here and to feel connected. Thank you for being here.” “Geyser” came to the audience like a revival, like the feeling in one’s heart when the pound of a drum reverberates through it. She strummed powerfully and sang the song like an open-hearted, open-mouthed ballad. Mitski let her music speak for itself through the tight pacing and spacing of the songs but gave the audience the gift of her artistic insight about music and its ability to, if not heal, at least comfort. “The beautiful thing about music is that you can write what you want to hear,” Mitski said. “I wrote everything that I needed to hear, and I hope that you hear what you need to hear right now.” Mitski ended the set with a thanks, and she left. No encore. The audience left with tear-stained faces, not in the least because the beloved songstress refrained from playing “Nobody,” her most
popular song from “Be the Cowboy.The impeccable fashion choices of the College’s indie scene immediately became the focal point of any observer as Mitski’s physical and emotional presence vanished. Most palpable was the ringing aftermath of collective catharsis. She came; she existed; the audience basked in her powerful, raw honesty, and she left. And we are all the better for it.
ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN / THE FLAT HAT
sportsinside
The Flat Hat | Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Page 9
BASEBALL
JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT
Senior catcher Hunter Smith is accustomed to contributing defensively from behind the plate, but his recent hot streak has allowed him to drive in some crucial runs as well as taking some pitches over the fence to give the Tribe a lead.
Tribe narrowly beats Northeastern after dropping two
Smith carries team offensively with two solo shots in third multiple home run game JULIA STUMBAUGH FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER After opening up Colonial Athletic Association play with two tough losses Friday and Saturday, William and Mary (15-6, 1-2 CAA) recovered to win the last game of the weekend series against Northeastern (12-11, 2-1 CAA) with a 14-3 blowout Sunday, which featured senior catcher Hunter Smith’s third multi-home run game of the season and a strong relief appearance from senior pitcher Nick Butts on the mound. Friday, the Tribe got on the board right away, as senior infielder Zach Pearson scored Smith on a triple in the bottom of the first. Freshman infielder Hunter Hart then stepped up and sent Smith home on an RBI single to make the score 2-0. The Huskies calmly erased that in the next two innings, putting up a single run each in the second and third to tie the score at 2-2. The Tribe jumped out to another lead in the bottom of the third, as another Smith RBI made the score 3-2, but the Huskies once again tied it in the top of the fourth. The Huskies got out to their first lead of the game with an RBI single in the top of the sixth to make it 4-3, but the College immediately answered in the bottom of the frame. Two Tribe runners got on base on a walk and a fielder’s choice before junior catcher Matthew Trehub stepped up to the plate and scored both on a two-run triple, and the College surged ahead, 5-4. Relief pitchers junior Jamie Sara and sophomore Randy Prosperi pitched two clean innings in the seventh and eighth to hold the Huskies off the board, and the Tribe headed into the final frame still up by one run. That was where the College ran into trouble, as the Huskie’s Ian Fair hit a clutch three-run homer off redshirt junior pitcher Chris Farrell to put the visitors up, 7-5. “What happened to Chris Farrell happens,” head coach Brian Murphy said. “He hadn’t let a run all year until that point. … The ninth inning, I thought he was in good shape until they drew a walk; they worked really hard to get some guys on base; then Ian Fair is a really good hitter, and he beat us up all weekend.” The Tribe made an effort at a comeback in the final frame, getting on base with a lead-off walk from freshman outfielder Jack Cone and then sending him home on an RBI single from Pearson. With the score at 7-6 and two runners on base, the College had a chance to try and extend the game, but a swinging strikeout would end the contest in the Tribe’s first conference loss of the year. Saturday was a similar story of the Tribe being overwhelmed by a late Northeastern rally. It was the Huskies who were first on the board
in game two with two early runs, but the Tribe tied it at 2-2 heading into the third inning from RBI doubles off of Pearson and redshirt senior Kyle Wrighte. Another run in the top of the fourth put the visitors up 3-2, as the Tribe was held off of the board for five consecutive innings. In the seventh frame, starting pitcher junior Wade Strain ran into trouble. Having held the Huskies to just three runs a strong first six innings, he allowed a lead-off double and a hit-by-pitch to start out the seventh. A pitching change couldn’t stymie the sudden flurry of Northeastern offense, as they relentlessly drilled base hits past the Tribe infield to put up six runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Pearson countered with two additional RBI in the eighth, but the College couldn’t recover from the barrage of runs and was forced to concede a second conference loss, 9-4. Despite the pair of late-inning losses, Murphy doesn’t expect any changes in the Tribe’s rotation of relief pitchers. “Our bullpen’s been good; I’ve been really pleased with it,” Murphy said. “I think Prosperi’s been awesome; I don’t think [junior pitcher] Jamie Sara’s let up a run all year, and Farrell’s just had that one inning. So, feeling pretty good about those guys.” Sunday, the Tribe once again immediately got on the board in the first inning off of Hunter Smith’s team-leading sixth home run of the season. The Huskies quickly tied it in the next frame, 1-1. After the tally, still with zero outs on the board and with starting pitcher freshman Zach Tsakounis stung by an errant hit that caught him in the shin, the Huskies took advantage and loaded the bases. Tsakounis, who had allowed a season-high four consecutive hits to begin the inning, recovered to pitch one infield flyout and then force the Huskies into a neat double play. The inning ended with the damage limited to just the 1-1 tie. In the next frame, however, the Huskies answered Smith’s homer with one of their own before adding on an RBI single to surge ahead, 3-1. In the bottom of the third frame, the Tribe got two runners in scoring position. When Smith stepped up to bat, the Huskies intentionally walked him to load the bases and faced Pearson instead. Pearson promptly put a hit into shallow center field to score one runner and cut the Huskies’ lead to 3-2 on his sixth RBI of the weekend. Wrighte, next up in the batting order, then waited out the Northeastern pitcher through four balls to score another runner, tying the game at 3-3. The scoring continued as Trehub took advantage of Northeastern starting pitcher Kyle Murphy’s lapse. Just like his go-ahead hit before the late-inning collapse Friday, he put the team ahead with a two-RBI single into right center field and reclaimed the lead, 5-3. “I think the pressure’s not necessarily on me; it’s just kind the
guys in front of me getting on base,” Trehub said. “I’m just trying to keep it as simple as possible and get balls in play, let the rest take care of itself.” Butts took over in the top of the fourth inning, throwing a clean nohit, no-run frame to start out his time on the mound. “The game was definitely in the balance,” Murphy said. “Butts did a great job.” Smith then padded the lead with a second home run. It was his seventh homer of the season and made this the third multiple-homer game of his season and his career. “[Smith] has had runs like this over the course of his career,” Murphy said. “He’s got a lot of timing to his swing, kind of some big moving parts to his swing. When he gets them all synched up, he gets on runs like this, and obviously he’s got really good power. … He does a great job of identifying pitches.” Hart added an RBI triple to close out the bottom of the fifth with the home team ahead, 7-3. The sixth inning was a long one for the Huskies and a productive one for Tribe offense, as the College racked up seven runs on three hits and an error. An RBI single from freshman outfielder Jack Cone, an RBI hit-by-pitch, a two-RBI single from Hart, a wild pitch and a two-RBI double from junior outfielder Brandon Raquet pushed the Tribe out to a 14-3 lead heading into the seventh. Four scoreless innings from Butts and one from freshman pitcher Tristan Snyder, as well as another Trehub RBI in the seventh frame, finished out the game. The Huskies picked up a single unearned run in the final frame, but the College would claim a 15-4 victory and end the weekend series at 2-1, Northeastern. This marks the first time in three years that the Huskies have not swept the season series. Pearson ended the weekend with seven hits and six RBI on 14 atbats, while Smith put up five hits and three RBI, including his two home runs. Although the batting order fluctuated frequently over the weekend, including Cone dropping out of his customary lead-off hitter role, Smith and Pearson stayed constant at the third and fourth spots, respectively. “I moved Hunter to third just to make sure he hits in the first inning and make sure that we give him as many opportunities as we can,” Murphy said. “… Zach, I just think, is a good guy to hit behind Hunter because Zach’s really aggressive; he doesn’t strike out very much; he doesn’t walk very much. I think after guys face Hunter, sometimes there’s a little bit of letup, and Zach can capitalize on that.” With the win, the Tribe improves to 2-1 in conference play and 15-6 overall.
TRACK AND FIELD
Women place second, men third in Dan Stimson Memorial Meet Field performances carry team to podium; Wallace qualifies for ECAC in 12.2m triple jump COLLIN ANDERSON THE FLAT HAT With spring around the corner in sunny Williamsburg, the William and Mary men’s and women’s teams welcomed Buffalo, Cornell, George Mason and Navy to Zable Stadium for the Dan Stimson Memorial Meet. Fresh off an astounding performance last weekend at the W&M Triangular Meet, the meet marked the first official scored competition of the outdoor season for both teams, as the women finished in second place and the men in third. It was a dominating day for Navy, who won multiple events and finished in first place on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Tribe got several strong performances from the beginning of the meet, with sophomore Kelly Cook, Jr. placing second in the hammer throw and first overall in the shot put with throws of 55.93m and 17.37m respectively. Not too far behind was graduate student and reigning male Colonial Athletic Association Field Athlete of the Week Preston Richardson, who continued to build on his already impressive season with a throw of 16.82m. In addition, reigning female CAA Field Athlete of the Week Samantha Moravsky finished third in the
javelin throw. Moving over to the pole vault pit, sophomore Michael Fairbanks won the pole vault with a lifetime-best mark of 4.83m, beating the rest of the field by nearly six inches. In the women’s pole vault, sophomore Taylor Jones and junior Lauren Graves tied for fifth position along with Wijitra Earnie Burapan from Buffalo. Sophomore George Cross jumped 13.59m in the triple jump, good enough to pick up a few points for the Tribe in fourth place. However, the most important performances of the day for the College came when they needed it the most. The field athletes came through once again, this time led by freshman Chelsea Wallace and most importantly, senior Brianna Miller. The Midlothian, Virginia native tied the William and Mary school record in the triple jump with a leap of 12.12m en route to a dominating win. The mark was an Eastern College Athletic Conference qualifier and personal best. Wallace placed fifth in the women’s discus throw to propel the Tribe into second place at the meet’s end. On the track, the first running event of the day was the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Freshman Lauren Kroepfl continued her solid season,
with a top-5 finishing time of 11:37.30. The New Jersey native has strung together multiple strong performances in the last two weeks, with a win in the 2000m steeplechase last weekend. Continuing the dominant distance runs, the Tribe women picked up 20 points in the women’s 1500m, with junior Charlotte Kowalk finishing first in 4:33.42. Sophomore Lauren Finikiotis and junior Olivia Paxton finished third and fourth respectively, both in 4:37. The Tribe got a pair of top three finishes in the men’s 1500m as well, with freshmen Evan Goodell and Micah Pratt each running 3:55 behind Jake Brophy of Navy. In the 800m, sophomore Taylor Jones ran a personal best of 2:15.09 en route to a close win over Victoria Casarrublas of Cornell, who finished a mere .84 seconds behind. On the men’s side, sophomore Miles Owens opened his 2019 campaign with an impressive second place finish in 1:52.77. Teammate Raul Chavez-Guitierrez finished in sixth, in 1:54.94. Navy and Cornell dominated in the sprints, on a day that was not conducive to fast sprint times while the Tribe performed well in the field events and distance races. The final individual events of the day were the men’s and women’s 3000m. Senior Rachel Snyder
placed second for the College, running 10:20.34, just one second off of her personal best of 10:19. On the men’s side, stadium record-holder Ryan McGorty dominated the field, running an impressive opening time of 8:20.61, beating the next closest runner by seven seconds. Teammate Cooper Leslie finished in the top five as well, running 8:34.03. In the final events of the day, the 4x400m relay, both teams finished in the top three, with the women finishing in second, and the men finishing in third place. Overall, the Tribe sprinters faltered at the track on Saturday afternoon, but the distance runners and field athletes carried the team to a pair of topthree finishes and nine total event wins. The College will need all hands on deck in the next few weeks, with some key meets approaching in Raleigh, North Carolina for the Raleigh Relays next weekend and then back at home in two weeks for the all-important Colonial Relays. Both meets will feature top-level Atlantic Coast Conference competition, along with some other contenders in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Both Tribe track and field teams will be back in action next Friday and Saturday at the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State.
sports
Sports Editor Gavin Aquin Sports Editor Avery Lackner flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports
The Flat Hat | Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Page10
TENNIS SPOTLIGHT
International players integral to tennis
Coach Toni Bickford discusses experience of international students, difficulties that they face AVERY LACKNER FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR When asked if he was able to visit William and Mary before signing with the tennis team, sophomore Sebastian Quiros smiles ruefully and admits that he agreed to move roughly 3,700 miles from his home in San José, Costa Rica to Williamsburg, Virginia without ever having visited the College. As a predominantly international sport, tennis attracts athletes from all over the world, and many of those players have found a home at the College. Though Quiros’ experiences may seem difficult, they are the rule rather than the exception for international athletes. Competing in Division I athletics requires an intense commitment of time and energy, both mental and physical; language barriers and time differences further exacerbate these pressures. “It’s a shock to the system,” women’s tennis head coach Toni Bickford admits. And yet, she speaks fondly of her own experience moving from Bulgaria in order to attend Iowa. “I got there midwinter,” Bickford chuckles. “But … I really lucked out with a great coach and great teammates, and they just kind of took me under their wing. I wasn’t their first foreigner, but I was the only foreigner at the time.” The recruiting process has changed since Bickford’s years on the court, though it remains markedly different from domestic recruitment. These days, international recruiters are mostly dependent on social media sites like Facebook.
Coaches message players they’re interested in talking to, and often these conversations are an athlete’s first interaction with the College. “The internet has made it so much easier to be able to recruit players from all over the world,” Quiros said. “For us international students that want to come here to play our sport, it’s such an advantage to have … all these methods of communicating.” In addition to allowing coaches to make contact with international players, the internet allows prospective recruits to learn more about the College, which is particularly helpful considering that most international athletes don’t visit Williamsburg before signing. College-aged tennis players competing outside the United States are at very different points in their careers than their American counterparts. While college is a given for many American student athletes, many international students can’t say the same. In the United States, students begin the college process with university tours as early as freshman year of high school, and by the time they reach junior year, many athletes have been contacted by coaches of multiple programs and most have already signed with a certain school. For international athletes though, the process begins much later, with most students beginning to look at colleges during their senior year. For European students in particular, it is common not to apply to colleges until after graduating, after taking university entrance exams. This unique timeline makes meeting signing deadlines for American schools more difficult. “With William and Mary admissions being
GRAPHIC BY: GAVIN AQUIN, HEATHER BAIER AND AVERY LACKNER / FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR, NEWS EDITOR, SPORTS EDITOR. COURTESY PHOTOS/TRIBE ATHLETICS
so rigorous … it really closes the window a lot,” Bickford said. “A lot of times … we have transfer international students … because they’ve been already in the states … and they have a little bit more time to apply and get in here.” Once here, tennis players must quickly adjust to college life and find a balance of school and sports that is beneficial for them. That part is no more different for international players than it is for domestic athletes. However, domestic players have support systems of family and friends that are far more accessible than for international students; it is easier for American families to visit, even for those far removed from Virginia, especially considering how frequently the tennis teams travel for tournaments. However, the tennis teams themselves become a necessary support system for international athletes. In fact, both the men’s and women’s programs make a concerted effort to mentor new students, both foreign and domestic, as best they can. The players rather than the coaches are integral to this process, providing all sorts of useful hints. Upperclassmen advise rookies about everything from which classes to take and how to study for tests to the quickest route to the tennis courts on a bicycle. “That’s the benefit of being a student athlete because you’re already coming in as part of a team,” men’s tennis head coach Jeff Kader said. “That certainly helps, and we’re a small team … so that’s a pretty close-knit group of individuals.” The coaches play their own role in promoting team cohesion. Neither Bickford nor Kader believe that international students and domestic students should be coached differently, but they acknowledge that it there are occasional struggles to relate to students from different backgrounds. While Bickford was an international student herself, Kader is from Ohio. Coaching a mix of domestic and foreign players, they each encounter students whose university experiences were very different from their own. Neither sees this as a serious roadblock to communication though; it comes across as more of a distraction than a real difficulty, especially since Bickford’s assistant coach, Kieran Burke, is American while Kader’s assistant coach, Dominic Pagon, was an international player. Though varying nationalities don’t seem to pose any sort of threat to team chemistry, players and coaches firmly believe that domestic and foreign players can learn valuable lessons from each other. Junior Rosie Cheng, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, says the culture surrounding athletic teams is markedly different in New Zealand than it is in the United States, but she credits this difference with making her a stronger player. “Something that I’ve learned from them, I
guess is just how to be a better team player,” Cheng said. “I was on a high school tennis team, but it was never really like a team, but … the whole atmosphere in America around sports is very team based. So just the fact that they knew exactly how to be on a team … because tennis is a very individual sport, so it was a bit of a transition.” Domestic students for their part have plenty to learn from international students too, particularly because, as Bickford explains, the international athletes tend to have more experience playing at an advanced level. “When you play tennis internationally when you’re younger, you don’t really know much about college tennis … you’re just playing because you want to become a pro,” Bickford said. “When they find out about the possibility of going to college it’s like when they’re juniors or seniors, and they almost come to college because they realize that they’re not going to become pros. … They’re at a different point in their career when they arrive on campus than American kids.” While they may face the same obstacles as their American counterparts on the court, off the court international students walk a tightrope of carefully formatted documentation that allows them to remain in the country. Obtaining a visa is vital to international students, most of whom want to remain in the United States for summers and even post-graduation. However, the precise nature of the paperwork makes the process tedious and stressful; one mistake can quickly become a nightmare of red tape and bureaucracy that can distract players from their tennis objectives if they don’t remain mentally tough. “It just takes a lot of time,” Quiros said. “For me personally, when I’m playing, I usually kind of disconnect from everything else. So when I get on the court, unless I’m like really stressed out, it usually goes away. … That is kind of a good thing because I don’t want to be worried when I’m playing. But it is a little bit stressful, I wouldn’t say that much, at least for me, but there’s always some point where something is a little bit overwhelming.” There is an undercurrent of passion in several international athletes’ stories despite the trials of balancing academics, athletics and even immigration services. They are, first and foremost, here to compete at the highest level of collegiate tennis and their dedication to their teams shines through, even as they list a dozen challenges other students never even think about. Each and every player described the way that stepping on the court allows them a respite from the chaos of everyday life, a chance to become completely single minded, if only for a few hours. It’s identical to the experience of any athlete, past or present, foreign or domestic, and serves as a reminder that they are primarily here to play.
COMMENTARY
There’s more to Tribe Athletics than just basketball Lacrosse and baseball promising in 2019 spring season, potential to become CAA powerhouses
Kevin Richeson FLAT HAT OPERATIONS COORDINATOR
As fans of William and Mary sports, watching March Madness can be a disappointing time. However, there are several different spring sports that are getting into the thick of their regular season schedules around this time of the year. In particular, lacrosse and baseball should be exciting teams to follow this spring for several different reasons. Both teams have had relatively successful nonconference schedules and should be competitive in Colonial Athletic Association play. However, the extent to which these teams have strong seasons is still to be determined by their performances in CAA play, which provides a level of intrigue and excitement around two programs that have not been this strong over the past couple of seasons. Last season, the College’s lacrosse team ended the 2018 campaign on an eight-game losing streak, leading to a 4-12 record after a .500 start to the season after the first eight games. Furthermore, the Tribe went 0-5 in conference play and did not qualify for the CAA tournament. In 2019, the College has already surpassed its win total from the previous season. As of Sunday afternoon, the Tribe was 5-4 after an overtime loss on the road at Coastal Carolina. April 5, the Tribe will start CAA play on the road against Hofstra. The College is certainly not a favorite to win the CAA, but the Tribe’s performance so far this
season indicates that it has a chance to rack up a couple of wins and possibly sneak into the CAA semifinals. Additionally, the College is likely to improve over the next couple of seasons. The Tribe is stacked with young underclassman talent, including freshmen midfielders Belle Martire and Grace Ahonen and sophomore attacker Sophie Kopec. Junior midfielder Meredith Hughes and junior goalkeeper Elsa Rall will also be back for the 2020 season. Rall has won defensive player of the week in the CAA once this season and Martire has won back-to-back rookie of the week awards in the CAA. Martire has scored a team-high 25 goals this season and Rall has maintained a 48 percent save percentage through nine games. The lacrosse team provides the opportunity to watch a team potentially grow into a CAA powerhouse over the next couple of years, as well as to enjoy a competitive squad this season. The Tribe has home games in the CAA against Drexel, Delaware and Elon April 7, 14 and 26 respectively. The lacrosse team plays its home games at Martin Family Stadium on Ironbound Road, located close to both campus and a Williamsburg Area Transit Authority trolley stop. Last season, the College’s baseball team had an average nonconference record, before completely collapsing during its CAA slate. The Tribe finished with a 15-39 record, including a 3-21 mark in conference play. The College also finished the season on a 16-game losing streak. This was just two years removed from the College’s run to the regional championship series in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament after eliminating defending national champion and regional host, Virginia. The Tribe also won the CAA championship in 2016. This year, the Tribe has matched last season’s win total through 21 games. The College is 15-6, including losing two out of three to open CAA play at home against Northeastern. The Tribe concluded that series on Sunday with a 15-4 rout of the Huskies to bounce back after two straight losses. Despite some struggles against the Huskies, the College appears
to have turned a corner and should be fairly competitive in CAA play and set up for a return to the upper echelon of the conference in the next couple of years. In non-conference play this year, the College is 14-4 and had a nine-game winning at one point. The Tribe also picked up marquee wins against two different Power Five conference programs. The College routed Virginia 9-3 and also won one game in a three-game series with West Virginia. Senior catcher Hunter Smith has led the way for the College offensively with a .346 batting average, including seven home runs and 24 runs batted in. Freshman infielder Hunter Hart and sophomore infielder Matt McDermott have also been solid at the plate and in the field, showing that the Tribe will have offensive star power even when Smith and senior infielder Zach Pearson graduate after this season. On the mound, freshman pitcher Zach Tsakounis is 3-0 with a 1.84 earned run average in just under 30 innings pitched this season. While the Tribe is unlikely to go from worst to first in the CAA in 2019, a strong start to the season indicates that the College will be an exciting team to watch over the next couple of months and that head coach Brian Murphy has the Tribe back on track to return to success. The baseball team’s home games are played at Plumeri Park, which is also on Ironbound Road at the same location as Martin Family Stadium. The College has home series in the CAA against James Madison, Elon and Charleston. Those series will take place April 12-14, April 19-21 and May 3-5, respectively. While these are the two sports that I have highlighted in this article, there are also several other spring sports that should be interesting to follow and would provide great opportunities to get out and support the Tribe during the spring sports season. Other teams playing this spring are the men’s and women’s tennis, track and field and golf teams. Despite the end of basketball season at William and Mary, there are several enticing opportunities to get out and support the Tribe this spring. Email Kevin Richeson at kmricheson@email.wm.edu