Vol. 108, Iss. 5 | Tuesday, March 27, 2018
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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COLLEGE CHAINED TO VCE CONTRACT Student groups work to raise awareness of inmate wages in state correctional facilities.
CAROLINE NUTTER // FLAT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
HAT
curement Services Greg In 2014, former Director of Pro between VCE and the College Johnson said that the relationship g on for “eons.” of William and Mary has been goin d about this relationship Four years later, little has change n as student groups eve e, from an institutional perspectiv advocate for reform. e of Virginia, the Virginia Under section 53.1-41 of the Cod st provide state inmates with Department of Corrections mu Correctional Enterprises was opportunities to work. Virginia Assembly in 1934 with the aim founded by the Virginia General that would provide jobs and of being a self-sustaining program prospects for convicted ent work skills to enhance employm r sentences and reintegrated felons once they completed thei into their communities. blished VCE, all institutions According to the law which esta required to purchase goods and agencies of the state are ates. A 1999 report explains produced or manufactured by inm free from this obligation if be that Virginia institutions can only ’s desired product. VCE does not offer the institution ’s contracting is with state VCE of y Although the majorit engage in joint ventures with institutions, VCE is allowed to ds and services in the open private companies and to sell goo market. e-funded institution, the As a participating Virginia stat inmate-produced goods se cha College is bound by law to pur to fiscal year budget reports and services from VCE. According spent varying amounts on its from 2014-17, the College has VCE contract. ment at the College since Erma Baker, the director of procure ion is due in part to the cycle of November 2016, said the fluctuat to new constructions projects. furniture replacement, as well as like basic office furniture, Baker VCE is able to contract for items h as medical products for the said, but specialized items — suc or the Virginia Institute of new Integrated Wellness Center, d lab building — are found Marine Science’s new consolidate elsewhere in the market. lege has spent $1,176,246 In the past four fiscal years, the Col See VCE page 3
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ACADEMICS
U.S. Senator Mark Warner to deliver spring 2018 Commencement address ‘Hidden Figures’ inspiration, NASA engineer Katherine Johnson to address crowd via video due to health issues SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As the class of 2018 prepares to walk through the doors of the Christopher Wren Building and into the world after graduating, it will come together May 12 for the College of William and Mary’s Commencement ceremony. Guiding its members out of the College and into the world will be U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.). Joining Warner in giving honorary remarks will be Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician whose story was featured in the film and book “Hidden Figures.” Due to health issues, Johnson will not be able to attend, but will still address graduates via video remarks. Her daughters, Katherine Moore and Joylette Hylick, will attend in her place. Additionally, College President Taylor Reveley will honor Johnson, Lynn Briley ’71, Karen Ely ’71 and Janet Brown Strafer ’71, M.Ed. ’77 with honorary degrees. “One of our nation’s most dedicated public servants will speak at this year’s Commencement, and we will honor the extraordinary journeys of four women of color,” Reveley said in a press statement. “Katherine Johnson’s achievements are legendary. It’s marvelous that her inspiring example has not passed quietly into obscurity. No less courageous are our three alumnae, Lynn Briley, Karen Ely and Janet Brown Strafer, who arrived on campus in 1967 as the first African-American residential students at William & Mary.
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They led the way.” Warner, considered a long-time advocate for higher education, was awarded an honorary degree at the College’s Charter Day ceremony in 2002. “Senator Warner has been a stalwart friend of William & Mary and higher education for many years,” Reveley said in a press statement. “Over the past decade he has been an especially strong advocate for members of the military and worked closely with our Law School’s Puller Clinic to ensure veterans have better access to benefits.” Chancellor Robert Gates ’65 will also be in attendance at the ceremony to offer welcoming remarks, and as this is the last Commencement that Reveley will preside over, he will offer closing remarks. Who is Mark Warner? Growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, Warner was the first person to graduate college in his family, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from George Washington University. He then went on to earn his law degree from Harvard University in 1980. In his early professional life, he co-founded the company that would become Nextel and served as the founder and managing director of the venture capital firm Columbia Capital. Then, following the influence of one of his former teachers, he was elected governor of Virginia in 2002. Since then, Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008 and then again in 2014, where he currently serves as a member on the Finance, Banking,
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Budget and Rules committees as well as Vice Chairman on the Select Committee on Intelligence. Since receiving an honorary degree in 2002, Warner has built a relationship with the College, and most recently gave the Commencement address at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law’s graduation ceremony in 2011. Who is Katherine Johnson? Born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson skipped ahead several grades and first attended high school at the age of 13. She then enrolled at the West Virginia State University five years later and graduated with highest honors. Later, Johnson was one of the first three black students to integrate graduate schools in West Virginia, and she enrolled in West Virginia University’s graduate math program, although she left at the end of the first session. In 1953, after starting a family, she moved to Virginia to start work in an all-black computing section of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ Langley Research Center. There, she co-wrote a report providing equations for orbital spaceflight with a specific landing location, completed the trajectory analysis for the Freedom 7 mission, ran orbital calculations for John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, synced Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the Command and Service Module and worked on the Space Shuttle and Earth Resources Satellite. In 1986, she retired from NASA after 33 years there.
Ted Maslin MBA ’80 says that maintaining a good relationship with the City of Williamsburg is essential for the College. page 6
Tribe baseball by the numbers
Flat Hat staff members Julia Stumbaugh and Josh Luckenbaugh take a look at what the College has done with its season so far and where it’s going from here. page 10