The Flat Hat May 1, 2024

BOARD OF VISITORS

Board members criticize cost of College

Tuition raised 2.5% for in-state, 3.3% out-of-state for next two years

Wednesday, April 24 to Friday, April 26, the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary convened for their last meeting of the academic year to raise tuition fees, create a marine science major, approve the next operating budget and discuss other matters pertinent to the College.

At the full board meeting Friday, the board voted 15-1 to raise the College’s in-state tuition by 2.5% and out-ofstate tuition by 3.3% for fscal year 2025 and 2026. Tomas Norment J.D. ’73 was not present at the meeting.

Te discussion followed a public hearing on the tuition increase Tursday, which was mandated by the Virginia Code. Two Williamsburg residents and two students spoke.

Williamsburg residents Ruth Kaiser and Sabrina Fairbanks shared their thoughts on the tuition increases, saying the College did not supplement plans to use the increased fees for more housing. Kaiser added that many at the College desire to have a residential college experience. Fairbanks also said while a large portion of tuition goes to supporting student experience, not increasing housing is the opposite of such an action.

However, the College’s 10-year comprehensive housing and dining facilities project aims to add more on-campus housing, with the frst new student housing slated to open in fall 2025.

Additionally, the frst phase of the plan will deliver new housing for 935 students on the west campus, as well as housing for 269 students in a new facility adjacent to Lemon and Hardy halls along Jamestown Road.

Camille Villa ’25, a transfer student, shared with the board her experience being an out-of-state student and emphasized the importance of scholarships.

“I was [surprised] when I saw the goals of [William and Mary], and for the wrong reasons,” Villa wrote in an email to The Flat Hat, saying that scholarships should get prioritized over campus wellness improvements such as dining and campus safety.

Somkar Dey ’25 said while he applauded the College’s budget as being well-rounded, he wanted the board to still take into consideration the impact that the tuition increase would have on students, urging the board to reconsider its decision.

“I truly appreciate the work that the Rowe administration, the Board, and the W&M Foundation for their initiatives to halt tuition and fee increases for the past few years to address the pandemic’s economic uncertainties,” Dey wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “I also give immense thanks to their efforts to balance the budget for FY2023, in light of these policies. However, I believe that the pandemic years are still not behind us. Although consumer sentiment is strong across the nation, high inflation still persists. The Federal Reserve’s plans to cut federal interest rates early this year have been shattered, and we still have the highest interest rates seen in my lifetime. It proves that we are still living in an economy defined by the COVID-19 pandemic’s fallout. If anyone is going to feel the effects of these problems, it will disproportionately be young adults like me and my peers, especially those who don’t have a defined income of their own.”

Special status students navigate fear, isolation with limited resources

ANNA ARNSBERGER // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Editor’s Notes: The Flat Hat has decided to honor the requests of several sources and keep their identities anonymous out of protection of their identities. The umbrella term “special immigration status” is used to describe those without permanent protected status, including undocumented, DACA, TPS, DED and refugee students.

Nov. 15, 2023, representatives from the College of William and Mary Student Assembly and William and Mary Fighting for Immigrant Rights and Equity met to discuss improving information for special immigration status students on the College’s website. While not the first student-led initiative to increase resources for students without permanent status, the Online Resource Committee’s work over the past six months is a recent effort to highlight this underrepresented community on campus.

Due to the private nature of their identities, there is no official data on the number of special status students at the College. However, the College is home to a notable population of students with a wide range of immigration statuses including undocumented, Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Although these students face unique challenges in applying to the College, receiving financial aid and being in an unprotected position, resources for them are decentralized and under-promoted.

A primary concern for students with precarious statuses is the need to hide their identities for their own safety. Many struggle with the isolation of being part of an invisible community. WMFIRE Co-Director and DACA recipient Katherine Fernandez ’24 explained how she wishes she knew more DACA students to connect with.

“It's very much an invisible identity. Anybody on campus could have no status and you not know because they're doing the same things you are or are limited in ways that you don't know,” Fernandez said.

An undocumented student at the College elaborated on how his unprotected status makes it harder to be an advocate.

“What feels isolating is just the pressure of like, how much am I allowed to talk about this and how much I have to keep this for myself. And just debating if I should just shut up or if I should just keep kind of advocating. And at the same time, [there’s] just a challenge that comes with advocating for the community and for myself being under the status,” he said.

Others have pointed out how diverse programming is also more accessible for different student groups.

“Because of the office that I've worked in here on campus, I was able to get a really unfiltered view of the administrative priorities of the college,” a formerlyundocumented student who now holds DACA said.

“I obviously don't know everybody. I haven't spoken to everybody in depth, but just from the glances I got from working in that office for two and a half, three years, I would say that the types of programming that's offered and resources that's offered is geared towards a lot more traditional, diverse identities. It sort of kind of falls flat when it comes to people who are dealing with some form of undocumented status.”

This dearth of community programming is not for lack of need. Many students expressed how fear is inherent in their precarious status. For undocumented students, there is the possibility

of deportation, and for TPS or DACA students, their protections may be revoked at any time. Additionally, young people with DACA typically have undocumented family members who could face deportation.

Professor and chair of sSociology and WMFIRE advisor Jennifer Bickham Mendez explained that the College’s infrastructure is not set up for students with precarious home situations.

“That kind of family instability and threat to one's security, whether or not you're going to have your parents there — I think that William and Mary is very much constructed as our students have supportive families at home who support them and are the ones paying the bill. And that is not the case for many student groups, and among those student groups for whom that's not the case are often students who have precarious immigration statuses,” Bickham Mendez said.

Many students find it difficult to handle the stress of their statuses on top of their regular responsibilities as a student.

“This is a school where everybody's always doing a lot of things that are outside of the classroom as well. So you're expected to receive very high grades in the classroom and then also get an internship. And then, you know, we love doing research here. I've personally done research a lot of times. And doing all of that is exhausting and difficult in itself. But I think having an extra layer of almost existential fear of what your situation might be the next day, really just makes difficult things even more complex,” the DACA student said.

Wesley Foundation bids Max Blalock farewell after 14 years of service

Sunday, April 28, the United Methodist Church-sponsored Wesley Foundation at the College of William and Mary hosted a farewell party for Reverend Max Blalock after his 14 years of service at the College. Current and former students as well as local church members gathered on the Wesley front lawn to celebrate Blalock with a dinner and parting speeches.

Last month, the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church informed Blalock that the Rev. Ryan LaRock is to be appointed in his place as campus minister and director of the Wesley Foundation starting July 1, 2024. The Conference’s online announcement

mentioned that this change is part of a broader “season of renewal and joy” for the Church. LaRock will additionally serve as a chief visionary for the New Town UMC and the Mission Rivers District.

“The appointment offers an opportunity for ministry innovation that enhances the connection between the Wesley Foundation and new ministries at New Town, while continuing to strengthen ministry with other Williamsburg-area churches and across the Mission Rivers district,” the Conference’s announcement read.

Elizabeth Lundy ’23, who grew up in the UMC, is aware of on-going financial struggles in the church as well as a more-recent schism over LGBTQ+ identities.

their fading future and former glory

Joshi '26 and Tom Mooney '24 say the

“I knew that there’s a lot going on with those churches in regards to the split, and I know that the churches I was in back home are struggling with funding and keeping ministers and such, and there’s been a lot of movement of pastors,” Lundy said. “But it’s shocking to me that this move was taken because he’s been here so long and he’s so embedded in the community.”

The news of Blalock’s departure came unexpectedly and much of the community has experienced shock and disbelief. Sadie Vaughan ’27, a Co-Fellowship Chair for the Wesley Foundation, still struggles to understand the Conference’s reasoning.

“So, being on the board, I am aware, like, I do know the reason,”

Vaughan said. “It’s for financial reasons and as much as I understand it, I don’t.”

For the past few weeks, Wesley Foundation members and nonmembers alike have felt deeply affected by the sudden loss.

“I am, of course, quite upset by Max Blalock's termination,” CoPresident of the Wesley Student Leadership Team Annamarie Warnke ’25 said. “He's a pillar of the Wesley community and the W and M community at large. His termination certainly wasn't something we were expecting or hoping for. It also brings a lot of hurt for all the current students and alumni who have worked with him or relied on him through difficult times.”

For the latter half of his

farewell party, community members spoke on how Blalock will be remembered. His influence on the community brought many to tears.

In an prior interview, the Wesley Small Group Chair Helen Tiffin ’26 was overcome with emotion when describing what Blalock and his tenure has meant to her.

“Something I've been saying a lot is Max Blalock is the definition of and lives out William and Mary's 'When you're here, you're home,’” Tiffin said. “Of course, he's the Wesley campus minister and he helps with everything there and he helps run Food for All, the campus food exchange. He helps with MSA, Hillel and Jewish Voices for Justice.”

PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI AND SAM BELMAR THE FLAT HAT

A lot of families cannot afford right now to even go to William and Mary in-state when theyʼre making decisions. And I donʼt think that our continual increase in tuition and fees has ample sensitivity to that situation.

̶ Brian P. Woolfolk J.D.

CW CEO Cliff Fleetʼs grand jury set for May

22

After Colonial Williamsburg CEO and Immediate Past Chair of the William and Mary Foundation Cliff Fleet ʼ91, M.A. ʼ93, J.D. ʼ95, M.B.A. ʼ95 struck Rosemary Raynal ʼ25 in October 2023, Williamsburg Commonwealthʼs Attorney Nate Green J.D. ʼ98 has announced a timeline for the charges, the Daily Press reports.

“We will make a decision on that before our next grand jury, which is scheduled for May 22,” Green told the Daily Press. “We are continuing to look at the case. We have not closed it. Whether or not Mr. Fleet is charged, that decision will be made by May 22.”

It ʻs unclear whether Fleet would be receiving criminal or civil charges., if any.

According to the Daily Press, court documents indicate that Fleet was listening to music at the time of the crash. The Flat Hat is currently not able to obtain more information and Green did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Following the crash, Director of News and Media Suzanne Clavet shared an additional statement from the College in an email to The Flat Hat.

“Todayʼs collision in Williamsburg involving a vehicle and a pedestrian is an incredibly unfortunate situation involving two members of the William & Mary Community,” the email stated. “The pedestrian is a student, and the driver is a faculty member and longtime engaged alumnus.”

CORRECTIONS

Long-time Athletics Administrator

Peel Hawthorne ’80 retires after 37 years

field hockey coach shares undergraduate experience at College, gives advice to students

In her ofce adorned with photos of her time as a women’s feld hockey coach and favorite memories at the College of William and Mary, Peel Hawthorne ’80 shared her experiences at the College as an undergraduate, a coach and later an administrator.

Making the decision to take half of a gap year after getting into the College as an early decision applicant, Hawthorne moved into the basement of Madison Hall in the spring semester of her freshman year.

“They told me that they had a space open up. And so I moved into Madison basement. And that was where all the misfts went because [they were] people that had transferred in or didn’t get along with their roommate. They had no spot, so I had no orientation whatsoever,” Hawthorne said.

She said that while she had a wonderful roommate, she was “miserable” until lacrosse started.

“I was crushed. My academic advisor, he didn’t understand athletics at all. And so he encouraged me to take 18 hours, and so I took [it] and I was a science major. So I was taking biology, chemistry, calculus, a language. And so I was taking fve classes. It was ridiculous,” Hawthorne said.

In any case, Hawthorne had a very successful athletic career as an undergraduate. According to her website page, during her career the Tribe feld hockey team posted a record of 52-13-7 and made two trips to the the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Nationals, fnishing ffth in 1979. She also helped the team allow just 0.92 goals per game during her career, while scoring fve goals as a defender.

After graduating from the College with a degree in physical education, Hawthorne received her master’s degree in sports medicine from the University of Virginia and got her certifcation as an athletic trainer. After that, she started working at the University of Richmond and Williams College in Massachusetts, where she was interim head lacrosse coach.

“I didn’t know a soul up there. I quickly made friends and found my way, but I was taking the place of a woman who was on the U.S. team, and so she took a leave of absence, and then it was touch or go, whether she would come back,” Hawthorne said. “And in the meantime, I had started looking elsewhere. And as it turned out, she did actually make the [Olympic team] and I had already given my notice that I was going to leave.”

Hawthorne said she was looking at two positions after Williams College, one for athletic training at Bucknell University and another as a head feld hockey-lacrosse coach at Connecticut College. After interviewing at Connecticut College and getting a job ofer, she took it on the spot and remained there for the next four years.

She would later serve at the College as the head feld hockey coach from 1987 to 2013. She also assisted with coaching the lacrosse team, as well as teaching classes in the McLeod Tyler Wellness Center.

“I almost left after about maybe six or seven years of that. It was really hard because I couldn’t do any of them really well and having two bosses, that was really hard,” Hawthorne said.

She said to mitigate that issue, she and her colleagues began taking classes, with Hawthorne herself taking undergraduate courses in organic chemistry and physics to try to improve her resume. However, the College split the program and let go of coaches that were teaching, focusing coaches towards only athletic duties.

“And so my job got better, then [Tess Ellis] came and she made my life better, because she was just an awesome assistant and fun person to work with,” Hawthorne said.

Ellis arrived at the College in 1993 as an assistant to Hawthorne, before taking over as feld hockey head coach after Hawthorne in 2013.

“It’s funny, when she came, we only paid assistants $4,000 a year,”

EDITOR

Hawthorne said. “We just didn’t pay assistants very well. And so, any assistant I had, if I wanted a good one, I had to provide housing. So if you go to Tess’s ofce, you’ll see all those plaques that were at the celebration the other night. And my partner came in and looked at those. And was like ‘Ah! A wall of roommates!’ Almost every assistant coach up there had lived in the garage.”

Coming from Australia, Ellis met Hawthorne at an indoor feld hockey tournament when Ellis’s team was short of a player. Hawthorne was recruited to join the team and ended up winning the tournament. Hawthorne said she told Ellis that she would want her to come work with her at the College in the future if there was an opening.

Hawthorne waited until the last minute before moving on to administration. Terry Driscoll, the athletics director at the time, told Hawthorne to “name the time” that she would want to work as an administrator.

“I said, I think, let me help me get my team through pre-season and then I’ll move over,” Hawthorne said. “Because you need all hands on deck for pre-season. It’s just grueling. And so I got through and we had two former players as our assistant coaches. And right at the end of preseason, told us that she was going to take the reins, and then we were in great shape, we had great captains, we had a good team. So we were really poised. It was a perfect time to leave.”

Hawthorne touched on the experience of working with students at the College.

“I love working with, particularly, William and Mary students,” Hawthorne said. “Everywhere I went was high academic, but, to be Division-I high academic. William and Mary just — people come here wanting the best of both worlds, and they want the highest academics. They want the challenge of high level athletics. And so it was just that every day was just a new adventure.”

She touched on the importance of keeping in touch with her former students.

“They’re so smart and funny. I still have three of my seniors from that frst year came back for the celebration. Yeah, it was just so much fun, they were just as funny and irreverent as they ever were. It was just wonderful to see them. So I maintain good relationships with almost all my players. A few of them fell of the map, but most of them have stayed in touch. And it’s just that whole opportunity to help them grow up and become young adults and make connections,” Hawthorne said.

A number of her students have gone into coaching, which Hawthorne said has always made her chuckle, especially when they would call her or send her an email apologizing and saying how they had not realized how difcult coaching was. She emphasized that student-athletes at the College often become like siblings, noting that three of her teammates were present at her retirement celebration Friday, April 19.

As an administrator in the athletics department, she got to see how much of a diference alumni donors make to athletics.

“If not for those long standing relationships and just people wanting to give back, after their own experiences, certainly mine was, I had a fantastic collegiate experience as a student-athlete,” Hawthorne said. “I got crushed initially. I righted myself eventually. And compared to William and Mary, UVA grad school was a piece of cake.”

Emphasizing relationships, she cited a group of freshman athletes in 2010 who made a pact that they were going to stay friends, even if they stopped playing. Hawthorne showed a picture of them, saying that she got the chance to officiate the wedding of one of the players.

Former

PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI // FLAT HAT NEWS

PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI / THE FLAT HAT

Graduating from the College in 1980, Hawthorne received further education in sports medicine at the University of Virginia bef ore work ing.

Students report mixed feelings about new PATH class registration system

Some

students got desired, needed classes while others received fewer than 12 credits

SHANNON RAYMOND FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.

Beginning in March 2024, the College of William and Mary implemented a new system of class registration known as PATH. While meant to ease the registration process, many students are expressing frustration with the new system, particularly the fact that some have been signed up for fewer than 12 credits.

University Registrar and Associate Provost Alana Davis remarked that PATH would make the course registration process less stressful and improve every student’s registration experience.

“The Office of the University Registrar recognizes that successful course registration is essential to navigating your academic career and that it can sometimes be a stressful process,” Davis wrote in a campus-wide email Wednesday, Feb. 14.

This new system aims to place less emphasis on the “firstcome-first-serve” aspects of the previous registration system, in favor of a non-timed, lengthier process, where the system ultimately places students in classes based on registration priorities, social class and priority group. While this cartbuilding process for the initial schedules was not “firstcome-first-serve,” the waitlist and add/drop processes did utilize a queue system in which students were placed in order of submission.

The University Registrar’s office’s PATH web page details the advantages of PATH.

“This innovative tool enables undergraduate students to rank their preferred courses in a flexible, non-timed environment during registration,” the web page reads. “Additionally, it offers valuable insights into students’ prioritized course data, benefiting the whole university by empowering departments with information and facilitating informed scheduling decisions. PATH provides a similar registration experience that students are already familiar with but with the benefit of an updated look and feel, improved search functionality, additional features, and enhanced messaging.”

However, students have reported mixed opinions about the new system.

Hadil Marah ’27 explained her frustrations with PATH.

“Well, [registration] went well for me,” Marah said. “I got some of the classes I wanted, but I just don’t like PATH, because I don’t like how long it takes for me to know my

PROFILE

schedule. And it also makes the whole process so much longer than it has to be. And instead of using add/drop for if I like this class or not, I have to use add/drop for becoming a full-time student here. So that’s incredibly stupid and inconvenient. And I like to get my schedule done the day of and then not think about it for the next month.”

However, Marah did recognize the failures of the last system.

“But I also talked to a senior and she was like, ‘Well, you’ve never gotten the short end of the stick,’” Marah said.

Here, she referenced previous crashes and failures of the old system during registration. This is part of the problem that PATH was meant to address. With cart-building lasting for a whole week and being untimed, incidents such as the crashes that occurred under the old system hoped to be avoided.

While there are students who are frustrated with the PATH system, there are also those who have seen success during their course registrations.

Lauren McClure ’27 reported a happy conclusion to her registration process.

“I feel a little guilty because PATH actually went really well for me,” McClure said. “I got all the classes I needed, it gave me the 15 credits I wanted, so I had a reasonable experience with it.”

McClure recalled feeling stressed about using the new system prior to registration, but ultimately appreciating its hands-off approach.

“I definitely was more stressed about it compared to the old system, but I like that it wasn’t really my job to get the classes that I needed anymore,” McClure said.

Many students have complicated and mixed feelings about this new system. Sarah Bigley ’27 shared her experience, sharing that she got most of the classes she wanted.

“I didn’t get a lot of the sections I wanted,” Bigley said. “But for the most part it turned out okay. I didn’t get any of the COLL 200s I wanted. But my major requirement classes, I got. So, it was okay.”

She explained that she prefers the old registration system to PATH.

“[Banner 9] was more straightforward, and PATH didn’t eliminate any stress. So, might as well go back to the old one,” Bigley added.

Throughout the PATH implementation process, the University Registrar’s office has been working to help students with any issues that may have come up during their course selection.

Davis spoke about her experience assisting students.

“I think we’re pretty aware of the high levels of stress that students have had related to the onset of PATH, the elimination of max capacity overrides, the challenges that they’ve had with the registration system,” Davis said.

Though she acknowledges the frustrations of the student body related to the new system, Davis believes students will ultimately benefit from PATH.

“Many students will have difficulty seeing that benefit in the short term,” Davis said. “So as we prepare for next semester’s registration, as we prepare for the future, I think it will ultimately be a massive benefit to students. I think that we have learned a lot about how courses are structured, how seat availability works, we can provide data to departments in ways that we couldn’t before.”

For those with lingering questions or concerns about this new registration process, there will be an opportunity to have these addressed.

“I think one thing we would want to say to the student body is we are interested in hearing what students’ experiences are like,” Davis said. We are scheduling an open forum, to be able to listen to students and their feedback. It’ll be attended by members of the university registrar’s team. I will be there. Also, other leadership in our office will be there. We’re the same people who’ve been sitting in Sadler trying to answer questions as soon as we can. We know students have feedback and questions, and we’ve tried to be as available as possible, to be able to receive that.”

This forum was held in the Sadler Center Tuesday, April 23 from 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Peel Hawthorne ’80 reflects on upcoming retirement from athletics Hawthorne encourages students to hold on to mentors they encoun ter around campus

PEEL

from page 1

In terms of challenges throughout her career, she shared she faced many different types both as a coach and as an administrator. One of them was saying “no” to coaches, as well as challenges from players and parents. Overall, however, she remarked it was such a positive experience. Coaches are educators, and coaching is her identity, she said. As an administrator, senior advisor to athletics for special projects, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator, Hawthorne would later serve in various roles across the College. She served as a member and later president of the Professionals and Professional Faculty Assembly, where she advocated for the ability for staff members to be able to take classes more easily. She would later be appointed to the President’s Task

CAMPUS

Force on Preventing Sexual Assault and Harassment, the Retention and Graduation Working Group, the Women and Philanthropy Internal Advisory Group, the 100 Years of Women Steering Committee and the Learning Spaces Planning Committee.

According to Athletics Director Brian Mann, the College also established an award in her name, the Peel Hawthorne award, as the department’s highest honor. Additionally, Hawthorne was this year’s recipient of the Shirley Aceto award, given annually to a member of the instructional or professional faculty who demonstrates an exceptional commitment to excellence in service to the campus community, according to the College.

Hawthorne said she looks forward to more free time after retirement.

“I’m pretty sure a Galapagos trip is in our future because

we’ll go there probably next year. Actually, one of my teammates is thinking about it — well, wants to. So that’ll be fun. But initially, I mean, I’ve got a lot of interest, and, obviously music is one of them. I like to sketch and I like to mess around with boats. And, hope to spend some time on the water,” Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne shared one piece of advice for students.

“I learned it from someone else, but find that one person that could be a professor, could be a coach, could be a secretary or somebody that works at the Caf that knows you by name and cares about your well-being, or could be a friend, just find that one person. If you’re lucky enough to have a mentor, grab on to them and be that inquisitive, curious person that asks a lot of questions and ask for help. I never asked, and I paid dearly for it. It’s okay to ask,” Hawthorne said.

Special status students struggle with isolation, fnding campus resources

DACA, TPS, undocumented students navigate precarious, invisible identities

SPECIAL STATUS STUDENTS from page 1

DACA must be renewed every two years. With each renewal, DACA recipients have to pay a fee of around $600 and get new documents that are tied to DACA, such as driver’s licenses. Fernandez described the stress of having to find affordable legal support and submit her renewal so frequently.

“Just doing school and everything, trying to balance, I waited till the last minute, and what that meant was for like a month or two, I didn’t have a status and was just waiting to hear back from [United States Citizenship and Immigration Service] and figure out if I got renewed or not,” Fernandez said.

Special status students face additional logistical hurdles when it comes to work, even though many find opportunities on campus. A student who only received permanent residency while in college explained that before, she felt uncomfortable having to explain her status to staff members.

“I do work on campus and getting the authorization for that was a bit weird because people aren’t familiar with the process. When you go up to them and you’re like, ‘oh, I have a work authorization, but not a social security number,’ they’re like, ‘I don’t know how to input this into your payroll thing or your I-9 or tax forms.’ And you’re like, okay. And I have to kind of walk them through that for them, which is not really my job,” she said.

While the first undocumented student has a job with the College, he is one of many students worried about citizenship requirements for outside opportunities.

“It is something that puts me on the spot sometimes when it comes to like, I have to apply for internships and I have to apply for jobs,” he said. “And sometimes I will worry about what am I going to do after college and just the benefits that other students have when it comes to being a citizen and having a social security number that I don’t.”

The ability to work under DACA was vital for the

formerly-undocumented student. He explained that he comes from a low-income family and needs financial support. This student highlighted how many special status students have compounding identities — along with their precarious immigration position, they are often low income or people of color. As a Black immigrant, he feels especially invisible.

“Dealing with being undocumented and being Black at a predominantly white institution is something that’s very difficult for a number of reasons. Some of the main reasons is that undocumented people usually don’t look like me. And so I think there’s one, undocumented people are overlooked at this school. But also, if you are of another race that is not from Hispanic origin, unfortunately you get even less coverage of the issue,” he said.

This student acknowledged how the stereotype of the Latinx undocumented immigrant harms multiple communities — while Black people are rarely acknowledged as immigrants, Latinx people are often assumed to be foreigners.

Resources for special status students are spread across campus, and the College administration does not offer any programs directly targeted at this group. Many students identified WMFIRE, a student organization dedicated to immigration education and advocacy, as a primary resource.

Additionally, the College sometimes groups special status students in with first-generation low-income students, though advocates say these communities don’t always have the same needs.

“The Venn diagram is not as close as you think it is,” former SA Undersecretary of International Affairs Eduardo Rodriguez Gonzalez ’24 said. “Like yes, there are things for first-generation low-income students, but there’s not specific resources for special status, which is, I think, a bigger hurdle to jump through sometimes.”

First-Generation Student Engagement Director Joselia Souza described FGSE’s commitment to immigrant students, despite their unique needs.

“While FGLI (Student Org & STEP Affinity Group) primarily focuses on supporting first-generation and limited-income students, it also serves as a supportive community for special immigration status students. The Office of First-Generation Student Engagement (FGSE) is in the process of building support for first-gen students, including those with special immigration status. While specific initiatives may vary, it’s crucial that all students feel welcome and included in FGSE/FGLI spaces,” Souza wrote in an email to The Flat Hat.

Additionally, due to their expertise with visas, some students seek assistance with the Reves Center for International Studies. However, this office is not set up for special immigration status students.

“I know and they do have resources for international students. But since I grew up here, I didn’t feel as much of a need because I feel that the assistance they have for international students is more for adjusting to life here and navigating US and how to deal with culture shock. But I was raised here for pretty much all of my life, so I didn’t use those resources,” one student said.

The College’s website also lists the “DACA/ Undocumented Advisory and Support Council” as a support system made up of professors, administrators, alumni and students. The council was formed in 2021 to aid DACA and undocumented students. However, Bickham Mendez said that the group did not achieve much and effectively dissolved after former Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Leadership Andrew Stelljes Ph.D. ’07 left.

HAWTHORNE

Humanities: their fading future and former glory

The new music building is an ugly piece of sh—t. Excuse our language, but it’s true. It’s boring, full of empty space and in a lot of ways, disadvantageous for the students that frequent the building — ourselves included. But that isn’t really what this article is going to be about. Instead, we are using the music building as an example of how administration at the College of William and Mary doesn’t actually care about the longstanding academic traditions that have made it a central part of American higher education for almost 400 years.

The way we see it, the College is attempting to fight a battle it cannot win. It is clear the College has been emphasizing a move towards growing STEM departments. Projects like ISC 4 and the School of Data Science are clear indicators that the College’s academic and financial visions greatly neglect the humanities. The College’s history has been steeped in the humanities since it was chartered. It is known as one of THE liberal arts schools in the country. We live in one of the most crucial locations in American colonial history. This school was founded to fuel the study of subjects like history, English and many others. Instead of embracing and capitalizing on the College’s foundations, the administration would rather enter the race towards becoming a STEM school.

Let me use Virginia Tech as an example. VT is known as the university someone should go to for engineering, they love it over there. It was a school founded for that reason and they embrace it. Same goes for the University of Virginia for subjects like pre-med and other sciences. Their humanities departments are not as popular because they are schools with foundations and histories in STEM. These universities embrace the academic traditions they were founded upon. But instead of giving humanities departments the attention they need, the College would rather choose to neglect its very foundations.

But why? We did just get a new music and arts building; that should be enough, right? Cue Extremely Loud Incorrect Buzzer. The new music building is honestly embarrassing. Yes, it may have seemed

nice at first, but it didn’t take long for us to notice the mediocrity of the building. It looks like a prison from the outside and feels empty on the inside. Not to mention that for some reason, someone decided to include three auditoriums in the building. This would be fine if they weren’t all meant to almost feel like recital halls. Groups like Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra can barely fit on the stages, and the seating is surprisingly limited.

As sad as it is to say, it seems to be the reality that STEM is where the money is. This is not inherently bad, as STEM has a place at the College. What is bad is continuously funneling money into new STEM resources while financially disregarding humanities departments. We have already seen the slow gutting of the foreign languages departments with the dismantling of the German major (I wouldn’t be surprised if more languages follow), but there has also been decreased funding across all humanities departments. Even the bigger humanities departments like English and history have seen decreased funding for research and staff cuts. And as students in humanities majors, it is absolutely disheartening to see what we care about being tossed to the side.

It might seem like I hate STEM and think that those departments should not be funded. In fact, STEM absolutely has a place at the College. But neglecting certain disciplines traditionally embraced by the College and substituting a STEM-forward approach is not only a disservice to current students of those disciplines but also to faculty looking for research funding, as well as alumni. The school is essentially condensing the educational quality bell curve: the humanities get neglected and the STEM programs are halfbaked, resulting in a sub-par and criminally oversold educational experience.

Avi Joshi ‘26 is a prospective English and education major. He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Wind Ensemble. Contact him at asjoshi@ wm.edu.

Tom Mooney ‘24 is a linguistics major. He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Catholic Campus Ministry. Contacthimattfmooney@wm.edu.

College’s race against time: how do you win it?

Lana Altunashvili

As a freshman of the class of 2027, I’ve realized this year that the entirety of the college experience, especially freshman year, is a race against time. Let me explain. I’ve started writing this article several times now, trying to find the right words to summarize an entirety of nine months in a couple of paragraphs of about 800 words. The longer I tried, the less sense I made. So, finally, I’ve decided to abandon my naive hopes of reflecting on countless experiences of freshman year in a single article and to simply share some things I’ve only internalized now, two weeks before the last day of classes of my first year at the College of William and Mary. A fact that may be obvious to everyone and still goes unnoticed in the everyday chaos of students’ lives is that college is a race against time — a race that we inevitably always lose, unable to tell how everything went by so quickly. But maybe if we were to set our own terms in this game, things could change then.

Seeing the dread settle in my friends’ eyes when I mention how much time is left in our freshman year, I find it a bit funny how we think of graduation as a “doomsday” of sorts rather than a liberation and a gaining of independence. Of course, I’m no stranger to the feeling either, but I feel like we have the wrong approach to all of this. I felt it myself this year. Coming into the College

Earl the Squirrel: Extension

with one major, I then changed it not once, not twice, but three times, before finally settling on my last choice. It comes as no wonder then that I took classes I may never, ever need. General chemistry? Definitely of no use to an international relations major. Neither is calculus or accounting. That’s why, sometime in the middle of the second semester, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d wasted my freshman year on nothing but potential interests and majors. But then again, isn’t that what college is for? Especially this one, where all of this seeming indecisiveness is more encouraged than it is frowned upon. My “lost” race against time, as I’d been seeing it, became a productive use of time when I realized that all of the classes I’d taken had not only made me a more well-rounded person but also made me realize that I wanted to do something else, even if I really enjoyed the courses themselves. In essence, things are only as good and bad as the lens you look at them from, and time is only as wasted as you make it out to be.

Looking at the countdown in our dorm room as my roommate changes the number from “21” to “20 days left until move out,” I think back to what things were like nine months ago when I came here for orientation and everything that’s happened since. And you know what? I realized that the reason why I can’t reflect on the experiences of freshman year, the

reason why I can’t write an article on just those events alone, is because I haven’t really been paying attention for most of these nine months. I’ve been getting good grades and I’ve spent good times with friends, but so much of the year has been about what I will be doing in the future and what major I want to choose, which semester I want to spend abroad, what internship I want to do in the summer, that I’ve neglected to think about what I have right now. I’ve been waking up every morning waiting for fall break, winter holidays, summer vacation. Now that the latter is almost here, I feel nostalgic about the things I didn’t fully experience, simply because I’ve been waiting for something else to come around. This freshman race against time, though, isn’t isolated to first-year students, which makes it so much worse. We only have so much time here, and since we’re not really going anywhere, why not make the most of it? Time goes by faster when you don’t constantly look at the clock, anyway, so we might as well pay attention to the small things worth remembering for years down the road.

I, myself, will remember the time we went canoeing on Lake Matoaka. The time my suitemate and I accidentally added too much Habanero powder to our omelets and could barely eat them afterwards. I’ll remember the time I first saw an article of mine in print and took it home. How my friends made fun of me when I said pineapple was the only real fruit here, and how later they sometimes brought me pineapple and blueberries in a cup. I’ll remember the time when we celebrated my friend’s birthday and then went on a tour of campus looking at the stars. How I helped my suitemate survive for a bit longer in a game of assassins by switching the names on our doors. And, look, I won’t pretend I am going to remember these things forever, but thinking about them now makes me smile like an idiot at my computer on the first floor of Earl Gregg Swem Library, so make of that what you will.

My point with all of this is that though I can’t speak for everyone on how this academic year went, I know that many of us will remember some of the small, insignificant and yet some of the most memorable things that happened during these nine months. I doubt any of the mundane projects we completed or essays we wrote will still be in our minds next year. And yet, the tennis games we played, the people we laughed with and the sunsets we saw — those things don’t tend to leave us that soon. So while you’re here trying to plan out your entire life, trying to win the race against time, why not try and make the rules of the game your own?

LanaAltunashvili’27isaprospective international relations major. She is a James Monroe Scholar and a member of Club Tennis. Contact her at laltunashvili@wm.edu.

GRAPHIC

Joshi and Tom Mooney

JAMIE

GUEST COLUMN

Taking stock of LDOC

John Powers CHIEF OPINIONS WRITER

I am finishing my fourth semester at the College of William and Mary and have never attended any Blowout festivities. I don’t think I ever will.

At the end of every semester, students at the College celebrate their hard work with a day of alcohol consumption and time with friends. Blowout serves as a short reprieve from the stress of finals looming over students. With LDOC quickly approaching, many will be preparing all the essentials for their borgs and making plans with friends. But if you are someone who finds yourself not doing so, you’re not alone and you just might benefit from it. Indeed, there are hidden costs to Blowout.

First, students should consider what truly matters on LDOC. A few intoxicated hours of having fun with friends is temporary, but final grades are forever. Final exams are not just any assignment. They comprise a sizable chunk of evaluation, providing students with an opportunity to make or break their course grade. Put differently, attending Blowout festivities isn’t like going out on a normal Friday during the semester. In that case, you might be able to manage the lost time from partying and a possible hangover, since your work for the following week might be low-stakes assignments. That may not be true of final exams, which require a greater level of effort.

After LDOC, students just have the weekend before finals officially begin. You might get lucky and not have an exam on the first day of finals, but I have found that it is quite common to have at least one final exam in the beginning

STAFF

of the finals period. For most students, this means that the weekend is a critical time to study and put your best foot forward for your classes. You might say that Blowout doesn’t take place during the weekend, so there is still time to study. One should consider the effect of hangovers, though. Hangovers can last 24 hours or even more, especially if you have consumed excessive amounts of alcohol. This can leave you weak and fatigued throughout the weekend, unable to study or not able to study effectively.

Sleep plays an important role in this discussion. Alcohol might help you get to sleep faster, but it will reduce sleep quality. Even limited consumption of alcohol can reduce sleep quality. Finals season is probably the last time that you would want to have diminished sleep quality, though. Michael K. Scullin’s

“The Eight Hour Sleep Challenge During Final Exams Week” article found that students who slept more than eight hours each night before final exams performed better than those who did not.

Of course, grades are not the be-all and end-all of your college experience. Grades say nothing about your character, and getting poor grades could serve as a valuable learning experience. Nevertheless, it is rational to increase the likelihood of achieving higher grades by ditching Blowout. While C’s get degrees, A’s and B’s look a lot better to prospective employers and graduate schools.

Maybe you’re just built different, though, and you’ve always managed to achieve both good grades and attend Blowout. A word of caution would be the increased police presence around campus. This semester’s Blowout will be unlike those of prior semesters. Police will be patrolling the area and could stop any student for reasonable suspicion of intoxication. If you are underage or otherwise breaking the law, you could get arrested. So, not only will you be behind on exams studying from a likely hangover, but you will also have to deal with legal issues and spend even more time away from studying. You’ll likely face Community Values and Restorative Practices and go through the college’s disciplinary process, adding even more stress to your plate. The same risk of disciplinary action applies if your not-so-chill RA finds you intoxicated in a residence hall common area. In short, it only takes one LDOC to seriously damage your conduct record.

Take my points with a grain of salt. If you love Blowout, more power to you. Still, there are logical reasons to skip out on this tradition, and you’re not any less of a member of the Tribe for doing so.

JohnPowers’26isapublicpolicymajorfromBrooklyn,NY.HeisaresidentassistantandamemberoftheUndergraduateMootCourtCompetition team.Emailhimatjdpowers@wm.edu.

Adam’s Apple #5: dealing with burnout

They say that the most beautiful poetry is always born out of the most profound pain, and I now have proof that they are right. You see, over the past few minutes I have gone through an experience more agonizing than any I have known before. I checked in with Karis Koutsourelakis, Flat Hat Social Media Editor, to see whether any questions had been submitted for Adam’s Apple this week. I expected the answer to be either “no” or “yeah we got one this time,” as it had been for each of the past three occasions. However, it turns out that we had received five.

Hallelujah, right? An answer to my prayers, right? The lamentations and castigations I shot at you, my readership, in the introduction of my last article worked, right? I sure thought so. That is, until I read the questions. Were they bad? Inappropriate? A joke? I wish. No, you see, they were five of the most wonderful, eloquent, challenging questions I have ever been asked. Once again: praise the Lord, right? Not at all. For, you see, tradition dictates I choose only one of them. It’s like having five beautiful children but being forced to fling four of them directly into the ocean. Maybe even worse than that. What cruel irony it is that a few weeks ago I wanted nothing more than what I now have before me, only to now be willing to give everything I have to go back to the way things were!

What flower could bloom in such a dark room? What poetry could arise from such misery? Well, in this case, literal poetry. You see, I wrote a brief poem that captures the emotional state of my soul at this exact moment, the perpetual and insatiable longing that rules my reality. And if my poem brings others a speck of comfort in their darkest day, as it has brought me a speck of comfort in mine, it all will have been worth it. Here it is:

The water is always bluer on the other side.

Don’t be afraid to read that over and over again until the depth, insight and novelty of the message has washed over and consumed you. I toyed around with a slightly different variation, the sun is always oranger on the other side, but ultimately went in the direction I did, both because the sun is more yellow than orange and because frankly I’m not convinced “oranger” is a word. Which is weird, because it should be a word. Why are bluer, redder, yellower and greener definitely all words, while oranger is not? Something to chew on. (Maybe oranger is a word, but if so, Microsoft Word and its red squiggly underline definitely did not get the memo.)

Another silver lining is that choosing which question to answer was made slightly easier by the fact that two of the five questions concerned the same topic. I figure that by picking that topic, my heart is only broken three times over instead of four. The topic is, very topically, finals.

The two questions were slightly different, and the one I will be answering here asked specifically about dealing with burnout in the days before and surrounding finals. There is a lot of good information on the internet about the signs, causes and

potential cures to burnout, so I figure that — instead of reheating and regurgitating those many banal adages — I should instead share a strategy that is a bit more … risky. I call it hyper-burnout.

Basically, the idea is that you force yourself to enter a state of burnout so severe (hyperburnout) that your mind begins to, and forgive the technical jargon here, melt. The key is that the part of the brain which is able to learn, retain and communicate factual information, i.e. the part of the brain critical to studying and testtaking, has a higher melting temperature than the part of the brain which conceptualizes states like stress, lack of motivation and burnout. So, if you allow your brain to melt via hyper-burnout, it will fry the burnout region earlier than the study region. There is no need to worry it will go too far and fry the important parts, as once the burnout region is killed you also kill the hyper-burnout and stop the melting process. Analogically, it’s like using fire (hyper-burnout) to eat all the oxygen (burnout region), in the process killing the fire (hyper-burnout) before we kill the people (your ability to take tests).

Obviously, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Based on my research, the easiest way to enter hyper-burnout reliably and (relatively) safely is with the following eight-step plan: Stitch together a blanket-sized quilt made of pages from various textbooks for classes you have taken or are taking. (Note: If you pirate all your textbooks online, as most people do, you will unfortunately have to stitch together laptop computers.)

For each class you are in, find a YouTube video of someone explaining a difficult concept from that class. Open each in a different tab. For each video, randomly scale the speed of the video somewhere between 0.25x and 4x original speed (perhaps with the assistance of a random number generator). Go to bed at 4:30 in the morning, wearing the textbook blanket and with all of the speed-adjusted YouTube videos playing on top of one another in the background. Set an alarm for n minutes later, where n is the lowest grade you’ve ever gotten on a test in your life. When the alarm goes off, if you wake up in a scary, shadowy realm that vaguely resembles the Sunken Garden you know you’re doing something right.

Once there, a dark green goblin-like creature named Prodazark will approach you and ask if you want to join a study group he’s starting. Though it should go without saying, tell him no. Ask him instead to lead you to the Lake of Comparison.

When you reach the Lake of Comparison (which should look vaguely like the Crim Dell), look at your reflection and you should see the face of someone at the College who has a higher GPA, received more awards and just seems more in control of their life than you. Pull up and read their LinkedIn page out loud, then

take a drink from the lake. If you do this correctly, the lake should split open and a staircase going downward will be revealed in the lake. Walk down the staircase and you should eventually find yourself in a dark, mist-filled version of the third floor of Swem library, packed to the brim with strange creatures. Find an eight-eyed, seven-winged being named Salaphthimus, and sit next to it. There should be two things in front of you: a notebook of barely decipherable notes from what appears to be a geology class, and a timer counting down from 10 minutes. Read and learn everything in the notebook before the timer reaches zero, without getting distracted by the YouTube video Salaphthimus is watching.

If you succeed, then when the timer hits zero you will fall through the floor via a sort of wormhole, and falling alongside you will be three small, adorable creatures which are the embodiment of the concepts success, appreciation and contentment. Reach for them. You will find them just out of grasp. Reach harder. Stretch out as far as your tissues will allow for the creatures. Keep. Reaching. If you reach hard enough, your body will begin to heat up until eventually it will feel as though you are on fire. This is hyper-burnout. Eventually, your freefall will be interrupted by the ground. When this happens, you’ll wake up.

If you managed to reach hyper-burnout before hitting the ground, then when you wake up you will find yourself free of all stresses, fatigues and anxieties. Your mind will be clear and eager to learn, and you will be ready to soak up course material like a sponge. You will feel motivated like never before. Now go take those finals by the horns! If you didn’t manage to reach hyper-burnout, then — unfortunately — you will probably be excruciatingly miserable and unmotivated for the next couple weeks. Oops, should have reached harder!

AdamJutt’25isamathandeconomicsmajorfromCincinnati,Ohiowhowrites articlessometimes.Contacthimatadjutt@ wm.edu.

Sortition for SA

Michael Foley & Grant Yoon THE FLAT HAT

Student Assembly officials shouldn’t be elected, they should be randomly selected. This somewhat radical idea has roots in ancient Athens where, for centuries, public officials were chosen via sortition. Sortition is the selection of public officials by lottery rather than election. We know it sounds like an insane idea, but bear with us. Our goal with this article is not to convince you that sortition is a perfect system that should be implemented everywhere, we haven’t even convinced ourselves of that, but rather that it is a system with enough merit to be worth trying, and that the College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly offers the perfect laboratory within which we can test out the concept.

Our argument for sortition at the College boils down to this: randomly selected legislators would govern more effectively and promote a more inclusive culture surrounding student government on this campus.

Our current system of elections suffers from one major issue: it does not necessarily select for the best or most representative legislators, it selects for the best campaigners, all of whom selfselected for consideration. Elections for freshman class Student Assembly representatives begin only a few short weeks after the start of classes. At this time, most students are still getting oriented to college life and the last thing on their minds is student government. As a result, the candidates in these initial elections often share similar interests, personalities, backgrounds and goals. Many have prior experience with student government and likely view SA as a stepping stone toward their post-grad ambitions. This is problematic because it alienates students from their representatives and results in legislatures that do not reflect the diversity of thought and background found on our campus. Evidence of this alienation can be found in the interest, or lack thereof, in SA happenings. While there is a general murmur of excitement around election season, people don’t feel connected to SA unless they are one of the few students actively involved. There is a lack of trust regarding the authenticity of SA initiatives: to what extent are they resume-padding, or otherwise using their position just for show? Since the motivations of SA officials are questioned, their ability to effect change is greatly limited. A sortition-based system would result in an assembly that, by nature of its diversity, would feel much more legitimate and accessible. Randomly selecting about 20 representatives (or more) each year would expand the reach and relevance of SA on campus; people would have a reason to care if their friend, or someone from their walk of campus, was organizing an event rather than an elected official they’ve spoken to just once. Sortition would allow students who might otherwise never consider running for office to get involved, bringing new perspectives to the table. Type-A personalities certainly have a place in politics, but theirs should not be the only ones.

While some might say that the self-selection inherent to campaigns ensures that our legislators are those most interested in devoting time to SA, we’d argue that this interest is actually a bad thing. If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that SA has become a highly politicized institution that takes itself too seriously. The recent election(s) included alleged misinformation campaigns, an appeal of election results and a Review Board opinion that cited the Hatch Act. Given recent events, it is hard to imagine that within SA, pursuit of personal ambition has not come at the expense of transparency, relatability and effective governance. In a sortition-based system, the ambitions of legislators are limited to the impact that they can make through policy. The goalposts shift from winning campaigns to making a positive impact and proving oneself worthy of selection. Studies suggest that randomly selected leaders govern more effectively for this very reason.

Now, we’ll admit, sortition is not a perfect system. In fact, despite what our clickbait intro suggests, we do not believe we should eliminate elected representatives. Instead, we think we should augment them with the addition of a new legislative body consisting of randomly-selected student legislators. Such a body would bring many of the benefits of sortition to the student government process and would provide a great opportunity to research the efficacy of a randomly-selected legislature. Such experiments are not unprecedented. Countries like Ireland, Iceland, Canada and Bolivia have all experimented with sortition. However, despite its growing popularity abroad, sortition has yet to make a major impression on academic and political circles in the United States. SA provides a low-stakes environment in which we can test out the idea and introduce it to American politicians, researchers and the general public. The decisions we make as students can have real-world implications: If the College were to implement sortition, it would make headlines. Hundreds of years ago, the earliest alumni of the College discussed revolutionary ideas that changed the course of American politics. I think it’s time we continued our Alma Mater’s tradition — this time without rampant elitism and bigotry.

MichaelFoley’26isaneconomicsmajorandfinanceminor. HeisamemberoftheDeltaChiFraternity,theInstitutefor IntegrativeConservationandvariousotherclubswhoseemail listsheneverunsubscribedfrom.Inhisfreetime,heenjoys readingandplayinglousybasketball.Contacthimatmefoley02@wm.edu. GrantYoon’27isaprospectiveEnglishmajor.Heenjoyswritingpoetryforthecampusliterarymagazine,theGallery,and readingwhateverbookshaveagoodvibetothem(currentlyon IrisMurdoch’sTheSea,TheSea). Healsolikessittingbylarge bodiesofwater,drinkinglotsofcoffeeandoverthinkingmovies, songsandthingsingeneral.Contacthimatgiyoon@wm.edu.

COLUMN

JAMIE

GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT

Adam Jutt

The College of William and Mary is host to a multitude of unique and interesting clubs, one of which is the William and Mary Tea Society. Members of the Tea Society come together once a week on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Students are free to bring their own mugs and indulge in one of the many flavors of tea that are provided for them as they relax, listen to music and chat.

“I think it fills a niche,” Tea Society Secretary Al Tran ’24 said. “There are clubs that are for a career, clubs where you are active and there are clubs you just do because you love it, and tea is something that can connect with a lot of people.”

The club is an interest group for those who enjoy brewing, drinking and learning about tea, but it also serves as a place for people to come together and relax after a long day. Tea Society Member Vanessa Ma ’24 reflected that a space like Tea Society where people are able to relax for a time is important for students at the College, a notoriously academically rigorous school.

“On our busy campus, I think Tea Society gives students a muchneeded break to wind down,” Ma said in an email. “Tea Society is very laid-back and is just as they say: an opportunity to grab a cup of tea. Meetings are very casual and people can come and go as they please.”

The club was founded about five years ago and was doing well before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, membership diminished greatly. However, former and current leaders of the Tea

COZY CUP OF CULTURE

Tea Society promotes relaxation, spotlights regional teas

Society have spent the last few years trying to revitalize the club, bringing in new members and doing events to generate interest and expand the club.

“My really good friend Joey, who was president last year, wanted to revitalize it, and he did a really fantastic job, and I was lucky enough to take it over,” Tea Society President Aisling Ringrose ’24 said.

Outside of its weekly meetings, Tea Society also hosts occasional special events, including organized boba trips, purchasing tea from specialty shops and social events and tea parties with other organizations on campus. Most recently, the Tea Society collaborated with the Vietnamese Student Association to host a Vietnamese tea party.

“There are a lot of different tea cultures,” Tran said. “It’s just an opportunity to learn about different types of teas and different cultures that you didn’t really know much about. I’m Vietnamese so I knew about Vietnamese tea, but that was an opportunity to show other people what my culture was.”

At the Vietnamese Tea Party, members of VSA joined the Tea Society and gave a presentation on Vietnamese tea culture and Vietnam’s relationship with tea. VSA also shared recipes as part of a themed tea tasting. The tasting included selections such as Hanoi lime iced tea, Saigon cinnamon tea, lotus tea and jasmine pearl tea.

“An important part of many tea cultures is socialization and

how a warm pot of tea brings people together,” Ma said. “There’s a Vietnamese saying that basically translates to how the tea, water and teapot are just as important as the people you share it with. Tea is a shared experience that people can connect with and transcends culture. Trying different teas allows people to experience a new world.”

In the future, the Tea Society is hoping that it can work with more cultural groups across campus. With a few plans already in the works, it is looking to expand its reach and bring attention to not only itself, but also to other cultural groups on campus. Ringrose shared how there are many ways in which different cultures can be shared, including through drinks and conversation like in Tea Society.

“I wanted to do cultural stuff because we haven’t done any of that in the past and I think that maybe it’s something we should have done earlier,” Ringrose said. “I know it was just getting the club started, but I’m glad we’re starting off on it now, because tea is such a cultural thing and tea is not just an American thing or just a British thing or even an Irish thing. It’s very old and it’s very sacred to many cultures.”

As the Tea Society continues to grow its membership and take on new opportunities, it encourages students to stop by to relax, meet new people and learn more about tea and its culture.

“Our room is open,” Ringrose said. “You’re welcome to swing by and we’ll give you some tea.”

Screening, convening

CATALINA CAMPOS // CHIEF FEATURES WRITER

Take a moment to imagine yourself on a Tuesday night. You are walking around Sunken Garden, the air is warm and you have just finished that long essay for that one class you have been working on all weekend. Unsure about what to do with this newfound time, you check the time on your phone and — can you believe it? It’s 7:30 p.m. and you are right in front of Tucker Hall. Those who consider themselves a part of this group should know that at exactly this time, the W&M Film Society club is hosting its weekly meeting in Tucker Theatre.

W&M Film Society is a club dedicated to finding, watching and discussing all forms of filmed media. The club has a lot to offer to any students interested in learning more about the art of film or just relaxing while enjoying a good movie.

W&M Film Society Vice President and Social Media Chair Neveah Galluccio ’26 is responsible for providing updates on upcoming meetings through the club’s Instagram and GroupMe and responding to inquiries through direct messages. Galluccio said the club’s GroupMe has 240 members, although not everyone comes to every meeting.

Gallucio explained how attendance varies depending on the film that is being screened and on the time of the semester, averaging between five and fifteen members in addition to exec. Pyle described the club as personal and laid-back, given that members can choose when to show up and how the small numbers in attendance allow for more private and casual gatherings.

“Film Society is honestly very chill,” Pyle said. “We just get together and watch movies, but, I think on a larger scale it’s sort of opened people’s minds about film. It definitely explores film more as an art form, so we try to pick out movies that most people probably haven’t seen or movies that aren’t necessarily mainstream, just to broaden people’s scope on film.”

The club’s weekly meetings involve screenings of different films. They vary in release date and genre, and are either chosen by club president Reagan Pyle ’26 or voted upon by club members through a poll. Before the screening, Pyle usually gives fun facts related to the movie. Afterward, members can choose to stay for a little while to discuss the film, such as what they liked or did not like, or even about more technical aspects connected to the art of film.

As a film and media major, Pyle has found benefits within the club that will help her in her future career.

“I think that being on exec has been a huge help for me, just in terms of gaining more experience in leading something like this, learning better organizational skills and stuff like that that are needed to run a club,” Pyle said. “But, in terms of the film side, for me as a film major, I love watching movies, and I think that there’s always something that you can learn from just about anything you watch. Even if it’s a bad one, you’re learning: ‘Oh, so maybe I shouldn’t do that when I make my movies.’”

As club president, Pyle has the reins in terms of what direction she wants the club to follow. She shared some intentions she has for Film Society.

“Because most of the members aren’t actually film majors, they just like movies, I think that for them, I try to just make it a place where they can relax and not really think about all of the work that they have to do. It’s just a good break to take,” Pyle said.

“I’m so passionate about film, so, because of that, I want to share my passion with as many people as I can, and I want to open up other

people’s eyes to how raw film is.”

Andre Nguyen ’25 is a spring transfer student who joined the club at the beginning of this semester. Before arriving on campus, Nguyen had a few goals he wanted to achieve here at the College of William and Mary. One of them was learning more about film and its art. He described Film Society as having helped him achieve this aim.

“I got into film pretty recently,” Nguyen said. “I didn’t take it very seriously, but once I did, I looked for a bunch of clubs on campus before transferring here that are about film.”

Pyle had a few words for those who are still hesitant about joining the club.

“Generally just all the creativity behind [film] is so huge. I think that a lot of times, film is really undervalued as an art form. We’ll kind of see it as one dimensional, but, there’s so much depth in film, if you are watching the right ones,” Pyle said.

It’s never too late to reach out to W&M Film Society through its social media account to ask more about the club and join. If you need a break from that important assignment, or you really want to learn about what makes a film good, this club has just what you need.

COURTESY IMAGES / AINSLING RINGROSE

LIZZIE HENRY // THE FLAT HAT

HOLE IN ONE

Club Disc Golf offers unique sport, competition environment

Disc golf has arrived at the College of William and Mary. The sport, also known as frisbee golf, has players throw discs into baskets, aiming to complete each hole in the fewest number of throws. It originated in the late 1970s and has expanded across the country since then. Disc golf tournaments have been held at colleges and universities all over the U.S. for some time, and as of recently, the College has just joined this evolving scene.

On Feb. 26, Club Disc Golf was officially founded by Max Stayton ’25 and Max Grill ’26, and just two months later, the team has made some major strides. The team’s three other members are Ian Krajna ’24, Cameron Byer Ph.D ’27 and Nico Gonzalez ’26. Stayton, Krajna and Byer all came to disc golf in different ways. Stayton, for one, discovered disc golf during COVID, and he has been playing since then, always with a hope of competing.

“I would play with my friends but I never competed in tournaments. It’s something that I always wanted to do,” Stayton said.

Krajna was introduced to disc golf by his dad and grew up playing the sport along with soccer. He originally came to the

College to play D1 soccer, but he has recently reignited his passion for disc golf. Byer was part of the disc golf scene at his undergraduate institution, Eastern Mennonite University, and since coming to the College for his graduate program, he was hoping to transfer the sport here to Williamsburg. He and Krajna met and found Stayton out on the disc golf field shortly after.

“I ran into Max and ended up playing with him, and Max was by and far the best player, and I thought: I need to tell Cam about Max,” Krajna said.

Thanks to Byer’s experience with disc golf at EMU, the group was able to band together some people to compete at a tournament hosted there, which ended up being a precursor to the founding of Club Disc Golf and further competitions that were to follow.

Shortly after its official founding, Club Disc Golf attended the Liberty Flamethrower qualifier tournament on March 16-17. In its last, and most competitive, qualifier tournament, Club Disc Golf, along with Penn State, qualified to move on to the next tournament in Rock Hill, South Carolina. While celebrating its success, the team also reflected on some potential challenges that arose from the upcoming trip.

DIRECTORIAL

Directing a play, especially one f lled with complicated themes and intimate moments, is often described by creatives as not for the faint of heart, but doing it completely independently can present a di ferent challenge entirely. However, one senior at the College of William and Mary was up to the task and directed a successful production right here at the College.

Cam Jones ’24 has been surrounded by theater his entire life, with his involvement starting from a young age and continuing through his time at the College. Jones has done mainstage shows through the theater department and other student theater organizations, and he has taken theater courses at the College. To Jones, these experiences have helped shape him as a person.

“I think it has made me a lot more outgoing as a person, and I think I’m pretty good at understanding how people think and reading people because of reading so many plays and understanding di ferent characters from that,” Jones said.

Te idea to direct a play himself came to Jones around December, and for a variety of factors, he decided that he should start an independent production in particular.

“I was really interested in directing, but there’s a lot of requirements to be in the directing class, and because of my major I didn’t have the opportunity to take the directing class,” Jones said. “And I was wanting to be able to direct and produce a show without the sort of restriction that the department puts on things, because obviously they have oversight over everything and you don’t have as much freedom.”

Jones chose to direct a production of the early 2000s play “Rabbit Hole,” which is an emotion-f lled Pulitzer Prize-winning piece about a family coping with and grieving about the sudden loss of a young child. As one of Jones’s favorite plays, “Rabbit Hole,” would also prove to be be ftting for his situation as a f rsttime director because of its smaller scale.

“I think it’s a really well-written play,” Jones said. “I think it’s well-suited for an independently-produced student theater production, because it’s got a very small cast. It’s a very intimate production, and I think it works well in the space that we had available,

“We had to scramble to fundraise, find a place to stay, register for the tournament, make sure everyone had the necessary qualifications to actually be eligible to play, all in a week and a half or two,” Krajna said.

Through its own fundraising efforts, along with the help from the Colonial Disc Golf Club in Newport News, the disc golf team raised close to $2,000 total. This meant it had funds left over for future tournaments, since it was not just able to fund the trip, but it had some money to spare as well.

April 3-6, the team made its national debut in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Surrounded by collegiate disc golf teams from all over the country, the group set out to compete in both the singles and doubles division. Byer described the unique format for the doubles division, highlighting how the Club Disc Golf team worked together to try to come out on top.

“You have teams of four, and the four is broken up into two pairs. [Stayton] and I were partners for nationals, and we would tee up on all of the even holes,” Byer said. “So at the even holes, [Stayton] and I would tee off and the other two, Nico and Ian, would play from the better of our two shots. So if I throw a lousy shot and [Stayton] throws a good shot, then they will throw from wherever [Stayton] shot. And we do that alternatingly.”

At the end of the competition, Club Disc Golf placed 10th in the country at their very first nationals tournament. According to many members of the group, this result is only the beginning.

“I think the biggest thing is nationals,” Stayton said. “Tat’s the big event, that’s what every team is working for. I think with the same crew, or with a diferent crew, we could defnitely vie for the win next year, so that’s the goal.”

The team is eager to build on the success it achieved at the last nationals as it sets its sights on the upcoming year. Additionally, Club Disc Golf is striving to grow its presence here at the College, with the hope that more and more people can be introduced to the sport.

“There’s so many people that I have played disc golf with who hadn’t played before, that just kind of stumble into the sport and love it and then start playing a lot,” Byer said. “I think there are a lot of people who would love disc golf if they get the chance to try it out.”

Ultimately, members of the club highlighted how disc golf can be for anyone, given its financial and physical accessibility. On top of this, Club Disc Golf talked about how the sport is also a great opportunity to immerse oneself in nature and disconnect from outside pressures. That aspect is what Krajna loves the most.

“I think in this day and age, there’s a lot of screens everywhere, and disc golf is such a great place to get away from all of that for a second and be out in nature,” Krajna said. “For me, that’s what did it when I got back into the sport.”

Those who are convinced can follow @wmdiscgolf on Instagram to “stumble into” the sport themselves.

DEBUT

Hole”

which was in Ewell Hall.”

To take on such an emotional and complicated play, Jones relied on both his intuition from personal experiences and the advice of theater professor David Garrett and theater lecturer Bridget Wolf.

“I consulted professionals that I had taken classes with, and I asked them for advice about ways to direct certain things,” Jones said.

“Because this play is so interpersonal, I did rely on a decent amount of personal experiences to try and guide people towards how I wanted them to move the scene forward. It was de f nitely an emotional experience just because I was relying on so much personal stu f .”

Being in charge of such a powerful production

was not a task that Jones took lightly, and he

worked to ensure that all voices involved were heard and respected.

“I was very much wanting an open, collaborative environment. Because it was my f rst time directing, I knew I wasn’t going to be perfect, so the f rst day we had a rehearsal, I was like ‘please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas, I want to hear from you, I want this to be a collaborative process,’” Jones said. “Because part of it is that this show is so kind of traumatic and dark, I wanted everyone to feel really comfortable and safe in this environment. So if there were any concerns, I wanted people to bring it up immediately.”

Tere are a number of themes, such as grief

and loss of a family member, within “Rabbit Hole” that can be emotional and sometimes difcult to respectfully approach. Due to this, Jones worked to create an environment that was safe and comfortable for his actors to thrive in, despite the intimate aspects of the production. Specifcally, he involved a designated intimacy director to advocate for the actors, and he made sure that everyone within “Rabbit Hole” was protected and respected throughout the creative process. Additionally, Jones made sure to implement what is known as “de-roling” for the actors to separate themselves from their characters outside of rehearsal.

“I had an actor come up to me one day after rehearsal and he was like ‘Hey, I’m going home and feeling really sad all the time.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, we don’t want that,’ so I kind of looked into the idea of physically stepping into the role when you come to rehearsal, and then stepping out of it when you leave,” Jones said. “Part of that was we had people bring in costume pieces that they would put on in rehearsal, and then they would take it of when they were done. Tat was to help physically reinforce the idea that their character was separate.”

As a rookie director, Jones went through a personal journey with con fdence and selfassuredness in his abilities, but as time went on, trusting i.n himself became easier.

“It was di fcult for me to have the responsibility of the production resting in my hands, because I had never directed before,” Jones said. “I kind of had almost like imposter syndrome, of like, what if I’m making the wrong choice? Or what if this actually looks bad, and I think it looks good?”

Ultimately, all of Jones’s and his casts’ efforts were not in vain, as the show and its director’s debut, in the eyes of many, turned out to be a spectacular success.

“I think I’m more confident in my abilities. I feel like, and I don’t want to sound like bragging when I say this, that is not my intention, but I had people come up to me and they were very surprised that this was my first time directing, which made me really happy,” Jones said. “And I got really, really positive feedback on the show, which made me more interested in maybe doing something similar in the future.”

ALLISON FOLEY // THE FLAT HAT

TORY COLE // THE FLAT HAT

sports

Tribe drops weekend series against No. 24 UNC Wilmington

Two in-conference losses push Green and Gold into sixth in CAA standings

Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28, William and Mary baseball (26-18, 9-9 CAA) dropped a home series to No. 24 North Carolina Wilmington (28-16, 14-4 CAA), winning Saturday’s matchup but losing the series 2-1 at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va.

Friday’s matchup was the closest battle of the weekend, resulting in a 5-4 Tribe loss. Junior Nate Knowles started on the mound for the Green and Gold, striking out nine through five innings of work. He allowed two hits, three runs and two walks. Knowles held UNCW scoreless until the third inning, when an RBI double from sophomore outfielder Aiden Evans

William and

scored redshirt senior infielder Jac Croom. The fourth inning was solid for the Tribe’s offense, when senior catcher Nate Goranson and junior outfielder Christian Rush hit back-to-back RBI singles, taking the first and only lead of the day for the Tribe, 2-1. Sophomore Mark Hindy came to the mound for William and Mary in the top of the sixth, where UNCW scored three, taking back the lead it held through the rest of the game. The visitors scored one more run in the seventh and despite some momentum from the Tribe in the bottom of the seventh as it bridged the deficit to just one, the Tribe was not able to come back and lost the first game of the series, 5-4.

Saturday’s matchup was a quick and efficient victory for the Tribe, evening the series. Graduate student Zack Potts was credited with the win, throwing seven innings and holding UNCW to just one run, while junior Carter Lovasz earned the save. Saturday’s victory marked the Tribe’s second ranked win of the season, the first being an April 9 win against No. 7 Duke. UNCW scored its only run of the day in the first inning, a solo homerun from Croom getting the visitors on the board. The Tribe responded in the bottom of the

Mary

first after a double from freshman first baseman Anthony Greco scored Goranson and graduate student outfielder Ben Parker, giving the Green and Gold an early 2-1 lead. In the second inning, William and Mary scored one more unearned run, and in the fifth inning, after fifth-year outfielder Joe Delossantos singled and an untimely UNCW error, Parker scored again and William and Mary took a 4-1 lead that it held through the rest of the game. This victory marked Lovasz’s fourth save of the season and the 16th of his career.

In the series finale on Sunday, UNCW took a decisive win, claiming the series with an 18-6 final score. UNCW was in total control of the rubber match, starting strong with two home runs: one from Croom, and then a grand slam to right field from sophomore

infielder Brock Wills. In the top of the second inning, UNCW scored three more thanks to defensive errors from the Tribe. In the bottom of the third, the Tribe managed to push across two runs. However, UNCW responded with a massive fourth inning, scoring six more and extending its lead to 15-2. In the fifth, Delossantos and graduate student infielder Luca Trigiani both homered, bringing the deficit to just ten, but the UNCW offense was too strong, controlling the final innings and ending on top with a final score of 18-6, securing the series win.

The Tribe will travel to face No. 12 North Carolina (33-11, 17-7 ACC) Wednesday, May 1 at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

drops fnal game of season, loses 14-13 in OT

Womenʼs lacrosse finishes season 0-8

in CAA play after Saturdayʼs loss to Campbell

Saturday, April 27, William and Mary lacrosse (4-13, 0-8 CAA) came up just short in its regular season finale, losing 14-13 in overtime to Campbell (4-13, 1-7 CAA) at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek, N.C.

Entering Saturday’s matchup looking to secure its first interconference win of the season, the Tribe suffered an untimely defensive collapse late in the fourth quarter. This allowed the Camels to claw back and tie the game with just over two minutes left in regulation.

first quarter, both sides’ offenses struggled to get back on the board. With seven minutes, 55 seconds left in the first, a William and Mary foul gave Camel redshirt senior attacker Joslin Hanbury a free position shot of her own, which she connected on for her 29th goal of the season. Just over a minute later, Hanbury struck again, this time courtesy of an assist from sophomore midfielder Delaney Nicolaus. After two missed Tribe shots, fifth-year attacker Ally Heath tacked on another goal for the Camels, increasing Campbell’s lead to 4-1 with just under five minutes left in the first.

The Green and Gold got off to a cold start in the first quarter, conceding the first goal to Campbell junior midfielder Hailey Kohlmann, her seventh of the season. After a Camel foul less than a minute later, sophomore midfielder Maresa Moyer tied the game up for the Green and Gold, converting on a free-position shot for her 16th goal of 2024.

Fouls continued to be a problem for Campbell throughout the game, racking up eight yellow cards in Saturday’s game alone. For the next five minutes of the

After a Green and Gold timeout, William and Mary’s offense came back to life. Junior midfielder Paige Gilbert connected on her first goal of the game, cutting the Camel lead to two. Thirty seconds later, senior attacker Ellie Shea scored a free position goal of her own, and just 18 seconds after that, Gilbert tied the game 4-4. Then, to put the cherry on top of the Tribe’s early comeback, junior midfielder Serena Jacobs scored the fifth Green and Gold goal of the quarter off an assist from Shea. Hanbury equalized the score at 5-5 with her second goal of the game, but as the first quarter came

to a close, both teams found themselves tied up in a back-and-forth season finale matchup.

The second quarter was dead even, like the first. William and Mary struck first, with goals coming from junior attacker Sophia Chiodo Ortiz and Gilbert to give the Tribe a 7-5 lead. With just under eight minutes left in the half, however, Campbell freshman midfielder Emily Wilson connected on a free position shot following another Tribe foul. Two minutes later, Heath found the back of the net for her second goal of the game, tying the score back at 7-7.

Regardless of its foul trouble, William and Mary continued applying pressure offensively as the first half came to a close. After two Tribe misses, Moyer connected on her second goal of the game, giving the visiting Tribe an 8-7 lead with just under three minutes left in the half. With 25 seconds remaining, Campbell fifth-year midfielder Shania Roehrich evened the game back up with her 11th goal of the season, sending both teams into halftime knotted at 8-8.

In the third quarter, both teams struggled to secure a lead over the other. Heath started the second half scoring with a quick goal assisted by freshman attacker Caroline Laur, Heath’s 31st score of the season. Less than 30 seconds later, William and Mary responded with a goal of its own, this time courtesy of freshman attacker Piper Kienzle. Three minutes later, another Chiodo Ortiz goal secured a 10-9

Green and Gold lead, which only lasted 29 seconds. Wilson scored her second goal of the game for the Camels, tying things back up at 10-10. To take the lead back, Gilbert found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the game, following a Camel yellow card. The game settled down for a few minutes, but with 1:21 left in the third, Wilson struck again, evening the score to 11-11.

Unsurprising to no one in attendance at Barker-Lane Stadium, the fourth quarter saw 15 more minutes of back-and-forth action. Sophomore midfielder Kate Draddy started the scoring for the Tribe in the fourth, connecting on her 16th goal of the season

with 11:51 left in regulation. Less than a minute later, Gilbert knocked down her fifth goal of the game, her 34th in 2024.

Now up two, the Tribe hoped to lock down the Camels and finish its season on a high note on the road. The Camels had other plans, however. With just under six minutes left in regulation, Roehrich scored her second goal of the game, cutting the Green and Gold lead to one. Three minutes later, after an unfortunate William and Mary turnover, Campbell sophomore attacker McKenna Duncan tied the game at 13-13, her 14th goal of the season. After multiple missed Green and Gold shots and fouls from both sides, William and Mary and Campbell finished the 60th minute tied at 13-13.

With just six minutes left to earn its first Coastal Athletic Association win of 2024, William and Mary’s road-win dream ended before a single minute could pass in overtime. Just 52 seconds into the period, Heath drilled a game winner, ending the Green and Gold’s regular season in a heartbreaking fashion.

With the win, Campbell secured its first CAA victory of the season, cementing the Green and Gold dead-last of conference standings.

Although the Green and Gold missed the four-team CAA Championship, 2024’s up-and-down season gives Tribe fans hope that next year’s team will come back to Williamsburg ready to improve and compete for a shot at the conference title.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT The Tribe ended this season with a 4-13 record, a worse finish than its 8-8 record in 2023.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

This weekendʼs series loss marks the Tribeʼs second consecutive CAA series loss after being swept by Charleston on April 19-21.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Junior pitcher Nate Knowles made his 15th appearance for the Gr een and Gold on Friday. In five innings of work, Knowles let up just two hits and two earned runs while striking out a season-high nine UNC W ilmington hitters.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Graduate infielder Luca Trigiani had two hits and two RBIs during the Tribeʼs 18-6 loss in the seriesʼs final game on Sunday.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Junior midfielder Paige Gilbert finished Saturdayʼs game with five goals. Gilbert, who started in all 17 games she appeared in, finished 2024 with 34 goals and three assists for the Green and Gold.

sports

William and Mary unveils field named after Jill Ellis ’88

April 20 dedication ceremony honors Ellis, 1987 womenʼs soccer team

MADDIE MOHAMADI FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday, April 20, William and Mary athletics dedicated the Jill Ellis Field in honor of former U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis ’88, L.H.D ’16.

Made possible by donations from Jennifer Tepper Mackesy ’91, D. Scott Mackesy ’91 and J. Goodenow “Goody” Tyler III HON ’11, the field is located on Ironbound Road in the new 1987 Women’s Soccer Team Training Center. Its enhancements include a new scoreboard and lights for night practices and games.

The April 20 ceremony honored both Ellis and the 1987 Tribe women’s soccer team, which made it to the Elite Eight and finished in the top five nationally. Ellis served as captain when Mackesy was a freshman on the 1987 team alongside current women’s soccer head coach Julie Shackford ’88.

The same weekend, Ellis was also inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

“Without question, the immediate support of my family here today has buoyed me through the highs and lows of coaching,” Ellis said during her induction speech.

Ellis currently serves as president of San Diego Wave FC. As USWNT head coach, Ellis helped the team win back-to-back FIFA World Cup championships in 2015 and 2019.

During her time at William and Mary, Ellis played forward, helping the team reach the NCAA tournament all four years. She places ninth in Tribe program history for career points and goals, with 83 and 32, respectively. Ellis also earned Third Team All-American Honors for her collegiate achievements.

“I quite literally found my tribe when I enrolled at William and Mary,” Ellis said. “It was here I found my voice, built lasting friendships and realized that pressure actually brought out the best in me.”

Ellis was inducted into the William and Mary Hall of Fame in 2002 and received the Tribe Champion for Life award in 2016. She also gave the 2016 Commencement address and was presented with an honorary degree.

Ellis’s recognitions extend far beyond William and Mary. In 2023, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame for her achievements as USWNT head coach. Ellis helped the team to a 106-7-19 record during her tenure, making her the all-time winningest USWNT head coach in team history.

Born in Portsmouth, England, Ellis often played with boys’ teams as she found few opportunities for girls or women to play soccer. After her family moved to the United States in the early 1980s, Ellis captained her high school’s soccer team in Fairfax, Va.

Additionally, Ellis played for the Braddock Road Youth Club Bluebelles soccer team, a critical experience in her journey.

“It was a sliding door moment that changed my life,” Ellis said. “When I joined the outstanding group of women, I learned firsthand what commitment and sisterhood looked like.”

Despite her successes as a player, Ellis never expected to be a coach. After she received her degree in English literature and composition from William and Mary,

she worked as a technical writer. Eventually, Ellis kick-started her professional coaching career as an assistant head coach at N.C. State, where she also earned her master’s degree in technical writing. After completing her master’s, Ellis spent three years coaching at Maryland and two years at Virginia.

Drawn to the opportunity for change, Ellis served as the first women’s head coach at Illinois-Urbana-Champaign for two seasons.

There, she led the team to its first Big Ten tournament and a 19-18 record.

Hired by the University of CaliforniaLos Angeles in 1999, Ellis served as the winningest coach in school history. Over her 12 years with the Bruins, she led the team to a 229-45-14 record and eight NCAA College Cup appearances.

Before serving as USWNT head coach in 2014, Ellis was the team’s interim head coach in 2012 and 2014. Following her resignation in 2019, she became a U.S. Soccer Ambassador. Launched by U.S. Soccer in 2019, the Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund aims to empower elite professional female coaches.

Though she has come far since her William and Mary days, Ellis attributes her college coaches and teammates to much of her success.

“I give them all so much credit in shaping me and the way I became and the coach I became,” Ellis said. “Most significantly, looking back, I was loved. The care we took of each other was so very real, and the bonds we have today were built on the love we gave to each other back then.”

Tribe clinches CAA championship victory for third consecutive year

No. 2 Green and Gold overcomes No. 7 Campbell, No. 6 UNCW, No. 1 Delaware

Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April

28, William and Mary women’s tennis (18-5, 6-0 CAA) won the Coastal Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Tournament for the third year in a row. Entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed, the Tribe defeated No. 7 Campbell (129), No. 6 North Carolina-Wilmington (12-8, 3-4 CAA) and No. 1 Delaware (20-7, 5-0 CAA).

Despite losing the doubles point, the Green and Gold dominated the singles games.

At No. 1, junior Hedda Gurholt

defeated Campbell junior Mialy Ranaivo. Gurholt won her first set 6-4, to which Ranaivo responded with a 6-0 second-set win. Gurholt ultimately won the third set 6-2, clinching a point for the Tribe.

In the No. 2 singles match, graduate student Yu Chen defeated Campbell freshman Lily Chitambar 6-4, 6-2.

Though matches No. 3 and No. 4 were unfinished, the Tribe emerged victorious in matches No. 5 and No. 6, sweeping the Camels in singles.

Junior Ine Stange defeated Campbell senior Mariana Ossa at No. 5, and freshman Francesca Davis

defeated Campbell sophomore Lena Karlovcan at No. 6.

Saturday, the Tribe swept UNCW in the semi finals 4-0.

William and Mary clinched the doubles point at No. 1 and No. 3. In No. 1 doubles, Yu and junior Emma Fernald defeated their opponents 6-2. At No. 3 Davis and graduate student Mila Mejic won their matchup 6-2.

In the singles matches, Gurholt defeated UNCW sophomore Eda Arli 6-2, 7-5.

Though matches No. 2 and No. 3 were unfinished, the Tribe won at No. 4 and No. 5. At No. 4 singles, junior Alessandra Anghel defeated UNCW freshman Katelyn Hubbard 6-3, 6-0. At No. 5, Stange won 6-0, 7-5 against freshman Alicia Eberwein.

Sunday, the Tribe faced Delaware in the finals.

The Tribe clinched the doubles point.

Though Fernald and Yu lost to Blue Hens graduate students Eliza Askarova and Alex Staiculescu at No. 1, the Tribe won at No. 2 and No. 3. Seeded second, Stange and Anghel defeated Delaware senior Julieta Honrubia and sophomore Maryia Hrynashka 6-4. At No. 3, Davis and Mejic defeated Blue Hens graduate student Slade Coetzee and freshman Paulina Jurkowska 6-4.

In singles, Gurholt won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1, facing Coetzee. Yu defeated Delaware’s Askarova 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2, dominating the second set. At No. 3, Mejic won against

score of 7-6.

Tribe

SYDNEY WITWER FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Dedicated to former U.S. Womenʼs National Team head coach Jill Ellis ʼ88, the field in her name includes a brand new scoreboard and lights for night practices and games.