The Flat Hat
Vol. 109, Iss. 14 | Tuesday, October 1, 2019
The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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GRAPHIC BY EMMA FORD / THE FLAT HAT
Board of Visitors approves six-year plan for tuition BOV finalizes in-state tuition growth rates, outlines plans for improved computer science program, new faculty Industry-Partner Fellows Program ETHAN BROWN / / FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR The College of William and Mary’s Board of Visitors endorsed a comprehensive six-year tuition model Friday, Sept. 27. The tuition model, which was unanimously approved by the board’s 17 members, aims to reduce tuition growth rates and ease financial burdens incurred by Virginia families throughout the college planning process. The plan also requests state assistance in improving the College’s data science program, expanding student internship opportunities and developing a pilot partnership between industry leaders and professors. In a statement released Friday, the College’s Chief Communications Officer Brian Whitson noted that the board passed the tuition model in advance of the upcoming Oct. 1 deadline set by the Virginia state government, which requires every public institution of higher education to submit a six-year plan detailing tuition scales and enrollment growth predictions. The plan strives to embody aspects of the College’s ongoing “William & Mary Promise” campaign, including maximizing affordability while offering consistency and predictability in tuition rates. The plan stipulates several tuition growth thresholds for in-state students. For future instate attendees, the College pledged to limit tuition growth by no more than three percent each academic year to provide more consistent tuition rates for Virginian residents studying
at the College. This plan contrasts with the College’s current policy of resetting tuition annually for each incoming class, and then mandating that tuition rate for students in that class throughout their time in Williamsburg. Whitson noted that this policy has historically resulted in tuition growth rates above three percent, which has resulted in more volatility for lower and middle-income families. College President Katherine Rowe remarked that the six-year plan accomplished two goals: assuring affordability for Virginian families and improving the College’s ability to educate the next generation of Virginian workers. “This next iteration of the William & Mary Promise allows the university to preserve instate access and ensure affordability for lowand middle-income students, while providing a predictable tuition cost guarantee for all in-state students,” Rowe said in a press release. “It also allows the university to be a partner in enabling the Commonwealth to attract and retain the talent needed to grow Virginia’s economy.” Whitson noted that the College has increased its financial aid allotments in the past six years, and that the new tuition growth rate policy would complement existing efforts to bolster in-state students’ college-related expenses. “Since 2013, William & Mary has increased undergraduate financial aid by 132 percent and has reduced the “net price” for low- and middle-income Virginians with need,” Whitson
Quick Guide of the Plan
said in a press release. Whitson went on to state that the College is already among the most affordable options for Virginians of disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, and referenced data from the U.S. Department of Education in emphasizing that the College is the least expensive public university in Virginia for in-state families earning less than $110,000 annually. Furthermore, Whitson noted that $44.3 million of the College’s $53.6 million financial aid budget is devoted to undergraduate students, roughly 83 percent of the College’s aid endowment. According to Whitson, the board’s approval of the three percent cap on tuition growth will complement these ongoing efforts to improve accessibility and affordability. In addition to tuition alterations, the sixyear plan lists several action items designed to expand the College’s academic and professional opportunities. Among the board’s proposals are requests for additional state funding in increasing course offerings in the data science major, which is part of a broader initiative to maximize students’ computational and quantitative skills before they enter the workforce. These efforts follow the board’s endorsement of a plan announced by the College administration earlier this year, which seeks to grow undergraduate enrollment in the See BOV page 4
For in-state students, the college pledged to limit tuition growth to no more than three percent per year. $44.3 million of the College’s $53.6 million financial aid budget is devoted to undergraduate students. The College has increased undergraduate financial aid by 132 percent. The College hopes to add five faculty members to the Industry-Partner Fellows Program before eventuallly expanding it to 10 members. The College plans to expand the Computer science department from 70 graduates to 160 graduates each year.
FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE
College announces closure of campus sorority, fraternity
National organizations of Delta Phi Omega, Phi Kappa Tau close chapters at the College
AIDAN WHITE THE FLAT HAT
At the beginning of this semester, the national organizations of Delta Phi Omega Sorority and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity announced that their respective chapters at the College of William and Mary would close. According to an email from the Office of Student Leadership Development, Delta Phi Omega Sorority announced their decision Aug. 19, while the Phi Kappa Tau national organization notified Fraternity and Sorority Life staff of their decision Sept. 5. Co-Assistant Director for Student Leadership Development Anne Strickland said these closures were the result of a complicated decisionmaking process. “These are not decisions that national organizations take lightly,” Strickland
said. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into it.” Delta Phi Omega Sorority is a South Asian-interest and multicultural sorority that started a chapter at the College in fall 2016. The chapter was part of the William and Mary Multicultural Greek Council until the Beta Delta Chapter of Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha was suspended and the MGC was subsequently disbanded. According to the chapter’s website, their philanthropic work focused heavily on children’s education and literacy. This included volunteer work with She’s the First, which is a non-profit organization designed to fight gender inequality through education around the world. The chapter also sponsored activities like letter-writing workshops for hospitalized children and a bake sale intended to raise money for Save the
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Children Syria. National President of Delta Phi Omega Sorority Chandni Nigam the said that the process of closing the College’s chapter began in summer 2019. “This process consisted of evaluation and assessment of the current state of the colony,” Nigam said. “We had to consider our resources in the area and if it was something we could sustain at the moment.” According to Strickland, the national organization ultimately decided to close the chapter following low recruitment numbers and reduced chapter operations. At the time of the decision, Delta Phi Omega had only two active members at the College. Phi Kappa Tau’s closure comes following a turbulent history at the College. The chapter has had its charter revoked by the national organization
twice, first in 1981 and again in 2012 before returning to campus in 2015. This iteration of Phi Kappa Tau hosted several philanthropic events including a fried Oreo sale called “Fry Tau,” a quesadilla delivery service called “Phi Kappadillas” and games of archery tag. Their philanthropy benefited SeriousFun, a network of summer camps and programs catering to the needs of children with terminal illnesses and disabilities. Brighten Meade ’21 joined the chapter in 2017 and was elected president in 2018, a position he will hold until the fraternity’s official closure. Meade said that he and the other members of the chapter initiated the shutdown process after being informed by the national organization that dues would be raised from about $400 to nearly $1,000 per semester. This, coupled with the chapter’s low recruitment for
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The College provides unique perspective for meat replacement
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its executive board, eventually brought Meade’s frustration to a tipping point. “Given the incredible lack of support they provided the colony for the few years of its existence, it made no sense to any of us to continue paying into an organization that had clearly left us by the wayside a long time ago,” Meade said. “The closure was purely over the predatory nature of their financial structuring … I couldn’t in good conscience keep going, and none of my brothers could either.” However, according to Strickland, these closures do not signify that the College’s fraternity and sorority life is slowing down. She referenced Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity’s upcoming establishment at the College in spring 2020 as a sign that the College still has
Chloe Folmar ’22 says that the College of William and Mary can bring a unique perspective to the issue of finding meat replacements for common products, especially chicken. page 6
Celebrate to educate
The College’s Muslim Student Association hosts its annual Eid Banquet, featuring dinner and a talk by Islam Bedir geared towards dismantling stereotypes targeting Muslim individuals and Islam. page 7