The Flat Hat October 1 2019

The Flat Hat

Vol. 109, Iss. 14 | Tuesday, October 1, 2019

The Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

Flathatnews.com | Follow us:

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

Index Profile News Opinions Variety

Sports

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

Inside Opinions 2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10

See FSL page 4

Inside Variety

The College provides unique perspective for meat replacement

Sunny High 85, Low 69

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

newsinsight “

The Flat Hat

“

THE BUZZ

News Editor Heather Baier News Editor Leslie Davis News Editor Emma Ford fhnews@gmail.com | Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 | Page 2

You have to understand the data behind the things that we say. Critical thinking is key in any aspect of anything. One of the things I try to teach the students in my class is that science presented in the news isn’t presented accurately. Science is a process that we are constantly updating our understanding on.

— Virginia Tech Assistant Professor of Geosciences Michelle Stocker

THIS WEEK IN FLAT HAT HISTORY October 3, 1980 — News: After 14 hours held in captivity, 19-year-old daughter of Board member Milton Drewer was released by kidnappers. Carol Lynn Drewer was abducted at gunpoint in the parking lot of her work, and was released after her father paid $50,000 to her abductors by placing the money in a trash can at Tyson Corner Center.

September 30, 1994 — News: The College of William and Mary announces that class registration will be computerized for the 1995-96 academic year.

The College is the first major school to experiment with terminal registration, a system where a student will immediately learn whether they are enrolled or not in the class they applied for.

October 6, 2000 — Sports: The College women’s soccer team breaks their two-season-long CAA winning streak, losing 1-0 to rival George Mason the previous weekend.

Missing zero of their 12 shots, the loss lowered the team’s record to 7-4.

September 29, 2009 — Sports: The College football team defeated University of Delaware’s Blue Hens at the College’s Family Weekend. The win brought their record to 4-0 for the season. When facing their first CAA opponent of the season, the Tribe defeated the Blue Hens 30-20.

HISTORY BY KARINA VIZZONI AND SARAH GREENBERG / FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITORS

A THOUSAND WORDS

COURTESY PHOTO / CONOR SOKOLOWSKY

Sokolowsky swims for the College’s varsity team, specializing in events like the 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and the 400 meter IM.

Leading through life Conor Sokolowsky ’23 finds leadership as 1693 Scholar, athlete, Class of 2023 President CHARLES COLEMAN // FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER

EMMA FORD / THE FLAT HAT

CORRECTIONS In the Sept. 24 issue, the article “Debate highlights differing foreign policy perspectives” inaccurately refers to a Professor speaking at the event as Eugene Golds. His name should have been written as Eugene Gholz.

In the Sept. 24 issue, the article “Students organize, rally for campus climate strike”, inaccurately states that Kelsey Wright ’22 was Class of 2020, not Class of 2023. The article also states that State Delegate for the 93rd District of Virginia Mike Mullin agreed to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge and Green New Deal Pledge on Nov. 11, when he actually agree to sign it by Sept. 11.

The Flat Hat wishes to correct any fact printed incorrectly. Corrections may be submitted in email to the editor of the section in which the incorrect information was printed. Requests for corrections will be accepted at any time.

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Conor Sokolowsky ’23, a member of the varsity swim team, a 1693 Scholar and the new Student Assembly Class of 2023 President, is getting ready to dive into his career at the College of William and Mary.

Sokolowsky was elected president by the Class of 2023 last Thursday, and he is excited to commit his time to academics, swimming and Student Assembly.

A Williamsburg local, Sokolowsky is already accustomed to life in Southeastern Virginia and has quickly adjusted to his fresh start at the College.

Despite having a full-time schedule with the varsity swim team, Sokolowsky wanted to find other ways to get involved around campus.

In an effort to mix his academic interests with something professionally enriching, Sokolowsky decided to run for class president.

Sokolowsky spoke on the aspects of Student Assembly that piqued his interest and how he hopes to use the position to further connect the College with the broader Williamsburg community.

“I’ve always been interested in economics, specifically how economics can be applied to public policy, and I really wanted to get a little bit of experience,” Sokolowsky said. “Here in Student Assembly, you’re actually managing money or coming up with policies that can actually be enacted, and I thought that be a really great way to get hands on experience with this. I’m hoping to apply ideas that I’m learning in economics to student government.”

Outside of his presidential campaign, Sokolowsky has already had to choose between various extracurricular opportunities at the College.

When it came down to deciding whether being part of the varsity swim team would be a good choice for him during his four years here, he decided that it was an activity he wanted to make time for.

Sokolowsky shared how swimming helps keep his day structured and the positives of being on the team.

“I’m not here on an athletic scholarship; they don’t really have any of those for swimming, so it was really more of a choice of whether I wanted to swim, and in the end, it was a decision I made to swim,” Sokolowsky said. “Swimming provides a structure for my day and keeps me disciplined. … I love the team, it’s like an instant hundred friends throughout the network and team, they’re awesome and it’s just been a blast.”

“

I’ve always been interested in economics, specifically how economics can be applied to public policy, and I really wanted to get a little bit of experience.

Here in Student Assembly you’re actually managing money or coming up with polices that can actually be enacted, and I thought that be a really great way to get hands on experience with this.

— Conor Sokolowsky ’23

While Sokolowsky has already created some deep connections in his short time here as a student, he wants to continue to form bonds between the Williamsburg community and the College.

Being a Williamsburg native, Sokolowsky understands some of the ways the Williamsburg City Council works and hopes to work with them as freshman class president.

Sokolowsky spoke on his aspirations of integrating student perspectives into the town’s decision - making process and helping create economic prosperity to benefit both the town and the College’s students.

“With student government, one thing is to actually create change, and work with the city council members.

There are of really cool initiatives their trying to build to help with economic development…They need student support and that’s something I was hoping to leverage as class president and speak for the students.”

Along with this, Sokolowsky has several academic pursuits he wishes to accomplish in his time here and expressed interest in delving into unique disciplines throughout the social and computational sciences.

“I really want to do some economic research, and I’m hoping to double major in economics and computer science — computer science more as a tool,” Sokolowsky said. “I definitely want to do some economic research in the overlap of public policy and economics that can be applied to real world scenarios.”

Sokolowsky wanted to share advice for his fellow freshman and to ensure the class of 2023 that he and the other members of Student Assembly were always ready to listen to new ideas.

“As freshman, definitely focus on yourself, don’t overload yourselves…

Speak out, make your voice heard, the other senators and I are super open to meeting with people and discussing new ideas,” Sokolowsky said. “If they ever want to reach out or have anything to say make sure they say it, and not be afraid not to.”

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COURTESY PHOTOS / CONOR SOKOLOWSKY

Sokolowsky was selected as one of the class of 2023’s 1693 Scholars, and is excited for the research opportunites that come with the scholarship.

Page 3

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

STUDENT ASSEMBLY

SA holds elections for classes of 2020, 2023

Election seats new freshman class president, installs five new senators

EMMA FORD AND KIMBERLY LORES FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR AND NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

Thursday, Sept. 26, the College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly held elections for the Class of 2023 President and its four senatorial seats. Voters in the Class of 2020 also participated in a special election to fulfill a vacant Senate seat.

Conor Sokolowsky ’23 was elected as Class of 2023 President. Abby Varricchio ’23, Madison Hubbard ’23, Maheen Saeed ’23 and Eugene Lee ’23 were elected as their class’s four new senators, and Josh Panganiban ’20 was elected to fulfill the senatorial vacancy Class of 2020.

“After meeting a lot of the Class of 2023 during my campaign, I was so impressed by the sense of community I found,” Sokolowsky said in a written statement. “I had a blast meeting so many new people across campus, and was glad to see the dorm lounges are actually being utilized. So many students engaged me in unique conversations and brought to my attention many ideas that I worked into the campaign; in other words, my campaign platform was really the collective brainchild of most of our class. I am so excited and honored to represent my classmates in Student Assembly alongside some amazing Senators.

846 students voted in the Class of 2023’s elections out of 1,534 eligible voters, totaling a voter turnout rate of 55.15 percent. The special election for the Class of 2020 senate seat saw 282 students cast ballots out of an eligible 1,489 students, resulting in a lower turnout rate of 18.94 percent.

“To be completely honest, I was very nervous and constantly thinking of ways I could’ve done better campaigning,” Lee said in a written statement. “I can quite literally say I sprang to my feet in joy when I found out my class elected me to be there voice. This upcoming year in SA I’m hoping to use this newly entrusted power to fully represent the views of not only my class, but all students of W&M. And to all of the class of 2023, thank you so much for putting your trust in me to be your voice in SA. I feel so incredibly humbled and honored by your decision and will constantly strive for your approval.”

In being elected to serve as Class of 2023 President, Sokolowsky received 220 votes, or 26.92 percent of the vote. Bryce Earley ’23 fell seven votes short of victory with 213 ballots cast in her favor. Earley was followed by Kieran Mangla ’23 with 95 votes, Cecelia Eure ’23 with 76 votes, Sally Calengor ’23 with 53 votes, Grace Keenan ’23 with 50 votes, Henry Netter ’23 with 45 votes, Caleb Howan ’23 with 27 votes, Will McLeery ’23 with 22 votes and Darrin Lilly ’23 with 16 votes.

Of the 846 students who voted for the Class of 2023’s four senatorial seats, Hubbard received 365 votes for a total of 13.85 percent of the

vote, Lee received 338 votes, Varricchio received 304 votes, and Saeed received 254 votes.

“I will work tirelessly as an advocate for the Class of 2023 with open and authentic communication,” Varricchio said in a written statement on Instagram.

Varricchio's platform focused on access to mental health care, campus safety, diversity and inclusion, and resources for new student campus transition.

Lee campaigned on a platform which focused heavily on a Crim Dell beautification project.

“By working with college science clubs and societies, we could work towards a cleaner and more pleasant Crim Dell for William & Mary!”

Lee said in a written statement.

Hubbard’s campaign emphasized sexual health in her run for Senate. She hopes to increase sexual health education and offer resources for students.

“I aim to improve our lives on campus by pushing for more extensive sexual health education and resources while also promoting the positive experiences and inclusivity that we already feel on campus,” Hubbard said in a written statement.

Kevin Bloodworth II ’23 fell five votes short of securing a senatorial seat with 259 votes (9.83 percent), followed by Owen Williams ’23 with 223 votes, Ireland Miller ’23 with 207 votes, Emma Herber with 193 votes, Mackenzie Mastal with 172 votes, Andrew Cowen with 169 votes and Aidan Lowe with 139 votes.

Panganiban received 161 out of 282 votes, or 58.33 percent of the vote. Andrew Scarafile ’20 fell short with 115 votes.

Panganiban centered his campaign on the issue of sustainability at the College, breaking his run for the Senate into three points: health, safety and sustainability.

Newly elected SA members will attend their first Senate meeting Tuesday, Oct. 1.

2020 CLASS VOTER TURNOUT

18.94%

2023 CLASS VOTER TURNOUT

55.15%

26.92%

2023 CLASS VOTES FOR SOKOLOWSKY

GRAPHIC BY CARMEN HONKER / THE FLAT HAT

STUDENT ASSEMBLY

SA holds attendance review session, presents new bills

Senate investigates Sen. Liam Watson '20 for five absences due to work requirements

EMMA FORD AND KIMBERLY LORES FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR AND NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

At the Sept. 24 meeting of the College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly, senators held an Attendance Review session regarding Sen. Liam Watson ’20’s failure to attend five committees and the SA retreat because of his extenuating work requirements. As a result of these missed SA functions, Watson was marked for over three absences, which prompted an attendance review per SA code.

SA code states that “Each Senator is allowed three absences per semester. After every third absence, the Senator will come before the Senate, at the following meeting, to explain his or her reason(s) for not being present at the missed meetings. A senator shall be notified that he or she is up for attendance review prior to the general meeting.”

The Code goes on to say t hat i m med iately fol low i ng a second at tenda nce rev iew a nd si x absences, t he Senate must ser ve a n a r t icle of i mpeach ment.

Watson said that his absences stem from working two jobs. One of Watson’s jobs requires him to leave Williamsburg Thursday evenings, when he travels to the western region of Virginia and remains there until 2 p.m. the following Monday. While pursuing his employment off campus, Watson also takes care of his grandfather, who is suffering from cancer. Due to these commitments, Watson has been unable to attend Sunday SA committee meetings, which take place weekly from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Griggs house.

No final decision was made regarding Watson’s

committee requirements. Watson, however, promised he would work with his schedule to call in to committee meetings on Sunday, which would fulfill the attendance requirement.

However, Class of 2021 President A r ia Aust i n ’21 quest ioned whet her ca l l i ng i n wou ld be su f f icient enoug h to f u l f i l l Watson’s at tenda nce.

“If this is something that’s going to roll over to next semester too, which is a concern that you’re attending these meetings, and you’re not going to be there — you can call in when you can, but that’s not the same as being there,” Austin said.

The attendance review also raised questions over the role of excused and unexcused absences that the senate secretary assigns when senators miss meetings for certain reasons. Prior to Watson’s attendance review, all excused absences deemed by the secretary of Senate went unmarked as a missed absence.

However, after a submission to the Review Board for guidance, the board stated that attendance reviews must occur after three absences, whether excused or not excused by the secretary of the Senate.

“There is no distinction here between “excused” or “unexcused” absences,” wrote Review Board Chair Henry Blackburn '20 in the Board’s official opinion. “The Code only states that attendance review happens after three absences, full stop, independent of the practice of the Senate. We have varying opinions on what the usefulness of the “excused” and “unexcused” terms mean and are probably used for, but the Code seems unambiguous — three absences of any sort necessitate an

attendance review, and a bill of impeachment is automatically introduced after the second attendance review (independent of whether anyone decides to pass the bill).”

Sen. Chair Anthony Joseph ’21 explained that the Senate values the importance of senators honoring their commitments, but emphasized that SA members should continue living their lives as students at the College.

“It’s a balancing act,” Joseph said. “We have to figure out how to honor the commitments that we made when we took this oath and what’s written in our code as well as living our lives…It’s just trying to figure out what’s fair for everyone in this room.”

Three new bills were also introduced to the Senate. Secretary of Student Health Shreya Mandava ’20 introduced the Subsidized Emergency Contraception Act, which was sponsored by Sens. Jahnavi Prabhala ’22 and Maggie Wells ’21.

The bill calls for SA to subsidize the cost of Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, so that it can be purchased for only $5 over the counter at the Student Health Center. The Health Center already subsidizes the cost, but to a much smaller extent. The act would allocate $3,000 for the purchase of these contraceptives and an additional $7 for the purchase of the f lyers.

Sen. Pat r ick Sa lsbu rg ’21 t hen i nt roduced t he GOT V Act of 2019, wh ich ca l ls for f u nd i ng for more Get out t he Vote ef for ts a head of Elect ion Day. T he bi l l wou ld a l locate $70 for t he pr i nt i ng of 1,000 elect ion f lyers a nd $14 for t he pr i nt i ng of 200 sa mple ba l lots, so t hat st udents ca n see who is r u n n i ng for loca l of f ice.

STUDENT ASSEMBLY'S CODE OF ATTENDANCE 1.

Each Senator is allowed three absences per semester. After the third absence, the Senator will come before the Senate, at the following meeting, to explain his or her reason(s) for not being present at the missed meetings. Any member of the Senate may then choose to introduce a bill of impeachment should they find the Senator in question in serious neglect of their duties of office, pursuant to the Constitution of the Student Assembly.

2.

Tardiness, absences, and other anomalies are to be excused at the discretion of the Secretary of the Senate. Senators shall notify the Secretary at least 24 hours prior to a meeting at which they will be late, not be present, or need to leave before the meeting’s conclusion.

3.

Graduate Senators may appoint an Alternate Senator for their term. Said Alternate Senator shall perform Senate duties for their respective graduate school in the absence of the Senator, but cannot have an additional vote should the Alternate Senator and the Senator both appear at the same Senate meeting. Both the Senator and the Alternate Senator are allowed three absences per semester.

Board of Visitors ratifies six-year tuition model to limit growth rates Change aims to prevent tuition growth rates for Virginia residents, proposes initiatives for academic expansion BOV from page 1

computer science department from 70 graduating students to at least 160 each year, as well as to create a master’s degree in computer science.

Despite similar goals, the plan’s requests are distinct from the College’s current efforts to join a ‘Tech Talent Pipeline’ linking students at Virginia’s public universities to technological industries post-graduation.

According to senior vice president for finance and administration Sam Jones, the Virginia state government requested that universities submitting six-year plans exclude any proposals explicitly linked to the Tech Talent Pipeline.

That way the two processes can be evaluated separately.

Pursuant to this state requirement, the College incorporated more unique, institution-specific initiatives into

its official six-year memorandum, including requests for support in establishing a Faculty IndustryPartner Fellows program.

According to Whitson, the pilot program would tie in College faculty with partners at industries throughout Virginia, with a goal to add five faculty members to the program before eventually expanding it to 10 members.

College Provost Peggy Agouris stated that the pilot program would fit in well with the College’s desire

to forge a symbiotic relationship between academics in Williamsburg and professionals throughout the rest of the state, as drawing closer links between those groups would ultimately benefit students.

“We hope this pilot program serves as a model for how higher education, government and business can work together in new ways,” Agouris said in a written statement.

“Industry partners will provide faculty real-world experiences they can bring back to

their students. Business partners will benefit from having inhouse faculty expertise in areas of strategic importance.”

Whitson noted that the board w i l l e s t a b l i s h n e x t y e a r ’s t u i t i o n rates at the upcoming meeting in November using the tuition rules determined by the new s i x- y e a r p l a n .

Other expenses, including institutional fees, room and board and out-of-state tuition, will be determined next April.

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Page 4

CAMPUS

Perez, Mullin discuss Democratic Party Politicians emphasize importance of student involvement in elections CLAIRE HOGAN FLAT HAT ONLINE EDITOR

Tuesday, Sept. 24, Chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez visited the College of William and Mary. Hosting a discussion with Democratic Delegate Mike Mullin, Perez discussed the Democratic Party’s future, the 2020 federal elections and the importance of student involvement in local and national elections.

Perez began by emphasizing his views on the moral crisis in America.

“I am in this position because our democracy is on fire,” Perez said.

“We’re at a moral fork in the road right now, a fork that I’ve never experienced in my lifetime.”

He also underscored the importance of Virginia’s upcoming elections this November and illustrated how state and local representatives can make an impact in citizens’ lives.

“We need more Democrats in the House of Delegates and the state Senate, and we have an historic opportunity here in less than 45 days to do just that,” Perez said. “The reason why, for years and years, so many folks who needed the care they would get under Medicaid expansion didn’t get it is because we didn’t have enough Democrats in the state House and in the state Senate.”

When asked about national elections and the ongoing race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Perez stayed neutral and declined to comment on who he predicted would emerge as the eventual nominee.

“People always ask me who I think it’s going to be; my honest answer is I don’t know,” Perez said. “We’re in mile 10 of a 26-mile marathon.”

As for the potential impeachment of President Donald Trump, Perez stressed the need to get all the information.

“What we’ve seen in Ukraine, if accurate, is unconscionable,” Perez said. “What we had in 2016 was acts of thievery, acts of interference in our Democracy by the Russians. On a certain level this is worse, because this is initiated by the President and it is very clear that

he was withholding aid to Ukraine, and you can’t help but wonder if that was quid pro quo. Every single day we see more attacks on the fundamental institutions of our democracy. The House has a constitutional obligation to gather the facts.”

Perez, speaking before the whistleblower complaint was released, argued that Republicans weren’t taking the complaint seriously enough.

“The appalling silence of Republicans, in the state of these appalling attacks on our democracy, is absolutely undemocratic, unamerican, unlawful, cowardly, and that’s why I think we have to keep moving forward, and I think step one is to get the entire complaint,” Perez said.

Going further in his rebuke of the Republicans, Perez said that President Trump has shifted the politics of the Republican party further to the right.

“What I think is really remarkable about where we are right now is how radical the other side has become,” Perez said. “I mean, 90 percent of the American people support background checks, 90 percent of the American people support helping Dreamers get citizenship, 90 percent of the American people support raising the minimum wage. What the other side has to offer is that they oppose literally all of that, because they’ve become the party of Trump.”

While the 90 percent figure is accurate for support of background checks and citizenship for DACA recipients according to polling data from Quinniapac University and CBS News, a January poll from HillHarrisX shows that 80 percent of Americans say they support raising the minimum wage.

Brooke Miller ’20, campaign coordinator for William and Mary Young Democrats, attended the event and noted a political shift in Perez’s rhetoric and within the Democratic Party.

“I think as a party, we’re starting to see a bit of a realignment,” Miller said. “There are definitely things everyone can agree on and Democrats across the board can align with, but I think we are

definitely seeing people like Bernie Sanders who came into the scene in 2016, really brought a lot of new ideas and progressive ideals to the forefront, and I think that people are starting to grapple with the idea that there is this more progressive wing, but there’s also that moderate wing that a lot of people are still linked to, and a lot of people still affiliate with.”

Miller argued that Perez did a good job of underlining the common ideas and platform policies of the Democrats.

“He was very energized, which I thought was great,” Miller said. “I thought it was a great attitude to bring to a college campus. I thought that he did a really great job of presenting a very unified front.”

Some students, like Zoha Siddiqui ’23, observed Perez’s willingness to take a hard stance on political issues.

“I thought his aggressive stance towards a lot of issues really stuck out to me, because it highlights that the Democratic party is not necessarily as moderate as some people think, or that the leadership is not afraid to take a bold stance on issues,” Siddiqui said.

However, Siddiqui was disappointed that Delegate Mullin didn’t speak to his politics during the discussion session.

“I was really hoping he would speak to a lot of policy issues, because I’ve been canvassing for him, and I do think it’s important that we do elect him in November, but I also have heard from a lot of the people that I was talking to during those rounds that I did that they didn’t know a lot about his policy positions,” Siddiqui said.

Miller was impressed with Perez’s vision of unity between all the Democratic candidates.

“I think everyone can agree that, especially with how many candidates we’re seeing in our Democratic primaries, that it’s a wide party with a lot of ideas and a lot of competing ideas,” Miller said. “I thought he did a great job of really unifying all that together and saying, though we have our Joe Bidens and our Bernie Sanders, we still have one party that shares similar views and plans for the future.”

CAMPUS

Lecture explores phytosaurs, convergence of species Michelle Stocker discusses evolution in aftermath of Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction For most of her academic career, Michelle Stocker, assistant professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, has dedicated her work to the study of vertebrate paleobiology.

Stocker’s lecture Friday, Sept. 27, entitled “Life after Death: Evolutionary Experimentation in the Aftermath of the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction,” discussed two focuses of her scholarly work: phytosaurs and the convergence of species.

The lecture included visuals of prehistoric conceptions of the Earth, as well as skeletal images and data regarding a rare species known as the phytosaur.

“They are a group of archosaurs that are generally similar to crocodilians, but different in key ways,” Stocker said. “In a phytosaur skull, the nostrils are far more posterior and closer to the eyes, which is one major difference. We have a lot of skulls, but we don’t have a lot of post-cranial information because the skulls themselves are four feet long.”

The phytosaur began as a short-snouted, greyhound-like creature and morphed into a super-predator, equipped with a long snout resembling the modern crocodile and a bite force equivalent to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Scientists discovered rare complete skeletal fossils of the phytosaur at dig sites in the American Southwest, China and Tanzania. The late Triassic remains are massive, allowing paleontologists to study a small terrestrial creature’s evolution to a potentially semi-aquatic predator.

The discoveries made by Stocker and her fellow partners have been integral in forming a more complete understanding of the Triassic period.

When asked how she first became interested in paleontology, Stocker explained that she took an introductory geology course at the University of Michigan, where she received her bachelor’s degree. During an eight-week field study in Wyoming, she realized she could combine her love of animals, science and research by pursuing paleontology.

“

I loved being able to look at the landscape and understand how it got to be the way it was ...

Combining rocks and animals and getting to research them in the lab has been really interesting to me.

“

GEORGIA THOMS THE FLAT HAT

— Michele Stocker

“I loved being able to look at the landscape and understand how it got to be the way it was,” Stocker said. “Combining rocks and animals and getting to research them in the lab has been really interesting to me.”

Fraternity, sorority leave campus Groups leave behind “respectable” campus legacies FSL from page 1

room for more Greek organizations during the final stages of IFC’s multi-year expansion plan.

Strickland said that while the College aims to provide tools necessary for organizations, it is their responsibility to recruit members.

“We can give you the tools and we can try and help you be successful, but at the end of the day student organizations are responsible for recruiting people,” Strickland said.

Meade shared a similar sentiment, expressing that leadership and student organization are both imperative in creating sustainable chapters.

“I’m going to place the blame squarely on our former nationals,” Meade said. “The quality of leadership in any organization is make or break, and unfortunately in our case it broke us before we got a chance to succeed.”

Despite their closures, the organizations’ leadership members

are optimistic about the prospects of their chapters potentially returning to campus.

“I do see Delta Phi Omega coming back to W&M in the future,” Nigam said in an email.

“We are extremely sad that we needed to proceed with having the colony go inactive.”

As for Phi Kappa Tau, Meade is proud of the work members put into the organization.

“I’m proud of the guys I recruited and worked hard with until the end,” Meade said.

Stocker also touched on her current research in Arizona, which she has worked on since 2014. For her research, Stocker excavates microfossil components of fauna of all body sizes during the late Triassic period to examine the period’s geology. Her research helped bridge the gap between the Prosalivus bitis, which is believed to be the first frog to ever jump, and the Triadobatrachus massinoti, a 250-million-yearold proto-frog. Commonly found in the American West in the Navajo Nation, the Prosalivus bitis is 185 million years old and dates to the early Jurassic period. In comparison, the Triadobatrachus massinoti existed during the early Triassic period and is found in Madagascar.

This large gap both in time and biogeographical distance between the two morphologies of the amphibians left many questions for paleontologists. Knowing the origination of these groups enables speculation on the relationships and morphologies evolved and how certain behaviors came to be, like jumping.

At her dig site, Stocker discovered the ilium of a frog, which is used to identify the original animal. The dorsal processes on the hip bone shared features with early Triassic frogs, but was far more like the early Jurassic frogs. In conclusion, Stocker found an early representative of a Brachycephalus, a very small modern frog, that lived in the late Triassic period.

Now, her team has a search image and can identify the prevalent frog bones in other fossilized material in her dig site. That one small bone filled the chronological gap and shows frogs were in equatorial Pangea far earlier than once thought, and the fossil shows morphological transitions in frogs from tetrapods, when features originated

and how they fit into the period with specific fauna — all of which have been influential in driving the field’s research further.

“You have to understand the data behind the things that we say,” Stocker said. “Critical thinking is key in any aspect of anything. One of the things I try to teach the students in my class is that science presented in the news isn’t presented accurately. Science is a process that we are constantly updating our understanding on.

Also, for them to know that stories can change as we get more information, and that is okay. It doesn’t mean we were wrong before, it just means we were saying something based on the data we had at the time.”

The audience of the seminar included a mix of students and professors from both inside and outside the geology department. Tessa Keyser ’21 attended the event to learn more about the evolution of species and the traits that are carried through the morphology.

“I’m not a geology major, but I was interested in the convergence of species — it would go extinct but then another species would evolve in the same way,” Keyser said.

Another student, Jennifer Doran ’23, also attended the seminar out of pure interest. While she has no idea what her major will be, she immensely enjoys her paleontology class and wants to expand her knowledge of dinosaurs.

“My biggest takeaway was how recent some of the discoveries about the Mesozoic era are,” Doran said. “For so long paleontologists have researched dinosaurs and their existence, and only now are they discovering these other creatures that existed were really important to the ecosystem and provides a lot of contextualization for the life of dinosaurs.”

opinions

Opinions Editor Anna Boustany Opinions Editor Chloe Folmar fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Page 5

GUEST COLUMN

STAFF COLUMN

Climate strike highlights activism, emphasizes community-level change

Casting your ballots in home district carries more impact

Aida Campos and Margarita Orozco FLAT HAT GUEST WRITERS

Friday, Sept. 20, global climate strikes occurred across the United States and around the world in hopes of bringing awareness and change to the issue of climate change, including on our campus at the College of William and Mary.

The climate strike on campus was co-hosted by the Sunrise Movement and Young Democrats, and both groups were asked to speak about how climate change correlates to the student advocacy we foster on campus: immigrant rights’ and indigenous rights.

Unfortunately, to some people, the importance of our presence and words were erased because of the overwhelmingly white, upperclass audience that only reflects our entire campus.

Recently, some interesting points were brought up and executed unproductively in an opinions piece last week in The Flat Hat. “Let’s call the Climate Strike last Friday [...] what it was — shouting at the moon and pretending like you’re making a difference just so you can feel better. How ridiculously dishonest,” Gavin Aquin ’22 said.

Some people may be unfamiliar with the way movements work to enact change. There are many different levels and processes involved in a successful movement. Of course, the biggest component of activism is action. But how do we get people engaged? How do we let others know of the actions necessary? We tell them. With every successful movement, there are words and there are speakers.

These discussions happen alongside action. Demonstrations and strikes are just as important as planting trees. Words shared at these demonstrations and protests help to inspire others to build bonds, plant trees, recycle, contact officials and become aware of their relationship with the ‘environment.’

“Let us [...] pretend that fossil fuel billionaires even remotely cared what a bunch of 20-somethings thought — what are they going to do, just cease to exist? How about the politicians who jump at their whim — just stop taking money from the fuels lobby?” Aquin said.

The Civil Rights movements took decades in the making, and we still see its effects to this day. Feminism hit the western world in five major waves throughout the past century or so.

The climate change movement hasn’t been any different. The

exchange between corporations and politicians will not cease to exist immediately, but with more protest and awareness these transactions will lessen as we place pressure on these groups so that they may be held accountable for their actions.

“Talk about elitism,” Aquin said.

As first-generation college students and women of color we recognize that we are fortunate to be attending the College, or any higher institution of learning for that matter.

We are reminded every day that our immigrant parents sacrificed more than we will ever be able to payback.

We choose to voice our opinions unapologetically especially if it means speaking on or protesting an issue that hits close to home, an issue that affects our people first and foremost, an issue that has unfortunately left our families, families we know,and our communities at a disadvantage.

We will use our place of “privilege” and our “elite” status to speak on what we believe is right because there are people who cannot.

Finally, to the notion that we are “faux environmentalists” because we talk about doing things and don’t do them: we find it bold to assume that about a whole group of people.

Clearly, we are passionate enough to speak about the issue of climate change we must already be trying to do something about it, no? Did you listen to our speeches? Those who attended as audience members listened in hopes of learning how they can support change.

In conclusion, it is 2019 and we are experiencing a shift in a movement that black, indigenous and brown people have been fighting for as a means for survival for longer than people have been advertising recycling.

However, now that the movement is more visible on a global scale, in some part in solidarity with these communities, but mostly through the media attention of white activists — there are certain steps needed at a multitude of levels to ensure action: awareness, education, mobilization and communitybuilding. While this movement has originated and been led by the people most affected by climate change, it will only continue to spread and grow with as many action-minded people from all backgrounds. it is important to remember that in a movement, it is necessary to engage in paradoxical critique at every level — without making uninformed assumptions and statements about people’s experiences.

Email Aida Campos and Margarita Orozco at aecompos@email.wm.edu and morozco@email.wm.edu.

In conclusion, it is 2019 and we are experiencing a shift in a movement that black, indigenous, and brown people have been fighting for as a means for survival for longer than people have been advertising recycling.

INDEPENDENT GRAPHIC

Parking on campus expensive, complicated GRAPHIC BY RIEL WHITTLE / THE FLAT HAT “Why is parking so expensive... ... for no parking spaces?”

“Oh! Thank God, finally a space!”

Gavin Aquin

FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

If you have the privilege of being able to vote in an election in the United States — please vote — I don’t even care who you vote for. However, when you register to vote, I implore you to consider keeping your registration in your home district rather than switching your registration to Williamsburg.

Just to give you some relevant background on myself: I am a “classical liberal” or more specifically a libertarian — this is a very clear indicator of my upbringing in Nevada similar to the way full on communism may be stereotypical of someone from San Francisco or hawkish neoconservatism of someone from Lubbock, Texas.

In line with this, I believe in the power of the individual over the federal government.

Two consenting adults of any gender should be able to marry.

The free-market economy makes our nation one of the most prosperous countries on Earth. The immigration system needs to be reformed to become as fair and equitable as can be for people of all ethnicities — but it should still exist; which I sombrely say as the son and grandson of immigrants from Mexico.

Over taxation is tantamount to theft at all socio-economic levels. We have to individually take actions to protect our environment. Religious liberty and freedom of speech are the cornerstones of our democracy.

Equal opportunity does not mean equal outcomes.

Weird, right?

Maybe for a bunch of “statists” from the East Coast — all affection implied — but this is the character that my state is proudly known for, and it is disappearing faster than an Elvis themed wedding ceremony in Downtown Las Vegas is finished.

As such, I will be a key voter in this next presidential election in Nevada’s third congressional district — one of the swingiest districts in one of the most purple states — because, well, I care much more about the political future of the Silver State than I do about the Old Dominion.

For example, in the 2016 election, my district voted for President Donald J. Trump by a 1 percent marigin, while electing now Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, to be our new representative.

Ultimately, I know my state’s local politics better than a new transplant who would just vote along party lines.

Now, back to why you should register to vote at

home: my guess is that the vast majority of you don’t plan on staying in Hampton Roads for longer than the four years most of us will take to finish at the College of William and Mary.

I’m sure Massachusetts, for example, has certain unique aspects worth preserving, while there are some things that should definitely change — the abolition of every single Boston sports team, anyone?

Why then focus your efforts on the location of your temporary residency? Should not your own congressional district be your priority?

Despite my pleas, however, you all will have the choice and free-will to be able to vote in whichever locality you are eligible for — for which we must thank the brave men and women who continually protect our freedom and democracy. If you choose to give into the will of the voter registration volunteers that crop up on campus, at least you are participating in the democratic process.

However, before you pick up your pen and give your social security number to a stranger, consider registering to vote in your locality of permanent residence. One thing the federal government has actually done correctly is setting up a portal with guides to registering to vote — humor them by using this rare useful resource: http://vote.gov.

Email Gavin Aquin at gaaquin@email. wm.edu.

GRAPHIC AND HEADSHOT BY KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT

The Flat Hat

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Page 6

STAFF COLUMN

Lack of chickens poses environmental challenges, creates ethical demands

Chloe Folmar

FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

Growing up, my experiences with chicken were unusual.

The United Arab Emirates, where I lived from ages four to 17, is just across the way from the country of Bahrain, a unique place in which chickens severely outnumber human beings. Despite their large presence, the chickens of the Arabian Peninsula are noticeably malnourished. Like other Middle Eastern livestock, the extreme heat and lack of water and nutritious plants cause each new baby chick to become skinnier and skinnier. A mass of chickens in Arabia provides a depressingly small amount of meat.

These shortcomings aside, I ate chicken regularly as a child. But nothing could have prepared me for the chicken I would encounter as an adult.

Considering these collegiate experiences, I only know one thing for sure: there are not enough chickens. In all seriousness, the dependence of so many people on the chicken for sustenance (including students here at the College) raises concerns. There are not enough chickens to continue sustaining millions of people across the world.

Placing ethical questions about the treatment of these livestock aside, over dependence on one source of food can precipitate serious sanitary and environmental problems.

The more we eat one kind of meat, the more likely we are to run into these issues.

What could replace the esteemed Gallus gallus domesticus? I certainly don’t know. Many thoughts have been proposed: engineering more efficient GMOs, beginning to sacrifice a few of the humans overrunning farmland, and forgoing meat altogether.

All I can say is that people must come together to discover which one of these, if any, is ethically, environmentally and healthfully infallible.

At a school where the most innovative, creative and, frankly, strange people are all jumbled together, surely we can form a serious chicken coalition. Students at the College should be thinking about these problems and cultivating healthy solutions.

Email Chloe Folmar at csfolmar@email.wm.edu.

Considering these collegiate experiences, I only know one thing for sure: there are not enough chickens.

At 18, I moved to Williamsburg to attend the College of William and Mary and began frequenting places like the Sadler Center and Commons Dining Hall for my meals.

I consumed chicken after chicken, whether it was as part of a Mediterranean Bowl, atop burnt barbecue chicken pizza, in nugget form or simply a grilled breast from the hamburger station. When I chose to venture across the road, I inevitably ended up at Chick-fil-A, where cows advertised sandwiches grilled and fried with the gusto of Ray from Marketplace encouraging students to try new sides (speaking of which, have you noticed the recently added macaroni and cheese with chicken?).

It seemed that one feathery fowl had taken over my diet — and it didn’t stop with its meat. What about chicken products? Each omelet I ate was another reminder of the poultry that ruled my eating life, each egg and cheese bagel a symbol.

GRAPHIC BY ANGELA VASISHTA AND HEADSHOTS BY KAYLA PAYNE / THE FLAT HAT

STAFF COLUMN

College community provides new freshmen with opportunity to express true selves Georgia Thoms THE FLAT HAT

Well, it’s been a month since I made the leap into college life for the first time. In this period, I have realized there is absolutely no way to prepare yourself for the complete transformation in lifestyle. Sure, in high school you have to work hard, but the sheer influx of information is what surprised me. There is so much knowledge to attain on campus in lecture halls and outside them.

All of a sudden, you are plopped into a new environment — the College of William and Mary — where you are solely responsible for your own decisions and their outcomes.

While this is only a smidge of what the “real world” is like, it can still be fairly overwhelming.

From the freshman plague, to meeting new people and joining school organizations, there is far more for which to be responsible.

However, the best advice I was ever given was that college is the time and place to truly express yourself, and to be who you want to be since no one has any preconceived notions of who you

are as a person. Getting to form my own identity as I wish is priceless. Applying this lesson of being yourself and creating your own happiness is integral in living a healthy lifestyle in college.

To begin this process of figuring out who I am at the College, I started by thinking about others. In these four years I hope to meet people from all walks of life with different perspectives,

their own as well without judgement.

Using this open-mindedness with the student body allows me to also have my mind as a blank slate to gather information in classes and soak up as much as I can in order to make the most out of the truly incredible opportunity college is.

Having classes have optional attendance and without graded work is secretly a test within itself.

Can you as an individual find the value in completing tasks not necessarily required of you?

With this I believe the journey to not only self-identity and morals begins to form, but also the journey to adulthood.

At the College there are so many outlets for creativity and expression to peak and fulfill the diverse minds that attend the institution. I am incredibly fortunate to be where I am right now, and I think I can speak for everyone on that matter.

Sometimes, it takes a moment of perspective to appreciate life as it is, and in the first month of being here, I was able to do just that.

Email Georgia Thoms at gthoms@email.wm.edu.

In these four years I hope to meet people from all walks of life with different perspectives, points of view and opinions so that I myself can become a more open-minded person. points of view and opinions so that I myself can become a more openminded person.

Instead of using my first impression of someone to craft a complete profile, I want to step back and take them for who they are in that moment.

We all have internal issues, and no matter how big or small, they are valid.

Because of this, I want to find my own identity by allowing people to form

GUEST COLUMN

Minority religious celebrations deserve equal recognition Hannah Garfinkel FLAT HAT GUEST WRITER

The New Year of Rosh Hashanah is fast approaching, and to fellow Jews, that means eating apples and honey with shofars sounding, wishing all your friends “L’Shanah Tova” and having an overall day of celebration.

Rosh Hashanah is followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the significantly less fun day of remembrance, on which we fast and pray for forgiveness, asking that our names be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.

Growing up as a relatively devout Reform Jew in a relatively Jew-dense city — for the American South at least — I’d miss school for the High Holy Days every year.

The school policy to hold classes on my holiest days sent me a subliminal message that my religious observances were somehow less important than attending a couple hours of the same classes I have on every other day of the year.

Even my North Carolina public school would usually give us at least one of the two days of prayer off, though we’d skip for the other one either way with a note from my parents and the expressed permission of the school.

It was always fun when we were younger to miss days that other kids didn’t and then explain the next day why all of the Jewish kids decided to be sick on the same day.

The stakes were low in middle school, when missing one day of class wasn’t a knock on your participation grade and wouldn’t mean missing important information for an exam.

It was a bit of a culture shock coming to college and not having classes off for the High Holy Days or any acknowledgement of them at all.

My high school probably had the most concentrated Jewish population of any nondenominational school in North Carolina, and I was very accustomed to everyone being aware of Jewish holidays and ceremonies.

With my combined class-missing anxiety and pressure from my parents not to skip class for any reason, I went to one evening service for Erev Rosh Hashanah my freshman year and skipped synagogue completely for Yom Kippur.

I felt guilty attending my regular classes on Yom Kippur, a day usually reserved for prayer and fasting.

No one was pressuring me to attend services — other Jewish students understood the commitment of classes — and my parents were probably more concerned about my grades than my spiritual fulfilment, but still it felt wrong.

I was breaking a tradition I’d followed my whole life. With so many professors counting attendance as a graded component of class, my anxious freshman self wasn’t willing to take the potential loss of points.

Looking back on it, I know it was stupid to compromise my religious observances for a couple points on my class grade.

However, I was, and still am, part of a culture that believes that academics have to come above all else, and the school policy to hold classes on my holiest days sent me a subliminal message that my religious observances were somehow less important than attending a couple hours of the same classes I have on every other day of the year.

Of course, it’s well worth noting that I’m speaking on behalf of myself, not all other Jewish students, and certainly not all other religious minorities on the College campus.

I have personally noticed a lack of sensitivity on these holidays specifically. While I can imagine that other students feel similarly, I’d love to hear the thoughts and feelings of other religious minorities and what they believe policy should look like.

Email Hannah Garfinkel at hjgarfinkel@email.wm.edu.

C E L E B R AT E t o E D U C AT E

variety

Variety Editor Zoe Beardsley Variety Editor Adithi Ramakrishnan flathat.variety@gmail.com

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Page 7

Muslim Student Association hosts annual Eid Banquet to educate students on Islam, bring campus together for inclusive social gathering

ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN // FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR

The lights go down in the Sadler Center’s Chesapeake rooms. The projector screen whirs to life as members of the College of William and Mary’s Muslim Student Association step aside to reveal the opening video of their annual Eid Banquet : a short titled “The Secret Life of Muslims.”

Tables packed, banquet attendees took in the video, which sought to debunk common stereotypes applied to individuals of the Muslim faith.

“A lot of people think Muslims look a certain way, but we want to break the stereotype,” MSA Social Chair Sophia Ennaboulssi ’21 said. “Not all Muslims are Arabs, and not all Arabs are Muslims.”

The video emphasized that there is not one specific way a Muslim needs to look or act, and that it is important to listen to and respect members of the faith.

“That’s what the video was trying to show. You can look around, and you might not even realize it ; someone sitting right next to you could also be Muslim,” Ennaboulssi said. “There’s a lot of people that convert all the time, or their families are Muslim but not necessarily Arab, or they don’t look a certain specific way. There’s like, 1.7 billion of us in the world.”

MSA hosts its Eid Banquet every year in celebration of the Muslim festival, which is a significant social and religious event. The banquet held at the College is a combination of two Eids that are celebrated at different points in the year.

“We actually have two Eids: one Eid is Eid-al-Fitr, which is after Ramadan. ... It’s a big celebration and feast that Ramadan is over,” Ennaboulssi said.

“This one that we’re celebrating is Eid-al-Adha; it has a lot of religious significance. For this event, we combined both of them ; it’s a big holiday, because we get together and do Jummah prayer and we’ll eat a lot of food. It’s a very social gathering.”

The banquet is one of MSA’s most prominently planned events, and they encourage students of all backgrounds to attend, eat, socialize and enjoy together.

“For the Eid banquet, we want to bring awareness to what it means to be Muslims and diminishing stereotypes,

and just have everyone come from all over,” Ennaboulssi said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim or not ; just bringing all the students on campus to eat, share a meal, and enjoy performances and the guest speaker.”

MSA started organizing the event before the semester even began, according to MSA President Fay Dawodu ’20.

“The process of planning started over the summer ; a lot of it involved communicating with SA and getting enough money,” Dawodu said. “The food is very important, because it’s the most significant part of Eid-alAdha, so we wanted to make sure that we got enough food for everyone.”

Dawodu joined MSA in her freshman year in search of a religious community that she had not experienced in high school.

“I know a lot of people who go to Northern Virginia high schools had an MSA there, but I’m from Newport News, and we didn’t have an MSA at my high school,” Dawodu said. “When I heard about the MSA here, I was very intrigued; I went to the first meeting, and instantly I knew I wanted to be part of the club.”

For Dawodu, the MSA provided an environment of like-minded individuals and a community she deeply values.

“It’s given me a safe space to connect with people, just because not everyone understands what it’s like to be Muslim,” Dawodu said. “It’s nice to have other people who understand the things that you’re going through, especially at this majority white school.”

The “Secret Life of Muslims” video was followed by a brief talk by guest speaker Islam Bedir, a professor of computer programming from Hampton Roads. Bedir spoke on the significance of the creator in Islam, as well as Abraham’s journey.

“The speaker was an imam ; he talked a lot about Eid-al-Adha and where that came about, and the story of Abraham,” Ennaboulssi said. “He brought historical background to why we celebrate the holiday.”

The process of finding a speaker for the event was initially a struggle, but MSA was able to find and invite Bedir in time for the banquet.

ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN / THE FLAT HAT

“It was really hard to find a speaker, especially in Williamsburg, because there aren’t a lot of Muslims around and there aren’t a lot of mosques around,” Dawodu said. “Usually, we go for professors at this university, but we had a couple professors transfer to other schools. We were able to get a professor outside of this university; it was very last minute, but we are so glad he came through for us and I think he did a great job.”

After Bedir’s talk, dinner was served, and three campus groups performed for the attendees: Griffin Bhangra, Syndicate Hip Hop Dance Team and Inside Out Theater. The banquet also featured a henna table at the side, where students could pay for intricate designs drawn onto their hands by MSA members.

Meredith Adkins ’23, who attended the banquet after being invited by a friend, enjoyed the performance segment of the event the most.

“I really liked the performances,” Adkins said. “The traditional dance was very neat because I hadn’t seen anything like it before.”

Adkins decided to come to the banquet in order to learn more about Eid and Islam.

“I knew Eid was a holiday, but I wasn’t aware of what exactly it entailed, so I wanted to come and be introduced to the culture,” Adkins said.

Rachel Batra ’23 also felt that she came away from the banquet with a better understanding of Eid’s importance.

“I learned more about the meaning behind it, and why this is such an important thing for a lot of people,” Batra said. “I really respect the sense of community that this club has.”

Dawodu hopes that banquet attendees walked away from the event with an open mind and a greater understanding of the Muslim religion.

“I hope that people had a great time, and that they will understand a little bit about what it’s like to be Muslim and what Eid-al-Adha is,” Dawodu said. “One of the most important things to understand is that Muslims are just like regular people.

We might do some things differently just because of our religion, but I hope everyone took away at least something about Muslims and Islam.”

The Flat Hat

Tuesday October 1, 2019

Page 8

A broadcast birthday WCWM celebrates 60 years of being on campus with a special collections showcase SAM CLARK // THE FLAT HAT

SAM CLARK / THE FLAT HAT

The College of William and Mary’s radio Among the artifacts were two standouts organization, WCWM 90.9 FM, hosted a that Bridges felt compelled to speak celebration of its 60th anniversary Sept. about. The first was one of the original 27 at the Earl Gregg Swem Library’s demo tapes for one of the most famous Special Collections, where a plethora of musical alums of the college, according artifacts were showcased to highlight the to Bridges. Titled “Twin Fantasy,” it was station’s diverse history. Everything from recorded and kept in WCWM’s station by show posters to old photos to letters from the lead singer of Car Seat Headrest, Will the governor were brought out and put Toledo ’15. on display for students to look through, “It’s apparently very coveted by a lot and every piece told its own part of the of people,” Bridges said.

WCWM story.

The second is a poster advertising an Airing 24 hours a day, WCWM event where WCWM hosted Wu Tang currently offers students a chance to Clan live in the studio. Though it drew gain experience DJ-ing in a broadcast a lot of attention, the staff knows little environment, allowing them to play about it. music of any genre or style. Additionally, “Knowing WCWM, it could be fake, it publishes the music magazine Vinyl Tap but it’s probably real, so we like to talk and organize free concerts for students. At about the mystery of it,” Bridges said. its creation in 1959, however, the station According to Special Collections, the emulated a professional contemporary poster was donated around the time broadcast outlet. The station has grown of when it took place, leading many to and changed over the last 60 years. believe its validity.

“We now have our live shows, we’re always bringing in new artists, and our records collection has grown to be one of the largest college record collections on the east coast,” Senior Station Manager Varvara Troitski ’20 said. “The nature of radio has definitely changed, and that’s definitely a big factor, but we are stronger than ever.”

Troitski, along with Junior Station Manager Corey Bridges ’21, were primarily involved in collecting the artifacts and organizing the event.

“I was a historian last COURTESY PHOTO / wm.edu year before becoming station manager, so I was really interested in finding out more Similar to the Wu Tang mystery, about the past,” Bridges said. “I made the WCWM staff made discoveries it my mission to kind of find out what about other important events in the was going on in WCWM’s history. I then organization’s history. thought it’d be cool to have a celebration “I’m still learning about the past,” event where we could talk about radio, Bridges said. “There are so many WCWM, and all the history that comes events that I had no idea happened. with that.”

Prince, Bruce Springsteen, and we even After uncovering many interesting broadcasted a presidential debate.” artifacts, the idea for a special collections Troitski also enjoyed the ability showcase began to materialize. to look through a window to the “We actually figured out totally organization’s past. accidentally that it was the 60th “I really have liked looking through anniversary,” Troitski said. “We thought, the past show posters,” Troitski said. what if, for this anniversary, we organize “You’ll see a lot of these bands with an event that showcases not only what weird names that only college students we just donated, but also the whole could come up with, and then suddenly history of everything that came before.” you’ll see Prince. It’s those kinds of

things that make me hopeful that what we do is important.”

The showcase made tangible all the noteworthy moments in WCWM’s history, underlining the fact that it has had an impact on campus ever since being founded. While a lot about the culture of radio and organization itself has changed, there are several things that have remained the same, according to Troitski.

“There’s always going to be people who are going to want to be in WCWM because it’s a certain sub-culture, it’s a certain group of people who are interested in music, or live music, or the alternative crowd,” Troitski said.

“There’s always going to be someone who wants to join, and as a station manager I’m here to facilitate that, so I think that’s really how we’ve stayed the same over the years.”

Troitski also feels that the future of WCWM depends heavily on the direction its members decide to take it.

“That’s definitely the mindset that I want to uphold in the station manager position,” Troitski said. “Going on with Corey and whoever becomes manager after that, the organization depends on what you and your fellow members want to do with it.

Corey and I try to put in as much energy as we can to make it thrive.”

This anniversary granted the WCWM staff a chance not only to reflect on the past, but also to speculate about the future of WCWM and how it might evolve going forward.

“It’s definitely going to be changing logistically in the next few years, but I think all precedent has shown that radio, while it may change a lot, its core is going to stay pretty much the same in that it’s going to be people who want to be on the radio, finding a way to share to their love of music,” Music Director David Lefkowitz ’22 said.

Troitski is excited to see how the station will progress looking far into the future.

“60 years is a long time, so I can’t wait to come back and see what the 100th anniversary looks like,” Troitski remarked.

“I know, though, that people are always going to want to have the ability to show their connection to music, and I think that will stay at the heart of what we do.”

Bringing the flavor Salsa club uses dance to create a strong community, learn about different culutures EMILY MCNAIR // THE FLAT HAT different than anything else I have ever done at school.”

Besides practicing in Sadler, the club demonstrates their routines and skills at Salsa competitions. They recently took home first place at the RVA Salsa and Bachata Congress September 7. It was their second time competing at this collegiate competition, and they were up against Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Virginia.

For Hill, the win was an unexpected one.

“We did not feel confident about it, but we practiced a lot,” Hill said.

In fact, many of the dances were choreographed in the summer, and members returned to school early to practice them every day. It was worth it, though.

“It was a lot of hard work, but I got to do what I love for several hours a day,” Hill said.

All of that hard work was combined with lots of fun. Baroody and Hill said they went in with the mindset of making sure they enjoyed the work because they did not know what the outcome would be.

COURTESY PHOTOS/ SALSA CLUB

It’s easy to tell when the William and Mary Salsa Club is having rehearsal in the Sadler Center Monday and Thursday nights, thanks to the sound of upbeat, rhythmic percussion and brass that energizes even those simply walking through. Over the past four years, the Salsa Club has almost tripled in size and has become an extremely popular club on campus, attracting students from many backgrounds — even those with no prior dance experience.

President Anna Baroody ’20 confirmed that many in the club have never danced Salsa before. Most of the dances are taught by club members using dances they already know, congresses they have attended or even from YouTube videos. The club likes to emphasize collaboration as well, with a lot of its choreography being a group effort.

Social Chair Sheila Hill ’20 feels like she’s found a home in the Salsa club.

“You have to let a lot of things go to be comfortable dancing with someone and then you just bond over that,” Hill said. “You are connecting with somebody not through words, and it’s

“We went to have fun and we came home with a trophy,” Hill said.

Another enjoyable aspect about the Congress was the instructors that were there to teach different styles of Latin dance from all around the world. Along with the workshops, there was a party with live music and different ballrooms featuring different styles of dance.

Because of their first place victory, they also participated in a show with all of the instructors.

Member JD Damarillo ’21 stated that Salsa was a worthwhile activity on campus.

“Salsa is a really great group of people and is a fun thing to do late nights on campus,” Damarillo said.

Fellow member Jimmy Halderman ’23 asserted that the club is a fun group to spend time with. “ It’s a great way to connect with people,” Halderman said.

All the members are excited for the showcase in April and for more opportunities to compete. In the meantime, practices continue to offer something special for all members: a great place to blow off steam with people who care about you while doing the thing you love the most.

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The Flat Hat | Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Page 9

CROSS COUNTRY

VOLLEYBALL

Tribe tops CAA foes

Tribe winless in CAA play College falls to Pride in three sets, now 0-2 AVERY LACKNER FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Redshirt junior Liv Paxton finished 31st overall at the Panorma Farms Invitational, just ahead of freshman Emma Rogers and junior Lauren Finikiotis who placed 44th and 54th respectively.

Strong individual performances pave way for success COLLIN ANDERSON FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR Friday, Sept. 27 at the Panorama Farms Invitational, William and Mary placed 11th overall for the women, led by redshirt-junior Liv Paxton, who finished 31st.

Coming into the meet, the Tribe was coming off a dominant performance at home two weeks ago in the William and Mary Invitational. However, this week provided a jump in competition, and the Tribe seemed ready for the task.

In her first career race over five kilometers, freshman Emma Rogers placed 44th overall in a time of 22:09.9. Rogers continued to build on an already impressive season just three races into her collegiate career. Behind her was junior Lauren Finikiotis who placed 54th in 22:27.5. Not too far behind was graduate student

Rachel Snyder and sophomore Taylor Jones, finishing in 22:55.2 and 23:03.4, respectively.

Rounding out the top-seven for the Tribe was freshman Megan Dougherty, finishing 103rd.

Those were not the only remarkable performances of the race, though. As a team, the Tribe finished ahead of Richmond, who currently sit eighth in the Southeast Region. It looks as if the Tribe will be a prime contender heading into the later parts of the season. For its next race, William and Mary will head north to Penn State October 18. That meet will feature several top teams from across the Southeast Region, as well as the rest of the country.

On the men’s side, senior JP Trojan led the way as the men placed eighth in the fifteen-team field. Trojan finished second overall, posting a new personal best along the way in 24:08.1. That

time is now the top time in the Colonial Athletic Association this season, and Trojan looks to be the favorite in the conference as the Tribe looks ahead to the end of the season. Finishing behind him was junior Spencer Tsai who crossed the line in 24:48.9, good enough for 26th overall. The Oregon native has been the Tribe’s pivotal No. 2 runner all season. Redshirt sophomore and reigning CAA track and field rookie of the year Evan Goodell finished 58th in 25:26.1 while senior Cooper Leslie crossed the line three seconds later. Redshirt sophomore Jack Mackey rounded out the scoring for the Tribe in 75th place with a time of 25:51.2.

The 11th-ranked Tribe men beat contenders Florida and Bucknell handily and seems to be gaining momentum as the season ramps up. Coming into Friday, the team had not lost a

meet this season. The secondranked Virginia team captured the title on its home course with a dominant score of just 35 points.

While the Cavaliers may be a force to be reckoned with, the College finished close behind a pair of Southeast region opponents, Liberty and Kentucky.

Up next, the men also head to Penn State the 18th of October for the Penn State National Meet.

The Tribe will again face off against grueling competition as it prepares for the championship season. Action kicks off at 11:30 the morning of the 18th. After that, all eyes will be on New Market, Virginia November 2nd, when the College faces off against the rest of the CAA in the conference championships. The Tribe will look to continue its string of dominance in this year’s iteration of the event.

William and Mary (4-7, 0-2 CAA) remained winless in Colonial Athletic Association play after falling to Hofstra (8-6, 1-1 CAA) Sunday, Sept. 29.

The match’s opening set was an extreme example of the clear skill differential between the Pride and the Tribe. The Pride scored 17 kills in the first frame alone, compared to just four for the College. Clearly, the Tribe was outpaced and outplayed by the Pride, which took the set by a devastating final score of 25-13 in a game without a Dedrick single lead change or tie.

The second frame was only marginally better for the College, which lost yet again, this time 25-16. For its part, the Tribe’s offense showed signs of life, particularly junior opposite hitter Kate Dedrick, who posted four kills, and sophomore outside hitter Lauren Merrill, who posted three. Senior setter Autumn Brenner contributed nine assists and an ace, but it wasn’t nearly enough to boost the Tribe over the top. The Pride’s offense remained sharp and efficient, hitting .500 in the second game, during which the College’s sluggish defense was seemingly unable to answer its opponent.

Heading into the match’s third and final frame, the Tribe showed a passion that had been Brenner sorely lacking in the early parts of the contest. Sophomore outside hitter Dedrick continued to carry the offense, putting down five kills on her own during the third set, the only one in which the College out-hit the Pride .242 to .185.

As for Dedrick, she posted 12 kills on the match, making the match against the Pride the seventh of the last eight in which she has earned double-digit kills.

However, it was the defense that made the difference in the game, led by sophomore outside Farrell hitter Claire Farrell who notched five digs.

With the defense finally on the board, the Tribe managed to keep pace with the Pride for the entire frame, which saw 14 ties and six lead changes.

Despite losing the final game 26-24 and the match by a 3-0 margin, the Tribe tapped into a fire that has been noticeably absent from its recent outings, providing a glimmer of hope for the rest of conference play.

Next week, the College will embark on its first road trip of CAA play, traveling to face North Carolina-Wilmington Friday, Oct. 4 and Charleston Sunday, Oct. 6.

MEN’S GOLF

College takes seventh place

Early lead and strong finish for Tribe golf

NATHAN SEIDEL FLAT HAT ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR Strong first and third rounds propelled William and Mary to a seventh-place finish in the 15-team River Run Collegiate on Sept. 23-24 in Davidson, North Carolina, moving up three places in the final round of the tournament.

The team posted its best cumulative score (294, +6) in the first round, led by senior Ben Morris’ 2-under 70 and junior Otto Voettiner’s 1-under 71. Both Morris’ and Voettiner’s scores were their third of the year at or below par.

The team’s overall score increased in the second round by nine strokes (303, +15), but freshman Jimmy Taylor made his first appearance in the scoring lineup and put up an even par 72 to put him at +3 for the event after an opening round 75. This effort also earned him a tie for 20th place after day two of the tournament.

Morris stumbled slightly on day two with a five-over par 77 to tie Taylor at +3 and Voettiner shot an 81 that dropped him back to a tie for 46th place. Junior Trevor Hecht improved on his opening round 78 with a 73 to move up to a tie for 41st and sophomore Matthew Feinstein rounded out the lineup in a tie for 83rd with a pair of 81s. The team ranked 10th after the second day with a 597 (+21).

The squad regained some momentum on the final day of the event, shooting 296 (+8) to seventh place with a final score of (+29) 893. Morris regained his flow and fired a 1-over 73 to end up tied at 17th with a 4-over 220. Taylor and Hecht also posted solid rounds to help the team improve its position, earning 2-over 74s. Taylor finished in solo 20th place with a 221 (+5) and Hecht posted a 225 (+9) to capture a tie for 32nd. Voettiner shot 75 on the final day to end up tied for 39th, but had the fourth-most birdies (12) in the tournament.

The team will return to action Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio for the Firestone Intercollegiate.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

The team posted its best cumulative score of the tournament early on, coming in with a score of 294, +6 in the opening round.

sports

Sports Editor Gavin Aquin Sports Editor Avery Lackner flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports

The Flat Hat | Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Page10

FIELD HOCKEY

Triumph at Busch

THE EXTRA POINT

Looking into the crystal ball: predictions on basketball

Brendan Doyle FLAT HAT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

The College took on Vermont with the intention of improving its 2-4 record and continuing its victory streak — ultimately it was successful.

College defeats Catamounts 3-1, continues hot streak BELLA SMALL FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER Sunday, Sept. 29, William and Mary faced off against Vermont at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Tribe (3-4) looked to continue its winning streak with a victory over the Catamounts (4-5) after a dominant victory over Monmouth the previous week. After a strong performance and intense level of play, the Tribe came out victorious with a 3-1 win.

The first period was relatively uneventful for both sides. After 12 minutes and a shot on goal from each team, the Tribe had a viable scoring opportunity when junior midfielder Ella Donahue attempted a shot on goal that was ultimately blocked. The subsequent rebound was shot by senior forward Woodard Hooper and blocked again. After two more blocked shots from the Catamounts and a save from Tribe sophomore goalkeeper Kimi Jones, the first quarter ended 0-0.

Early in the second period, it looked as if the tide had turned in the Tribe’s favor. Hooper had two shots, both of which went wide right, and the ball was continuously kept on the Catamounts’ side of the field.

A penalty corner four minutes in, drawn by senior midfielder Annie Snead, again gave the Tribe another chance to score, however the shot by senior midfielder Christie van de Kamp went wide left. This impressive play ultimately went nowhere, and when the Catamounts were finally able to drive the ball down to the Tribe’s side, Catamount forward Sydney Melfi delivered the first goal of the game after tapping in a drive by Catamount midfielder Claudia Cotter.

A few minutes later, Cotter drew a penalty corner for the Catamounts in which Catamount defender Clodagh Ferry sent a shot that went wide left.

While it seemed as if the momentum was now on the

Catamounts’ side, the Tribe answered to them very quickly.

Just three minutes after the Catamounts’ goal, Donahue served the ball to freshman forward Lily Saunders, who gave the Tribe its first goal of the game and her first goal of the season. The score remained 1-1 going into halftime.

In the third period, the Tribe dominated the play early.

Hooper, junior forward Caitlin Maclean, and sophomore midfielder Cara Menges all had shots within the first six minutes of the second half.

Shortly after, Menges scored on a shot to the back post that was tipped in by junior defender Haley Hopkins, her second goal of the season and the Tribe’s second goal of the game. Now up 2-1, the College continued to play aggressively.

Freshman forward Sally Snead drew a penalty corner on which junior forward Melanie Strik scored her first goal of the season, assisted by freshman defender Tabby Billingham and Sally Snead. Shortly after, senior midfielder Annie Snead drew a penalty corner for the Tribe, followed

by Ferry drawing a corner for the Catamounts. Neither corner amounted in a goal, and the period ended with the Tribe up 3-1.

The fourth period saw senior goalkeeper Morgan Connor come in for the Tribe. The Tribe had an impressive six unanswered shots within the first 10 minutes of the period that kept the Catamounts on defense. Sally Snead drew another penalty corner after this, on which Catamount goalkeeper Sierra Espeland saved a shot by Strik. At the end of the game, the final score was 3-1.

This game was a crucial turning point for the Tribe as it both continued the Tribe’s winning streak and inched it closer to a winning record. The Tribe’s 3-1 victory means that it is now advancing to be 3-4, while the Catamounts fall to a 4-5 record. The Tribe will look to continue its winning streak as it faces Longwood Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Virginia.

National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball practice has started, and that means we’re just over a month away from both the William and Mary men’s and women’s teams taking the floor to begin their seasons.

The two programs are in drastically different spots entering this season.

Bianca Boggs ’19, one of the greatest to ever wear green and gold, graduated from the women’s team. However, a strong cast of younger players, including sophomore guard Eva Hodgson, the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, and do-it-all senior forward Victoria Reynolds, will step up as the Tribe continues one of the best stretches in team history.

Meanwhile, the men’s squad was in turmoil through last spring and into the summer. A team that was expected to compete for the conference crown instead saw four of its top six players transfer following the controversial dismissal of long-time head coach Tony Shaver. Dane Fischer, Shaver’s replacement, enters the campaign with six new faces. The saving grace for Fischer is that senior forward Nathan Knight, ostensibly one of the top two players in school history, decided to return for his final season rather than turning pro.

Let me take this opportunity to make five way-too-early predictions about Tribe basketball this season.

First, Knight will win CAA Player of the Year. The six-foot-10 senior is one of two First Team All-CAA players last year returning in 2019, the other being Charleston guard Grant Riller. Riller is a deadly scorer, but Knight is an allaround dominant player. Last season, Knight scored 21 points per game, while averaging 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest. Impressively, Knight ranked eighth in the CAA with 3.5 assists per game, which is uncommon for a big man and shows what an excellent passer Knight is. This year, it is likely that Knight’s statistics will take a step up, as he is the only proven scorer that the Tribe returns.

The conference player-of-the-year race is likely to be a two-man competitionon the men’s side between Riller and Knight, and I think Knight beats him out.

Second, Harper Birdsong will take a step forward toward being a legitimate scorer. Birdsong first suited up for the Tribe in last year as a redshirt sophomore after playing her freshman season at George Washington. Playing all 31 games but only starting four, Birdsong showed flashes of being a top-tier scorer but was inconsistent at times. She averaged 8.7 points per game and hit double-digits 16 times but struggled towards the end of the season, scoring just three points in two games in the conference tournament. But with another year under her belt, Birdsong will be more consistent and become a threat every single game.

Third, the women’s team will finish with a winning record. The past two seasons, the Tribe has stuck around .500, generally winning more games than they lost in non-conference but coming back down to earth against tough CAA foes. That pattern will continue this season, but the Tribe is due to hold its own better in the CAA, even if that means winning some close games.

Fourth, the men’s team will struggle mightily in the non-conference schedule.

Aside from Knight, there’s one player that played meaningful minutes returning for the Tribe: junior guard Luke Loewe. As the team attempts to gel with a new head coach and a mostly new rotation, it has to deal with a murderous non-conference slate, including a number of perennial NCAA Tournament contenders. The Tribe will struggle to win games early but will be competitive when it gets to conference play.

Fifth, one of the teams will make the CAA Tournament championship game … but neither will win the conference. Both teams will enter March in the thick of the conference, needing to win at least three games to claim the CAA championship. Neither the women’s team nor the men’s team have ever won the conference to clinch a spot in March Madness. However, both teams have been close. This season, either the fresh faces of the men’s team or the young but battle-hardened women’s squad will reach the CAA Tournament championship game, but the run will be stopped just short of a title.

Email Brendan Doyle at bpdoyle@email.wm.edu

MEN’S SOCCER

Tribe muzzles Greyhounds, reigns with 2-0 victory With two second half goals, the College capitalizes on its offensive prowess, wins subsequent match

GAVIN AQUIN FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR William and Mary hosted Loyola Maryland Sept. 24 at Martin Family Stadium. Coming off two previous away losses, the College (1-4-2) was able to triumph in the second half over the Greyhounds (2-5), 2-0.

Entering the first half, neither team was able to convert their attempts into a goal. Despite the Tribe’s best efforts, only one attempt was remotely successful — that of a joint effort between senior forward Reeves Trott and senior midfielder Julian Ngoh. Along the right side of the box, Ngoh split two defenders and crossed a pass to Trott. However, Trott’s chance from eight yards out hit off the right post and was retrieved

by Greyhounds goalkeeper Chase Vosvick.

Despite an unexciting first half, the College was able to put its offensive spirit forward in the second half — proving to be a dangerous foe against the Greyhounds. In quick succession, freshman midfielder Marcos Villeda and Ngoh each threatened a goal against the Greyhounds, but both were ultimately stopped. However, in the 58th minute, freshman midfielder Nathan Messer was able to combine with Ngoh for the match’s first goal.

Messer created the chance with a slide tackle along the left side of the box, after which he subsequently cut through the defense inside the

Greyhounds midfielder Albert Kang fouled Tribe freshman forward Alexander Levengood along the right flank, allowing sophomore midfielder Derin Kokuusli to send in a free kick into the box. Along the way, the kick made its way to Nwegbo who sent in a glancing header from the near side of the six-yard box. Subsequently, his teammates swarmed him as he ran to the corner flag as emotions ran high in this key moment.

After the match, Nwegbo reflected emotionally on his first goal.

“It’s just crazy,” Nwegbo said. “You can’t describe it at all.”

After two consecutive defeats on the road, head coach Chris Norris reflected optimistically on the result of the match.

“We really just talked about sticking to the process,” Norris said. “We felt like we’ve been close in a lot of our games, it’s been one or two lapses that have cost us … and we’ve been competitive against everybody. We believed in each other that we would ultimately get this COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS Second half goals by senior Julian Ngoh and freshman Diba Nwegbo gave the College its first home victory this season. result at some point. It’s just belief and sticking to the process.” penalty area. He then sent the ball as a low pass However, this was a night of firsts for the In its next match on Sept. 28, the Tribe was to Ngoh at the penalty spot, and Ngoh was able freshmen and it was not long before the Tribe was able to replicate its success against Charleston, to hit the shot into the upper right side of the able to double its lead on the Greyhounds. Eight having defeated the Cougars 2-0. frame past Vovsick. With this goal, Ngoh scored minutes later, freshman forward Diba Nwegbo The Tribe will return again to South Carolina for the second time in three matches and Messer took the second goal for himself — the first of his to take on Coastal Carolina Saturday Oct. 5 with attained his first career assist. collegiate career. kickoff beginning at 7 p.m.