Vol. 109, Iss. 11 | Tuesday, September 10, 2019
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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Dorian closes campus Second severe weather-related closure in two years sparks re-examination of emergency protocols ETHAN BROWN // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR The College of William and Mary cancelled classes and closed administrative offices Friday, Sept. 6 due to expected severe weather conditions generated by Hurricane Dorian. Dorian, now a posttropical storm system impacting portions of Eastern Canada, threatened Williamsburg last week as it travelled north parallel to the East Coast after striking the Bahamas. In anticipation of Dorian, the College announced Thursday, Sept. 5 that all universitysanctioned events and classes would be cancelled after 7 p.m. that evening and that the College would remain closed until 8 a.m. Saturday. In a TribeAlert message sent to staff, faculty and students Thursday afternoon, several expected weather conditions — including heavy rainfall, high wind gusts and sustained wind speeds of over 30mph — were referenced as contributing factors in the decision to temporarily close the College. When the College publicized its decision to close campus Sept. 5, contingency plans addressing Dorian’s potential impact on southeastern Virginia had begun almost a week prior when the College’s emergency management coordinator first initiated contact with the administration’s broader emergency management team. Senior Associate Vice President for Communications Brian Whitson, among the members of the College’s EMT, said that Dorian became a topic of conversation days before the campus-wide message was distributed. “The EMT started discussing the need for a campus message about a week ahead of the storm’s arrival,” Whitson said in an email. As Dorian’s path drew closer to Williamsburg, the EMT met to discuss various options in responding to the storm, including closures and student evacuations. In addition to holding two in-person meetings to discuss Dorian Tuesday, Sept. 3 and Thursday Sept. 5, the EMT listened into severe weather updates provided by the National Weather Service in informing the College’s decision-making process. Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88 Ph.D. ’06 noted that the EMT constitutes a diverse array of representatives from within the College community and indicated that the choice to include representatives from different swaths of campus maximizes the likelihood of making a well-
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informed decision on severe weather incidents like Dorian. “The members of the EMT represent many areas of campus and the expertise needed to respond effectively in a weather emergency — eg. W&M police, facilities management, residence life, dining services and transportation, university communications, athletics, student affairs, Reves Center, academic affairs,” Ambler said in an email. While the EMT is instrumental in guiding the College’s policy responses to severe weather incidents, the decision to cancel classes ultimately rests with the Provost. The EMT is then tasked with implementing her decision and publicizing it to members of the College community, as well as with providing updates regarding the storm’s progress. One of these updates came Friday afternoon, when students, faculty and staff received an update from EMT Chair Sam Jones regarding the storm’s passage. “Hurricane Dorian has moved offshore, and the William & Mary campus experienced relatively little impact from the storm,” Jones said in an email. While Dorian’s influence in Williamsburg was limited mostly to intermittent thunderstorms, the decision to close the College came almost a year after Hurricane Florence’s landfall, which prompted a campus-wide evacuation last September. In advance of Florence, classes were cancelled for three and a half days, and residence halls were closed for almost four days, requiring students to evacuate the area. According to Ambler, the differences in severe weather forecasts associated with both Dorian and Florence explained the rationale behind closing the College this year, rather than evacuating students as was done last fall. Ambler noted that the College’s primary concern with severe weather events in Williamsburg is the possibility for widespread electrical power outages, which undermine the campus’s ability to function properly and limt the administration’s ability to provide a safe haven for students. When dealing with complex and unpredictable storm systems, Ambler said that the likelihood of power outages is a major consideration in determining the College’s course of action. “Because many of our campus safety systems rely on electrical power (including door access and fire suppression systems), decisions to evacuate are frequently made with that variable in mind,” Ambler said. “That was the case with Florence last year. With Dorian, the predicted impacts were not nearly as extreme — as of last Thursday, winds in Williamsburg were no longer expected to exceed 45 mph and anticipated rainfall was down to 2 inches.” EMT members stressed that the decision to close or evacuate the College is a case-by-case one and that there are no specific thresholds that must be met in order to pursue any given decision. Whenever severe weather threatens the area, the EMT reconvenes to address it as an individual incident and avoids categorizing it alongside past storms. According to Ambler, this holistic approach ensures that the College community is kept safe in the face of potentially dangerous weather-related activity. “Each storm really is unique, and we look at all the variables known to us at the time when weighing our options,” Ambler said statement.
Lemon’s hall fee remains the same despite accessibility designations Higher Lemon room rates raise questions over role of socioeconomic status in shaping freshman dorm preferences EMMA FORD FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Last spring, the College of William and Mary’s Residence Life announced several changes to housing for the 2019-2020 academic year. One of those changes included the reclassification of Lemon Hall from an upperclassman residence hall to a freshman one. However, the College chose not to reduce the room occupancy price of Lemon Hall, which is currently set at $4,309, compared to the standard rate of $3,829 for a double. This decision makes it the first time that the College has had different price rates for freshman dorm options. “Yes, this is the first time that a premium rate hall has been made available to freshmen,” Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Residence Life Maggie Evans said in an email. “…We needed to provide assignment options for all students (not just upper-level students) that allow for full wheelchair/mobility accessibility throughout the building, yearround climate control, and single-use bathroom facilities.” Lemon is among the residence halls whose singles, doubles, triples and quadruple rooms are priced higher than the standard room fees of other residence halls. Chandler, Hardy and Landrum Halls, as well as fraternity housing and the Colonial Williamsburg House, also are priced the same as Lemon. As a freshman dorm, Lemon double rooms cost $480 more per semester than the standard, main campus freshman double. Evans explained that decision regarding the price of a certain dorm does not come down to the classification of the dorm, but
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instead relies more heavily on the operational costs that the College incurs for maintenance. “The room rent rates don’t have anything to do with the designation of a hall as freshman or upper-level,” Evans said. “Rather, it is based upon what is costs the university to build/ renovate/or maintain certain types of halls. Lemon, Hardy, Chandler, Landrum, Fraternities, and One Tribe Place cost us more to finance, and they have more expensive amenities such as HVAC systems that students can control year-round, access to more private bathrooms, and more common spaces and study lounges. Other (typically older halls that have not yet been renovated) have either no AC, or it if there is AC, it is only available during the summer months (such as Yates and DuPont) these buildings are in one of three modes- Heat On, Cooling On, or nothing on. As such, utilities in these buildings are less expensive.” Evans also explained that for many of the dorms set at a relatively lower rate, the College has already paid off their mortgages, which makes them cheaper to maintain. The decision to transition Lemon into a freshman dorm was rooted in increased demand from freshmen who require airconditioned rooms for accessibility-related purposes. In October 2018, discussions between ResLife, Student Accessibility Services Office and the College’s Office of Compliance and Equity determined that there were not enough current freshman dorms that possessed sufficient heating and ventilation and air conditioning systems. They also decided that there were too few freshman dorms that included elevator access and accessible entrances for students who receive mobility-
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See LEMON HALL page 5
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based accommodations. When asked for the percentage of Lemon’s population used for accessibility accommodations in comparison to other freshman dorms, Evans declined to comment. Instead, Evans said that the percentage of students is not a driving factor for the reclassification of Lemon. “We are legally (and I believe ethically) committed to provide such accommodation when needed, and our previous freshman halls were not able to tick off all of those boxes outlined above,” Evans said. “The number/percentage of students with accommodations fluctuates in each hall each semester, and that total number is really not the issue at hand. The key component is our readiness and ability to accommodate needs of incoming freshmen, regardless of the actual number accommodated. Whether we have 20 or 200 students in Lemon with accommodation needs is not the issue. The issue is that we are prepared to meet the needs of each of our students, whether they are a new freshman, transfer, senior, or graduate student.” According to Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Accessibility Services Lesley Henderson, a student’s socioeconomic status does not affect how a student’s accessibility requests are handled by SAS, despite Lemon’s increased room rates. “I think that if a student ever reached out to us and say ‘I can’t afford this particular hall,’ and —there are maybe once or twice in the past and I’m sure it is a consideration — we might reach back out to Residence Life and say ‘is there any other residence hall that would meet this student’s needs?’” Henderson said. “When
Gavin Aquin ’22 discusses his thoughts about campus student organizations and their role on his college experience. He urges underclassmen to get involved while they still can. page 6
Cavaliers dominate Tribe
The Tribe was defeated 52-17 in London’s return to Charlottesville, as offensive falters doomed the College early and the defense allowed 511 total Cavalier yards. page 9