The Flat Hat September 25, 2024

The F lat Hat

College administration changes rules for protests

SJP shares reactions, hosts first demonstration of academic year

Monday, Aug. 26, the College of William and Mary’s website updated policies related to use of campus facilities and freedom of expression. College administrators did not announce these changes to the student body.

Similar to changes implemented at other Virginia schools, the new policies prohibit encampments for student groups.

“Camping on university property is prohibited. Camping shall include: (a) the use of any item to create a temporary structure without an appropriate reservation; (b) the outdoor use of heating devices, generators, or the use of portable toilets; (c) sleeping outdoors with or without a tent, making preparations for sleeping outdoors including the laying down of bedding, or sleeping in any structure or vehicle not designed for human occupancy between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m,” the College’s policy states.

The College also obligates individuals wearing masks to show an identification document to authorized university personnel.

According to its website, “Any individual who is using a university facility or present on university property and is wearing a mask, hood, or other device or garment whereby a substantial portion of the face is hidden or covered so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, must present an identification document when requested by a person lawfully in charge to establish their identity to the satisfaction of such authorized university law enforcement or other university personnel.”

Additionally, the College outlined its no-tolerance policy for demonstrations at speaker events.

“No individual may disrupt an invited or permitted speaker or hinder the ability of other attendees to see or hear a speaker,” the updated policy statement reads.

Thursday, Sept. 19, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Public Safety Ginger Ambler and Associate Vice President for Community Values

and Connection Greg Henderson sent a student body-wide email linking proposed changes to the Student Code of Conduct and their rationales for the 2024-25 academic year. Some of these changes are related to demonstrating on campus.

“Disruptive Behavior: Engaging in disorderly or disruptive action that interferes with the normal living and work environments of other members of the university community or the University’s activities, including teaching, research, studying, and University-sponsored events and business operations. Disruptive behavior includes acts that interfere with the living/learning environment in the classroom and residence halls spaces,” the document reads.

The document also outlines sanctions for participating in such disruptive behaviors, including probation for moderate disruptions and suspension for major disruptions. The College website explains the reasons for these new changes in their website.

“The proposed changes add clarity about what constitutes disruptive behavior and offers transparency around the rubric employed by those imposing sanctions for violations,” the website reads.

While the College administration announced changes to their definitions of disruptive behavior in their Sept. 19 email, there was no indication or communication of the changes they indicated in their revisions on the website Aug. 26.

In a statement given to the Flat Hat, Students for Justice in Palestine’s collective board described their reactions to the guidelines change and lack of communication from administration since.

“We actually caught W&M’s silent update to its Use of Campus Facilities policies earlier this semester. Some of the most notable changes are in clear and direct response to the rise of advocacy for and demonstrative means of education of the Palestinian struggle, not just on our campus, but across the country,” they wrote in the statement.

SJP also felt these guidelines were in direct response to the club’s demonstration efforts last year, particularly the events that led to the group’s probation by Student Accountability and Restorative Practices through spring 2024 on the basis of traffic obstruction.

“The updated version states that RSOs and affiliated individuals are ‘prohibited from… blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic,’ whereas the former version (as of July 2024) provided this prohibition only for ‘unaffiliated speakers.’ This is in response to a small, peaceful demonstration SJP held last November outside an academic building in which the Board of Visitors were meeting, during which a small minority of individuals took their time in utilizing a crosswalk, resulting in BOV members having to wait a few extra minutes to drive out of the parking lot. Admin used this to place our organization on probation for the remainder of the academic year,” they explained.

SJP connected the College’s change in policy to similar guideline revisions that administrations announced in other schools, despite some of these policies not necessarily being as relevant to the College’s climate.

“W&M admin added an entirely new clause to define and prohibit ‘camping’ on university property in response to student-led Palestinian advocacy groups establishing encampments and Popular Universities on their campuses across the nation in the spring. It is worth noting that we as an organization made the decision to not engage in a similar event at William & Mary; our campus had no encampments or ‘camping,’ but admin proactively instated this policy in an attempt to curb future acts of solidarity of this magnitude,” they wrote.

Universities nationwide have recently implemented measures impeding upon students’ rights to demonstrate after the encampments last spring.

POLITICS

Students prepare for November elections

College political advocacy groups describe mobilization efforts, hopes

Election season is upon the College of William and Mary, and efforts to increase voter engagement among the College and larger Williamsburg community are on the rise.

These efforts come from a variety of on-campus organizations, including Young Democrats, the Voter Engagement Committee and College Republicans. Young Democrats, the College’s branch of the Democratic Party, is heavily engaged in this issue.

“We are tabling every Tuesday at Sadler, registering students to vote,” Young Democrats Vice President Sam Houghton ’25 said. “We are promoting voter engagement and voter registration, specifically, at every meeting we have. Every event, regardless of what it’s about, we have the necessary forms, and we’re ready to register people.”

The organization also has ambitious future plans to continue their advocacy efforts.

“We actually were recently reached out to by the Africana Studies Department as well, and we plan to reach out to more departments throughout the university to go into classes and give a lecture on voter registration,” Young Democrats President Brenna Gelormine ’25 said.

The College Republicans have a similar mindset when it comes to enthusiastically encouraging students to vote, and they have plans to partner with their Democratic counterpart during tabling eforts. Along with tabling to register students to vote, they are working with the Trump/Vance presidential campaign and intend on going door to door around the area. They put an emphasis on voting responsibly.

Aside from the General Election, local elections are of the utmost importance and hold a special weight for the College Republicans.

“There’s been this unhealthy trend in American society when we focus more and more and more on just the top of the government. But that’s not really where a lot of the change and the effect of government happens. We want people who, number one, are responsible to their local constituents. It’s a lot harder to hold your president accountable than your congressman or your state senator responsible. So you have a lot more personal influence,” College Republicans Vice President Philip Vayntrub ’27 said.

For those who may believe that their singular vote does not matter, Vayntrub counters that argument by explaining that if votes did not matter, politicians wouldn’t funnel millions of dollars into campaign efforts to win the favor of their constituents.

“Clearly they care about you and it means you have a lot more effect than you may think. The 2020 election was settled by around 10,000 votes and in three big swing states. So clearly, 10,000 is not a very big number. I mean, you have a lot more agency than you may think in your politics and just as a human being,” he said.

Three candidates announce campaigns for Class of 2028

Chow said.

Thursday, Sept. 26, the College of William and Mary Student Assembly will hold elections for the Class of 2028 president and four Class of 2028 senators. SA will also hold an additional special election to fll a vacant Class of 2025 senate seat. Currently, three candidates are running for Class of 2028 president: Carsten Chow ’28, MeSharlia Fountain ’28 and Devaughn Henry ’28.

Carsten Chow believes in responsibility and transparency in a president, something he pledges to uphold if elected.

“I believe voters have the right to know what’s going on in Student Assembly, and I want to demystify that process and provide more accessibility for them to understand what exactly is happening. I’d send out Google Forms, polls and questionnaires for students to fll out and make sure I’m being held accountable as president,”

He plans to use his current position as the only freshman President’s Aide to amplify the Class of 2028’s voice. The President’s Aides are a group of students who meet in-person with College President Katherine Rowe once a semester in order to offer additional perspectives and ideas on how to best improve the community.

“This role is really important to me because I’m able to have a direct channel with the president in order to bring up your problems, your issues and your ideas to her, in an effort to reflect what the wider student population is thinking,” Chow said.

Chow also plans to prioritize mental health as a topic of importance, an area he has deep experience in with his volunteer work answering calls for the 988 Suicide Lifeline.

“For three years I took calls, four to five hours a week every week,” Chow said. “It really

helped to show me how much of an issue mental health is, especially one that many students face. I want to increase accessibility for the Wellness Center and make it as easy as possible for them to get the help they need, when they need it.”

Chow has worked with two Class of 2028 senate candidates, Mackenna Wyckof ’28 and Nina Argel ’28, to come up with a shared campaign platform and run as a team. They’ve nicknamed themselves “WAC,” an acronym for their respective last names, and their main platform points have been shortened to another acronym, “CARES.”

“C is for ‘community,’ which we want to improve through class events like Super Bowl parties, mixers, balls and other events. A is for ‘advancement,’ specifcally career advancement. We’d work with the Cohen Career Center to hold LinkedIn workshops and alumni networking events for all students,” Chow said.

Chow further explained the rest of his platform. “R is for ‘responsibility,’ which is our duty to make sure you’re all informed on what’s going on in SA. E is for ‘empowerment,’ especially for students that might have less resources. This would include mixers for frst generation students, minority mixers and other cultural celebrations. S is for ‘sustainability.’ We want to improve recycling and compost signage as well as work with environmental organizations to improve the College’s sustainability as a whole,” Chow said.

These ideas deeply resonate with Chow and his running mates, and he believes that freshman students will have the best representation possible if they vote for all three.

MeSharlia explained how her experience in high school as student council vice president and as president during her senior year led her to gravitate towards the role.

SHANNON RAYMOND AND ABBY FURCY THE FLAT HAT

MONA GARIMELLA // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

PHOTOS BY SEDRA OLABI / THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY MONA GARIMELLA / THE FLAT HAT

news insight

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William and Mary is the alma mater of the nation for many reaso ns, but one guiding principle is that William and Mary excels at developing inspirational leaders and role models.

̶ Associate Director of Civic and Community Engagement Rich Thompson

Thursday, Sept. 19, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Public Safety Virginia Ambler ʼ88, Ph.D. ʼ06 and Associate Vice President for Community Values and Connection Greg Henderson announced proposed changes to the Student Handbook in an email to the student body.

“The Senior Vice President for Student Affairs & Public Safety routinely submits for student comment any substantive changes that have been suggested for the Student Handbook for the coming year,” the Collegeʼs webpage on the changes stated.

Among the various changes, one includes a recommendation to remove the Student Conduct and Honor Appeals Boardʼs responsibility to provide a “merit” review for student conduct cases.

“With the use of Informal Resolution and Alternative Resolution, we have few appeals that would be forwarded to the Committee, yet the university spends considerable resources in appointing, training, and maintaining the Appeals Committee,” the Collegeʼs website states.

According to the page, the College concluded that a merit review is not necessary and instead appeals will go directly to the College vice president for Student Affairs, currently Ambler, or their designee.

The College says the move will remove a barrier for students to receive an appeal review.

PEERAWUT

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Caleb Fulford ’24 makes history as the First District of Virginia’s youngest ever delegate

Fulfordʼs lifelong passion for political activism led him to Democractic Partyʼs biggest event

ETHAN QIN // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

It was only a month prior to Virginia’s First District Democratic Convention in May when Caleb Fulford ’24 decided to run for a delegate position that would represent the district at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ill.

Despite strong competition from far more experienced former elected officials and local party chairs, Fulford finished with the most votes out of all candidates. He is now the First District of Virginia’s youngest ever delegate in history, as well as the youngest openly gay delegate in state history.

“It was tough coming in because of my youth, and I was by far the least well-known of the candidates there,” Fulford said. “So, I was coming in as the underdog and not really anticipating what would happen.”

Being in that underdog position, Fulford knew he had work to do. In the month leading up to the First District Convention, Fulford spent hours reaching out to community leaders and secured several endorsements from members of the Williamsburg and Norfolk city councils.

At the convention, Fulford and his friends stationed themselves outside the venue to hand out fliers and speak with voters. He leaned on his endorsements, internships, campaign work, and his education at the College of William and Mary as his qualifications to represent the district.

Coincidentally, the morning of the convention was the same day as Fulford’s graduation ceremony.

“The same day as my government graduation ceremony, that morning was the First District Convention. It was exciting being elected and then driving back to Williamsburg an hour later, putting on my cap and gown, and going to get my government [diploma],” he said.

Growing up in Chesapeake, Va., Fulford was fascinated by the history of his hometown. This interest in history later turned into a passion for constitutional law.

“The colonial and Civil War history that surrounds Chesapeake and with Williamsburg being a stone’s throw away, that’s the epicenter of early American history,” Fulford said. “Constitutional law is so grounded in the precepts of America at the time of the revolution, with the thoughts and conceptions of the founders.”

As Fulford got older, he came into the foreground of politics with the 2016 presidential election. Fulford realized that his foundation in history actively informed the election at hand to the highest level, motivating him from that point onward.

In junior year of high school, he volunteered for a political campaign for the first time in Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2019 Presidential Primary campaign.

“I was motivated to get into politics to protect the foundational freedoms and rights that we read about so early on. And yet those battles are still fought today,” he said.

At the College, Fulford looked to continue his involvement in congressional debate from high school. He found that outlet through Moot Court, competing in the national tournament twice and notching second-place in a regional tournament at Yale University.

Fulford was also involved in the Young Democrats and the William and Mary Writing Center, as well as serving on some community councils.

“William and Mary provided the opportunities, opening

the door for connections with individuals whom I could really make a lasting impression on and introduce myself in a way that positioned me for post-graduation work life,” Fulford said.

During his time at the College, Fulford highlighted his experience with the College’s study in D.C. program. Through the Washington Center, he had the opportunity to work with Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey.

Both his time spent working on political advocacy and in Moot Court have continuously fostered Fulford’s passion for constitutional law.

For Fulford, the core of his interest and advocacy in constitutional law involves reproductive rights, hence the topic of his honor thesis: “Roads Less Traveled: Abortion, Interstate Commerce, and the Post-Dobbs Politics of Travel.”

In his thesis, Fulford examined the legal and political implications of abortion travel bans in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

“My view is: our founding purpose was the protection of individual rights and freedoms,” Fulford said. “I’m so actively involved in working toward correcting some of the recent mistakes made, in my view, by the Supreme Court involving IVF and reproductive rights.”

Being able to communicate topics like these is one of the many reasons why Fulford chose to run for a DNC delegate position.

At the DNC, Fulford attended fundraisers, delegation breakfasts and the main programming, where he listened to speeches given by Harris, President Joe Biden, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and more.

“The energy was potent, and I was first or second row sitting next to Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger,” he said. “Being able to speak with these folks in that environment was just pure euphoria. Just incredible changemakers from across our state who I’ve admired for four years.”

Fulford highlighted a full circle moment when he sat next to another delegate, Hala Ayala. Ayala, who was the 2021 Virginia Lieutenant Governor nominee, was one of the first people Fulford voted for as a legal voter.

“She was the first person I voted for as a voter,” Fulford said. “She was on that ballot and unfortunately, lost. But to be able to sit next to that person in the same room almost as an equal or peer, that’s insane.”

Coming back after the DNC, Fulford is working toward sustaining the relationships he made in Chicago and continuing his momentum. This includes getting lunch with local party chairs and furthering the connections he created at the DNC.

Fulford now works on several campaign efforts, including the Historical Triangle Democrats and the Leslie Mehta Congressional campaign, and helps organize efforts for various groups in areas like Williamsburg, Richmond and Henrico.

He emphasizes how critical it is for students at the College to vote, seeing how the campus lies directly at the heart of Virginia’s First Congressional District.

“There’s a million ways you can make a difference,” Fulford said. “The most important and the most valuable is your vote.”

FLAT HAT NEWS BRIEF

COURTESY PHOTO / CALEB FULFORD

Caleb Fulford ʼ24 cheers on speakers during the 2024 Democratic National Convention last month at the United Center in Chicago, Ill.

Blackboard Ultra receives mixed responses from professors, students

detailed art with her students.

For the 2024-25 academic year, the College of William and Mary launched a new online learning software, Blackboard Ultra, for students and professors. Previously known as Blackboard, the reimagined interface aims to enhance the student experience, simplify navigation and better facilitate access to course materials.

Blackboard Ultra’s debut marks a technological innovation for students and faculty, which the College hopes will ultimately improve learning outcomes.

The College launched the original Blackboard site in 1999, making the official switch from record-keeping by-hand. Few updates had been made to the software until 2018, when the launch of Ultra Base Navigation on Blackboard modernized the user interface and introduced the ‘activity stream’ for centralized notifications.

Professor of economics Berhanu Abegaz began his career at the College when Blackboard was still in its early stages. In an interview with the Flat Hat, Abegaz shared his positive reception to the platform’s first edition, despite the significant adjustment.

“Tere was a sense of insecurity using Blackboard, but the conveniences outweighed the risks,” Abegaz said.

With regards to Blackboard Ultra, Abegaz suggested the new system was largely redundant. Even with the various improvements advertised by the College and the new visual format, he believes the platform is not all that diferent from its predecessor.

“Blackboard Ultra, they say, is an improvement over the old version,” Abegaz said. “You can use your mobile devices to engage in the system and it tracks student progress better, there’s improved navigation, they say and so on. I don’t see those advantages. Once you master it, then you realize you are doing the same thing you did with the old version.”

Some professors have experienced difficulties with the system.

Visiting teaching professor of art history Kexin Ma ’17 raised concerns about Blackboard Ultra’s support of high resolution images, which she says is necessary for analyzing images of highly

PROTESTS

“Especially for art history, we have a lot of images where it’s highresolution,” Ma said. “So the fles will be quite large in size. Tat’s one of the major issues I’ve encountered so far, where I’ve got students asking me, ‘oh I couldn’t really open it up’ or it’s really slow to open up a big fle like that. But I still don’t really want to compress them because the images are quite important for art history study.”

Ma also talked about her use of other systems, citing Moodle as a possible alternative to Blackboard. She described Moodle as a more austere and less colorful platform with some extra functions concerning class participation.

“Te layout is defnitely not that colorful or anything compared to Blackboard, but I would say in terms of discussion posts, I think the students kind of enjoy that as well,” Ma said. “We create nonsynchronous, interactive sessions on Moodle, where we upload prerecorded lectures and students can have discussions below that.”

Ma also mentioned the voluntary Blackboard Ultra training she attended this summer. Te session helped her bridge the gap between the older Blackboard she had used as a student at the College and the reimagined version implemented this year.

“It’s not mandatory, I just thought it might be good to learn how to deal with this new system that I’m not really familiar with,” Ma said. “Because when I was a student here, we used a much older version of Blackboard. So I did attend a training session ofered by the College, which was quite helpful actually.”

Professor of history Philip Daileader believes the overall comprehensibility of Blackboard has increased with the new update. He shared that the site’s more complex features are now largely hidden from view on the home page, simplifying navigation of the website.

“Te complex, more advanced features that were kind of shoved in your face all the time, now you have to go fnd them in Blackboard if you want to use them,” Daileader said. “And since I don’t want to use them, I don’t have to wade my way through them. So for me, I’m rather happy about that. But I can understand how someone else might not be so happy about that.”

Daileader emphasized that Blackboard has only ever played a supporting role in his teaching. He explained that as long as communication with students and record keeping are possible

without too many barriers, the website has fulflled its purpose.

“As someone who came here in 1998, I still regard Blackboard, and I’ll always regard Blackboard, as kind of secondary to my teaching,” Daileader said. “It’s not the main vector for educating people. For me, it’s a means of communicating with students, record keeping, and making some readings more easily available. So what I’m putting up there, there’s nothing fancy. I don’t try to do too much with it, and that may be one of the reasons why I’m happier with it.”

Abegaz also attended training sessions last spring geared toward preparing faculty for the switch to Blackboard Ultra. He fnds that the College provides better support related to major technological changes than they have in the past.

“Support has improved dramatically,” Abegaz said. “The College was buying this expensive hardware but not hiring support staff. But now that problem is more or less fixed and they’re really very friendly.”

While the College’s interventions have been helpful, Abegaz highlighted the continued necessity for adjustment and learning curve that professors will experience this semester.

“I’m still nervous about it, so I’m going to bring hardcopy versions of test number one just in case we encounter glitches as an additional cost,” Abegaz said. “So yeah, the younger faculty learn faster, but we’ll have to learn. So even the older ones like me are still engaged in the process now.”

For Sarah Morid ’27, the switch to Blackboard Ultra has not optimized her life as a student in any special way. However, she doesn’t see any glaring issues with the platform.

“I didn’t really notice that we changed because I didn’t see a significant difference,” Morid said. “But it’s fine. It meets my needs, but Blackboard met my needs as well. I’m not really particular or anything.”

Julia Zhang ’27 appreciates the addition of a checkmark symbol to signify that an assignment has been completed, but otherwise sees no major improvements in the update.

“I also didn’t really notice any differences,” Zhang said. “I guess the checkmarks are nice when it shows that you’re in progress. But that’s about the only positive I would say. Any other time, I don’t think there’s a lot of noticeable, really good improvements that I can see.”

Students for Justice in Palestine responds to updated protest guidelines

CAMPUS from page 1

For example, Monday, Aug. 26, the University of Virginia announced 11 new policies relating to demonstrating on campus, one day before the first day of the fall semester. The new concealment of identity policy states that people wearing a face mask on UVA property may now be asked by officials to show photo identification or a doctor’s note proving medical necessity for a face covering. Additionally, the university added to their use of shared space clause, citing, “Camping, with or without a tent, is prohibited in outdoor

STUDENT ASSEMBLY

University facilities and on outdoor University property, and sleeping outdoors is prohibited between midnight and 6 a.m.”

Unlike the College, UVA announced these changes via email and UVA Today, which is the university news outlet.

UVA administration wrote in their announcement, “The new or updated rules all aim to make it easier for students, faculty and staff to exercise their First Amendment rights safely and without disrupting the normal operations of the University or the daily lives of the people around them.”

SJP sees a trend between the College and UVA, both public universities, relying heavily on state policy and funding. However, the club finds their reliance on public funding to be more of a reason to be more open to student opinions.

“As a public university operating on government funds, William & Mary has a responsibility to do better in upholding its community members’ Constitutionallyprotected rights to express themselves, including and especially in instances of those community members ideologically

dissenting from the institution. With that said, these crackdowns on campus advocacy are disappointing but not surprising,” SJP wrote.

In an interview with The Flat Hat, Iqra Ahmad ’26, a club leader of SJP, explained that while she understands that the College being a public university means that it relies on state funding and state policy, she also hopes the administration understands the value in listening to students’ voices.

See PROTESTS page 4

College network engineer discusses PATH, SA Senate funds more COVID-19 kits

Undergraduate student senate approves changes to fall elections process, Sloane gives executive updates

PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI AND ALEXANDRA NAKAMITSU THE FLAT HAT

Tuesday, Sept. 17, the College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly Senate met and passed two bills, reforming the fall elections process and purchasing COVID-19 testing kits.

The senate also heard a special presentation from College Senior Network Engineer Mary Bull on the PATH registration system, as well as the Q1 Finance Presentation from Chair of the Finance Committee Sen. Matt Swenson ’26 and SA Secretary of Finance Jacob Stein ’25.

Special Business

Bull spoke at this week’s meeting to discuss the newly implemented PATH registration system. She shed light on the reasons for making the switch, citing software crashes with the old Banner system, as well as PATH’s areas for improvement.

Although the Office of the University Registrar ultimately had the final say on which new system to use, the decision to use PATH was made in collaboration with IT. The administration adopted PATH for its ability to produce more data on class availability and demand, with the goal being to create a more equitable registration process.

Bull also cited that major software issues were ultimately what led to Banner being replaced.

“In 2022 there were some horrible, massive crashes, and so they really wanted to emphasize that, that is the reason that we moved away from it,” Bull said.

Although the University Registrar is still sifting through the data from last semester’s registration, they did have some information on waitlists, a new component introduced with PATH.

“They said when people waitlisted classes, the system sent out 4,000 invitations to the student body saying ‘You’re not eligible to register in a class that you waitlisted,’ and about 50% of those were accepted,” Bull said.

She also said that the percentage of people getting a full classes schedule with their primary cart was in “the high 80s.”

The data also showed that students at the College are much more engaged with revising their schedules between the months of June and August, especially compared to other schools that use PATH, including Yale and Brown University. Bull said that this is most likely not a reflection of the nature of the student body, but rather of class seats compared to these bigger schools.

Class of 2026 President Zoe Wang ’25, M.P.P. ’26 asked whether the two-week waiting period between a student submitting their primary cart and getting their schedule can be shortened to minimize stress.

Bull said that would be possible from an IT perspective, but the twoweek waiting period was implemented by the University Registrar.

“The explanation that I’ve heard of why the longer period is great is because it gives you time to talk to your advisor and talk to professors about the classes that you might want to take,” Bull explained.

Overall, Bull was satisfied with the PATH software but sees room for improvement by taking that data and using it to expand class sizes and seat availability.

Swenson and Stein delivered the Q1 Finance Presentation, which provided a breakdown of the

Recognized Student Organization budget for Fiscal Year 2025. RSO is starting with $749,096 this year, $224,096 less than last year. $135,000 will be allocated to the media council, funding the various publications on campus.

Stein also presented the data on the allocation of funds by the Organization Budget Allocation Process. In 2022, OBAC approved 74% of the organizations that applied for funding from the College, with 71% of those funds being spent. In 2023, OBAC “got far more strict with its enforcement and requirements” with approval dropping to 60% and spending jumping to 80% of available funds.

With more organizations complying with funding guidelines, approvals have now rebounded to 64% and spending has stayed high at 82%.

“So the takeaway is that things are moving in the right direction with OBAC,” Stein said.

New Business Sen. Connor Cheadle J.D. ’25 and Sen. Connor O’Neill J.D. ’25 introduced The Going to the Grads Act of the 332nd Student Assembly. The act is co-sponsored by Arts and Sciences graduate Sen. Morgan Brittain, Sen. Vedant Singh MBA ’25 and Sen. Seyda Celci MBA ’25.

The bill aims to facilitate senate meetings at other locations throughout the College, particularly at graduate school locations. The legislation is proposing $300 to fund light snacks and other accommodations.

Sen. Ashlynn Parker ’26 introduced The Deep Breathing Stickers Act, proposing to allocate $180 from SA Reserves to purchase 500 stickers. The aim of the stickers, the bill says, is to encourage

mindfulness and mental wellness on campus.

Old Business Senate Chair Sen. Hazel Vineet ’25 introduced The COVID Emergency Response Act II, which the senate moved directly to the Old Business section and passed with unanimous approval.

The bill allocated $2,800 from SA Reserves to purchase 400 COVID-19 FlowFlex Rapid Antigen Tests from the Prescription Shoppe.

The tests will be located and distributed at the Earl Gregg Swem Library and the Raymond A. Mason School of Business library.

SA Attorney General Elijah Poetzinger ’25 said the senate cannot use the unanimous consent process (voting by acclamation) for most bills and amendments. Instead, they might be able to suspend the rules before voting by unanimous consent.

Poetzinger then advised the senate to vote on the bill by roll call before the issue was resolved.

The T-Shirt Purchasing Act II, sponsored by Class of 2026 Sen. Spencer Krivo ’25 and introduced the week prior, was renamed to The Swag Purchasing Act.

The bill had been tabled on Sept. 10, and Krivo asked to table it for one more week by moving it to the Old Business category, allowing SA committees to discuss at their weekend meetings.

The senate also passed the Fall Election Info Session Reform Act, sponsored by Vineet, Swenson and Class of 2025 President Matthew Hwang.

The act amended the SA Code to resolve a discrepancy between the SA Code and SA Constitution.

The bill amended this error by calling for SA to hold information

sessions 21 days before the fall election. Previously, the Code called for the sessions to be held four or six weeks prior to election day for both semesters.

The bill also removed the option of mandatory asynchronous sessions, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing it as no longer necessary.

Ultimately, the Independent Elections Commission will be tasked with determining the format for all of the information sessions.

Executive Updates

Sloane informed the senate that she held her first cabinet meeting of the year Sunday, Sept. 15. She also shared that her cabinet secretaries will now regularly attend senate meetings.

She also reminded the senate that the College’s board of visitors will meet from Wednesday, Sept. 25 to Friday, Sept. 27. She noted that much of the meetings will be open to the public.

O’Neill noted that he had received complaints regarding high prices for parking fines at the College of William and Mary Law School. Also at this week’s meetings: Director of Student Leadership Development Anne Arseneau ’89 MA.Ed ’92 notified the senate that Zane Peters J.D. ’26 has been elected as chair of the SA Review Board.

Arseneau also notified the senate that there had been one campaign violation in the current rounds of SA elections, with one candidate posting on Instagram before campaigning started.

She also noted that the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has been asked to send one student senator to join the chamber, but has not yet done so.

Aramark's return to campus prioritizes students in new initiatives

The Collegeʼs dining provider aims to implement student feedbac k, accomodate dietary restrictions

A year into Aramark’s return to campus, dining in itiatives have been focused on providing local and sustainable food to the College of William and Mary community, increasing direct lines of student feedback and looking ahead to the opening of the new West Woods Commons dining hall in fall 2025.

Aramark was brought in by Auxiliary Services and the Request for Proposals Committee in 2023 after Sodexo’s contract expired. Aramark has expressed goals of increasing options for students with dietary restrictions, diversifying the types and flavors of food offered, as well as partnering with local businesses to obtain high quality produce and place student satisfaction at the forefront of their services.

Employees wearing golden aprons are always available in dining facilities to answer any in-person student requests.

Aramark’s new Text Concierge and Golden Apron programs allow feedback to be received directly from students, enabling swift changes to be made to the menu and new food station concepts to be designed based on real-time input from the community.

“Auxiliary Services is committed to fostering an environment that promotes the diversity of creativity, excellence, thought, culture and educational opportunities throughout the auxiliary enterprise at William & Mary,” Auxiliary Services’ website reads. “Student and community feedback is invaluable to the operations of our departments’ initiatives on campus.”

Aside from being able to communicate with dining services through the official email and social media channels, Aramark started a text concierge program where students can send a message to a number monitored by 14 dining leaders across campus.

This semester, their response time has averaged at less than three minutes, providing students with access to the dietician, executive chef and dining manager in real time for any questions.

This program also offers students with dietary restrictions the opportunity to text the head chef asking for a special meal to be prepared for them in advance that they can pick up directly.

“The biggest impact that we’ve seen and heard from students is that it’s not about waiting, it’s about how I can get my food when I get there and then I can eat with my friends,” Aramark Resident District Manager Adam Poling said. “It’s the social aspect of it, because then you are not waiting for your food and by the time you get it, your friends are done and I’m eating by myself. Now I get my food with everyone else and I can be with my friends.”

Sustainability and supporting local businesses, areas

of importance to many students on campus, have also been two of Aramark’s main priorities. Aramark exceeded their target of $3 million spent in partnerships with local small, women- and minority-owned — or SWAM — companies by $400,000 in their first year.

The student sustainability interns and the Office of Sustainability have worked with Aramark to implement a hydroponics wall in the Commons Dining Hall, new compost bins throughout campus, exchange express dollars for farmers’ market tokens and organize events to raise awareness about food waste and green dining practices on campus. Aramark monitors their food waste by collecting it and weighing it to ensure their food production process is efficient and aligned with the data collected.

The College’s primary dining partner relating to sustainable and local produce is 4P foods, which is based in Virginia.

“We’ve been able to work with a couple of farms and say, here’s our volume. If you can’t meet it this year, we’ll make a commitment next year to you and then that way, they’ve got a guarantee,” Poling added. “So when they go to the bank and ask for some operating capital or a line of credit, they can say I’ve got a contract with 4P foods or William and Mary Dining, so that they can make that happen.”

As part of Aramark’s commitment to supporting the local community and being more involved on the

ground, they have also been prioritizing employee well-being. Students at the College have been very vocal about dining workers’ rights in the past and Aramark retained all 224 employees from the previous dining contract, without requiring them to go through further selection processes.

Lenorah Adams, an employee at Chick-fil-A, commented on the positive shift in her work environment with the return of Aramark, emphasizing the opportunities she was given to learn and grow.

“Through working with the team, I was able to apply for a promotion into the accounting office,” Aramark Financial Analyst Akhil Ravva MBA ’25 said. “The team is very helpful and inspiring in their support. I like the culture very much.”

Adams and Ravva were both promoted as part of the transition, and also noted that they heard favorable feedback from students regarding the opening hours, cleanliness and quality of the new dining program.

To increase access to food for students and counter food insecurity, Aramark extended dining hall hours significantly, keeping both the Commons and Sadler dining halls open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to midnight.

They have also planned for Bento Sushi to move to the Student Exchange, which is open until 8 p.m., after students expressed interest in more late dining options.

Fran’s Kosher Deli will also be relocating to Marketplace to expand their menu and grab-and-go options.

Finally, an Exhibition Kitchen is being introduced in the Boehly Cafe that will offer student cooking classes and interactive chef pop-ups and demos.

Moreover, Aramark consults the heat maps that track dining transactions at various times and locations across campus to observe student movement patterns, which helps guide decisions on where to place dining options to best suit students’ needs.

Grace Carryer ’27 has only eaten Aramark’s food as a student at the College. She shared that the quality and variety of food has not been outstanding, especially in the morning.

“Honestly, I really don’t love it,” Carryer said. “Especially for breakfast, they have the same things all the time and it’s never been good, like I can’t eat the eggs here and a lot of the stuff. I don’t have any dietary restrictions, but I definitely don’t feel like there’s enough choices, especially between meals.”

William Rice ’26 has experienced both Sodexo and Aramark’s food services in his time at the College. He shared with the Flat Hat that the quality of food over the past two years has been markedly better compared to his freshman year with Sodexo.

“The quality of the food this year and last year was definitely way better than my freshman year,” Rice said. It does feel like there’s a bit more variety in the newer service.”

Freshmen candidates lay out platforms, goals for student body

Chow, Fountain, Henry emphasize transparency, community, experience in campaign pitches

FRESHMEN ELECTIONS from page 1

“I made a big impact in my [high] school,” Fountain said, “I wanted to run to see if I could make a big impact here at William and Mary.”

Speaking on what makes her qualifed, Fountain cited her previous leadership experience and her skills in communication, engagement and involvement. She also mentioned that she has experience in more than just her high school’s student council.

“I led my FBLA team to regionals as number one, and I was also a part of diferent teams and organizations within the school,” Fountain said.

Te Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an annual competition that has participating students take tests and give presentations that showcase each team’s leadership skills in diferent business topics.

Fountain explained that, after hopefully graduating early from the College, she wants to pursue medical school to become a general surgeon. Fountain remarked that she was looking to grow her leadership skills through a position as the Class of 2028’s president and throughout her time in medical school.

Fountain also spoke about her hobbies and favorite places on campus.

“I’ve joined a few clubs here at William and Mary, but before then I liked to sleep, I like to read, just going out and hanging with friends,” Fountain said.

She further highlighted some favorite spots on campus despite only being here for one month, due to the extra time she has spent at the College through the Preparing for Life as a University Student program.

PLUS is a week-long annual event for incoming students that sees them exploring the campus, attending mock lectures, doing various activities and making friends early before starting the ofcial school year.

Fountain was one of the 47 students selected this year.

Fountain said she likes to frequent places such as the Center for Student Diversity and the Integrated Science Center, as she plans to major in biology.

She also likes to go to Te Daily Grind for First Gen Fridays, where frst generation and low income students gather each Friday to study and chat.

Henry explained he is committed to fostering community between students, faculty and professors through workshops, mixers and events if elected. Henry also expressed openness to hosting ofce hours as a means of staying connected to the student body.

A big part of being president, Henry continues, is not only carrying out promised duties, but also having availability and accountability.

“You got to be available to the people you serve,” Henry said. “You have to take responsibility for actions. Even if you weren’t involved with it, it’s still your class that you represent.”

In addition to his passion for helping people,

Henry has prior leadership experience, serving as senior class president and the frst representative of his county’s school board.

His commitment to community service also includes his experience as a volunteer frefghter, along with his participation in political leadership programs and seminars.

However, his passion for helping people didn’t just begin in high school; he started advocating much before that.

“I think my interest started in fourth grade — or around the 2016 election — and with all the pandemonium around it, it really got me interested,”

Henry said.

Henry has also recently tried out for the men’s volleyball team here on campus, drawing from his love of beach volleyball developed in his hometown in the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

But while he enjoys spending time on sports, it’s still government that truly ignites his passion.

“My biggest hobby is I keep up with politics, the political world, everything is charming there,” Henry said.

Last summer, Henry participated in a political leadership program at the University of Virginia, where he spent two weeks traveling around the Commonwealth, learning about the economy and history.

“So, you know, going to these diferent areas of Virginia, learning about their political climate, how their government works and things like that is really eye opening,” Henry said.

Henry then discussed his plans after graduation, remarking that after double majoring in government and either public policy or American studies, he would want to pursue graduate education.

“I want to eventually go to law school to study constitutional law and practice for a little bit, but my real main goal is to enter politics,” Henry said. “Like I said before, I want to help people, and I think that’s the best way I can do it. I wrote a bill that even went before the General Assembly last year.”

Te aforementioned bill Henry helped draft focuses on media literacy and internet safety, proposing mandatory education on these topics in Virginia, similar to the Commonwealth’s existing requirements for fnancial literacy.

Although the bill did not pass this year, Henry remains hopeful that it will be approved during the next General Assembly session in January.

Speaking on what he wants voters to remember, Henry emphasized both the initiatives his candidacy would introduce and the power the freshman voters have to infuence the election both at the College and in the Presidential Election in November.

“Come out to meet the candidates on September 24, Sadler Atrium from. From 5 to 6:30 [p.m.] you can meet us,” Henry said. “Make sure you vote on September 26th, but also make sure you register to vote for the election in November. Early voting has already started, so you can check your voter registration, vote today if you want right down the street at the Williamsburg City Council.”

“It’s unfortunate that it’s almost understandable because we are a public university. Our money comes from the state government and who’s in control of the state government can significantly influence it. So it is unfortunate. But I would also argue that that money is used for students’ education and for students’ wellbeing. So we need to be prioritizing

that in our financial discussions. What do the students need? What are the students calling for? What do the students want? That should be shaping where the money goes and how it’s used,” she said. Ahmad also stated how the face concealment policies disapproving of wearing masks, while in response to demonstration efforts, are a public health concern that puts students at further risk.

“It is a blatant disregard for basic common sense public health,” Ahmad said. “Your political grievances should not come before your students’ health and safety. That is your priority as an administration. And for you to be able to see that as a failing of you as an administration. That is something that needs to be reconsidered.”

On the note of this policy being used against political demonstrators, Ahmad expressed disappointment with this decision.

“It’s unfortunate that they’re using health as a means of discriminating, as a means of keeping students politically silenced, especially in public campuses, which most of Virginia’s schools are,” Ahmad said.

“It is just very plainly a way for administration to see which students are involved in which actions, which students are the ones we need to look out for, we need to focus on, we need

to target,” she said. “It’s yet again just another strategy they’re using to crack down on these political protests to try and forcibly keep students who are involved quiet. And that’s fine. They’re more than welcome to do so because I hope they also recognize that they’re not going to be able to deter the students who are truly committed to this cause.”

STAFF COLUMN

Further blow against reproductive justice

We’re heading towards another election cycle, which is exciting but also highlights the problems that are facing us as a nation and as voters. September 16, ProPublica came out with an article, which cited a medical review board that called the death of Amber Nicole Thurman “preventable.” Which it was.

Amber Nicole Thurman lived in Georgia, but she was forced to drive to North Carolina to get an abortion. Traffic caused her to miss her appointment, so she was given pills to initiate the abortion and sent home, except they didn’t work completely. Thurman became septic and went to her local hospital to receive a dilation and curettage operation to remove the last of the tissue that was causing the sepsis. However, the state of Georgia now considers that operation to be a felony. Doctors at the hospital withheld care until 20 hours later, at which point nothing could save Thurman. Preventable is an understatement. Shocking and despicable fits the bill, and that is the threat that the Republican Party poses to women in the United States. We shouldn’t have to live in a world where a woman needs to get closer to dying before a doctor can help her. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there have been plenty of well-documented cases of women who were denied abortions and suffered medical complications, with one notable difference: they’re all still alive. Honestly, this isn’t the part of this that pisses me off the most. It’s the knowledge that her death isn’t gonna make a damn bit of difference to the position of the Republican Party.

One would hope that the death of a 28-year-old woman would cause a change of heart. However, I know for a fact that every single Republican will blame Thurman for her death, because she decided to take mifepristone, and

had the unmitigated gall to try to make her own decisions about her own body, because they don’t care if their desire to “protect life” costs other people theirs. Laws like the one in Georgia stop doctors from being doctors, they not only legislate women’s ability to make their own decisions, but they also stop doctors from doing the one thing that doctors should always be able to do: help people.

The Republican Party has done its damage since the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, and we as citizens cannot allow them the power to legislate this issue nationally, because things will only get worse for women in this country. Maybe it won’t for those of us that often rest easy in our implicit privilege, but it will for the minority communities in this country. If this can affect even middle-class women in Texas now, it will touch everyone, in one way or another, eventually.

Donald Trump has called abortion bans “beautiful things.” It tracks that a president so infatuated with authoritarian dictators would admire laws with the ability to kill people. And there’s no reason to believe that he won’t double down on that position if he is elected again.

When we all go to the polls in November, I hope at least some of us will carry this young woman and others like her with us. She’s not here anymore, but we can stand up for her now. We can say that we won’t allow anyone to tell us what we can do with our bodies, and we won’t let anyone else die like this.

Mollie Shiflett ’26 is a double major in history and linguistics, not that she knows what to do with that. She plays on Women’s Club Soccer Gold for the College of William and Mary and is an avid fan of most sports — except golf. Email Mollie at mrshiflett@wm.edu.

STAFF COLUMN

Review of Flat Hat Opinions camp

As I sat reading Susan Sontag’s famous “Notes on Camp” this summer, wondering how long we have to wait for the necessary emotional detachment that allows something to be camp, a sudden thought struck me: where can we find earnest, but technically flawless failures produced in real time? The Flat Hat opinions section. Thanks to its open invitation to submit, a few hidden gems lie among the otherwise reasonable and well-composed pieces.

For the uninitiated, camp taste is, as Sontag put it, enjoying something in quotation marks. “Saltburn,” for example, was COA (camp on arrival): a glitzy film so overloaded with the director’s pretentious “intentions” that its attempt was laughable but its style immaculate; the movie was incredibly enjoyable not in spite of, but because of how naively constructed and overdone it was. Elizabeth Brady’s article “The Children Yearn for Indie Sleaze” outlines and expresses this taste very well, and while a little too self-aware to be camp, helped lay out the criteria for my new project: finding the most camp Flat Hat Opinions articles of 2023-2024. Who went off the rails with their passion, but kept going full steam ahead anyway? Here are my top three.

In the top spot is the infamous Student Election reaction article: “Student Assembly election reveals deeper prob -

Fuzzy 49: Fuzzy goes to a therapist

COMIC BY ARIANNA STEWART / THE FLAT HAT

lems at College.” Someone unironically comparing the election of a progressive campaign to a return to Jim Crow era discrimination after the Reconstruction is delightfully funny, absurdly serious while being received unseriously, or in other words, camp. The intensity of emotion motivating an essentially absurd position, and its patronizing tone, makes for a number of hilarious moments, again not in spite of, but because of the author’s complete lack of intention to be funny. Close in second follows the response to first place. Though “Comfortability is not the cause: Counter to SA election op-ed” is for the most part coherent, it was almost as stimulating and enjoyable as the first for different reasons: the piece was written by four freshmen boys (all majoring in government or history) collaborating in a highly formal and unnecessary argument, citing YikYak posts to respond to the first piece’s various outlandish claims (which virtually no one accepted). Even more camp was those authors ending their piece with: “Wang concludes by saying, ‘I made the claim that this election was a mark of white liberal comfortability. I ask that you prove me wrong.’ Consider it done.” Incredible. In third came “Stanley obsession exposes moral decay, brain rot rooted in American consumerism.” What I liked most about this piece was how it was seemingly addressed to the average consumer-maxxing Stanely cup

enjoyer, and bashed that reader appropriately: Because you are collecting Stanley cups, the author asserts, “you can say goodbye to those baby turtles you claim to care so much about with your woke purchases of bamboo straws.” The author also throws her hands up at some points, saying “the average American simply cannot help themself but to indulge in capitalistic greed.” Capitalistic greed, meaning children buying more than one Stanley cup. The most camp part of the article, though, is again the ending, a confused kind of plea to “put that extra Stanley back on the shelf,” presumably to halt its proliferation as an “elite status symbol” that is apparently informing the social hierarchies of kindergarteners. I read the headline agreeing with the article and was left delighted at the hatred aroused by a few extreme cases of Stanley-cup collecting teenagers online. This college is full of good writers and I am so tired of people using their words to say things that are deep and true and beautiful. And if this sounds condescending, camp is a finicky kind of thing to pin down, inexorably tied to how something seems right now. This article could be considered a hilarious failure to future students but because I pursued the idea passionately (i.e. committed to the bit), just like the authors of my top three, I could still qualify as camp. And genuinely, I really am glad that the pieces I wrote above were written by their respective authors. Camp is just a lens of “what if this was not so serious?” And for most students, the treatment of those topics exhibited by these authors were so poorly-fitted to the matter at hand that they were a pleasure to read.

Grant Yoon ’27 is a prospective English major. They enjoy writing poetry for the campus literary magazine, “The Gallery,” and reading whatever books have a good vibe to them (currently on Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies). They also likes sitting by large bodies of water, drinking lots of coffee and overthinking movies, song and things in general. Contact them at giyoon@wm.edu

FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

Mollie Shifett

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Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo: restoring separation of powers

John Powers CHIEF OPINIONS WRITER

At the end of June, the Supreme Court of the United States released what was one of the most consequential cases of the term. Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo was an administrative law case concerning the rules created by federal agencies to enforce congressional statutes.

By restoring the proper balance of power between the courts and federal agencies, the decision ushers in a future we can all be proud of.

Loper Bright overturned a 1984 Supreme Court case called Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. There, the Court established a doctrine known as Chevron deference, which required judges to defer to an agency interpretation of a statute if the statute was ambiguous and the agency interpretation was reasonable. Now, judges must exercise their independent judgment instead of deferring to federal agencies.

Students might mistake this ruling for a niche legal topic with little importance to their personal lives, but higher education and administrative law are substantially related. Consider Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally-funded education settings. Loper Bright changes the way judges might review new Title IX rules, like the ones President Biden released in April. This might limit the Department of Education’s ability to issue regulations with the same force it previously held under Chevron. The same applies to other issues spearheaded by the Department of Education, like student loan forgiveness.

In wake of the decision, many will argue that Loper Bright will stall these educational initiatives. Whether that is true is not the focus of this article. Rather, I want to defend Loper Bright’s reasoning. Regardless of the policy implications of the decision, it advances the important principles of separation of powers and constitutional government, both of which should matter above all.

Chevron deference forced judges to give up on their interpretive work once they determined a statute was ambiguous. But as the majority noted, “statutes, no matter how impenetrable, do — in fact, must — have a single,

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best meaning.” Judges are faced with ambiguous laws all the time, and they employ the tools of statutory interpretation to reach a best meaning. Why should agency cases be any different?

Justice Kagan, dissenting, wrote that Chevron deference assumed Congress would want agencies to fill the “gaps” in statutes since agencies have subject matter expertise and are democratically accountable, unlike judges. Perhaps that was the consensus in 1984, but it is doubtful this consensus remains today. Indeed, the House voted last year to end Chevron deference. Besides, concerns that judges might have trouble interpreting technical statutes are exaggerated. The majority revived Skidmore deference, which allows judges to give some weight to agency interpretations on technical matters.

Justice Kagan also mentioned a Medicare provision mandating the Department of Health and Human Services to adjust hospital reimbursement rates across geographic areas. Here, the term “geographic areas” makes the statute ambiguous since it could be defined as cities, counties, etc. Justice Kagan wrote that deference to the agency’s choice of definition would be apt here. Agencies could, she wrote, “gather hard information about what reimbursement levels each approach (definition) will produce.” Agencies, unlike judges, could further “explore the ease of administering each [definition] on a nationwide basis or confer with the hospitals themselves about what makes sense.”

Yet absent clear instructions that HHS should be allowed to define “geographic areas,” Congress already decided “what makes sense.”

The dissent would be fine with agencies picking a definition for “geographic areas” that comports with what hospital administrators want instead of trying to honor the people’s wish and uncover the meaning of the term Congress enacted. This was exactly the issue with Chevron: it perpetuated biased interpretations role playing as “reasonable.” And

until recently, judges across this country were required to take part in that charade.

Almost as soon as the decision was released, the chorus of detractors began singing. Ian Millhiser of Vox called the decision a “radical reordering of the separation of powers.” However, Chevron, not Loper Bright, radically reordered the separation of powers. In recent decades, Chevron enabled immense swings in executive policy at the start of every presidential administration, making routine a system of government incompatible with constitutional values. Instead of our elected officials writing the laws we live under, there has been a marked shift towards that responsibility being transferred to unelected bureaucrats.

With remarkable contempt, Millhiser claimed, “Loper Bright expands the Court’s authority so that it is also the final word on thousands of questions that hardly anyone cares about at all...”

First, should any branch of the government but the judiciary have the “final word” on the interpretation of statutes? It seems I forgot when we changed our enduring constitutional framework.

And second, Millhiser should tell the plaintiffs in Loper Bright that “hardly anyone” cares about their case. The plaintiffs were family-owned fishing businesses that operated in the Atlantic herring fishery for decades. A 2020 agency rule requiring them to pay for on-board government fishing monitors would have cost $700 per day, jeopardizing their business operations. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the law under which the Department of Commerce approved the rule, says nothing about these fishermen being required to pay for on-board monitors. Nevertheless, the lower court ruled against the plaintiffs, citing Chevron deference.

“That monitor will make more [money] than myself,” said plaintiff Stefan Axelsson in a promotional video by the Cause of Action Institute.

It’s not surprising that these everyday Americans were nearly crushed by Chevron’s faults. In his concurrence, Justice Gorsuch told with painful clarity the stories of a disabled veteran and immigrants who suffered under the weight of evershifting agency interpretations enabled by Chevron. I concede Loper Bright benefits some corporations and the powerful looking to challenge administrative regulations but it also protects small business owners, ordinary citizens or even immigrants from administrative overreach. In essence, the result of the decision is not as one-sided as some have characterized it.

“We thought we were pretty much dead in the water,” said plaintiff William Bright in the aforementioned video.

Luckily, it is Chevron, not those businesses, that is dead in the water now. JohnPowers‘26isapublicpolicymajorhailingfrom Brooklyn,NY.HeworksasaResidentAssistantinLemonHall, servesasanofficerfortheUndergraduateMootCourtSociety, andisamemberoftheSigmaAlphaEpsilonfraternity.Email Johnatjdpowers@wm.edu.

Why you will fall in love with “Gilmore Girls” this Autumn

Jessica Ballance

This Sunday marked the first official day of fall! As the leaves begin to change and the weather starts to cool, fall finally feels like it has arrived in Williamsburg. Some of us are having withdrawal because watching “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “Mamma Mia” just does not feel the same as it did when you watched it after a day at the beach or your boring summer job. Others have been waiting, because it is now time for pumpkin spice lattes, apple cider donuts, crunchy leaves and Howl-O-Scream.

Although Halloween movies are a great way to get into the fall season, if you are looking for a TV show suggestion, then Gilmore Girls must be added to your Netflix list. Gilmore Girls is a comedy-drama series about a single mother Lorelai and her daughter Rory, who have a bond that resembles that of two best friends. Needing help to pay for her daughter’s private school education, Lorelai finds herself being forced to ask her parents for money. However, if Lorelai is to receive help, she and Rory must attend weekly dinners at the grandparents’ house. Lorelai and Rory must leave their eccentric town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, and go to Hartford for Friday night dinners. Lorelai’s childhood was filled with country clubs, cotillions and stuck-up prep school kids, and now she must face the life she has tried so hard to leave behind.

What screams autumn more than a small, idyllic New England town? Viewers are transported to a town filled with its fair share of quirky and nosy neighbors. There is a festival for just about everything. The storefronts, as well as the gazebo in the town’s main square, get decorated during the holidays. In several episodes and the main intro shot for the show’s theme song, there are scenes with beautiful and vibrant leaves of red and orange in the background. If you wish you were in Salem, Massachusetts this Spooky

Season, then I suggest watching this show curled up in a blanket.

The mother-daughter duo that the show focuses on is most remembered for their obsession with coffee. They go to Luke’s Diner at least once a day (though usually more) for their caffeine fix. Scenes of Lorelai strolling through town with a coffee from Luke’s in hand will make you want to cross Confusion Corner to our own nearby Hallmark-like town. Fall is the perfect time to walk around Sunken Gardens or Colonial Williamsburg, with a to-go cup of hot cider or coffee from Aromas. Luke is known for his pumpkin pancakes with homemade cinnamon butter, and I am sure there are a plethora of pancake houses here in Williamsburg that could give him a run for his money.

Whether you are watching the early seasons when Rory is attending a prestigious high school or watching her Ivy League college years, it is easy for twamps to relate to Rory. During the first three seasons, Rory is surrounded by uptight, competitive high school students, all vying for spots at Ivy League schools. During the other four seasons, her college days are characterized by egregiously long readings, never-ending papers and great roommate stories. As college students, we are all too familiar with this life. After all, once October begins, it feels like we will be in exam season until finals. It is refreshing to watch a show where you can relate to what the characters are going through.

At the same time, Gilmore Girls is a show with so many storylines that it also provides a great distraction from the stresses of being a William and Mary student.

No matter what season it is, this comfort show has a lot to offer its viewers.

Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of the show, packs each 42-minute episode with witty banter, countless pop culture references and extremely fast dialogue.

And what early 2000s TV show is complete without the occasional love triangle? It becomes quite easy for viewers to get invested in the love lives of Lorelai and Rory. In fact, fans of Gilmore Girls have spent the past two decades fighting over which boyfriend’s “team” they are on. The show follows the lives of three generations of Gilmores, and the iconic weekly dinners often make Friday nights filled with family drama.

To be a true Gilmore Girls watcher, you must eat massive amounts of junk food while watching, as Lorelai and Rory are known for going all out on their movie nights. Watching the seven seasons of Gilmore Girls is best described by the words of Lorelai: “It’s a lifestyle. It’s a religion.”

Need more Gilmore? Each October, both viewers and actors of the show gather for a weekend-long fan festival. The festival is held in a quaint town in Connecticut, making fans

feel like Lorelai and Rory. Lastly, for those of you who have seen Gilmore Girls and want to go straight to re-watching the fall episodes, here is a list of some:

Season 1: Episodes 6, 7

Season 3: Episodes 5, 7, 8, 9

Season 4: Episodes 5, 8, 9

Season 5: Episodes 7, 10

Season 6: Episode 7 JessicaBallance‘25isabiologymajor (pre-pharmacy)andananthropologyminor. She is a member of Gamma Phi Beta and Alpha Phi Omega as well as a tutor for the W&M TutorZone. Contact her at jjballance@ wm.edu.

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variety

country tune triumph

Saturday, Sept. 21, the College of William and Mary’s Sunken Garden sported a fun-filled afternoon of student-led line dancing and live performances. The event was hosted by Homebrew, a committee within Alma Mater Productions that specializes in artistic performances that allow students to showcase their talents in front of a casual audience. This time, there was a twist — the audience had the opportunity to learn the dances, too, with the help of students from the College’s Line Dancing Club.

AMP member Benjamin Pearson ’26, who has been a part of the organization since his freshman fall, was excited to share the thought process behind this interactive event.

“We wanted something that everyone can participate in because a lot of our events have a performer, and then you’re just kind of sitting there watching,” Pearson said. “This way, you can get up, get moving and everyone can be involved.”

Indeed, scarcely any students were found sitting on the sidelines. A large speaker blared country favorites, and a stage was set up in the front for members of the Line Dancing Club to show eager students the moves to the songs. A tent wellstocked with snacks, stickers and free cowbells added to the western-themed atmosphere. The Sunken Garden was filled with the delighted laughter of amateurs and seasoned veterans alike, as they practiced popular dances like “Mr. Weatherall” and “Cotton-Eyed Joe.” Many attendees highlighted their excitement over the event, especially the parts that held connections to

their families or hometowns.

“I grew up in Ohio, so line dancing is part of my culture,” attendee Helen Tiffin ’26 said. “I grew up knowing different versions of the songs, and so learning the other versions has been my favorite part, and the fact that it brings the community together.”

Tiffin was excited about this opportunity to get involved, and specifically noted the social and community-building aspect of it as well.

“I think it’s a good chance to meet new people, and it gets people to have conversations more easily because a lot of that pressure is taken away,” Tiffin said. “I’m a junior, but when I was a freshman, I searched all the clubs, and I didn’t see that the Line Dancing Club existed, and my heart broke a little bit, so when I saw that it was here this semester, I made all my friends sign up.”

Event attendee Ellie Laanisto ’28 had similar thoughts, citing family as the primary reason for her initial interest.

“I’d never really tried line dancing. My mom and grandmother did it a lot, but I didn’t really know what it was,” Laanisto said. “It was fun to get to see what it was actually about.”

Laanisto had also signed up for the Line Dancing Club but had only been to one of the meetings, so she enjoyed the chance to learn new dances while also practicing old ones.

“We did one of the dances that I learned before, ‘Country Girl Shake it For Me,’ and then another dance, ‘Flex,’ which I had never learned before, so I thought that was really fun,” Laanisto said.

The first half of the event was centered around these studentled dancing lessons, but the second half focused on performances, which is the more traditional style of AMP Homebrews. Caris Kyte ’27, one of the performers, picked “Angry Country Women” as her theme. The singer performed “Church Bells” by Carrie Underwood, “Picture to Burn” by Taylor Swift, “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town and “Done” by Lady A. It was, based on the reactions of the crowd, a resounding success, and the country favorites aligned with the earlier line-dancing festivities.

Laanisto, for her part, shared how interactive events like this one benefit the College community.

“I think it’s a great way to connect with friends but also meet new people, which is super fun,” Laanisto said.

Many attendees mentioned that the event was a fun way to meet new people and take a break from piles of work, and AMP organizers also hoped that it served as an introduction to all the opportunities to get involved in Homebrew.

“Our primary hope is that they’re going to sign up for our Homebrew in October next month, and we always need more performers,” Pearson said. “Typically, we have more for the events later in the year, just because the freshman aren’t totally aware of different things closer to the beginning.”

Overall, the event was seen as an incredible success by both event attendees and organizers alike, and, for AMP, will hopefully be one of many more fun festivities to come.

Making moves through College one small square at a time

Alma Mater Productions hosts country-themed Homebrew on the Range event on Sunken Garden, promotes performances, student-led dances Chess

Chess: a world of just sixty-four squares and thirty-two pieces, and yet a world of limitless opportunity. It has often been described as precise, tactical and unpredictable — one move can change the course of the entire game. If you have ever played a game of chess, or perhaps watched The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, you would know how intricately each pawn must move across the deceptively simple checkerboard surface. And as one of the country’s oldest universities, it is only natural for the College of William and Mary to have a club dedicated to one of the world’s oldest games.

Chess Club meets every Wednesday night from 7-9 p.m. in Tucker 310. It is run by co-presidents Owen Edwards ’26 and Sebastian Torrey ’26, who are passionate about the game and the community it fosters.

“I’ve been playing chess for a very long time, so I’ve always tried to involve myself as much as possible,” Edwards said. “I started in middle school, was the club president in my high school, and now I help run it in college, so I’ve been involved in organized chess for a while. It’s something that’s very important to me.”

Together, Edwards and Torrey have made significant changes to the club since they first joined it. At the time, the Chess Club was struggling with membership retention and lacked a formal meeting structure.

“I don’t think we were really following our constitution, and we definitely didn’t have as good club membership retention as I thought we should have,” Torrey said. “I thought this was because before, we were mainly there just to

play chess; meetings would start out without any presentation or structure. I took a look at that and said, ‘I need to fix this.’”

The co-presidents then brought their vision to life. Chess Club meetings now begin with a presentation that first provides club members with general announcements, such as information about tournaments and other upcoming events. Then, there is typically a lesson that anyone in the club is welcome to give if they decide they have something they’d like to talk about, such as opening or middlegame strategy. Whenever there isn’t a lesson, a chess puzzle is put up for members to solve together. After that, members often pair up and get right into playing chess.

“We have our own boards, our own pieces, and we will usually just keep playing for as long as we like,” said Torrey.

Torrey began volunteering to give lessons at the beginning of each meeting, noting how a greater knowledge of the game could help members of all skill levels enjoy the experience more.

“I did my best and I had a lot of fun with it. I was teaching people to just have fun with the game through different openings as well as endgames and puzzles,” Torrey said.

Edwards also recognized the potential to expand the scope of the club and highlighted a focus on cultivating the organization to make it welcoming to beginners as well as seasoned players.

“I thought if we could have more activities and be more encouraging to players of all skill levels, if we could make it seem like a more fun and welcoming environment, then we could grow the club to be as big as it could be,”

Edwards said.

In addition to regular club meetings, Chess Club also hosts and attends competitive tournaments. Its next one is an intra-club tournament on Oct. 2, which will not put ratings at stake but will pair up club members based on ratings and skill level. Last semester, Torrey and about seven other club members traveled to a quads tournament in Chesterfield, Va., and everyone who attended either placed first or second in their quad.

In addition to these competitive tournaments with more elite players, members of Chess Club as a whole represent a wide range of skill levels. For context, Torrey explained over text message that different chess platforms have different versions of what is called the ELO system for ranking players. Estimates therefore vary, but 100-800 is total beginner, 800-1400 is novice, 1400-1800 is intermediate, 1800-2200 is expert, 2200-2800 is master level and 2800+ is grandmaster level. Chess Club members selfreport their rankings, and Edwards explained that most members have a rating of 1500 and below, with a handful of really strong players who are 2000+. One member of the club even has such a high rating in Chess’ online bullet mode, which emphasizes speed and short timers, that they are eligible to compete against grandmasters, the highest title a chess player can achieve not counting the unique title of world champion.

Overall, the club is striving to build an inclusive, lively community open to players of all experiences. In November, the club is excited to host a watch party for the Chess World

Championship. Events like these allow members to bond over their shared love of the game. Chess Club member Gyuha Kim ’26 discussed why he chose to get involved.

“I joined Chess Club because I started playing online a lot and wanted to find people to play in person,” Kim wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “I also wanted to grow my skills by playing against people of different levels.”

According to Torrey, the perception of chess as a largely independent game is much different from the reality of the community that Chess Club seeks to provide members with.

“I think that some might see chess as a solitary or very quiet game, which it definitely is in competitive tournaments,” Torrey said. “But really what Chess Club is about is the social aspect: connecting with people through the game of chess, discussing it as a hobby and making connections and friendships that extend outside of just Chess Club.”

JANE VALADAKIS // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC.

SKYLAR HARTGERINK // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC.

SWAMPY STYLES

Brianna Edwards ʻ27 launches Instagram account spotlighting campus fashion

CATALINA CAMPOS // CHIEF FEATURES WRITER

Students who consider themselves “chronically online” may fnd themselves indulging in the content posted on all the Instagram accounts run by and devoted to the College of William and Mary’s students, from @wmcrushes to the now-retired Cuisine of W&M. Tis past semester, right before summer break, a new Instagram account dubbed “Swampy Styles” made its debut and is now providing weekly content for anyone with an appreciative eye for fashion. @swampy_styles is an account dedicated to showcasing fashion looks all over the College’s beautiful campus, or as its bio states: “fts of the twamps all across the swamp!” Its posts showcase a variety of diferent looks — from jeans and sneakers to dresses and cardigans — donned by many of the College’s students. Te pictures are taken all over campus, some in front of the Crim Dell, and others at Williamsburg’s beloved Wawa store. Students might never know when someone will come up to them and ask to take a picture of their outft.

Tat someone would be Brianna Edwards ’27, the admin behind the account. Edwards explained how the idea of the account began at the end of last school year. She and her boyfriend at the time were inspired by similar accounts at other schools like Virginia Commonwealth University.

“I made the account, I made the logo, I made the name and then, this summer we broke up and then he dropped out of William and Mary –– so it’s my account now,” Edwards said.

Edwards noted it was only recently that she began to develop an eye for fashion, explaining that before she wouldn’t give it much care. Edwards credited her former relationship for encouraging her to try out new garments and eventually introducing her to important platforms in the world of fashion such as Depop, a clothing reselling app.

“I didn’t really care to get into it myself until, I remember, one day he was like, ‘you should wear jorts,’ and I was like ‘no,’ because I never even consider the concept of jorts,” Edwards said. “And then I kind of fell in love with jorts, and then I kind of fell in love with these shoes called Onitsuka Tigers, and just getting into these specifc brands.”

Swampy Styles posts new content every Friday, but it is on Edwards’s everyday walks to class that she is attentive to any outft that might catch her eye to feature on the Instagram.

“During the week from Sunday to Friday, I’ll look for what I see in the hallways, or my classes, or anywhere, and if I see a ft I’ll stop the person and ask to take a picture,” Edwards said. Edwards explained her current struggle with the account: adding more representation of men’s fashion.

“Te men on campus dress like bots. It is so hard to fnd a welldressed man on this campus, so I do have to keep my eyes out for the men a little bit more,” Edwards said.

While it is true that most of the account features female students and their outfts, it is important to note that all the fashion trends posted on the account are very diverse from one another. Edwards explained what she looks for in the outfts she chooses to capture for the account.

“It either just catches my eye because it’s so out there — some of the fts that I’ve seen are very bold — or I look for a specifc aesthetic,” Edwards said. “I saw two girls last week that had a very coquette ft —all of it was ribbons — but I saw that they had a specifc aesthetic and I was like, ‘oh, I would love to have that on the account.’”

Edwards said her experience as admin of Swampy Styles has helped her to step out of her comfort zone.

“In the beginning of this account, it was really scary, because the social anxiety to stop a random person and be like, ‘Hey, can I take a picture of you,’ is so weird,” Edwards said.

Given that the Swampy Styles account is relatively new and beginning to grow more followers by the day, Edwards explained that it is only her — for now — who is running the account.

“I’ve actually never even considered expanding it,” Edwards said. “I think right now it’s still pretty local, still pretty small. I feel like if it were to get really big, I might expand.”

Either way, it seems the College’s student body, known for being hardworking and friendly, is fnally getting some recognition for its unique and diverse taste in fashion. All seems to indicate that students might not need to appeal to Pinterest for fashion inspiration, but can simply turn to Swampy Styles.

PENNE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

Part of being a student at the College of William and Mary is being hit with a signifcant realization. Depending on how hefty your workload is, it may happen in your second semester, or it may take a whole year. Regardless, the time will eventually come when you can’t help but refect on just how small the walkable part of Williamsburg really is.

Most of us technically know what we signed up for when we accepted our admissions ofers, but some people may agree with me that it is another feeling entirely when you truly believe you have eaten at every afordable restaurant, seen every accessible attraction and visited every cofee shop within a two-mile radius of campus.

Well, I had been wrangling with the restlessness that comes with such a predicament, walking forlornly past Confusion Corner, when I was forced to do a double-take on South Boundary Street. I had to look twice, because it seemed as if my prayers had been answered. At last, something new appeared. Ladies and gentlemen, that something new turned out to be Eleva Coffee Lounge.

With some research, it appeared Eleva was started as a coffee brand by a man named Emilio Baltodano before its chain of in-person lounges were launched. The first location opened in Brooklyn four years ago, the second recently sprouted up in Cairo, Egypt, and along with the Colonial Williamsburg location, a new headquarters will open in our very own New Town in a couple of weeks as well.

Intrigued, I took my friend there a few days later.

Te frst thing I noticed was that the ambience was absolutely on-point. Tat is, the venue is the perfect combination of comfy and sophisticated. It is a small yet well-planned space, with classical music playing on the speakers, elegant foral table decorations and furniture featuring warm tones of beige, brown and white. To top it all of, they use real, ceramic and glass cups for dine-in customers, which will earn any business brownie points from me.

Te second thing I noticed was that there were only two baristas behind the bar, giving the place an even more personalized, boutique-like feel. When I went back a half a week later, the same two guys were there again, too.

Te third thing I noticed was, of course, the menu. Tey ofer the standard hot matcha, chai and classic latte trio, as well as a variety of herbal and black whole leaf teas, served either hot or iced. Te espresso bar is also stocked with your usual options, and you can make your drink a frappe, too. For those of us who are craving a little bit of sweetness, there are favored syrups for the drinks, hot chocolate and a selection of pastries.

Like any cash-strapped college student, I also noticed the prices. To my pleasant surprise, these were actually at around the same range as what you can fnd at either Column 15 or Town Center Cold Pressed. I was impressed, given not only the fancy atmosphere of the place, but also the fact that my lavender latte was one of the smoothest I’ve had over my long tenure as a nine-year cofee drinker.

Not to mention, Eleva also ofers students a 15% discount, and it takes the College’s Express dollars. Sue Hassan, who along with her husband owns both this location and the one in New Town, mentioned that this was a purposeful choice.

“Obviously, being right across the street from the College was important for us to give back and partner with the school,” Hassan said.

Hassan further explained that she and her husband are motivated by the goal of fostering a calm, convivial space for all.

“When we travel the world, we love to sit down and relax and enjoy a cup of cofee and talk about our experiences,” Hassan said. “In today’s world, it’s so busy and people forget to take a time out. We are looking to create the atmosphere here where you feel chill and you just come and take a break from life.”

Hassan shared that what sets Eleva apart from other coffee shops in town is its farm-to-cup business model. The coffee beans are currently taken from Nicaragua, Guatemala and Ecuador to a roaster in Brooklyn, before they are flown directly down to Williamsburg. Soon enough, the roasting will also be completed here. On a related note, Hassan pointed out that a sizable challenge in setting up shop here was ensuring the quality of the most important ingredient, which would likely come as a surprise to the uninitiated.

“Te biggest piece of cofee is water, believe it or not, so having the water fltered at a certain level is most important so that is probably our biggest challenge,” Hassan said.

Hassan emphasized that the cofee lounge caters to everyone, including students, professors, tourists and Williamsburg locals. In regards to the last group, she noted that her team takes special care to treat them like family.

“Of course, we love our locals, because we love the person who wants to come in to enjoy a cup of cofee,” Hassan said. “We know who they are, we have their names in the system, we greet them, we have their cofee for them.”

Hassan added that she is proud to call her business woman-owned. It is also listed as LGBTQIA+ friendly on Google Maps, which refects the cafe’s goal of welcoming everyone in for a cup.

“I think that women are defnitely coming into power. We like to buy from women-owned companies, too,” Hassan said. “My husband and I are very open to all diversities, of course. We have our own challenges, because we are interracial ourselves.”

Overall, Hassan encourages everyone at the College and beyond to check out the brand new spot.

“I just want to make sure people know that this is the family-friendly place to come, whether they want to study or relax or just have a good conversation with your phone down, if you want to, and talk to people again,” Hassan said.

Indeed, whether you want to stop by to rest from exploring Colonial Williamsburg, work on homework or even join head barista Ted at Williamsburg’s frst community Chess Club, I would recommend Eleva Cofee Lounge as an excellent place to visit.

COURTESY PHOTO / BRIANNA EDWARDS

COURTESY PHOTO / BRIANNA EDWARDS

COURTESY PHOTO / BRIANNA EDWARDS

sports

William and Mary overcomes early deficit, wins 34-24

Saturday, Sept. 21, William and Mary football (3-1, 0-0 CAA) defeated Furman (1-3, 0-0 SoCon) 34-24 in comeback fashion at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.

The Green and Gold, who will begin Coastal Athletic Association conference play next week, entered Saturday’s matchup hot off an impressive road win against Wofford (2-1, 0-0 SoCon) Sept. 14. The Tribe had been on the road for two straight weeks and hoped to build off its impressive home performance from its season opener with another strong showing against the Paladins.

After losing the toss, William and Mary started the game on offense, led by none other than senior quarterback Darius Wilson. Wilson, a thirdyear starter from the Bronx, N.Y., took the field on Saturday with 540 passing yards over his first three starts. However, after dropping back into shotgun on the opening play, Wilson’s nearly flawless season saw its first blemish. The Tribe quarterback’s first pass was intercepted and returned to the Green and Gold 27-yard line, giving the Paladins great field position for its first offensive drive.

Furman wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, and found the end zone within two minutes, courtesy of a 14-yard passing touchdown from freshman quarterback Trey Hedden. Senior kicker Ian Williams drilled the extra point, and after just two minutes of play, the Green and Gold found itself down 7-0.

The Tribe offense looked stagnant on its second trip out, nearly going three-and-out before an untimely Paladin penalty reset the Green and Gold’s downs. After two short runs from senior running back Malachi Imoh and a four-yard pass to junior tight end Trey McDonald, William and Mary was forced to punt, giving the Paladins the ball back with a chance to extend their early lead.

In one play, the Paladins converted on an 84yard pass for the visitor’s second touchdown in a five-minute stretch.

Now down 14, William and Mary’s offense finally kicked into gear. Senior running back Bronson Yoder found an opening on a thirdand-three rush, gaining 31 yards to the Furman 37-yard line. After Wilson gained another 15 yards with a run of his own, the Green and Gold quarterback connected with sophomore tight end Sean McElwain for William and Mary’s first touchdown of the game, cutting the lead to seven.

Despite the slow start, Wilson remarked that he knew his early interception was not big enough to derail the Tribe’s offense on Saturday.

“After that play, it was just about resetting and getting back to playing like how I play: taking it one play at a time,” he said.

The Tribe’s defense locked down the Paladins on their next offensive possession, forcing a punt after just three plays.

With just under six minutes left in the first quarter, the Green and Gold offense started its slow march down the field. In one drive, Wilson, Imoh, senior utility Hollis Mathis and Yoder all had rushes for more than 10 yards, bringing the Tribe to the Furman 18-yard line as the quarter came to a close.

On the first play of the second quarter, senior kicker Eric Bernstein drilled a 35-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 14-10.

Again, William and Mary’s defense shut down the visitor’s offense. Strong tackles from redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ty Gordon, junior defensive lineman Davin Dzidzienyo and senior safety Marcus Barnes stopped the Paladins from getting a single first down.

William and Mary and Furman took turns punting, and the Green and Gold recovered the ball with just over 10 minutes left in the half. On third-and-ten, Wilson connected with Mathis for a 15-yard gain, giving William and Mary a huge first down on the Tribe’s 38-yard line. After an 11-yard rush from Imoh, Wilson took off on a 53-yard rush, scoring and giving the Green and Gold its first lead of the night. Berstein nailed the extra point, and after trailing 14-0 to start, William and Mary now led 17-14 with seven minutes left in the half.

After Furman failed to convert on a 29-yard field goal, a Green and Gold punt and an interception by sophomore defensive back Bryce Barnes, William and Mary got the ball one more time with just over a minute left in the half. Yoder started off the drive with a 16-yard run, which he quickly bested two plays later with a 30-yard rush to the Furman 11yard line. With 19 seconds remaining in the period, Bernstein converted on a 28-yard field goal, giving the Tribe a 20-14 lead heading into the second half.

When asked about his team’s response to falling behind early, head coach Mike London was more than happy about the Green and Gold’s composure on the field.

“The highs can get you too high, and you’ll get psyched about the results. If you let the lows get you too low, you don’t know how to respond back to things. I think we did a good job of responding back in the appropriate way of just, ‘Okay, let’s just do what we do,” he said.

In the third quarter, the Tribe’s lockdown defense continued to squash any efforts by the Furman offense. After forcing the visitors to punt on their first offensive possession of the half, William and Mary’s offense returned to the field showing no signs of slowing down. Yoder started the drive with a 22-yard rush to the Paladin 18-yard line. Three plays later, Wilson found Mathis in the end zone again, connecting on a 15-yard pass for another Tribe touchdown. After the extra point, the Tribe’s lead grew to 2714, capping off an impressive 27-0 run since the first quarter.

Furman responded with a touchdown of their own on the next drive, cutting the lead to

six with around seven minutes left in the third. William and Mary attempted to respond, but after coming up short on a fourth-and-eleven run, the Green and Gold turned the ball over just before the third quarter came to an end.

The Paladins started the final quarter with another missed field goal, this time from 27 yards. Both teams traded scoreless drives, but with six minutes left, Furman finally drilled a field goal from 33 yards out, cutting the Green and Gold lead to three.

With one more possession to close the game out, William and Mary turned to the thing its offense relies on the most: the run.

On seven straight rushing attempts, the Tribe gained 22 yards, taking the ball to Furman’s 45yard line with two minutes remaining. After a brief break, Wilson connected with McElwain on a 29-yard bomb, pushing the Green and Gold to the opponent’s 16-yard line. Yoder took over from there, scoring on a 12-yard rush three plays later. After Bernstein drilled the extra kick, William and Mary took a 34-24 lead, a lead it would carry until the end of the game. Wilson finished the game with 10 completions for 98 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 155 rushing yards for another touchdown.

“That’s our identity. Everybody knows that we’re going out there, we’re going to run, and it’s just about having that mentality. Everybody plays with 100% effort every play,” Wilson said. Yoder also had a night to remember, rushing for a career-high 166 yards and one touchdown. When asked about the team’s collective effort on Saturday night, London expressed how impressed he was with everyone who chipped in.

“That’s the thing about this team that I’m so proud of,” London said. “They do their part, and then they bring their teammates along.”

William and Mary will begin CAA play on Saturday, Sept. 28 when it hosts Hampton (3-1, 0-0 CAA) at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.

Green and Gold comes up short in double OT, falls to 0-8 in 2024

Sunday, Sept. 22, William and Mary field hockey (0-8, 0-0 CAA) lost to Villanova (5-3, 1-0 Big East) 2-1 in double-overtime at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Va.

The Tribe, who entered Sunday’s matchup without a win in 2024, hoped to get its first win just before conference play starts this Friday. Villanova came to Busch Field on a two game winning streak, including a 6-1 rout of conference foes Georgetown (2-5, 0-1 Big East) on Friday. William and Mary held the advantage in the two teams’ matchup history, having beaten Villanova six times against two losses. The Tribe started the game barely hanging on, allowing Villanova to get 10 shots off in the first quarter against the Tribe’s zero. William and Mary struggled to get the ball out of its defensive half, as Villanova’s relentless pressure stifled any counterattack attempts. Turnovers in the back were a problem, as passes weren’t

finding their targets. Graduate student defender Maddie McGaughey anchored the Tribe defense, stifling promising Wildcat attacks and notching a defensive save, while graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George tallied seven saves in the first quarter alone, including an acrobatic save of a shot from Villanova sophomore back Gemma Lysaght off of a penalty corner with 57 seconds remaining in the period. The second quarter saw improvements in the Tribe’s offense, as it began the period stringing passes together and progressing up the field. The defense remained solid, and the team pressed up the field applying pressure to the Wildcat defense. This pressure culminated in a Tribe goal with 11:37 remaining in the second from junior midfielder Erin Griffin off an assist from graduate student forward Mollie Schuma. Schuma tipped a ball passed from the right sideline, and Griffin slotted into the left side of the goal for her first goal of the season.

However, the lead did not last long. After holding through a spell of dominant Villanova possession and multiple shots, the Tribe conceded a goal with 3:50 left in the first half. Villanova fifth year forward Sabine de Rujiter, the Wildcats’ leading scorer on the season, scored her seventh goal this year, pouncing on a rebound off of a George save.

The second half was far quieter offensively, as the two teams combined for only three shots and no goals. The Tribe committed to pressing high up the field, but was unable to find the net and only managed one shot in the half. With its pressure, the Tribe exhibited greater poise, and controlled possession for much of the half. After a one-on-one fast break was stopped by George with 2:40 remaining in regulation, the Tribe was able to progress up the field. With 40 seconds left in the game, Tribe senior forward Sara Bartzen passed a dangerous ball into the circle, but none of her teammates could capitalize.

After a five minute intermission

following the end of regulation, the first of two 10 minute, sudden victory, overtime periods began.

The overtime saw plenty of offense from both sides. After controlling Villanova’s strong attacks for most of the period, sophomore forward Josie Mae Gruendel won a penalty corner for the Tribe 7:26 into the first overtime.

Two rapid-fire Tribe shots couldn’t find the net, as Villanova blocked and saved attempts from Gruendel as well as senior midfielder/ forward Kellen Richbourg.

The second overtime period was dominated by Villanova’s strong offense. The Tribe gave up its initial possession, allowing the Wildcats to press high up the field. Around 1:30 into the period, Villanova found themselves on a two-on-one fast break with only George to beat. Wildcats fifth year forward Meghan Mitchell passed to de Rujiter, who posted up on George and slid the ball in the goal to win the game and net her second goal of the day.

After the game, Tribe head coach Tess Ellis was disappointed

in the result, but optimistic about the future and what the game meant to the team, emphasizing that the Tribe “certainly showed some character to come back in the second half to sort of control the game.” Ellis stated that she was “pleased” that the game went into overtime and that the team was able to score first and hold the 1-1 tie for much of the game. Ellis also emphasized the importance of getting the experience of a competitive seven-on-seven overtime period before conference

play begins for the Tribe, noting that “conference seems to be won in that seven-on-seven overtime” more times than not.

“The first four games [of conference] are really important,” Ellis said.

The Tribe will be looking to bounce back after a close loss against a strong opponent on Sunday. Tribe field hockey opens up Coastal Athletic Association play Friday, Sept. 27 at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Va. against Towson (3-4, 0-1 CAA).

JONAH PETERS / THE FLAT HAT

Sophomore defensive back Bryce Barnes celebrates an interception.

JONAH PETERS / THE FLAT HAT

Senior running back Bronson Yoder recorded a career-high166 rushing en route to the Tribeʼs 34-24 win on Saturday.

BEN McLOUGHLIN THE FLAT HAT

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

The Tribe will start inter-conference play at home against Towson Sept. 27.

JONAH PETERS / THE FLAT HAT

The Green and Gold will begin CAA play next week when it hosts Hampton for Parentʼs Weekend Sept. 28 at Zable Stadium.

sports

Maddie George refects on self-growth entering

nationally in

Ranking No. 2 nationally in saves per game, graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George is entering her final season of eligibility with big goals in 2024.

Posting a career-high 16 saves against North Carolina Chapel Hill and helping the Green and Gold to a Coastal Athletic Association title last season, George serves as a leader on William and Mary’s field hockey team.

“She’s a hard worker, and she loves encouraging people to be better,” head coach Tess Ellis said. “She always tries to find what’s good and grabs hold of that.”

George credits her success to her teammates.

“I believe anything that contributes to the good of the team is a form of leadership,” she said. “As we’ve sort of settled into our roles on the team, we’ve done an even better job of fulfilling those roles so that we can be a stronger team together.”

George began her field hockey career in second grade, after seeing her sister’s friend Megan Hept play goalkeeper. Although George always knew she wanted to be a goalkeeper, she started as a defender.

“I just played defense and sat in the goal until I was big enough to actually start goalie,” George said. “Once I started, I fell in love with it.”

Prior to her time at William and Mary, George played for Saints field hockey, a club team based in Virginia Beach, Va.

“With club field hockey, I got to travel to so many cool places,” George said. “The places that it took me are some of the best memories I have.”

George started coaching for Saints in high

school and continues to work with young athletes today.

“I like watching when I’m with the little ones and they’re finally understanding a concept,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than when someone gets that ‘aha’ moment, and you’re able to help them get there.”

As a senior at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, George recorded an impressive .930 save percentage with 12 shutouts. Additionally, she led the team to a 6A state title game in 2018.

Ellis said George’s unique playing style made her stand out during the recruiting process.

“Even though she doesn’t stand tall, she’s extremely explosive and makes up with the power that she has on her dive,” Ellis said. “Being explosive makes her harder to score against because she can cover the top shots.”

George said Hept — who played goalkeeper at Old Dominion from 2011 to 2014 — inspired her to take her talent to the collegiate level.

“I sort of made her into my role model,” George said. “The environment with field hockey, the community is so small, so most people do have that expectation to play in college.”

George comes from a family of William and Mary alumni: her father graduated in 1987, her brother graduated in 2018 and her sister attended a year at the College of William and Mary Law School.

“We were always taking trips up here, and my parents were always worming their way in my ear,” she said. “Me being a kid, I was always kind of resistant to it, like, ‘I don’t want to do it just because you want me to do it.’”

After meeting Ellis and former associate head coach Mark Egner, however, George fell in love with the program.

William and Mary cruises through

Sunday, Sept. 22, William and Mary women’s soccer (7-3, 2-0 CAA) defeated North Carolina Wilmington

(2-6-2, 0-2 CAA) 2-0 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in

Williamsburg, Va.

In the last 31 matchups between the two teams, the Tribe has emerged victorious 24 times. The Tribe lost three of these last five games. Notable players for the Tribe from its previous contest against Hampton

George expanded on her appreciation for Ellis.

“She has so much knowledge for the sport and just so much joy for the sport,” George said. “I knew that if I came here, I would be taken care of, not just coached.”

When going through the recruiting process, George also liked William and Mary’s culture of academic excellence.

“I knew that after field hockey, I would have a degree that’s very meaningful and would prepare me for the future,” she said.

As a freshman during the COVID-19 pandemic, George has witnessed changes in the team’s culture.

“If anything, we’ve just become so much more open with each other in terms of really being ourselves,” George said. “Whether it’s making up funny dances or an inside joke that only two of us will understand in five years, little moments like that are just so, so precious to me.”

George has also noticed significant personal growth since 2020.

“Every time I step out now, my headspace is that I’m about to play field hockey with my best friends and we’re going to crush it no matter what,” she said. “I think I’ve become so much more focused on the big picture, that this is my team and we’re about to compete against whoever our opponent is.”

Ellis elaborated on George’s growth as an athlete.

“She’s gotten so smart, and she knows the game,” Ellis said. “Her staying a fifth year is almost like having a coach on the field sometimes.”

George believes her teammates played a significant role in her personal development.

“I really think opening up with my teammates and being more present in the moment when I’m with them has helped me be more in the moment and gain so much confidence,” she

(3-6-1, 0-2 BSC) were senior midfielder Mia Suchora and junior forward Ivey Crain. Suchora had recorded a goal and an assist, while Crain scored one goal. Both players were constant threats throughout the previous matchup, with a combined eight shots on goal.

UNCW lost to Campbell (4-3-3, 2-0 CAA) 2-0 in its last match. Standout players from that matchup included redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Morgan Hobbs, who tallied two saves to keep the Seahawks in the contest. Despite the loss, the Seahawks maintained a 17-5 shot advantage compared to their opponent, but the Camels successfully found the back of the net.

On Sunday, the Tribe started out hot. Junior midfielder/defender Nora Green-Orset scored the first goal of the contest in the 13th minute of play. The goal was her first of the season and gave the Tribe momentum for the rest of the first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Jazzy Lorenz had a strong first half against the Seahawks, saving both shots on goal and holding the Seahawks scoreless the entire period.

Going into the second half,

said. “I’ve grown so much myself through the act of trying to help my team grow.”

George’s favorite Tribe field hockey memories involve her teammates, specifically during the CAA and NCAA tournaments last season.

“There was just so much joy there,” she said. “We were basically just all hanging out for two weeks straight.”

“ ” I’ve grown so much myself through the act of trying to help my team grow. - Maddie George

George believes the team’s strong bonds contributed to its success last year. Although Tribe field hockey began its 2024 season playing challenging teams, she remains optimistic.

“This season, every single game is getting better and better,” George said. “That’s because we’re starting to connect even more.”

George received her bachelor’s degree in economics last spring and is currently pursuing a 16-month master of accounting program at William and Mary.

When she parts ways with Tribe field hockey after this season, she will miss her teammates most.

“They have been my biggest support system since I’ve gotten here,” she said. “When I do leave this place, they will still be my best friends, and we will keep in touch forever.”

the Tribe led 1-0 but was outshot 6-3 by the aggressive Seahawk offense.

Lorenz continued to stay strong with three saves for the Tribe, holding the Seahawks scoreless for the entire second half. Crain cemented the lead for the Tribe in the 74th minute of play, scoring a goal off a pass from senior defender Marisa McClure. The Tribe offense outshot the

Seahawks 9-3 in the second half, with Crain recording four shots on goal overall. The Tribe looks to continue its 2-0 conference streak Thursday, Sept. 26 in its next matchup versus Monmouth at Hesse Field in West Long Branch, N.J.

SYDNEY WITWER FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Graduate student goalkeeper Maddie George recorded a career-high 16 saves against No. 1 UNC in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Junior forward Ivey Crainʼs goal in the 74th minute cemented the Green and Goldʼs 2-0 lead.

ANNA MCCLELLAN / THE FLAT HAT

According to Ellis, Georgeʼs power, explosive dives and ability to cover top shots contribute to her success as a goalkeeper.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT William and Mary junior midfielder/defender Nora Green-Orset scored the first goal of the game.