The Flat Hat April 17, 2024

T HE F LAT H AT

City Council PAC

"Williamsburg for All"

PAC aims to increase campus connection to local government Students launch

Monday, April 15, the “Williamsburg for All” Instagram account and website went live. Williamsburg for All is a new political action committee started by College of William and Mary Student Assembly Secretary of Public Afairs Grayson Horner ’26.

In an interview with The Flat Hat, Horner explained the goal of Williamsburg for All is to help elect Williamsburg City Council candidates who will represent students at the College and relay their issues.

“The reality is that we have all of these on campus groups, but for us to win these elections, we need a political structure, more or less,” Horner said. “We need to raise money and spend it on mailers. We need to spend it on candidate training. Because it’s a small city, if we want to get students on council, they’re going to be up against more entrenched residents who have donors that they know. And so for us to be able to win, we just need that extra support. They need that extra money as well.”

Horner said, in running the PAC, he works closely with Our Williamsburg and the organization’s president, Will Katabian ’25.

“Williamsburg For All is another incredible organization aimed at promoting a pro-student majority on city council,” Our Williamsburg wrote on an Instagram story. “We will be working closely with them in the future so please consider following and supporting.”

Horner cited Democrat Councilmember Caleb Rogers ’20 and Republican former Councilmember Benming “Benny” Zhang ’16 J.D. ’20 as examples of councilmembers who advocated for student issues.

“As a William & Mary graduate from the class of 2020, I wholeheartedly support initiatives that encourage student involvement in local governance, so it is great to see the new student-run PAC, ‘Williamsburg 4 All,’” Rogers wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “The sustained representation of recent graduates on the Williamsburg City Council since 2010 is a tradition that underscores the vital contributions students can make to our community. This representation should certainly continue.”

Rogers added that while he’s not directly involved with the initiative, he is thrilled to see their commitment to empowering students through active participation in local elections.

“As a current member of the City Council, I encourage [students] to keep an open mind for my colleagues who are also running,” Rogers wrote. “We certainly need student candidates and I’m happy knowing we have great options currently serving as well. I look forward to seeing the positive changes that Williamsburg 4 All endorsed candidates will bring to Williamsburg.”

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the PAC is Democratic. Horner is currently listed on the VPAP website as the top donor with $3,029 donated. Horner said he donated the money to help get the PAC going.

Student advocates relay community frustrations, desire new police policy

CHARLOTTE CASTLE AND MOLLY MARTIN // THE FLAT HAT

Monday, April 8, students of the College of William and Mary gathered at the Stryker Center for the Williamsburg City Council meeting to discuss the recent increased police presence around campus, especially on weekends.

Many of the attendees were members of OurWilliamsburg, a student advocacy program established last year in response to the student housing crisis. Currently, the group is working on reducing stricter policing, including increased patrols, breathalyzing students and closing down events before the 11 p.m. ordinance.

Coordinating the effort for student attendance during the city council meeting was the head of OurWilliamsburg and Sigma Pi Fraternity President Will Katabian ’25. He hopes to create greater collaboration between students at the College and the Williamsburg Police Department, with the goal of making students feel safe on campus.

“I think the intimidation tactics that they’re employing are scary,” Katabian said. “And our goal for Monday is to show the city that we aren’t going to get pushed around. I’m not trying to have a riot. I think the city needs to understand that we exist and there’s a lot of us.”

Katabian first became involved in the organization his sophomore year along with fellow Sigma Pi member Matthew Boothby ’25 to fight for increased student housing rights.

Since his involvement and expansion of the organization, Boothby has seen some improvements in the student relationships with city councilmembers.

“City councilors are, at least, more open to listening to us, especially with having our organization in a brand,” Boothby said. “They’re much more willing to meet with us. It’s much easier to work with them when you have some sort of unified message.”

Since the fall semester’s last day of classes in December 2023, students have noticed an uptick in police presence in response to a large student party held in the yard of a student’s house on Lafayette Street.

“We had three of four students who were on the train tracks,” Chief of Police Sean Dunn said during the meeting. “There was a very large party on Lafayette, I mean it was just elbow to elbow in the backyard of this particular property and folks basically went all the way back just about to the train tracks, and then some of the folks that were there actually spilled onto the train tracks.”

As a result, Williamsburg Police stopped train service in the city for roughly twenty minutes and three students were charged.

Dunn also commented on a last day of classes at the end of the spring 2023 semester where fifteen students were hospitalized at Riverside Doctors’ Hospital due to severe levels of alcohol intoxication.

“We don’t have hospital space for 15 folks at our emergency department on top of any other emergencies we might have in our community,” Sean said. “And so unfortunately folks that were sick, rather than responding to that emergency department had to be diverted and had to go to

and are working on addressing it,” Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Alexa Gerling wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. The response from the student body following the situation has been full of shock and anxiety toward the safety of the women who live in the court. However, Butler assured the Flat Hat that he and his staf are working toward the safety of the afected students.

and talk it out with her and be like, this is the situation; and this is how I feel about the situation. I’m completely enraged. This is insane because Sorority Court, it’s just women who live there, you know what I mean? So, it just really sucks that the spaces where you typically fnd women are supposed to be safe spaces for women, and it’s just being taken advantage of,” Carter said.

Alongside Panhellenic Council, staf at the College have expressed eforts to address safety concerns.

“Our staf, as well as colleagues in other departments, are aware of the situation

“I met with a couple of students with concerns about Sorority Court, and based on their concerns, we did increase and we currently have increased stafng in that area, particularly at night,” Butler said.

Carter described how some recent interactions in Sorority Court are diferent than typical ones.

“A lot of times people will just walk through sorority court, be like, ‘wow, this is so beautiful,’ or cut through on the way to CW,” Carter said. “But we have had instances and within the last couple of months, what I would consider an increase of instances,

emergency departments that maybe would’ve been a closer department but now they’re further departments. And unfortunately, it’s a disservice to the entire community, it’s a tremendous strain on our police personnel, on our fire EMS personnel, and on our hospital staff and capacity.”

Dunn emphasized that many members of the community have complained that events surrounding the last of classes are getting out of hand, and that it is the police’s duty to prevent pedestrians from getting hit by cars and alcoholrelated deaths. He hopes the police department and students will work together, or else they will have to resort to enforcement.

While the Lafayette Street party was shut down fairly quickly, students are still feeling the repercussions following that celebration. A tenant of the house where the party was held, Nate Lathrop ’25, has noticed changes in the behaviors of the police department.

“I feel like there has been an uptick in police presence since that event, just because they know a house that will have events,” said Lathrop.

Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority President Mary O’Leary ’25 spoke to the council during the open forum, asking how students can continue to participate in social gatherings without getting into trouble. She further noted that this increased police presence created a divide and distrust between students and the police department.

where people are going into Sorority Court and causing some sort of a nuisance, whether that be, knocking on their doors or climbing the fre escapes or even trying to look through their windows and shine lights in their houses and such. And, I know that we have brought it to the attention of the police; however, they’ve let us know that it is a public campus so they can come, like there’s no law saying that they cannot be here on the property.”

Carter, in discussion with the Panhellenic Council, has been considering potential solutions to the issue. Other responses to the situation have proposed the installation of Ring security cameras at the sorority houses to screen people and keep visitors accountable, as safety continues to be of concern on campus.

“So one thing that was brought up was the potential of getting like a Ring camera for the houses so then they’d be able to, like, if these things were to occur, have some sort of proof that it happened,” Carter said. “We’re still trying to see if that’s even something that we’re allowed to do though, like not a Panhel sponsored thing, but just the things that the girls in the houses can do to further protect themselves and keep themselves safe.” Carter

“ “

The sustained representation of recent graduates on the William sburg City Council since 2010 is a tradition that underscores the vital co ntributions students can make to our community. This representation should certainly continue.

̶ Williamsburg City Councilmember Caleb Rogers ʻ20

Jon Meacham to visit College, give public lecture

Thursday, April 11, the College of William and Mary announced that it has named presidential historian Jon Meacham as its 2024 Hunter B. Andrews Distinguished Fellowship in American Politics.

Meacham will give a public lecture with a question-and-answer session Tuesday, April 30 in the Commonwealth Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. He will also meet with student leaders and participate in a class discussion.

The fellowship is named after Hunter B. Andrews ʼ42, who served in the Virginia Senate for more than three decades, including several years as the Democratic majority leader. It aims to attract prominent journalists, politicians and academics to meet with students at the College.

The press release listed his professional achievements.

“In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Meacham has earned numerous awards and accolades throughout the years, including the Anti-Defamation Leagueʼs Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Prize, the Aspen Instituteʼs Public Service Award and the Sandra Day OʼConnor Instituteʼs Spirit of Democracy Award. OʼConnor was William & Maryʼs 23rd chancellor,” the release states.

Newly-elected student body President Terra Sloane ’25 shares experience, goals for her administration

After historic special election, Sloane hopes to continue advocacy work as she transitions into SA top job

ABIGAIL FURCY // THE FLAT HAT

Student Assembly Secretary of Health and Safety Terra M.

Sloane ‘25 was recently elected SA president at the College of William and Mary, following a long road of involvement. In her freshman year, a campaign for SA Senate and community council opened up a large network of connections for Sloane. Along with being a resident assistant for the past two years and leading peer education in Someone You Know, a sexual violence prevention organization, Sloane has established herself as a leader on campus.

A deep concern for issues that concern all students pushed Sloane to run for the top job at SA.

“I think in the past, I probably wouldn’t have gone for something like this,” Sloane said. “But I really care about sexual violence prevention. I really care about a lot of core issues to our student body. And so even within my role in Student Assembly, I was able to see all the cool stuff that I could do. And I was like, I might as well take this a step further. I started planning out with my platform, and then just adding people on to the team.”

Sloane met her running mate, SA Secretary of Diversity Initiatives Oscar Lazo ’25, through SA. She said she soon realized that both of them shared common goals for the future of student government. As head of the SA Diversity Initiatives department, Lazo had ideas about the power of peer education that Sloane admired. She also appreciated his drive and ability to create genuine change within the student body.

Together, Sloane and Lazo built an executive team by pulling from different parts of the student body.

One of the core values of their campaign was transparency.

“I think that this whole process, especially the things that have occurred in the past few weeks with the special election and some of the commentary around how the student body interacts with student assembly, showcased to us a long history of student assembly being inaccessible to our students,” Sloane said. “And so throughout, we are hoping to implement different forms of transparency so that students understand what’s going on in student assembly.”

There are many unique aspects to the presidency that Sloane is excited for, specifically getting to speak to large groups of students. Immediately after winning the election, Sloane has noticed a greater willingness for students to come up and discuss issues they have on campus with her. Being able to elevate the voices of others is a priority and rewarding for Sloane.

Additionally, the ability to speak face to face with those who have even more power to create change, she says, is another fulfilling aspect of the role for Sloane.

“Even just this morning, we met with the chief of police of Williamsburg,” she said. “Being able to make eye contact with someone and be like, ‘This is like a real concern that students have, and this is causing all of these different sort of emotions and our students are afraid’ — being that voice for those students that either might not choose to go into those spaces for fear of interacting with those people or like don’t get the chance to. Having that responsibility is so cool, and it’s so rewarding.”

As a result of the special election called by the SA Review Board, both campaigns in the election faced criticism. Sloane adopted the belief that all feedback is good feedback, receiving the genuine concern as beneficial because it pointed out faults within the SA system.

The SA Review Board ruled that SA Attorney General Owen Williams ’25’s involvement in the Sloane campaign was a campaign infraction that could have altered the results of the election, following an appeal filed by the campaign of Class of 2025 President Yannie Chang ’25 and SA Sen. Hashir Aqeel ’25.

“I think the benefit of doing [the revote] is that it pointed out some flaws in the way that our elections are run right now, and some flaws within our sort of William and Mary community in terms of completely disrespecting candidates for no reason and like, spreading information that was not true. It’s actually been very helpful to watch that play out, to see exactly what we need to fix moving forward, to make sure that no candidate has to go through that experience again,” Sloane said.

Although not always easy to manage, the positive side of feedback for Sloane is that it ensures the student body is invested in their leadership, and Sloane expressed her determination to follow through.

“If anything, I feel like it’s very mobilizing,” Sloane said. “Like the pressure is on to do a good job because so many people are looking at us. And I know that we’re able to deliver on that, but it’s been good to have the attention of so many students, to make sure that they’re caring about this, and caring about the issues that are at stake with an election like this.”

Sloane also touched on her experience with SYK.

“It has been the most fulfilling experience of my college career,” Sloane said. “I love getting to go into spaces and talk about why every student should care about sexual violence prevention. So much of the change that we can see is cultural and is not actually like intervening in acts of violence, but is intervening when you hear people say things that normalize violence, or when you hear people say things that dehumanize people. Being able to expand that message and bring so many people into that education, I hope, has had an impact.”

Sloane believes that everyone should listen to gut instincts saying that something is not right to create change.

“I think that having that optimism is really crucial for campus advocacy,” Sloane said. “There is something that you can do. And I want everybody to know that they do have avenues to create that change. And maybe you don’t even need to be the student body president to achieve that change. But if you have that passion and that drive, pick a project that you really feel passionately about and see it going to the best of your ability, and you will be making your campus community better in some way.”

Sloane encourages all students to reach out to her with any questions or concerns through her email, tmsloane@wm.edu. She expressed excitement in interacting with the student body throughout her next year as SA president.

COURTESY IMAGE / TERRA SLOANE

CAMPUS

Students present research in fourth annual WMSURE conference

William and Mary scholars share experience and findings in speci al end-of-year showcase at Sadler Center

Friday, April 12, the College of William and Mary hosted the fourth-annual WMSURE Undergraduate Research Conference in Sadler Center.

The WMSURE program supports William and Mary Scholars — a group of academically distinguished students who participate in undergraduate research, according to the College’s website. The program helps students connect with faculty and staff across the College undertaking research.

In addition to supporting research ambitions, the program provides workshops that equip students with practical life advice such as choosing a major and preparing for graduate school.

Students in the WMSURE program began preparation for their presentations last spring and completed their research over this past summer. After many hours of hard work and dedication, they presented their findings at the conference.

Jasmyn Paschall ’25 presented her findings on early career support for women of color working in mental health fields. Paschall worked in conjunction with the Rise Program, founded by Dr. Janise Parker to monitor the progress of a group of African American women, who had recently entered graduate school.

The Rise Program also provides resources and advice for the women who had just exited graduate school on navigating the workplace as a person of color. Through weekly interviews, Paschall gathered data about the women’s experiences and identified some common themes in their interactions.

“We saw that being in structured programs and affinity groups was helpful for women of color because a lot of them, in their graduate training, faced discrimination and a lack of inclusive training for women of color,” Paschall said.

Following the conclusion of the interviews during the research period, Paschall analyzed the responses to find common themes from the participants in the study group. Paschall’s major findings from her research highlighted the importance of connection within the workplace, preparation for navigating discrimination, mental health self-care strategies and general career advancement tips.

Rida Chaudry ’25 attended the conference to support her classmates’ presentations and enjoyed Paschall’s project. Having taken some classes in the field Paschall focused her research on, Chaudry found Paschall’s findings informative and focused on issues she never spent considerable time

ACADEMICS

learning about.

“I think that it’s so interesting learning about African American Women’s experience in the workplace because I’ve taken a couple of sociology and psychology classes, and that’s one thing that we don’t touch on that much. And so I’m glad that I could have come here and heard that presentation,” Chaudry said.

Ian Doley ’24 conducted his research in conjunction with the Ignite Lab, the College’s Global Health Lab, under the guidance of professor Julius Odhiambo. Doley’s research aimed to quantify the anemia burden among women of reproductive age in Rwanda.

Using demographic and health survey data available for many countries around the world, Doley sought to identify specific variables highly associated with anemia positivity. Using chi-squared analysis and regression modeling, Doley identified three major factors related to women in Rwanda being diagnosed with anemia.

“When I did regression analysis, I got three variables that came up as being significant. So, it was employment status, those who were working were less likely to have anemia. Those that perceived that the distance to a health facility as not a big problem, were also less likely to have anemia. And then finally, if the sex of the household was a male, there was also a decreased likelihood of anemia,” Doley said.

In addition to these three major factors, Doley also sought to examine if location was a factor in the concentrations of anemia within Rwanda. Using the demographic and health survey data and R to create a visual model, Doley found that the anemia burden is disproportionately concentrated in the southwest region of Rwanda. He hopes to use these findings to inform future policy decisions regarding equitable resource allocation to the southwest region of Rwanda. He aims to finish authoring a report on his findings and submit them for publication in a journal.

Melanie Jimenez ’26 attended the conference as she was interested to see what other research students are undertaking. Jimenez, a biology major, frequently participates in biology research doing lots of wet-cell work. Jimenez learned about Doley’s project and found it very eye-opening and quite different from the research she undertakes.

“It was something very different from the wet lab scenario, in which you sort of forget about the human aspect of things and the interactions people have with different communities and how engaging they are in actually uplifting people,” Jimenez said.

Dana El Kurd discusses Palestinian politics in Scholarly Perspectives talk

Arab Center fellow, University of Richmond political science professor overviews politics in Palestine

Friday, April 12, the Reves Center for International Studies and Arts and Sciences hosted Dana El Kurd as its last speaker in the Scholarly Perspectives on the Middle East series for a talk titled “Palestinian Politics: The PA, Hamas and State-Society Divergence” in Washington Hall.

El Kurd is an assistant professor in the department of political science at the University of Richmond and non-resident senior fellow at Arab Center Washington D.C. In January 2020, she released her book “Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine,” which follows the progression of authoritarianism in Palestine within the last thirty years.

Jonathan Glasser, an associate professor in the department of anthropology and a previous speaker in the series, introduced El Kurd by providing an introductory speech on this series as a whole.

“The aim of the series has been to cultivate informed conversations on campus about Gaza, Israel, Palestine and the wider Middle East in light of the atrocities of October 7 and since,” Glasser said.

El Kurd’s talk lasted 40 minutes. There was a 15 minute question-and-answer session at the end for students, professors and other attendees to engage with El Kurd.

“Unfortunately, as all of you in this room I’m sure know, the disaster in Palestine and Israel is ongoing. But it is my personal hope that those of you who are able to attend some of the talks, or all of them have been able to learn and be challenged by them, and that you’ll be able to use these conversations to good purpose,” Glasser said. “I have no doubt that in our various ways, we will continue to make space for engagement with these pressing issues here on campus and in the wider community.”

The central focus of El Kurd’s talk was on internal Palestinian politics.

“So, the general takeaways for this talk and I’ll explain, as I move forward, is that the Palestinian cause has been transformed from a national liberation movement to a state building project through the Oslo Accords framework,” said El Kurd said.

El Kurd discussed how this transformation away from a national liberation movement towards a state-building project has led to a divergence between elites and public, unaddressed legitimacy crisis and conditions for mass violence.

El Kurd also emphasized that the public opinion of the Palestinian Authority within Palestine is largely negative and critical, as per a poll done by Arab Barometer Oct. 6.

“They were actually polling people in Gaza on October 6,” El Kurd said. “Seventy two percent said there’s some level of corruption

in the government institutions.”

El Kurd related this to a larger commentary on the government systems in Israel and Palestine.

“This is when there’s a more concerted discussion of the Palestinian Authority, which is seen as kind of Western aligned,” El Kurd said. “And this term the subcontractor of occupation is seen as basically just partners with the Israeli government, not so much representative of the Palestinian public. They have very little popularity at home, lots of popularity with donors and diplomats abroad.”

While the predominant focus of the talk was on internal Palestinian politics, El Kurd did touch on some of the political aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli relationship. She reflected on the feasibility of a two-state solution, particularly how the mass violence and displacement following Oct. 7 has only decreased the likelihood of a political pathway forward.

Julia Ashworth ’24, a graduate student at the College of William and Mary, discussed her reactions to the talk and the complexity of the international system.

“I would say that it’s very important to have conversations about incredibly powerful topics like these. It’s so important to think very carefully about the political climate that we’re currently facing and to make careful decisions about what we think and where we stand,” Ashworth said.

Guest professor discusses Cuban missile crisis, U.S. relations

National Slavic honor society Dobro Slovo celebrates 30th anniversary with Cuban missile crisis talk

Friday, April 12, the Russian, East European and Eurasian studies department welcomed Anthony Anemone, an emeritus professor from the New School for Public Engagement and Eugene Lang College, to give a Tepper lecture in Washington Hall.

The event commemorated the 30th anniversary of the College of William and Mary’s chapter of Dobro Slovo, the national Slavic honor society. In his presentation titled “Kalatozov, Cuba, and the Missile Crisis,” Anemone delved into the pivotal role of art in the interactions between the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with a specific focus of the 1964 propaganda film, “Soy Cuba.”

Prior to his tenure at the New School, Anemone taught at the College from 1992 to 2006. He served as the director of both the Russian program within modern languages and literatures and the Russian and post-Soviet studies in global studies, while establishing the Russian House in 2002.

Many attendees, like Hunter White ’27, came to the talk out of a general curiosity of this period in history.

“So, I am in a data science class that mixes Russian literature,” White said. “It’s my COLL100. It’s just part of our curriculum, but I have a particular interest in the Cold War era and Sovietology, so I figured I’d come and give a listen.”

Nicholas Sheer ’24, an economics major data science minor, shared a similar sentiment.

“My professor recommended this one, just learning more about the Cuban Missile Crisis since I didn’t really have a proper education on it growing up and going into high school and the classes that I’ve taken so far,” Sheer said. “So, after going, I think I’m much more educated on the topic.”

Others came with the specific intent of learning more about “Soy Cuba,” a film with a modern cult following including American film directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

“Well, I was interested in the subject after seeing the film two days ago,” William Walton ’24 said. “I wanted to hear a professional, academic opinion on it because it’s definitely very artistic.”

“Soy Cuba,” produced in Cuba, is about the Cuban Revolution. Three of the most prominent Soviet artists of the post-Stalin period made the film: Mikhail Kalatozov, Sergei Urusevsky and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. To explain this film’s curious cultural context, Anemone began his talk by providing its significant political and historical context.

“What I’d like to do today, in 40 minutes or so, is to tell you a story about a particular moment in time when cinema, politics and history converged in a particularly violent and threatening way,” Anemone said.

According to Anemone, the United States’ interest in Cuba first picked up after the United States intervened in the SpanishAmerican war to maintain Cuba’s independence. Decades later,

in 1952, Fulgencio Batista led the Cuban Revolution and became the military dictator without losing U.S. support. In 1959, Fidel Castro took power and served as dictator for the next 60 years, putting an end to the Cuban Revolution.

The U.S.-Cuba relationship shifted when President Dwight Eisenhower withdrew U.S. support for Castro’s socialist government in 1960, following Castro’s controversial behavior during a visit to New York City.

The United States subsequently divested from Cuba, prompting the Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies to step in with military and economic aid. A year later, President John F. Kennedy perceived their alliance as a great national security threat and ordered the infamous Bay of Pigs operation to dismantle Cuba’s government from within. After the failed coup attempt, Soviet influence in Cuba grew exponentially with “Soy Cuba” beginning production that same year.

“Shortly after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, a few Soviet filmmakers and artists arrived in Havana to begin to work on what would be ‘I am Cuba,’” Anemone said.

For the latter half of his presentation, Anemone shifted his focus to an analysis of the film as an example of Russian-Cuban alignment in political interests and divergence in cultural and artistic values.

The film was intended to showcase the success of the Cuban Revolution. However, its production took over

14 months and faced numerous challenges including language barriers, the absence of nearby film processing services equipped to handle Soviet film and severe weather events.

As a specifically Russian-Cuban propaganda film, “Soy Cuba” originally only had screenings in Havana and Moscow. Further, it was shelved shortly after due to its initially terrible reception.

“The Cubans felt that, in general, Kalatozov failed to understand Cuban life [and] Cuban people,” Anemone said. “The image of the Cuban people in the Cuban revolution was touristic, inauthentic, words like that. Soviet critics, on the other hand, rejected precisely the part of the film that is Cuban life. That is, they rejected the stylistic, what they called ‘eccentricities,’ of the film.”

“Soy Cuba” remained a forgotten film until the 1990s, when it caught the attention of Scorcese and Coppola. They both became infatuated with its style, and in 1995, the two directors re-released “Soy Cuba” under their production company. Upon his own first viewing, Anemone was similarly struck by the film’s ability to capture the emotions surrounding a political revolution and inspired him to give this talk.

“‘Soy Cuba’ is a document of the emotions, the expectations, the beliefs and the dreams of people who lived, as all of us do, without knowing what the future would bring,” Anemone said.

College unites under solar eclipse, gathers on Sunken Garden to watch

Community members flocked together to witness partial eclipse visible from Williamsburg

Monday, April 8, the College’s students and faculty gathered on the Sunken Garden to witness the total eclipse that passed over the contiguous United States, with a partial eclipse in Williamsburg. The art and sciences department-sponsored event provided a rare moment of community and reunion to many amidst the recent conflicts on campus.

According to NPR, the eclipse traveled across parts of 15 states, beginning along Mexico’s Pacific Coast around 11 a.m. PDT, then reaching totality in Texas around 1:30 p.m. CT and concluding in Maine around 3:30 p.m. EST.

Although Williamsburg wasn’t in the eclipse’s direct path, a partial eclipse lasting just short of 2.5 hours occurred with 80.9% of the sun covered during its peak at 3:19 p.m.

“I feel like the community aspect and the people involved is more magical than the actual event, even though it’s really pretty,” Datz said. “But, it just feels like more of a social event that would bring people together in a way that’s natural.”

In anticipation for a large turnout, the arts and sciences department advertised the event only with minimally-worded fliers in the week leading up. Nevertheless, Evan Maly ’24 credited their fliers for the impressive attendance on the day-of.

“Yeah, I’ve seen advertisements all over campus for ‘Come to the Sunken Gardens to see the eclipse!’ and it’s been really effective,” Maly said.

The College bought over 1,500 sunprotection glasses in preparation to hand out. Once the event began, their supply

The last total eclipse occurred before the academic year began, in August 2017. Lila Datz ’25 reflected on the significance of this eclipse’s timing, particularly on the campus culture as the community nears the end of the second semester.

ran out quickly, but Clayton Emge ’25 expressed his gratitude for the school’s efforts nonetheless.

“Yeah, I think it’s really cool that the school is supporting it and handing out glasses for people to protect their eyes, and I thought that it would be a fun way to come see the eclipse with my friends,” Emge said.

Associate teaching professor of art Michael Gaynes, along with another faculty member, set up their telescopes for attendees to observe the eclipse upclose. Gaynes expressed his enthusiasm for today’s event, having also set out his telescope for the eclipse in 2017 and the transit of Mercury in 2019.

“I think it’s really just fun,” Gaynes said. “And we’re able to get a big crowd just to say, you know, ‘Hey, let’s all go out’ and the light’s starting to change a little bit.”

Audrey Fisher ’24, like many others, was let out of her afternoon class early to attend. She too emphasized the unifying nature of the eclipse.

“It’s just really cool to see the whole school kind of unite over something, especially with all of the contentious things that have been going on recently,” Fisher said.

As the Sunken Gardens filled during the event’s peak between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., Adriano Moran ’25 set up his hammock on the field to watch the eclipse. Moran explained the ease of companionship among students at the event.

“I think the culture is kind of, like, you just sit and then, because everybody’s here, people just like walked up and we just kind of formed this Frankenstein group of people,” Moran said. “You can’t watch the eclipse by yourself, you know? This only happens once every how many years so you’ve got to share it with the people you love.”

Kavi Shah ’24 highlighted the size of the gathering too, describing it as far larger than any other event he has been to in his four years at the College. “It’s amazing how many people are here. I’ve never seen this much of William and Mary in one place at one time,” Shah said.

For Maly, the eclipse became an opportunity for personal reunions, as he

unexpectedly encountered his old friend, Zachary Lutzky ’24, after two years. Together, they watched the eclipse through Lutzky’s camera. Maly was pleased by the renewed sense of community brought on by this solar event.

“I’m just really impressed with how many people came together at this one moment,” Maly said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen this much camaraderie on campus. It’s a nice change of pace.”

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

New School professor Anthony Anemone visits the College to give a lecture on the Cuban Revolution, U.S.-Cuban relations and Cuban Missile Crisis to attendees.

Sick of scramble for Easter eggs

When I talked to my two college-aged sisters about the blood-bath style of the Banner 9 registration system we had at William & Mary, all they had to say was “that’s stupid.” When I told them about the new PATH system, I was intrigued to discover that they found the new system even stupider. At first I liked the idea of avoiding the 7 a.m. “Hunger Games” for classes, but as soon as I took to a whiteboard in Washington Hall and began to map out my schedule, I was faced with glaring issues.

Yes, we still have the ability to prioritize classes in the PATH system, and there are a decent amount of potential benefits with the new system. I think that there is something to be said for a more equitable system of registration, and there are aspects about PATH that could be great for students. However, there is a lack of real autonomy within the system, and giving a system the ability to make personal choices about our schedules has a real potential for bad outcomes.

My first concern is the distance between classes. The computer doesn’t know each individual student’s walking pace, or any other factors that might affect how fast a person can get from one building on campus to another. Using the Banner 9 system, students could select classes in a way in which they could keep their movement in mind. However, under the PATH system, with the 36 classes that we have the ability to select, if you get your second alternate

for your third choice and your first alternate for your seventh choice, for example, it might not be possible for some students to get from their first to their second class in time. This might happen to me, as there is no way that I am getting from Wren to Boswell Hall in 10 minutes. The computer doesn't know that only some students have bikes, some classes have the tendency to get out earlier or that some students are more comfortable being a minute late to a lecture than others. When students have the ability to select classes in a descending order in which they can factor in what classes they already have, they can create a schedule in which their personal education is prioritized. The PATH system just puts us all into a hat in which we all become depersonalized and our uniqueness is not factored in.

On December 12, 2023, fans rushed to type “Taylor Swift” into the Google search bar and solve her puzzles. The secret puzzle discoveries flooded TikTok as fans desperately tried to figure out what Taylor was trying to reveal: 89 puzzles for the re-recording of her 1989 album for Taylor's version. To anyone unfamiliar with the extensive, somewhat chaotic relationship Taylor has with her fans, this may seem alarming and, well, let's face it, a little psychotic. But Swift, one of the biggest artists of the 21st century, continues to shock the world with her every move and the fans are loving it. I just simply do not understand why the world tries to stay one step in front of Swift, when it fails almost every time. Her fans analyze every outfit, piece of jewelry and interview she does, just to try to keep up with her somewhat diabolical plans. She has completely taken over the internet with these Easter eggs that her fans, despite all the analyzing, cannot decipher, which makes the practice seem pointless. But Easter eggs in the music industry is not a new concept. Many artists have used the Easter egg marketing strategy to encourage their fans to listen to their music more closely. Incredibly sensational artists from Pink Floyd to the Rolling Stones have used Easter eggs. According to the Capitol Theatre, “In 1967, The Beatles released 'Sgt. Pepper’s

my fans and I have since descended into color coding, numerology, word searches, elaborate hints, and Easter eggs.” But there are so many clues that do not seem to materialize or which take a completely different turn, so why do we always fall for all her tricks?

Everyone loves to be right. Even in silly little moments like uncovering Swift’s next move, her fans pour their everything into trying to uncover her tricks before they become so blatantly clear. People have an inherent need to be right and prove their intelligence in dissecting the intricate details of Swift’s innermost thoughts. The idea of uncovering an incredible music artist's next song clues and release dates in and of itself is not necessarily absurd, but the constant failure of fans from being able to ever discover Swift’s next move completely baffles me. Her fans will never be able to figure it out until she herself uncovers the clues. So why bother? That's the part that makes absolutely no sense to me. Her fans spend hours in the allconsuming scavenge, but they are never successful.

In the same vein, I'm worried about students' individual needs in their day-to-day lives. Of course, I don't know the exact system of how PATH’s algorithm works, but it can't really know that I feel more comfortable having a majority of classes on particular days of the week because of my extracurricular activities, when it's easier to call my mom or any other considerations I would have when making a schedule. There are so many different factors that students have in their lives that made the individualization of the Banner 9 system so important. Throwing all the students into the PATH system and letting a computer figure out their schedules leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We have more going on in our lives than just showing up to classes. Housing location, jobs, transportation, medical issues and so many more are all factors that we as students were able to keep in mind as we made our schedules in the Banner 9 system. However, in the PATH system, you don't know which ones of your top classes are going to be chosen.

Lonely Hearts Club Band,' an album with one of the most memorable album covers of all time. The album gave a nod to the rivalry they had with The Rolling Stones, which features a Shirley Temple doll wearing a 'Welcome The Rolling Stones' t-shirt. Months later, The Rolling Stones released their own album 'Their Satanic Majesties Request,' featuring a colorful album cover to pay silent tribute to The Beatles.” These little hints were always popular and have been sporadically used by the world’s most famous and legendary artists. Importantly, these hints were manageable. Yes, they were somewhat time consuming, but they did not occur to the extent and frequency of Swift's infamous Easter eggs. Swift just takes it to a whole new level. With the announcement of her new album “Tortured Poets Department,” Swift surprised fans who were almost positive that this announcement would be about the re-recording of her “Reputation” album. Just the announcement of her new album alone was important because it was announced as she received her 13th Grammy for best pop vocal album (which is also her "lucky number"). She has been doing this forever, and it is one of the things that makes her so popular to her fans. Swift herself told The Washington Post, "When I was 15 and putting together my first album, [...] I decided to encode the lyrics with hidden messages using capital letters. That's how it started, and

Swift's ability to take the concept of Easter eggs that were always an integral part of the music culture and turn it into this pointless, repetitive and somewhat redundant process of endless searching is not her fault; she’s just playing off of the irrational desire of her fans to devote insanely long hours to uncovering her hints and falling for her tricks. As long as her fans continue to dissect her every move, she will keep giving them what they want. I do agree that Swift genuinely cares about her fans, but this endless supply of hints and tricks is nothing more than a marketing strategy to increase her popularity in the music industry. I do not think I will ever understand how her fans pour hours of their time into figuring out her Easter eggs, but Swift will not stop feeding into this process until her fans decide it is no longer worthwhile.

Isabella McNutt ’27 is a international relations and history double major, and she is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She loves traveling, basketball and music. Email her at immcnutt@wm.edu.

When selecting the alternatives for your 8th or 9th choice in your primary cart, you don't know whether you are putting something that could really screw your schedule up.

COMIC Earl the Squirrel: Grades

COMIC BY TOBY KANT / THE COMIC BOOK CLUB

Ultimately, I’m worried about what the PATH system means for our autonomy over our education in the future.

When things like our class schedule become more and more computerized, I have some concerns about the depersonalization of our education as technology continues to advance.

Tory Cole ‘27 is a prospective history and religious studies major. She lovesplayingontheGirl’sClubSoccer Goldteamandissoexcitedtobejoining the Flat Hat to reach the William and Mary community.

I think the PATH system has a serious capacity to interfere with a student’s ability to graduate within the time they need, participate in extracurriculars and plan out their individual days. Every student is unique, and we need to have a registration system that reflects that.

I did a phone detox, you should too Grant

Yes, yes, I know. Here come the Andrew Hubermann quotes and a diatribe about how social media hijacks your brain’s reward system. But you’re wrong: I have no clue how dopamine works, and anyone who listened to some guy explain it for two hours doesn’t either. I do know this: I am an anxious college student who is generally made more anxious by the small machine of constant entertainment and social stimulus that I carry on my person at all times. So, at the advice of my friend (a somewhat strange guy who once shaved his head because he wanted to focus on his character instead of his appearance), I turned my phone off for a week over spring break — and I loved it. Not because I became more productive, nor because I felt myself improve tangibly; I just felt more present and the things around me felt more real, and it was wonderful to break from my routine for a bit. So I will have to be a little predictable; I’m recommending that you try, even briefly, to take a break from your phone.

Despite the pull towards my phone, I felt importance slowly melt back into daily events of my life at home.

And don’t get me wrong: Oh my God, was it boring. Yes, I spent time with my family, saw the aforementioned friend and went on walks with my dog. But something in my mind was insisting that I was missing something, that I had something to attend to — and that I better do it quick. It hurts to admit it, but I really am addicted to my phone, and I didn’t even fully commit: I had to let myself suckle on the weak sustenance of Instagram from my laptop a few times a day. Shameful. For the most part, I just sat with this weird, sticky feeling

GUEST COLUMN

of craving. I don’t know if I would’ve enjoyed break more if I had kept my phone on, but it was helpful to even realize that the crutch was there in its absence. What was I avoiding by relegating every spare moment of my day to the hungry gremlin of social media? Loneliness? Existential dread? A lack of purpose or self-knowledge? The real answer to this question is: who knows? I went without my phone for a week, not a year in a monastery. But, because of one particular aspect of the week, I still want to advocate for it.

I resolved, along with putting my phone away, to finally read “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau, a book that signified in my mind that some pieces of writing were just too boring for me. When he started off by describing the process of building his house and listing all of its expenses, I started to doubt my decision. But I kept on with it, and after a bit of egotistical nonsense where he talks about how great his lifestyle is and how boring everyone else is, the core of the book, the strength of its essays intimated themselves to me: Thoreau’s project of deep observation of his surroundings, of getting away from the usual way of filling his time, resulted in something incredible. At its best, his writing is like liquid flowing intelligence. It clearly impresses his love for the place and its beauty, this strange serene landscape given to him by an unlikely ally: boredom, and the attention it necessitated.

Far be it from me to compare myself to Thoreau (which I definitely did not do in the last paragraph), but I felt like I had come to understand him better in my small retreat from the daily comfort of my phone; life can pass by quickly in a mindless dissipation that we are barely aware of unless we slow down and look around. Despite the pull toward my phone, I felt importance slowly melt back into the daily events of my life at home. I wasn’t looking for anything to fill the time, and so it slowly filled with dense detail and contentedness as I drank coffee with my mom in the mornings and discussed movies we had watched, or stayed up late laughing with my sister about the drama in her life. These experiences became more real, more memorable simply because I removed an element of distraction that is so continually present we forget it.

Thoreau was said to have sat on the step of his one-room house and just watch the scene in front of him for hours. I would encourage you to leave your phone in your dorm and sit on the dock one evening and just watch the sun set over Matoaka. It’s unbelievable: the way sunlight flits on the thin ripples before gradually shortening and draining into darkness, how the rusty-orange of the sky thins into violet before casting the treeline to an utterly black, two-dimensional silhouette — the noises of small waves, frogs croaking and birds chirping as time turns over, patiently. Nothing satisfies like a strong curiosity and the willing act of attention to what is really around you.

GrantYoon‘27isaprospectiveEnglishmajor.Heenjoys writingpoetryforthecampusliterarymagazine,theGallery, andreadingwhateverbookshaveagoodvibetothem(currentlyonAnneLamott’sTravelingMercies). He also likes sittingbylargebodiesofwater,drinkinglotsofcoffeeand overthinkingmovies,song,andthingsingeneral.Contacthim atgiyoon@wm.edu.

A-dressing “going out tops”

THE FLAT HAT

Going out is fun, but going out looks very different for girls compared to guys. Girls get ready hours in advance, dress up, get together and take pictures all before we even leave for the function. But why? Why do guys show up in t-shirts and jeans but girls wear corset tops and skirts? Why do we scour the internet to buy ‘going out tops’ when the most a guy does is buy himself a Hawaiian shirt? What even is a going out top? In my opinion, there’s no such thing, and the whole concept is misogynistic.

Buying ʻgoing out topsʼ is investing in the idea that you are an object for the night. It is committing yourself to a piece of clothing you wear for one reason, and that is to attract the male gaze.

A ‘going out top’ is generally understood as something dressy and sexy, but too scandalous for every day and too revealing to be considered classy, so its only purpose in your closet is for ‘going out.’ But what does that suggest? That sexualizing yourself is inherent to the dress code for college parties. The reality is that this resurgence of the ‘going out top’ reinforces the attitude that women should objectify themselves when in the company of men. There’s nothing wrong with wearing something sexy that boosts your confidence, but why does it have to be separated from everything else you wear? Why is the most ‘scandalous’

thing in my closet reserved for when I go to a frat?

Buying ‘going out tops’ is investing in the idea that you are an object for the night. It is committing yourself to a piece of clothing you wear for one reason, and that is to attract the male gaze. Nothing about a ‘going out top’ even seems to be for the benefit of the girl who wears it — other than the attention it might get you. They’re usually uncomfortable as hell and pretty revealing, which makes them really inconvenient if it’s cold out. You’re spending more money than usual on something ‘too sexy’ for class, so you keep it in your closet and wear it once, and maybe a few times more if it’s really a hit. But by the end of the year, you’ve barely worn it and if you’ve already posted in it, it’s time for something new. Thus the quest for new ‘going out tops’ begins again.

But why can’t our ‘going out tops’ also be a staple in our closet? If it’s too much to wear day to day, why buy it?

For most college students, clothing is an investment, and none of us want to spend money on something we know we’ll barely wear. Instead, we should be buying what we look good in and will wear whenever we want. Without a strict dress code on campus, what you wear is largely up to you and how you feel. So why not wear a ‘going out top’ to places besides parties if it makes you feel good?

Maybe the reality is that it doesn’t. Even if you ‘look sexy’ you might not like what you’re wearing. That could be for a number of reasons. Maybe it’s not your style or it’s out of your comfort zone. It can be ‘too much’ or too uncomfortable, so you don’t even bother to try it on for anything else. All of those reasons perplex me. Nothing you wear should put how others perceive you above how you

feel in it. The resurgence of going out tops as a separate category of women’s clothing is yet another way in which clothing brands capitalize on our insecurities while further contributing to the notion that girls should objectify their bodies. Women should not have to center their outfits around arbitrary expectations for dress. There is no dress code for going out, but the notion of going out tops sets an expectation for what women should wear. If men had an equivalent to going out tops, maybe this would be less of an issue. But it’s clear: The revival of the ‘going out top’ pits women against each other, in competition for the attention of men, continuing to put their own wants and needs second to those of men.

LinneaLeijon‘27isasociologyand genderstudiesdoublemajorfromD.C. whoispassionateaboutreproductive rightsandsocialjusticeadvocacy. ContactLinneaatlbleijon@wm.edu.

It delights and enrages me to know that in the past month, a record number of 10 year olds have called their congresspeople for the first time, solely to whine that they might lose access to one of many sources of mind-numbing videos. Better yet, officials behind TikTok released a message urging its users to do just this, but worded it differently: “protect constitutional rights, make your voices heard.” Something about it feels like the bad influence of an uncle asking a young child to defend him in front of the child’s vigilant parents… but I digress.

We should approach this possibility not with regret, but with hope, using the very news of the bill to reflect on our relationship with the online world.

For those who haven’t yet heard (in which case I commend you), the enormously popular video-streaming app TikTok may be in jeopardy in the United States. The app was created by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, which has raised concerns about Americans’ data privacy being accessible to the Chinese Communist Party via ByteDance. Poof! Congress introduced a bill that, if passed, would force ByteDance to either sell TikTok within six months to a buyer that the U.S. government approves of or entirely leave the United States. The bill passed seamlessly in the House of Representatives, where it originated, and now awaits approval from a Senate majority vote. If passed, TikTok will likely face a grim challenge: finding a buyer who can afford it, with its 170 million US users. In other words, the very real possibility of a world without TikTok looms ahead.

I risk parroting my parents when I say that this world without TikTok is preferable to the one we live in now. We should approach this possibility not with regret, but with hope, using the very news of the bill to reflect on our relationship with the online world. I hope to gently address those who include TikTok in their “top five best friends” list, and to convince you that if your favorite app disappears permanently, you might not only live on, but also thrive.

The biggest concern behind the app has to do with data privacy, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use the occasion to reflect on TikTok’s other implications, most notably its effect on attention spans. Countless friends have told me that the intended 15 minutes scrolling on the app too often turn into regrettable hours lost. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with enjoying an app’s ability to match users with constantly gratifying videos — the problem lies in its tendency to capture our attention for so long that we feel we’ve lost control over our time. TikTok and its contemporaries not only seem to trap our thoughts in what we now call “mindless scrolling,” but also keep us from focusing on other activities afterward. In my case, which I feel is far from unique, I lose motivation to do even my favorite things in the chunk of time following the scrolling.

It’s glaringly possible that the “void” TikTok leaves, if the bill is passed, will quickly be filled by one of its less-popular contemporaries: Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts. Before you sigh with relief knowing the internet will continue to support your mindless scrolling, I urge you to reflect on your habits, whatever they may be. Use this as a timely opportunity to better delegate your time — there is no need to wait for the bill to pass.

What immediately jumped out to me as interesting about the bill was how bipartisan it was. At least in the House, members of opposing parties who shared only abrasive histories were found joining forces. At least in some capacity, the bringing up of the bill has been a reminder that, despite our partyrooted differences, we share perceptions on certain aspects of culture. If among these things are the newest generation of social media users, then so be it. If TikTok were to be banned from the United States, the passage of the bill would serve as a much-needed reminder of our unity as people, especially in such a polarizing time as an election year. Let’s generalize this to our smaller Williamsburg community.

I would be remiss if I did not admit this at any point in my anti-TikTok preach: Despite being one of the most easily distractible people I can think of, I never have had the app or created an account. I cannot claim personal experience as a source of my worries toward it. All I have to share is a series of friends’ testimonies of the experience being “easy to turn on and impossible to leave off.” While I won’t go so far as to say I have lost friends to the app, I cannot help but notice in many conversations a certain detachment, even in meaningful conversations. I cannot and will not blame the people for it — I blame the tendencies that the app, and many like it, seem to prey on. SheoliLele‘26isaprospectivemathandphilosophydou-

GRAPHIC BY BIANCA CABALLERO / THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY ISABEL LI / THE FLAT HAT

GRAPHIC BY SYEDA SAFDAR / THE FLAT HAT

Linnea Leijon

variety

Eve of Eid-al-Fitr

SAIO hosts first

annual Chaand Raat celebration at the College with games, traditional cuisine, display of South Asian culture

Tuesday, April 9, the South Asian Interfaith Organization hosted a Chaand Raat celebration in the Crim Dell Meadow. Chaand Raat is a festival observed on the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, primarily by Muslims in South Asian countries. It is celebrated with games, spending time with loved ones and keeping an eye out for the new moon to signify the end of an auspicious Ramadan.

SAIO co-founder and executive board member Manvi Nair ‘24 described how the group wanted to host the event to continue to provide a safe space for students to observe their traditions and celebrate their cultural practices.

“Chaand Raat was kind of like a culmination of a festival, mostly making Muslim students, who are also not necessarily of South Asian background, feel at home and find a way to celebrate Eid on campus, which is really hard for them. But also bringing a whole campus for that celebration,” Nair said. “Everyone can celebrate together and support each other.”

SAIO executive board members Nair, Alysha Waseem ‘24 and Meeran Khan ‘25 began planning for this event months in advance, starting in February. Nair explained that the team found organizing to be somewhat stressful, as it was hosting the festival for the first time. The three were also unsure when the actual date of Chaand Raat would be, as the day it falls on varies from year to year along with the lunar calendar, so they had to shift the event date from April 5 to April 9 during Spring Break.

“It definitely took a lot of time, and we were really overwhelmed because there were just three people,” Nair said.

Despite this stress, SAIO hosted many activities and a variety of South Asian cultural items at the festival. The event had sports, henna stations, cotton candy, popcorn and the opportunity to purchase traditional South Asian jewelry.

“Chaand Raat is mostly in South Asia, and it celebrates the night of Eid, and it’s kind of like a festival and carnival. So we

really wanted to simulate the same feeling here,” Nair said.

Nair further listed out the specific details of what the event offered, as well as how students at the College of William and Mary could find ways to celebrate South Asian heritage.

“We had soccer, we had badminton, we had cornhole,” Nair said. “We had football, frisbee, jump ropes. We also had a popcorn machine, cotton candy. We were selling tiny stuffed animals. We had a raffle going. We also sold jhumkas — or traditional South Asian earrings —and lots of bangles. We also had picnic blankets that people could sit on because we knew that there was an Indian food truck that was catering.”

Nair placed a special emphasis on the photo booth that was present, which not only was adorned with cultural items, but also served as a way for attendees to memorialize their experience.

“We also had a photo booth that we decorated on a swing with marigold flowers, jasmine flowers and South Asian elements to really give the feeling of a cultural festival,” Nair said.

Passersby and attendees at the festival found themselves greatly enjoying the festivities presented by the organizers in SAIO. Attendee Isata Diallo ’26 described how she was interested in learning about the South Asian culture associated with the event.

“Recently, SAIO had a joint iftar with Muslim Student Association where they discussed having this event tonight, and I was like, ‘You know what? It’s nice, Eid is tomorrow, I would like to get some henna done and then get to know everyone around here,’” Diallo said. “So I think it’s a really nice opportunity to be exposed to South Asian culture and also know the significance of their religious holidays and things like that.”

Attendee Jonathan Chen ’24 appreciated the hard work

the organizers put into the festival.

“It’s a gorgeous event. The lights are really pretty. The balloon making is a very interesting addition,” Chen said. “When I’m planning events, I would never think of that. That’s just a novelty right there. And they have badminton set up over there. So I would say just the amount of event planning needed to go into this is so impressive.”

Diallo appreciated the active sports games and South Asian stalls surrounding the event.

“I love that they incorporated a little sports section over there,” Diallo said. “I wasn’t expecting that. It’s really nice. And obviously seeing people get henna done — it’s a very nice environment.”

Similarly, attendee Hannah Truong ’26 described how she enjoyed the ambiance, and specifically the lights, at the event.

“I think the vibes of the event are really cool. Like, all the lights are really pretty. Everyone dressing up is super cool, and seeing everyone in their cultural wear,” Truong explained.

In terms of SAIO itself, Nair introduced the organization’s goals and purpose.

“This is basically a space that embraces and encourages a lot of cultural and interfaith work and involvement, creating a safe space for South Asians of all communities, in all religions,” Nair said.

On a broader scale, SAIO seeks to decrease the divides that may exist between different religious or spiritual backgrounds among students at the College and give students an opportunity to support their peers, regardless of their beliefs.

“When we talk about embracing our cultures, that kind of has an inherent notion of being divided,” Nair said. “We really wanted a space where we can all come together and be part of each other’s celebrations. So that’s why we wanted to host Chaand Raat.”

Midtown Row just got its newest coffee chain. The Williamsburg location of Grit Coffee, which first began near the University of Virginia in 2008, is now one of a few across Virginia. Grit Coffee offers coffee, tea, baked goods and breakfast sandwiches. The prices are fair, ranging from $2.75 to $5.75 for regular drinks and a little higher for specialty drinks, which include strawberry matcha lattes, strawberry white mochas and white peach iced teas.

There may be some other coffee hotspots around and near the College of William and Mary at places like Settler’s Market and New Town, but Grit Coffee is adding a coziness to Midtown. Grit Coffee sits across from Juicing Life Bar, increasing the variation of Midtown’s selections. Students without a car can take the WATA bus to Midtown, which runs every 30 minutes to an hour. It is a relatively quick trip, though I myself like to walk as the weather is getting warmer. I went on a Friday afternoon, and there were already many students from

the College studying and chatting. Grit Coffee has a mid-century inspired interior aesthetic, with mustard yellow and bronzecolored seats, black and wooden tables and geometric art pieces. There are a variety of seating arrangements, from bar top counters to individual seating, as well as a couch. The music is calm and relaxing, but not too loud, so that you can still listen to your own music or have a conversation. Grit Coffee also has big floor-to-ceiling windows that let in a lot of natural light and allow you to look outside, which I enjoyed.

Still, with studio lighting and open plenum ceilings, Grit Coffee’s atmosphere feels a little sterile. Though this adds to the acoustics and makes the space feel bigger, these modern elements clash with the retro aesthetic Grit Coffee attempts to boast.

Grit Coffee has a humble drinks menu with some muffins and sandwiches in a display case. The environment is clean and simple, which made deciding what to order a lot easier, and the service was quite fast, considering there were other customers in the store. The staff members were also very

friendly, greeting me upon entering and introducing the layout of their menu. They were also knowledgeable on the different types of coffee the store offers. I ended up spending $11.76 on a strawberry iced matcha latte and a lemon poppyseed muffin. The matcha was flat and lacked the green, earthy flavor that good matcha possesses, and I was also disappointed to see that they didn’t use real strawberries or strawberry puree, but instead syrup, which produced a bit of an artificial taste. For $6, the matcha tasted like sweet milk with a hint of matcha and strawberries. The muffin, however, was moist and fluffy, with the perfect size and amount of poppyseeds. The lemon flavor was not too overpowering, though I prefer more tartness. I ordered eat-in, and I was pleasantly surprised by the glass cups the drink came in. Not only does this reduce plastic waste, but it also contributes to the cozy atmosphere of Grit Coffee. I was full after the drink and the muffin, so I think the price was worth it. However, there is not

a large food selection, as the only baked goods option they offered was the lemon poppyseed muffin and the breakfast sandwiches are not big. If you are looking for a well-sized meal, this is not the place. As it recently opened, I hope Grit Coffee will add a wider baked goods selection in the future.

In addition to its menu, Grit Coffee has coffee beans, T-shirts and metal straws available for purchase. There was also a self-serve counter with water, cream, sugar and other condiments to add to the coffee and sandwiches. Grit Coffee offers free Wi-Fi, making studying more convenient. It is a good study spot and I can definitely see myself grinding out some work here during finals season.

I encourage the College’s students to try Grit Coffee. The prices are relatively cheap for a quick pick-me-up or a snack, and Midtown is more accessible from the College than New Town or Settler’s Market. Overall, Grit Coffee’s ambient atmosphere can function as a hang out spot or a place for getting work done.

MONA GARIMELLA // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

PUBLICATION CELEBRATION

William and Mary Libraries honors faculty writing with Celebration of the Book

SKYLAR HARTGERINK // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC.

Wednesday, April 10, the frst Celebration of the Book reception at the College of William and Mary was held by William and Mary Libraries in the Read and Relax section of Earl Gregg Swem Library. Te event was hosted to acknowledge the accomplishments of faculty and staf at the College who have recently published a book or book chapter. William and Mary Libraries Senior Director of Communications Engagement Tami Back shared the motivation behind this reception.

“We wanted to celebrate faculty scholarship and the work that they’re doing,” Back said. “Writing a book and even a book chapter takes so much work. It’s so much research and writing and editing, and so it’s a major achievement.”

Over 70 faculty and staff submitted their work to be recognized, yielding a diverse array of over 80 publications, with topics ranging from the applied sciences to art history to modern languages and literature. A pamphlet was handed out to all attendees with information about the featured books and their locations for easy browsing. The books were organized at different tables according to department, with a quick synopsis of each provided for curious passersby, along with copies to flip through. Several e-books were available to read on iPads, as well. Some of the books are scheduled for publication later this year and will be added to the collection once they are released.

Honored faculty members’ friends, family and students attended the event to support their work. Adeline Steel ’26 came to support her major advisor, who had published a book, and spoke to the lively

and encouraging atmosphere that the event fostered.

“I think it’s really cool that they’re holding this celebration, and I think it’s good and right that the faculty get the recognition for all the work that they’re doing,” Steel said.

However, not all student attendance was intentional. Several students happened to stumble upon the event by chance while wandering through the library, perhaps smelling the aroma of the refreshments that the reception boasted. Amy Weitzman ’24, a student assistant at Special Collections, shared her excitement about this unexpected event.

“I saw some professors that I do know, and I know some of their work that I wanted to read, but I haven’t had the chance,” Weitzman said. “So, this will be a good opportunity for me to go look at it and get it signed.” Students also marveled at the ability of faculty and staf to be so multifaceted and showcase such a diverse array of interests.

“I really like the idea that you can have multiple passions. Having a passion for math, for example, doesn’t stop you from being able to write,” Steel said. “Getting to fip through this [pamphlet] and seeing how many diferent kinds of books they have, and how many professors here had the ability to write while being a professor here, I think it’s just super cool.”

Weitzman described being impressed by not only the books their professors wrote, but also by how their words would live on long after they were gone.

“In Special Collections, these professors have donated their recent publications,” Weitzman said. “So it’s interesting to see how this is now becoming historical material in the College’s history.”

About midway through the

reception, Provost Peggy Agouris took to the podium to say a few words about the library and its resources. Te event occurred during National Library Week, a time dedicated to recognizing the importance of libraries in making knowledge accessible and fostering community. To that end, Agouris mentioned that the College is trying to place more emphasis on open access books in the library that would be available to the public for free online, with a focus on housing the work of authors in the community. Additionally, the Provost stated that the College is spending the bulk of its resources on digital materials, which it hopes will make publications even more accessible to students and make it easier to use the library’s vast resources, no matter the time or place.

One of the books honored at the celebration was “Statistical Modeling: Regression, Survival Analysis, and Time Series Analysis” by professor of mathematics Lawrence Leemis, the frst book published directly by William and Mary Libraries. Te book is available with open access and free to download online, a step towards making knowledge available to all.

“It’s amazing,” Weitzman said. “I always love the celebration of books in general, and I had no idea that William and Mary was becoming a publisher, and especially that these things are open access. That’s so rare to find these days.”

Between exciting updates about the future of library resources and the recognition of faculty and staf achievements, organizers found the event to be successful on all counts.

“We had a great turnout,” Back said. “People seem just really thrilled to be able to have an event like this that recognizes the work that they’re doing, and that they have done, and so I’m really thrilled.”

Wordshop Creative Writing Club offers low-stress environment for literary expression oNE

STOP WORD-SHOP

Amidst seemingly never-ending essays, midterms and internship applications, many students in college dream of never having to write a single original word again. Yet, Wordshop, the College of William and Mary’s fast-growing creative writing club, provides students with a unique opportunity to write not for the sake of reaching that 1,500 word mark by the 11:59 deadline, but rather for creativity, enjoyment and self-expression.

In its weekly meetings, Wordshop brings students together to develop their creative writing skills and share their pieces with others in an open, non-judgemental and stress-free artistic space. They explore a variety of different genres including fiction, nonfiction, prose and poetry, and seek to welcome students at the College with all levels of writing experience. The club also hosts a myriad of guest speakers and social and workshop-based events to build a tight-knit community of student writers.

At its core, Wordshop aims to keep the art of creative writing alive and thriving within the student body, framing the skill as an enjoyable and revered one rather than one that is mandated by academic commitments.

“Stories and writing are not only about creative expression, they also come to shape our social reality and historical narratives,” co-president of Wordshop Yannie Chang ’25 said. “What is canon and what is not, what narratives and perspectives are preserved and which are not; all these things matter.

Wordshop aims to embody the spirit that writing is a valuable and privileged tool to share and preserve ideas and stories.”

Wordshop co-presidents Chang and Malvika Shrimali ’24 emphasized that Wordshop requires no prior writing experience and that anyone with an interest in creative writing can join club meetings.

“We also always encourage newcomers and don’t want people to be intimidated by the notion of never having been to a meeting before,” Chang said. “Even if you’ve never been and you find yourself wanting to write or simply hear some beautiful stories, you will always be welcome.”

At each Wordshop meeting, members are given around twenty minutes of writing time on a themed prompt, which was voted on at the previous meeting, and they are subsequently offered a chance to share their work with the group. Past prompts have ranged from “misunderstood monsters” to “love poems.” Additionally, a “follow your heart” option is always provided for those who wish to write whatever they would like.

Given that writing is often situated in a stressful academic context in college, Wordshop aims to operate in an entirely different lowstakes sphere of creativity and artistic freedom.

“Wordshop has always been intended to be a low-stress environment for writers. Many clubs require high degrees of commitment, and even within the creative writing space, workshops elsewhere are often formalized in ways that scare

away aspiring writers,” member Charlie May ’24

wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “At its core, Wordshop is a place that focuses on writing as a way to decompress, which is something I think a lot of us could use.”

Wordshop aims to reframe writing in a positive light for students, providing an escape from the drudgery of certain academic writing requirements.

“Writing isn’t a chore or an obligation here; it is a means to destress,” Treasurer Iman Hersi ‘27 wrote in an email to The Flat Hat.

Club members also pinpointed how Wordshop helps maintain constant writing practice amidst the many different aspects of a busy college life. “We’re so focused on classes or other clubs and responsibilities that it can be hard to focus on writing for fun or to further your own personal projects, and Wordshop has helped me sit down and write every week to keep my skills sharp,” Outreach Chair Phebe Gentlesk ‘27 wrote in an email to The Flat Hat.

In addition to honing their creative writing skills, other members highlighted that writing in a shared, communal setting was more appealing to them than working individually.

“People come and go over the months and years, but the club has always retained a uniquely chill vibe that makes sharing work more comfortable,” May wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “It’s a very relaxing feeling that beats typing away alone in a dark, drab dorm room a million times over.”

Social Chair Angelina Joa ’25 shared a similar

sentiment, underlining that Wordshop is unique compared to other clubs at the College in its ability to successfully build an environment that is extremely welcoming and non-intimidating for all members, new and old.

“Wordshop is the first club where I feel comfortable and content. It’s the first club where I feel like I don’t have to force myself to be there out of necessity,” wrote Joa in an email to The Flat Hat. “Rather, I’m there because I really want to be there. Wordshop for me is a place of comfort.”

Considering the overwhelmingly positive experience relayed by Wordshop members, the club has sought to expand and strengthen its student writing community through a multitude of new initiatives in the last year and a half. The club has created a social media presence on both Instagram and Discord, increased social events, fostered collaborations with other groups at the College and invited various guest speakers. The organization has also recently expanded its executive board team and started fundraising events in the hopes of growing its presence on campus.

“I would love more people to get involved,” Shrimali said. “Writing does not have to be stressful and I want to encourage people to explore the arts.”

For anyone who has ever considered doing some writing just for the fun of it, Wordshop offers an easygoing environment to do that during its weekly meetings on Mondays at 7 p.m. in Chancellors 133.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

AGGIE RIGO SAITTA // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC.

sports

Senior Alek Kuzmenchuk refects on Tribe gymnastics career

Kuzmenchuk develops team culture through example, academic excellence

Senior Alek Kuzmenchuk exemplifies what it means to be a true scholar-athlete. As the men’s gymnastics captain, the editor-in-chief of The Monitor — the College of William and Mary’s journal of international studies — and a recent Fulbright scholarship recipient, Kuzmenchuk remains dedicated to his athletic and academic commitments.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned in college gymnastics is that as long as you are doing what you’re passionate in, you have to be all right with what you put in and what you get out,” Kuzmenchuk said. “They’re almost always correlated, whether you see it or not.”

Both Kuzmenchuk’s coaches and teammates commend his academic drive.

“You can tell from his many involvements and achievements that he’s very detailoriented and driven and has very high expectations and aspirations,” William and Mary men’s and women’s gymnastics director Mike Powell said. “All that made it a real privilege and a joy to work with him throughout the four years.”

Graduate student and former men’s gymnastics captain Aidan Cuy echoed this sentiment.

“As a friend, he’s definitely an inspiration,” Cuy said. “I admire Alek’s work ethic and his commitment to what he works on.”

Kuzmenchuk began gymnastics at around three years old, eventually competing for Paragon Gymnastics in Columbia, Md. When he was a sophomore in high school, Kuzmenchuk attended the Elite Team Cup, an annual premier gymnastics event.

In hindsight, Kuzmenchuk recalls how much the event fueled his desire to compete at a collegiate level.

“You’re thrown onto a team with a lot of people you don’t know, but you make it work, and you play to each other’s strengths,” Kuzmenchuk said. “I remember coming back going, ‘I really want to do college gymnastics.’”

Though Kuzmenchuk described his college recruitment process as “laborious” in terms of choosing a school, he felt William and Mary’s emphasis on international learning — specifically the Global Research Institute — was an important factor in ultimately making his college decision.

“I was kind of making a decision based on my career and interests rather than on just the gymnastics numbers themselves,” Kuzmenchuk said. “There was a lot more impact I could potentially have on the team, not just competing, but also as someone who cares about teamwork and academics.”

Powell expanded on Kuzmenchuk’s recruitment process.

“It was apparent to me from our first contact in the recruiting process that this was a great place for him,” Powell said. “It would

WOMENʼS TENNIS

match his cross-cultural skills, his values, his experiences, his goals for his career and his desire to make an impact on the world.”

Throughout Kuzmenchuk’s four years with the Tribe, the team has changed immensely.

“I think the slightly newer coaching staff means that we have a bit more variation year to year, but it’s gotten better every single year,” Kuzmenchuk said.

In 2020, William and Mary decided to discontinue Tribe men’s gymnastics — alongside six other varsity sports teams — due to financial concerns. The decision came a week before Kuzmenchuk began practicing with the team. Though student-athletes and alumni helped reinstate men’s gymnastics roughly two months later, Kuzmenchuk identified his freshman season as pivotal in shaping the team’s culture moving forward.

“We began with this underdog mentality,” Kuzmenchuk said. “We actually made it to NCAAs as a team and qualified as a team for the seventh time in our program history.”

During Kuzmenchuk’s sophomore season, the team lost nearly half its routines after graduation.

“We started over with by far the smallest and, in most cases, half the size of most NCAA teams in terms of people,” Kuzmenchuk said.

After hanging a “Ted Lasso”-inspired “Believe” poster — which Kuzmenchuk credits to his class of 2022 teammates — the team competed tirelessly.

“We fought to the very end that year, and against all odds, we got very, very close to nationals,” Kuzmenchuk said.

With increased numbers the following season, the team focused on fostering a more structured environment. Both Kuzmenchuk and Cuy emphasized the importance of positive growth for Tribe gymnastics the past two years.

“We were a lot more vocal and up-front about what we wanted the culture to be like in terms of working hard but also being kind to yourself and one another,” Cuy said.

Kuzmenchuk also highlighted the team’s efforts to increase its difficulty score by learning new skills, particularly during the 2023 season.

Though the team has not qualified for NCAAs since his freshman year, Kuzmenchuk believes the Tribe’s men’s gymnastics culture has completely shifted from what it once was.

“Our culture is very dynamic,” Kuzmenchuk said. “I think people feel like they can apply their strengths to the team, which is always a good thing for any organization.”

As an international relations major and a data science minor, Kuzmenchuk is involved in numerous extracurricular activities outside of the gym. On top of his work with The Monitor and in research labs, Kuzmenchuk has also interned with the U.S. Department of State, traveling to India last summer to learn Hindi through the Critical Language Scholarship Program.

“I think I’ve had the most success in letting

different interests occupy different parts of my brain,” Kuzmenchuk said. “When I go to practice, I can kind of turn off all the stuff from school and just go do something and try to give everything that I can there.”

Kuzmenchuk has received several academic recognitions, including the NCAA Elite 90 award and William and Mary’s Provost Award for the past three years. Kuzmenchuk was also inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Alpha Society — the nation’s oldest and largest academic honor society — in the fall 2023 semester.

Despite these accomplishments, teammates and coaches highlighted Kuzmenchuk’s humility.

“He’s a great guy to talk to,” Cuy said. “Even if you don’t know him that well, he’ll come up to you, he’ll chat with you.”

Cuy applied Kuzmenchuk’s kindness to his role as captain.

“He’s very thorough with his words,” Cuy said. “When he’s leading or talking to us as a team, I know there’s a lot that he’s thinking about and really putting into those words. They mean a lot for the team right now.” Powell highlighted how Kuzmenchuk’s inclusive nature has contributed so positively to his success as a leader.

“He’s always creating space for the team and bringing the team together and keeping the team motivated,” Powell said. “It’s all about that effort.”

Though Kuzmenchuk has enjoyed his extracurriculars and time with Tribe men’s gymnastics, he identified the challenges he’s

faced discovering his role within the gym.

“I’ve kind of had to find my role on the team, and I think it’s been a hard pill to swallow that my role might not come from gymnastics,” Kuzmenchuk said.

Powell also noticed this challenge.

“He has high goals and aspirations and expectations for himself, which is great, as long as he doesn’t become so perfectiondriven that it starts holding him back,” Powell said. “It’s been fun to see him grow into that, especially this year, and really get some more enjoyment out of the moment.”

Kuzmenchuk further emphasized his personal growth throughout his past four years with the Tribe.

“You have to align what you’re willing to do with what you expect from yourself,” Kuzmenchuk said. “You have to know what your boundaries are and not freak out when things are not just wildly better than you ever expected them to be.”

Though Kuzmenchuk will miss Tribe men’s gymnastics, he looks forward to traveling to India again with his Fulbright scholarship. There, he will examine the theoretical and practical definitions of the country’s democracy and civilizational ethos since its independence.

“I’ve been very proud to be on the gymnastics team here,” Kuzmenchuk said. “It’s a group of very diverse and very interesting people who are genuinely in love with the sport. People are hard working, and they’ve pushed me, and as the team continues to mature, I can’t wait to see where they go next.”

Green and Gold secures CAA weekend wins, defeats Elon, Campbell

Freshman Francesca Davis, graduate student Mila Mejic go 2-0 in doubles this season

Saturday, April 13, William and Mary women’s tennis (14-6, 6-0 CAA) defeated Elon (12-9) 5-2 at Mackesy Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. Saturday’s victory came after a 4-3 loss against Delaware, the Tribe’s first Coastal Athletic Association defeat of the season.

The Green and Gold won the doubles point at the No. 3 and No. 2 spots, respectively.

Graduate student Mila Mejic and freshman Francesca Davis’s 6-3 victory against Elon freshmen Simone Bergeron and Ella Suk came in the duo’s regular season debut.

Anghel and Ine Stange secured the doubles point for the Tribe, defeating Elon sophomore Madison Cordisco and freshman Mariana Reding 6-2 at No. 2.

The Tribe went 4-2 in singles, with Mejic finishing first at No. 3 while securing her eighth singles win in a row.

Mejic defeated Mariana Reding 6-1, 7-6, going 6-0 in singles CAA play.

The No. 1 pair of graduate student Yu Chen and junior Emma Fernald lost 6-2 to Phoenix seniors Lizette Reding and Sibel Tanik. William and Mary juniors Alessandra

Anghel made her second appearance of the day in a singles game against Phoenix sophomore Helen Sarikulaya, losing 7-6, 6-3 at No. 4.

At No. 6, Davis won her first singles set against Bergeron 7-5, to which Bergeron responded with a 6-2 secondset victory. Davis ultimately won the third set 6-1, putting the Tribe back in the lead.

No. 1 Yu Chen lost 7-6, 6-4 to Lizette Reding in a tightly-contested singles matchup. The Tribe extended its 3-2 lead with two more victories at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots.

At No. 2, William and Mary junior Hedda Gurholt defeated Tanik in a three-set game. Gurholt took the first set in a narrow 7-6 victory, overcoming Tanik’s second-set 6-3 win with a 6-2 triumph in the third set.

No. 5 Stange concluded the match with a three-set win against Suk, responding to a 6-0 second-set loss with a 7-6 third-set victory to cement the Tribe’s 5-2 score.

The Tribe looked to maintain its CAA winning streak in its Senior Day contest against Campbell (11-7) Sunday, April 14. The Green and Gold emerged victorious yet again, outscoring Campbell 6-1 at Millie West Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. After winning the doubles point at

No. 3 and No. 1, the Green and Gold took the early lead in Sunday’s match. Davis and Mejic defeated Campbell junior Mialy Ranaivo and senior Tamsin Hart 6-3 at No. 3, going 2-0 in the regular season.

At No. 2, Stange and Anghel lost to Camels freshman Lily Chitambar and senior Mariana Ossa 6-4. Seeded in first, Chen and Fernald’s 7-5 victory against Campbell sophomores Eeva Ristola and Lena Karlovcan secured the doubles point for the Green and Gold.

Mejic extended the Tribe’s lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 singles victory against Hart at No. 3.

At No. 5, Stange swept Ossa 6-2 in both sets, improving to 17-7 on the season.

Seeded at No. 6, Davis won 6-3, 6-4 against Karlovcan. Gurholt’s 6-4, 6-3 victory against Chitambar secured the Tribe’s 5-0 lead.

At No. 4, Anghel fell to Ristola 6-3, 7-5. Ristola’s victory narrowed the Tribe’s winning margin to four.

Chen took the No. 1 spot with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Ranaivo, and William and Mary concluded the match with a 6-1 victory.

Tribe women’s tennis will face Richmond (8-9) Saturday, April 20 at Westhampton Tennis Complex in Richmond, Va.

MADDIE

sports

William and Mary zooms through 58th Colonial Relays

Multiple runners, throwers secure first-place finishes in home invitational

Thursday, April 4 to Saturday, April 6, William and Mary track and field hosted the 58th annual Colonial Relays at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Va. The men’s team placed second out of 28 teams, and the women placed third out of 24 teams.

Bucknell won both the men’s and women’s contests, with the Tribe trailing the Bisons by five points on the men’s side and 25 on the women’s side.

In the 100-meter dash, junior sprinter Melissa Cunningham placed second with a time of 11.84 seconds, followed by graduate student sprinter Jacqueline Jones in sixth with a time of 12.19 seconds. Cunningham’s time notches her as the fastest 100-meter dash performance in program history, breaking the record of 11.96 seconds previously set by Amaya Johnson ’23 at the 2023 Dan Stimson Memorial Invitational in Williamsburg, Va.

For the 200-meter dash, junior sprinter/jumper Emily Ervin placed third with a time of 24.65 seconds. Ervin was followed by Cunningham, who ran a fourth-place time of 24.94 seconds. Jones and sophomore sprinter Charlotte Robinson placed 12th and 35th, respectively.

Senior sprinter Lizzy Gregory, placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.86 seconds. Gregory holds the program record of 54.20 seconds for this event, which she set at the 2023 Colonial Athletic Association Championships. Senior middle distance runner Makenzie Joiner followed Gregory in eighth, and freshman sprinter Jamison Gilmore placed 16th.

Senior middle distance runner Molly Coyle recorded a time of 2:11.26 minutes in the women’s 800-meter invitational. Joiner, freshman distance runner Becca Harkness and sophomore distance runner Lydia Wallis placed fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively. In the regular 800-meter run, senior middle distance runner Jennifer Gerson placed 19th and freshman jumper/sprinter Aurora Schwaner placed 36th.

For the 1,500-meter run invite, sophomore distance runner Jennifer Tsai placed 11th with a time of 4:37.96, followed closely in 12th by sophomore distance runner Kelly Ann Sutterfield, who recorded a time of 4:38.69. In the regular 1,500-meter run, senior distance runner Emily Sell placed first with a time of 4:37.67, followed by senior middle distance runner Hannah Holland, in 25th.

In the 5,000-meter run invite, senior distance runner Kyra Holland placed third, recording an impressive 16:27.99 finish. Freshman distance runner Taylor Gibson, sophomore distance runner Tessa Dobrinski and graduate student distance runner Olivia Haller followed in 27th, 29th and 31st, respectively.

For the 10,000-meter run invite, graduate student

BASEBALL

distance runner Heidi Fortin placed eighth with a time of 37:03.34.

In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman sprinter/ hurdler/jumper Katriel Amoyaw placed second, recording a time of 14.92 seconds. As for the 400-meter hurdles, junior sprinter/hurdler Clare Howard placed fourth with a time of 1:03.49, followed by freshman hurdler Evelyn Brantley in 12th.

For the 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior middle distance/distance runner Lucy Young placed seventh with a time of 11:06. Junior middle distance/ distance runner Annika Griggs followed in 12th. William and Mary placed eighth in the 200-meter relay with a time of 1:47.19. The team included Amoyaw, Schwaner, senior Elizabeth Upright and senior Megan Heidebrecht. As for the 400-meter relay, the Tribe team of Gregory, Ervin, freshman Jamison Gilmore and Joiner finished second with a time of 3:49.85 minutes. In the 1,500 relay, the Tribe placed second again thanks to the team of Tsai, Sutterfield, senior Annie Wicker and junior Arianna DeBoer, who finished with a time of 19:01.93.

In the high jump, Amoyaw tied for 12th place with a height of 1.55 meters. In the pole vault, freshman Elizabeth Strobach placed second with a height of 3.93 meters. She was followed by Upright in third place with a height of 3.78 meters. These athletes were also followed by Tribe teammates junior Sophie Fernandez in eighth place and junior Fiona Basewitz in 10th place.

In the long jump, Heidebrecht placed second with 5.85 meters. Heidebrecht also placed first in the triple jump with a winning distance of 12.23 meters.

In the shot put, sophomore Ella Carlson placed 10th with a best throw of 11.84 meters. In the discus, fifth-year Keeley Suzenski placed fourth with a final throw of 44.64 meters. Sophomore Talia Anderson placed first in the hammer throw with a meet-best distance of 45.07 meters.

Finally, in the javelin throw, senior Liv Cantby placed third for the Green and Gold with a best throw of 42.92 meters.

On the men’s side, senior Jackson Cooley placed fifth in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a blinding time of 10.76 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, freshman Jacob Robinson had an impressive first place finish. Robinson’s record-breaking time of 21.72 seconds beat the previously set record by .11 seconds. In the 400-meter Dash, sophomore Austin Rice placed fourth with a time of 47.98 seconds, followed by juniors Gabriel Albers and Cole Harris in 30th and 31th places respectively, and freshman Brian Walsh in 37th.

In the 800-meter, sophomore distance Jonathan Kumer, finished fourth with a time of 1:51.61 minutes, followed by fifth-year Stephen Larson in sixth. In the 800-meter, sophomore distance Lucas Thompson finished second for the Tribe with a time of 1:54.04. He was followed by freshman Quinn Green, sophomore Matthias Oettl and junior Owen Lipps in 18th, 19th and 20th places, respectively.

In the 1,500 meter, senior Sam Pritchard finished sixth with a time of 3:48.43. He was followed close behind by freshman Eric Fagan, who finished in 15th place. In the 5,000 meter, junior Nate Jennings placed 12th, fifth-year Jacob Jones placed 19th, sophomore Brendan DiStefano placed 21st, freshman Carson Rackley placed 27th and sophomore Luke Henkel placed 40th.

In the 10,000 meter, freshman distance Wyatt Townsend secured another Tribe top-10 finish in seventh with a time of 31:00:13.

In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, freshman Brian Walsh finished first with a time of 15.27 seconds. He was closely followed by Albers in third, who finished with a time of 15.37 seconds. Harris also placed eighth in this event for the Tribe.

In the 400-meter Hurdles, freshman David Seekford took third place with a time of 53.97 seconds.

For the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ellwood placed fifth with a time of 9:23.95, followed by sophomore Braedan Gallagher in 14th place.

In the 4x200-meter relay, the Tribe placed sixth thanks to the team of Walsh, Albers, Harris and senior Ethan Buenviaje, finishing with a time of 1:30.22. In the 4x400-meter relay, the Tribe finished first with a time of 3:15.35. The team, composed of Rice, Kumer, Seekford and Robinson, finished with the third fastest time in program history.

The Tribe also placed first in the 4x1,500meter relay with a time of 16:04.68. The team included Thompson, junior Zack Ericksen, Pritchard and Jones.

The Tribe placed fourth in the distance medley with a team of Fagan, Oettl, Lipps and Thompson.

In the long jump, Buenviaje finished third with a best jump distance of 6.88 meters. In the triple jump, sophomore Josh McCormick placed 11th with a final distance of 12.88 meters.

Sophomore Jason Nwosu won the shot put, recording an incredible winning distance of 17.67 meters. Nwosu also placed eighth in the discus throw and placed fourth in the hammer throw with a longest distance of 54.90 meters. Also in the regular discus throw, the Tribe secured two more top-15 finishes courtesy of Walsh finishing ninth and Albers finishing in 12th.

In the javelin throw, senior Chris Arias finished first with a top throw of 64.56 meters, followed by freshman Raiden Lafortune in third and junior Alex Ust in fifth.

Tribe’s CAA dominance continues, beats N.C. A&T at home

Hot bats continue following programʼs highest-ranked win against No. 6 Duke in Durham

Friday, April 12 to Sunday, April 14, William and Mary baseball (25-11, 8-4 CAA) defeated North Carolina A&T (19-16, 4-8 CAA) two games to one during Alumni Weekend at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va.

In the bottom half of the third, William and Mary closed the gap to one thanks to a two-run single by graduate student utility player Henry Jackson. He finished the weekend series with seven RBIs, carries a .318 average through 23 starts for the Green and Gold this season.

In the top of the fifth, Ash struck again, driving in his fourth run of the day to give the Aggies a 4-2 lead, courtesy of a sacrifice fly to left field.

Just a few batters later, an RBI double from senior outfielder Michael Logan and an untimely Tribe error resulted in two more runs. Then, in the next atbat, senior infielder Devon Rodriguez drove the fourth run of the inning with a single up the middle, giving the Aggies a commanding five-run lead.

On the mound, graduate student pitcher Alex Markus and junior pitcher Reed Interdonato combined for 6.0 innings, allowing seven combined runs while letting up nine combined hits.

After splitting the first two games of the weekend series, Sunday’s win earned the Green and Gold another Coastal Athletic Association series win, the team’s fourth in as many tries this season. The Tribe entered Friday’s game red-hot after beating No. 6 Duke 4-2 Tuesday, April 9. The Green and Gold’s road win marked the team’s highestranked win in program history, simultaneously becoming just the fourth team in all of Division I baseball to strike out 12 or more Blue Devil hitters in a single game this season. Despite its mid-week success on the road, the Green and Gold started slowly in Williamsburg on Friday. N.C. A&T came out strong, scoring three runs in the first two innings of the series. Senior outfielder TJ Ash carried the Aggies’ offense early on, driving in all three early runs for N.C. A&T with doubles in back-to-back innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, William and Mary’s offense came back to life, scratching across two runs of its own courtesy of a ground-out from freshman infielder Trey Christman and a double from freshman infielder Josiah Seguin.

Despite the brief defensive lapse from the Aggies, the visiting team wasted no time extending its lead in the seventh, scoring one more run after a wild pitch from sophomore pitcher Luke Calveric.

The rest of Friday’s matchup was quiet, with both teams failing to score in the final two-and-a-half innings.

Senior pitcher Coley Kilpatrick was credited with the win for the Aggies, while Markus recorded his third loss of the season for the Tribe.

Saturday’s game started off much better for the Green and Gold. After a much-needed scoreless first inning by graduate student pitcher Zack Potts, Jackson hit a monstrous grand slam down the right field line and catapulted the Tribe to an early 4-0 lead.

Jackson’s grand slam was just his third home run and 17th RBI

after transferring to William and Mary earlier this year, but was more than enough to give the Tribe some early momentum.

In the bottom of the third, the Green and Gold tacked on two more runs, this time courtesy of a sacrifice fly from graduate student infielder Luca Trigiani and an RBI single from freshman infielder Kevin Francella.

In the top of the fourth, the Aggies scratched across one run after a triple from Ash scored junior infielder Tre Williams.

Minus the single N.C. A&T run in the fourth, Potts put on an absolute clinic for the Green and Gold, throwing 6.1 innings while striking out three Aggie hitters.

In the bottom of the sixth, Seguin hit his fourth home run of the year, increasing the Tribe lead back to six.

In the top half of the seventh, faulty defense from the Green and Gold briefly gave the Aggies a glimpse of life, allowing the visitors to score two unearned runs with runners still in scoring position. Just pitches later, Aggie senior outfielder Camden Jackson doubled down the

first baseline, scoring one more and cutting the Tribe lead to 7-4.

After Potts was taken out of the game, junior pitcher Carter Lovasz took the mound and silenced N.C. A&T’s hitters for the rest of the night. In 2.2 innings of work, Lovasz struck out five Aggies batters while allowing just one hit, and as the final out was recorded in the ninth, the Green and Gold evened the series up at one apiece heading into Sunday’s tiebreaker. On Sunday, the Tribe bats wasted no time putting up a crooked number against the Aggies. Trigiani got the scoring started in the second with a single on a 2-2 pitch, scoring Jackson and giving William and Mary an early 1-0 lead. Segiun then singled moments later, driving in Trigiani for run number two. After scoring a run on a wild pitch and an RBI single from junior outfielder Lucas Carmichael, graduate student outfielder Ben Parker blew the game open with a tworun homer, giving the Tribe an early 6-0 lead.

MAX GRILL FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT

Over the course of the four day event, WIliam and Mary broke two school records in menʼs and womenʼs events.

JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT

The Green and Gold took care of business at home, finishing second in the menʼs total and third in the womenʼs.

JULIANA GOMIEN/ THE FLAT HAT

All three womenʼs relays secured top-ten finishes.