The Flat Hat February 21 2024

T HE F LAT H AT

Vol. 114, Iss. 1 | Wednesday, February 21, 2024

The Weekly Student Newspaper

of The College of William and Mary

GRAPHIC BY MONA GARIMELLA / FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

flathatnews.com | @theflathat

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

ANNA ARNSBERGER // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Law School Dean A. Benjamin Spencer promises to raise student worker hourly pay, current wages sit at $12 an hour across the board Since the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year, a coalition of student workers at the College of William and Mary Law School have been organizing for higher wages. While Law School Dean and Trustee Professor A. Benjamin Spencer unofficially committed to raising wages, it is unclear how much the rates will increase and when.

All wage-earning student workers at the Law School make $12 an hour — Virginia’s current minimum wage. Students are not permitted to work more than 16 hours per week. Wages are funded by a variety of sources, but departments with extra money are not allowed to pay their workers more than the base amount. Organizers argue that with these work restrictions, students are unable to cover the cost of living in Williamsburg.

Kyle Hyde J.D. ’24, a fellow for the Center for Racial and Social Justice and one of the leaders of the movement for higher wages, believes that the current rules serve as barriers to accessibility.

“Law school is inaccessible for a lot of people,” Hyde said. “In fact, the dean of the Law School has written articles about how inaccessible it is. And one way that students try to mitigate that is by working while they’re in law school. But there’s a lot of restrictions on how much students can work.”

He described how students who work maximum hours and make minimum wage are not able to afford the price of an average studio apartment in Williamsburg.

“A lot of the students that we’ve talked to in our organizing, they have jobs because they need them. This isn’t just a fun thing for them to do in between their classes, but a lot of students actually have these jobs because they need to supplement their income so they can afford to stay in school,” Hyde said.

Working at the Law School provides students with the opportunity to not only make money, but gain experience with skills such as legal writing and research, which are important for their resume. Skye McCollum J.D. ’24 also works for the CRSJ and explained that many research fellows must make major sacrifices in order to get that experience.

“Some of them are on food stamps because they can’t afford to eat,” McCollum said. “And there’s a lot of other people that don’t even seek employment at the school. They’ll go get a job, like a part time job, at any

restaurant or something in the town, because they can make more doing that even than working at the school, doing something that could help actually further their career. It’s like they’re sacrificing that just because they need money.”

Beyond cost of living arguments, student employees believe that their work is simply worth more than minimum wage. Students fill a variety of roles as research assistants, administrative aides and student ambassadors.

Additionally, second- and third-year legal research and writing fellows — who do not make minimum wage, but instead receive a $2,400 stipend per semester — are needed to teach all first-year students how to do legal writing with the Bluebook. According to Hyde, these jobs not only save costs, but add immense value to the school.

“Instead of the faculty doing their research, a lot of professors have their students do the research. And so instead of paying them the faculty salary, they pay them $12 an hour. And the same thing with the legal research and writing fellows, instead of paying them a professor’s salary to teach this class, they rely on [students]. The school could not function without the legal research and writing fellows, they’re vital to the curriculum,” Hyde said.

A Change.org petition started by the organizers further explains how student workers impact the Law School.

“Research assistants help faculty publish quality scholarship on important legal issues, increasing the profile of the university,” the petition reads. “Legal Research and Writing Fellows also add significant value to the law school. W&M Law School promotes the legal practice curriculum as a distinguishing feature of the education it provides, and fellows provide indispensable support in laying the foundation for legal writing and lawyering skills.”

For Gray Whitsett J.D. ’24, a fellow at the Election Law Program, the realization that his work was worth more than minimum wage encouraged him to get involved with the organizing.

“When I first came on, the professor that hired me, who I’ve been working for, said right from the get-go that she wishes she could pay us more and that she feels like it is definitely not a minimum wage level position, even though it is a student position. And that always kind of stuck

in my brain as like, I wonder what that’s all about,” Whitsett said.

The idea to organize emerged after April 12, 2023, when Spencer hosted a “State of the Law School Address” to answer student questions.

Hyde submitted a question about why raising student wages was not a priority. According to Hyde, Spencer responded that he did not know if he was the final decision maker for student wages or if main campus would have a problem with these changes.

Law School Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Doris Taylor confirmed that the dean of the Law School has the final decision over how much students are paid.

“First and foremost, we must adhere to wage laws within the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Taylor said. “Beyond that requirement, the Dean has ultimate authority on all law school wages.”

At the April address, Spencer did not agree to prioritize student wages, but hinted at reconsidering the issue in the fall. In response to this, Hyde and a few other students began organizing at the beginning of the fall 2023 semester.

“After that ‘State of the Law School Address’ where we kind of formally asked him to reconsider raising student wages, and he said no, that’s when we decided to get our petition going,” Hyde said.

Aug. 30, 2023, Hyde published the petition on Change.org to show community support for a $20 hourly student wage.

“We, the undersigned, include students, workers, community members, and organizations within the William & Mary Law School Community,” the petition starts. “We are not only student employees but students who believe our classmates should be able to pay their rent from the money they earn working for the law school. The current pay scale does not reflect respect or appreciation for the vital work student employees do for the law school. During the State of the Law School Address, you indicated that raising student wages was not your top priority but was something you would reconsider in the fall. We ask you to reconsider raising student wages.”

SEE LAW STUDENT WAGES ON PAGE 4

BOARD OF VISITORS

Prof. Armstrong says College will be promoted to ‘Very high research’ in tier BOV meeting BOV discusses Vision 2026 development plans, increase in funding for Muscarelle, and expectations for a future R1 classification

SAM BELMAR, ISEN LEE, PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI THE FLAT HAT

Wednesday, Feb. 9 to Friday, Feb. 11, the board of visitors of the College of William and Mary met in the Blow Memorial Hall and the Alan B. Miller Hall to discuss matters pertaining to the administration of the College ahead of Charter Day. Apart from increasing funding for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, hearing reports from board liaisons and discussing other matters of the College, the board did not make many drastic decisions this session. College Rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ’74, P ’02, ’06 remarked that the board took preparations for a busier April session.

“We haven’t had some great decisions to make, but preparations for the decisions that are coming, have been phenomenal,” Poston said.

February’s session marked the first of former Virginia Senate Republican Leader Thomas Norment J.D. ’73 as an official voting member of the board, following the conclusion of his term in the state legislature. Norment was named to the board last June by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

College President Katherine Rowe, in her report to the board, reported a strong return in admissions for the College. According to W&M News, over the past

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two years, the College has seen a 45% increase in early decision applicants.

“Since last year, we’ve seen a 20% increase of applications from first-gen students,” Rowe said.

“Which is really, I think, a testament to how hard we try to get the message out.”

Rowe also highlighted the Commonwealth Impact Partners Program, which the College launched under the direction of College Vice President for Strategy and Innovation Jeremy P. Martin Ph.D. ’12, M.B.A. ’17.

The program identifies students who are Pell Granteligible or receive lunch benefits for scholarship purposes. Financial aid, according to W&M News, is guaranteed to cover at least the cost of tuition and fees for all eligible undergraduate in-state students.

The Institutional Advancement committee met Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Alan B. Miller Hall in a joint board meeting with the Cypher Society, the William and Mary Foundation Board of Trustees, the Alumni Association Board and the Annual Giving Board.

Rowe provided updates on the College’s progress toward accomplishing the Vision 2026 development plan, with a particular focus on the Democracy Initiative. She last held a forum discussing Vision 2026’s four main pillars of data, water, democracy and careers Nov. 13, 2023.

Later in the session, Chief Marketing Officer and

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

Goodbye old friend: outgoing Editor-inChief bids farewell

Molly Parks ‘24 bids farewell to The Flat Hat as former Editor-in-Chief. page 5

Associate Vice President for University Marketing Heather Golden discussed the College’s ongoing efforts to amplify prospective student recruitment, especially those coming from out-of-state. She cited an increase in qualified inquiries for the College on Niche.com, as well as improved performance on Scoir.com, an online platform dedicated to sharing college-related information with students and helping them narrow down their choices, as markers of recent success.

To continue the upward trend, Golden announced new recruitment initiatives that will be undertaken this spring. Notably, the College will initiate a “Yield Optimization Pilot” in partnership with Encoura, an online marketing firm that collaborates with postsecondary institutions to boost prospective student engagement.

The marketing campaign, to be launched this March, will target Class of 2028 admitted students in an attempt to retain a higher percentage of them for the fall 2024 semester.

“Once we have selected the admitted students for this year, we will launch a targeted digital marketing effort to those students and their families,” Golden said. “The ads will provide an opportunity for us to encourage them to get more information about William and Mary as they’re making their decision, and ultimately to commit.”

In addition to Encoura, the College plans to achieve its long term recruitment goals working with OHO Interactive, a marketing agency that specializes in higher education. Working with OHO, the college is planning a top of the funnel brand awareness play, focused on exposing out-of-state students to the College through targeted social media marketing.

Furthermore, with OHO, the College will employ a Search Engine Optimization Plan, an unprecedented process, ensuring the College appears on individuals’ internet searches related to the school and keywords associated with the institution. This strategy is particularly important for the school to break through to the new market provided by the introduction of the College’s new school in computer science, data science, applied science and physics, opening in Fall 2025.

College Vice Rector and Chair of the Academic Affairs committee Barbara L. Johnson J.D. ’84 said the committee met and heard updates from College Provost Peggy Agouris on the new school for computer science and applied science. data science and physics, including the selection of its inaugural dean. The committee also discussed the school’s re-accreditation by the Southern Association SEE BOARD OF VISITORS ON PAGE 4

Inside Variety

Inside Sports

Shivi Royal ‘27 publishes biography detailing female mathematicians and their accomplishments throughout history. page 7

Jones hopes to help athletes grow as people, apply football to daily lives. page 10

Redefining Girl Math

Running backs coach Perry Jones inspires team on, off field

newsinsight news insight

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News Editor Peerawut Ruangsawasdi News Editor Charlotte Castle News Editor Mona Garimella fhnews@gmail.com

THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Page 2

THE BUZZ

There is a degree of planning that goes into your life, but you also have to follow the inklings that you have. ̶ trapeze artist Neal Courter ʻ17

FLAT HAT NEWS BRIEF

Senate passes two bills, discusses constitutional review, Senate and cabinet members resign Tuesday, Feb. 6 and Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Senate of the College of William and Mary Student Assembly met in the James room in the Sadler Center and passed two bills, The In Support of the New Beer Policy & In Thanks of the Athletics Department and Aramark Resolution, along with The Food for All Act. The Senate also discussed changes to the Student Assembly Constitution and The Funding Spring Concert Act, which failed.

The In Support of the New Beer Policy & In Thanks of the Athletics Department and Aramark Resolution expresses SAʼs support of a new beverage policy from the College Athletics Department and Aramark, in which designated alcohol areas will be eliminated and attendees may bring beverages to their seats. The other piece of legislation, The Food for All Act, allocates $530 from SA Reserves to fund groceries and items for Food for All, a student-run and student-led organization which provides meals and groceries for the College community.

Additionally, SA President Sydney Thayer ʼ24 announced that SA Secretary of Data and Analytics Varsha Gollarhalli ʼ25 stepped down from her cabinet-level position to that of deputy secretary. Thayer will need to name her successor. The deputy before her, Patrick North ʼ24, also left the department.

Director of Student Leadership Development Anne Arseneau ʼ89 MA.Ed ʼ92 also announced that former Sens.

Jonathan Aspin ʼ27 and Jason Zhou ʼ27 resigned. Class President Nico Giro-Martin ʼ27 will have to name their successors following an application process.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI / FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

A THOUSAND WORDS

PEYTON HAYES / THE FLAT HAT

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

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COURTESY IMAGES / NEAL COURTER ʻ17

Graduating from the College in 2017, Courter applied what he learned at the College to his job as a Cirque du Soleil flying trapeze performer.

From French, formaldehyde to flying trapeze

Cirque du Soleil performer Neal Courter ʼ17 credits College for his academic, physical skills

EMMA HENRY // CO-OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Like many undergraduate college students, College of William and Mary alumnus Neal Courter ’17 was unaware of what the future had in store for him post-graduation. Double majoring in chemistry and French and Francophone studies, Courter developed linguistic and deductive reasoning skills, while maintaining a passion for self-expression and movement.

Despite obtaining a plethora of seemingly unrelated skillsets, Courter’s interdisciplinary education mixed with his lifelong dedication to gymnastics, on both the College team and his local team in Louisiana as a child, led to him joining one of the most well-known acrobatic performance groups in the world: Cirque du Soleil.

“Every few years the team goes to Vegas for this competition called Winter Cup, and we went out there, and we saw another William and Mary gymnastics alum named Josh Fried in ‘Le Rêve,’ the show that I would eventually do,” Courter said. “It wasn’t until that moment where I had the inkling that, well, this is something that had really affected me at a deep level. And if I can be part of something that makes people feel those same emotions, that’s something I definitely want to pursue.”

Though “Le Rêve” is not related to Cirque du Soleil, the show opened doors for Courter as he continued his performance career. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Courter left the show and began focusing on learning flying trapeze. Courter then trained with a trapeze group for a year before he sent some of his material to Cirque du Soleil and received an offer to join Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson ONE.” After eight months with “ONE,” Courter is now working on a new Cirque du Soleil show titled “Echo.”

“I was in Montreal for five months working on the creation of that show,” Courter said. “What I was involved in was creating the acrobatic content for the numbers that would be featured in the production. And since April, we’ve been starting our tour.”

Courter is aware that his career path has been anything but normal, however, he credits his college experiences with handing him the tools to become successful in the circus.

“It was a really great kind of mixture of things that I was involved in in college.

You know, chemistry is a very analytical science that engages that deductive reasoning part of your brain. French and languages is also something that I was really passionate about and still am. And, to a degree, you can use the same science and reasoning linguistically to figure out how so-unds are structured and for the phonology of certain languages. And they do follow those patterns.

But it’s also a bit more freeing,” Courter said.

Similar to the community he found on the College’s gymnastics team,

Courter formed a tight-knit connection with his performance crew while working with Cirque du Soleil.

“There’s so much love and laughter under that little tent, well, it’s a big tent, but, you know, there’s so much love and laughter going around,” Courter said.

“It’s really an environment where people can really thrive. And just the sharing — sharing that experience with other like-minded people has been really great. Trying to make eye contact with every single one of the members of our cast while we’re on stage — it’s just a great time.”

Courter also emphasized the importance of creative freedom in his new role, especially as someone who tended to be more familiar with gymnastics competitions rather than circus performances.

“On stage you get to embody a character, that is not something that you do in your everyday life. It is acting to a degree. And you have a bit more freedom artistically than in gymnastics. It’s a little more, I don’t want to say stilted, but there is kind of the confines of what elements you have to put in your routines, how you have to present them,” Courter said.

Performing has given Courter the chance to share art with others, mentioning that interacting with the audience has given him a lot of joy throughout his performance career thus far.

“After a while you get used to it and it’s, I guess, the snow globe effect, where the audience itself is just one entity and mostly what I’m focusing on is my team members with me on stage,” Courter said. “If you’re having fun and a great time with them, then that will show to the people looking from the outside.

But there’s still an interaction that goes on and you want to make as much eye contact with people in the audience, too, because that draws them into the experience that you’re having and you want to share those positive emotions.”

While touring with shows, Courter helps tutor fellow cast members using his French language skills, which are certainly useful working for Cirque du Soleil, a French-Canadian company.

“I’ve been tutoring one of my cast mates in French, which has been really fun sincethat’swhatIusedtodoincollege.Andhe’sAustralian,so,youknow,notmany Australians you find speak French and he’s really wanting to learn,” Courter said.

Courter also offered advice to young undergraduate students who may not know where their degree will take them.

“You don’t know until you know,” Courter said. “There is a degree of planning that goes into your life, but you also have to follow the inklings that you do have. And if you are doing something that really makes you feel alive, and that gives you the energy to get up in the morning and be really excited about it, then I think that’s something that you should follow.”

CAMPUS

Innocence Club welcomes wrongfully convicted exoneree The Collegeʼs Innocence Club hosts talk with exoneree Elizabeth Ramirez via Zoom LILA REIDY FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.

She lost her trial and was sentenced to 37 and a half years of prison by the Bexar County Criminal District Court in Texas.

Sunday, Feb. 18, the Innocence Club at the College of William and Mary hosted exoneree Elizabeth Ramirez to discuss her personal experiences with wrongful conviction. Ramirez, along with three other women collectively known as the “San Antonio Four,” was wrongfully convicted in 1997 for aggravated assault of a child. She shared about her time in prison and the adjustment back to civilian life after her charges were dropped.

Ramirez appeared via Zoom, and was first introduced by the Innocence Club President Kelsey McAlister ’24 and Vice President Jon Wilkins ’24, then began telling her story.

“The case started in 1994,” Ramirez said. “I was 19 years old at the time of the alleged crime, me and my four friends.

During the ’90s, it was very hard if anyone that was gay or lesbian came forward. Over the next decade, but especially at that time. And so, we had a lot of bias and a lot of issues where my brother-in-law wasn’t very happy. And the night before, my nieces had stayed over for the weekend, and because he didn’t appreciate my lifestyle, he accused us of assaulting my two nieces on two different occasions.”

She shared that she felt naive during the trial and confused about how they could wrongfully convict an innocent person.

Ramirez reflected on her time spent imprisoned.

“I was very young when I got incarcerated, and so I kind of grew up there,” Ramirez said.

“I was almost forty years old [when released], so it was difficult. My mom had always raised me to be very respectful, no matter where I was at, and it was very hard to not get caught up in the system. I was very naive and I didn’t know a lot about, I guess life itself. Like I said we were only 19, which is just high school, and you learn so much in there, but I didn’t want to be another statistic in prison. So, I did learn, I did work in the print shop, and I learned a trade because I knew that, if I couldn’t come home, I would be 62 years old.

And I would have to learn a trade because I wouldn’t have any retirement. I wouldn’t have anything when I walked out those doors.”

Ramirez was exonerated in 2016 with the help of the Innocence Project of Texas.

The Innocence Project found that the former evidence presented at her 1997 trial was not clear, and eventually, Ramirez’s niece came forward and testified that the assault allegations were false. Ramirez was released from prison after 17 years and explained the difficulty of re-entering society after nearly two decades.

“I was scared coming home, and San Antonio wasn’t the same,” Ramirez said. “It grew so much. We had no knowledge about technology. I didn’t know anything about

Wi-Fi. And people never even used money anymore. I didn’t know how to use a credit card. It was very difficult, even sending an email. Because I was in prison, we didn’t have access to computers or anything like that. We did have a TV where we can kind of watch shows and magazines, so you try to stay up to date with things, but actually coming home and being a part of that was scary. It was learning to walk again, pretty much. I didn’t know what people were thinking or what their reaction would be if they saw me on the news and then they saw me in person. I worked for Toyota and for a print shop when I first came home, and my conversations with them were very, very short.”

During the question and answer session following her presentation, students asked questions about her emotional state throughout her incarceration and exoneration experience, her struggles with being accepted for her sexuality and how society can best support people coming out of prison. Ramirez stated the importance of not only giving monetary donations to foundations like the Innocence Project, but sharing the word of wrongful convictions and gathering support for programs that try to help. She added that formerly-incarcerated people often feel alone due to the lack of resources and guidance available to aid them in this process.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM

THE FLAT HAT

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Page 3

FEDERALIST SOCIETY

Students protest after Federalist Society hosts ADF’s Jonathan Scruggs

Activists criticize 303 Creative Supreme Court case lawyer, litigation with major LGBTQ+ rights implications MONA GARIMELLA AND AKASH NAYAK THE FLAT HAT

Tuesday, Feb. 13, undergraduate and law students at the College of William and Mary protested the decision of the Law School’s Federalist Society to host lawyer Jonathan Scruggs. He is a part of the Alliance Defending Freedom and frequently works on cases protecting the freedom of religion doctrine and expression of faith. Student protesters criticized the anti-LGBTQ+ work Scruggs and the ADF have historically pursued on issues of same-sex relationships as well as bodily autonomy. ADF has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Scruggs serves as senior counsel and vice president of Litigation Strategy and Center for Conscience Initiatives, which is associated with the ADF. The Federalist Society invited him to speak about the 303 Creative LLC v.

Elenis Supreme Court case that was tried in December 2022.

In response, students came to the event with signs and flyers that described the ADF’s anti-LGBTQ+ litigation efforts throughout history. Kyle Hyde J.D. ’24 was among many who used the protest to provide an alternative perspective to the points Scruggs was presenting in his discussion.

“We just want to have a presence on the campus that promotes inclusivity,” Hyde said. “But in order to promote inclusivity, you can’t have organizations that promote hate speech on your campus. So this is more of a statement that homophobia, transphobia — none of that is welcome here. So we want to provide information about who the Alliance Defending Freedom is and promote safe and consensual sex.”

Scruggs spoke on how the 303 case began in 2016 when Lorie Smith wanted to expand her graphic design business, 303 Creative LLC, to create wedding websites. Smith worried the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act — a public accommodations law requiring equal access to goods and services regardless of traits enumerated in the legislation — would result in her needing to create websites for samesex marriages. Smith sought an injunction to determine whether the state could compel her to create websites for same-sex couples.

Scruggs and the ADF provided legal support to Smith in this case.

“We litigated the case on free speech and free speech exercise grounds,” Scruggs said. “Eventually, it worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where the Supreme Court only took the free speech issue. And the question pertaining was can a public accommodation law be applied to an artist to hold down or silence them to speak a message they disagree with.”

Hyde viewed hosting Scruggs as harmful to LGBTQ+ students.

“Having this speaker here, they’re trying

to frame it in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, well, he successfully argued two Supreme Court cases.

So we want to show what the law is.’ For me, I see this organization as directly responsible for taking away rights of LGBTQ students or LGBTQ people, period. And like a lot of controversy surrounding the 303 Creative case was that there wasn’t really an actual injury that occurred,” Hyde said.

He expanded on the idea that Smith’s business never received injury as a result of the anti-discrimination law.

“So they’ve been vying for an opportunity to take one of these cases to the Supreme Court.

And this guy here today is too. Part of the reason he’s here is to discuss the future of LGBTQ rights. And from their perspective, they’ve been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. You can infer what their thoughts are on the future of LGBTQ rights,” Hyde said.

Scruggs elaborated more about his arguments at the Supreme Court.

“The primary case we relied on is this decision called ‘Hurley,’” Scruggs said.

“It came out unanimously in 1994. It involved a public accommodations law in Massachusetts that was applied to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers.”

Scruggs described how, similar to the situation in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, parade organizers rejected the participation of the Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual group of Boston. However, the group sued to be included under the state’s law requiring accommodation regardless of background.

“The courts ruled in favor of the LGBTQ group in the lower courts, but the Supreme Court ruled against the group citing violations of the parade organizers’ First Amendment right to free speech,” Scruggs said.

He expanded on the connection between Hurley and the 303 Creative case.

“Just like in Hurley, our client had what is called a message-based objection that she serves people in the LGBT community,” Scruggs said. “And Hurley acknowledged that the break group didn’t exclude ‘homosexuals as such,’ that was the language from the Supreme Court ruling. But they didn’t want to accept a message, they were going to frame it, [that] they disagreed with. That lined up with our client’s views and theories about why she didn’t want their message.”

Connor Cheadle J.D. ’25, president of the Law School’s chapter of the Federalist Society, described the organization’s role on campus.

“The Federalist Society puts on debate, discussion and legal events that draw controversial decisions and we try to figure out the law. So we put together this event to discuss 303, both sides of the case, and to help educate students here on campus, regarding what the law is,” Cheadle said.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT 303 Creative v. Elenis lawyer Jonathan Scruggs discussing his litigation experience at last Tuesdayʼs event which the Law Schoolʼs chapter of the Federalist Society hosted.

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT Student LGBTQ+ rights groups demonstrating at the College of William and Mary Law School outside of the Federalist Societyʼs event featuring Jonathan Scruggs.

QUARTERLY LECTURE

U Chicago assistant professor lectures on colonial anarchy, indigenous power

Matthew Kruer discusses Baconʼs Rebellion and colonial American history in Omohundro Institute lecture

CLARE GIFFORD CHIEF STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Omohundro Institute hosted Matthew Kruer, an assistant professor of early modern North American history at the University of Chicago, for a “William and Mary Quarterly” lecture in Blow Memorial Hall. In his presentation titled “Colonial Anarchy, Indigenous Power: ‘Bacon’s Rebellion’ and the Susquehannock Nation,” Kruer sought to reexamine the role of the Indigenous nations in colonial American affairs.

Kruer received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 for his dissertation on “Bacon’s Rebellion and the Wars of the Susquehannocks, 1675-1682.”

His dissertation inspired his 2021 book, “Time of Anarchy: Indigenous

Power and the Crisis of Early Colonial America,” and served as the basis for his lecture.

Several students and faculty members of the College of William and Mary attended the event to hear the visiting assistant professor.

“I’m excited to be here,” David Roulley ’25 said. “I’m here for an extra credit assignment for my class, ‘American History until 1877.’ This is interesting to me too. I like all parts of history.”

Ethan Cooke M.A. ’24, a student in the College history department’s one-year terminal Master of Arts program, was interested in Kruer’s unconventional focus on the history of Bacon’s Rebellion.

“I’ve been increasingly interested in Indigenous power in this sort of context,” Cooke said.

CLARE GIFFORD / THE FLAT HAT Professor Matthew Kruer gives lecture on early American history in “William and Mary Quaterly Lecture” in Blow Memorial Hall.

“And I thought it was interesting to analyze Bacon’s Rebellion from that perspective because I think Kruer’s right. It has been a part of the traditional narrative, but it’s not necessarily what gets highlighted in the broader historiography. So I think it was interesting to frame it from that direction.”

Kruer began his presentation with an image of a sketched map.

The map, showing an English fort bordering a Susquehannock site, appears at the beginning of a 1676 report titled, “A True Narrative of the Rise, Progresse, and Cessation of the Late Rebellion in Virginia.”

According to Kruer, “A True Narrative” shaped the common understanding of Bacon’s Rebellion as an unsuccessful colonial revolt that resulted in the intensification of the African slave trade and racial divisions.

“This framing of Bacon’s Rebellion as the catalyst for the creation of a slave society has dominated the ways that historians think about Bacon’s Rebellion, about this moment in the 1670s as a turning point in the history of race and racism in America,” Kruer said.

In this understanding, however, Kruer felt that the Susquehannock Nation’s role in the rebellion is undervalued. He referred back to the map, showcasing how the Susquehannock site and the English fort took up equal space.

“The sketch doesn’t fit into that black and white narrative,” Kruer said. “So the puzzle became one of the guiding questions when I started my research. I had to ask, ‘Where do Indigenous peoples fit into this

pivotal moment of class conflict and racial formation?’ And, ‘How does this story, a familiar story, look when you center the Indigenous people themselves?’”

Kruer stated that AngloSusquehannock conflict began in 1675 when an estimated eight to 14 Susquehannock men were caught in the crossfire of an English ambush on a neighboring nation. After this event, a few Susquehannocks resorted to vengeance and this began their decade of raids against the English.

Furthermore, despite the Susquehannock Nation having approximately only 400 members at this time, Kruer iterated that their presence became central in colonial Virginian life.

“Because of their small size and apparent weakness, historians have seldom paid much attention to the Susquehannocks beyond their heyday at around mid-century,” Kruer said. “And yet the Susquehannocks are the focus of the commissioner’s sketch, and they are unquestionably the proximate cause of the AngloIndigenous conflict that set off Bacon’s Rebellion.”

The Susquehannock peoples’ sustained attacks against the English challenged the colonists’ perception of the local power dynamic.

“The fear the Susquehannock raids provoked in settlers sparked a political crisis when the Virginia government couldn’t effectively stop or oppose Susquehannock power,” Kruer said.

Through his research, Kruer determined that the Anglo-

Susquehannock fighting eventually stopped in 1685 on the Susquehannock Nation’s terms. He ended his presentation with an image of a Susquehannock’s comb, which portrayed the eventual mutual respect reached between the two groups.

“It shows a Susquehannock dressed in a kind of European frock coat that traders brought to Conestoga. And then a settler, wearing a wide-brimmed hat of a Quaker. The two figures stand as equals. They’re mirror images of each other,” Kruer said.

Following the talk, Lucy Knox M.A. ’24 expressed her appreciation for Kruer’s attention to nuance in colonial history.

“I know that [Kruer] uses a lot of methodologies influenced by the history of emotion in his work,” Knox said. “He talks about that a little bit in the talk here.

But, I think that’s a really good way of showing the subtlety. And methodologically, that’s definitely something I apply to my own work too so it’s always cool to see other people, you know, moving that forward in the field.”

Josh Murray ’24 was also impressed by Kruer’s presentation.

He left feeling inspired to keep questioning the narratives presented in history.

“I guess, the world is really complex,” Murray said. “It’s really important to try to discover the truth and delve into it. Look at primary sources critically, but also appreciate the nuances they offer and be willing to question their ideas about how history works.”

THE FLAT HAT

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Page 4

GLOBAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

GRI hosts 'Rise of China' panel with journalist , foreign policy experts

The Diplomat Editor-in-Chief moderates discussion with Columbia professor, ICG senior analyst PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

Thursday, Feb. 15, the Global Research Institute hosted a keynote discussion titled “How Should the United States Respond to China’s Rise?” in the Alan B. Miller Hall. The speakers, Columbia University’s James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations Thomas J. Christensen, International Crisis Group Senior Researcher Ali Wyne and Editor-in-Chief of The Diplomat Shannon Tiezzi ’09, discussed China’s emergence and the United States’ response to the phenomenon.

“This panel is part of a broader conference on cooperation, competition and conflict in East Asia, which brings together more than three experts on security and Asia-Pacific in the Asia Pacific region to examine the history of international relations, the economic ties that bind the region states together and the risk of conflict over flashpoints such as the South China Sea, Taiwan and Korea,” George and Mary Hylton Professor of International Relations and Director of the Global Research Institute Michael Tierney ’87 said.

Tiezzi started the event by briefly describing the relationship between China and the United States.

“So today we’re talking about the U.S. [and] China. The relationship has been described as a systemic rivalry,” Tiezzi said.

“There’s a mood in the U.S. where everything China does, whether there’s advances in technology, investments in overseas clean energy, prowess, its role in the UN and all of these things are seen as threats to the United States.”

Christensen, formerly the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, explained he does not believe that China is an existential threat to the United States.

“China’s rise poses a series of security challenges for the United States. But I want to start by saying it’s not an existential threat to the United States, only Americans can destroy America,” Christensen said.

Christensen remarked that while globally the United States military is still ahead of China, the East Asian regional hegemon still poses a military threat to the United States. He also pointed to China’s

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

The panelists discussed a wide variety of issues surrouding the rise of China and its role in global diplomacy, as well as its relationship with the United States as great powers.

disinformation campaign to assert its global diplomatic dominance.

“China tends to use those disinformation campaigns to do two things, to reduce criticism of Chinese Communist Party rule at home, and to reduce the chances that foreign states will support the other disputants to Chinese authorities, including across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan. This is concerning enough, and it could change and become more concerning and really warrants our attention. Chinese partner Russia does attempt to undermine democracy in existing democracies and replace democracies with the authoritarian states abroad. China may start to do that as well, and we should keep an eye on that,” Christensen said.

Wyne also shared his characterization of China’s role in the world. “[I’m] characterizing China a little bit differently than I think it’s often characterized in Washington. And I’m just to give you

the bottom line up front, I’m going to try and convince you this evening that China is a constrained competitor indirectly, a direct competitor that is likely too — not for perpetuity — but certainly, for the long term. I think it’s a competitor in which the United States will have to contend, coexist and cohabitate,” Wyne said.

Wyne also said he does not believe that China is economically a juggernaut and thinks that China’s external environment is challenged militarily.

“So then the question is, how can the United States dissuade aggression against Taiwan? I don’t think the Chinese [are] a global hegemony. And I also don’t think it’s on the precipice of systemic decline. Again, as I said at the outset of my remarks, I think it’s a constrained competitor, but one that’s likely to endure,” Wyne said.

Wyne said the United States should focus on self-improvement.

“So I think [the] United [States] should focus more on this within its own race, becoming a better version of its best self,” Wyne said. “Certainly being vigilant about actions that China takes in undercut[ting] U.S. national interests, but not allowing China to dictate the terms of its foreign policy.”

Wyne expanded on how he thinks the United States should respond to China’s rise.

“And I think that the United States, again, thinks about swimming its own best phrase, doesn’t become overly fixated on time, and doesn’t allow China to dictate the terms of U.S. foreign policy, but instead thinks about articulating affirmative aspirations at home and abroad,” Wyne added.

The speakers also expanded on issues such as China’s threat to United States cybersecurity. Christensen said the United States should be working to protect itself from cyber attacks, as well as from China’s management of Hong Kong.

Attendee Patrick Hoover ’26 expressed appreciation for the speakers’ discussion, which he found to be easily digestible and covered a broad variety of issues. As a member of the GRI and the Institute for Integrative Conservation, he hopes that the GRI will host more events that are tied to environmental issues.

“Environmental science is very much tied to government, but also to other organizations and research, as well,” Hoover said.

BOARD OF VISITORS

Board discusses marketing strategy, abolition of M.A. in Physics degree

Prof. Armstrong says Collegeʼs promotion to ʻVery High Researchʼ will attract better faculty hires

BOARD OF VISITORS from page 1

The committee also discussed the school’s re-accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which will take place in 2026.

According to College Assistant Provost for Institutional Accreditation and Effectiveness Matt Smith, the College wants board members to be present when SACSCOC officers visit the College in March 2026, but not more than two members to avoid the event being open and public, as required by the Virginia Code.

“We will have to have two board members meet with folks on the onsight committee, at that time, clearly it can’t be three, because it would be one of these things that have to be publicized and whatnot, as far as an official meeting of the board, and that’s not what this can be,” Smith said.

At the full board meeting, the board approved five resolutions from the committee, including a resolution to grant tenure and to abolish the Master of Arts in Physics degree. According to Resolution 5: Closure of MA in Physics Degree Program, the M.A. in Physics degree has not been conferred since 1970, and the Master of Science in Physics will still be maintained by the College and will receive no impact.

The Academic, Building and Grounds

committee discussed the William and Mary Capital Outlay and Virginia Institute of Marine Science Capital Outlay reports. According to the College’s report, $139,171,275 was dedicated to the construction of the Fine and Performing Arts complex, consisting of the Music Building and Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.

“PBK Memorial Hall and the Music Arts Center Building continue to operate with a temporary certificate of use and occupancy while the contractor completes various punch list activities,” the report reads.

The report also gave an update on the construction progress of the fourth phase of the Integrated Science Center, which is slated for completion in August 2025, with a dedicated budget of $94,383,254. The renovations of Monroe Hall, which is scheduled to return as a residence hall in the fall 2024 semester, has a budget of $23.5 million.

The board also approved Resolution 6: Revise Muscarelle Museum of Art Renovation and Expansion Project Budget, which increased the budget for the Muscarelle Museum of Art by $2.2 million bringing the total amount of funding to $46 million.

Student Assembly President Sydney Thayer ’24 and President of the Professionals and Professional Faculty Assembly Taylor Brings Ph.D. ’23 shared their reports, both citing a desire for

more connections and cooperation between the administration and their respective organizations and constituents.

Chancellor Professor of Physics and Faculty Representative to the board of visitors David Armstrong shared his report, stating that the College is slated to be promoted to “R1: Doctoral Universities — Very High Research Activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in 2025.

“This is a pretty big deal — being recognized for being in the top tier of research universities will help us with national and international recognition for our research and scholarship, with recruiting and retaining the best faculty as well as the best graduate students, and will also convince prospective undergrad students of our strength in research. It is relatively unusual for a university to be ranked as R1 without having a medical school or a school of engineering,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong laid out the requirements for promotion, adding that the College has also spent $59.4 million in research expenditures last year.

“The new R1 classification in 2025 is based on just two requirements: over 70 doctoral degrees awarded per year, and over $50 million of research expenditures,” Armstrong said. “W&M has been awarding an average [of ] 78 doctoral degrees per year over the last decade.”

The board also conferred two honorary doctorate

degrees to Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III, L.H.P. ’24 and former College Rector Jeffrey B. Trammell ’73, D.P.S. ’24. Their formal conferral ceremony took place at the Charter Day ceremony Friday, Feb. 9.

JULIANA GOMEIN / THE FLAT HAT College Rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ʻ74, P ʻ02, ʻ06 chairing the February meeting.

STUDENT WORKERS

Law school student workers hope to make inroads with administration Student employees petition to increase wages, coping with cost of living in Williamsburg

LAW STUDENT WAGES from page 1

The petition currently has 166 signatures and there is a coalition of students working to advocate for higher wages. While they come from a variety of backgrounds and jobs, Whitsett believes that those who are involved share a frustration with not being properly compensated.

“And I think a lot of people feel overworked and undervalued often, in law school in particular. And I have felt that at times, and it was important to me to work with others who might feel the same way and seek solutions on our own,” Whitsett said.

After the petition surpassed 100 signatures, the organizers requested a meeting with Spencer.

They also presented to the Student Bar Association, which voted to support the organizers and send a representative to the meeting with the dean. SBA members chose thenSecretary and current-President Olivia Menosky J.D. ’25 to represent the organization.

“Most of the members of the Student Bar Association are students

who are also working in addition to being students. For example, I work at the circulation desk, I’ve worked there since being in law school — it was one of my first things that I did when I got to the law school, was knowing that I had to get a job to help pay for expenses. So I’d say that it is an issue that definitely affects a lot of our members. And I would say 100 percent of the student body is for increasing student wages,” Menosky said.

Oct. 23, 2023, a group of student workers and Menosky met with Spencer and other deans to discuss student wages. Spencer remarked that he would commit to raising wages, though he did not mention a specific dollar amount.

“We formally asked Dean Spencer to commit to raising wages from $12 to $20 an hour. And he told us no, but he did in this meeting pledge — commit — he committed to substantially increasing student wages, those were his exact words,” Hyde said.

In an email to The Flat Hat, Spencer maintained this commitment.

“Recently, the William & Mary

Law School leadership team and I had the privilege of engaging in a meaningful dialogue with our students regarding the increase in student employee wages,” he wrote.

“We are pleased to announce our plans to increase their wages in the upcoming year. This decision underscores our acknowledgment of the tremendous value our students bring to the law school community.

They contribute far beyond the classroom; they play a crucial role in creating a dynamic and supportive community at our institution.”

Following the meeting, the organizers solicited around 80 students to send thank you letters to Spencer to demonstrate that the issue is deeply felt among the school.

The Law School’s budget process will begin in March and wage increases are not likely to come until after then. In the meantime, Hyde listed a few actions the administration could make to indicate that they have a good faith interest in higher pay. These actions include allowing departments with extra funds to increase the

pay of their workers and sending a campus-wide email announcing a commitment to raising wages.

One of the students’ primary demands is to raise hourly wages to $20 an hour and legal research and writing fellow stipends to $3,600 a semester. Though the Virginia legislature passed a bill that would gradually increase the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, students say this is still not enough to cover costs of living.

“Just like when they raised the minimum wage to $12 an hour here, it was like the semester before that took effect, they raised their student pay from like 11 to $12. And they used that as like, ‘see we raised it.’ You raised it to what it was about to be legally required.

So I have hopes that they’re going to raise it to $15 within the next couple of years, but that’s not enough,” McCollum said.

In preparation for the October meeting, students created a Reddit thread to gather information about what students at other schools make.

“I don’t know that we got a

single response that was below $12. Twelve dollars was like the lowest that they would pay.

A lot of them paid 15, 18. The administration hated that we used the University of Virginia as an example, that they paid 20 to $25 an hour,” Hyde said.

Spencer elaborated that the size of the increase will depend on admissions.

“The exact amount of the wage increase is still under consideration and will be influenced by this year’s admissions cycle outcomes,” he wrote. “The funds we receive from admissions are integral to our financial planning and directly impact our capacity to provide enhanced support for our students, including adjustments to their wages.”

Along with a wage increase, students are hoping to be included in budget conversations going forward. Many have expressed frustration with not knowing the sources of their income.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM

opinions STAFF COLUMN

Opinions Editor Mollie Shiflett Opinions Editor Avi Joshi fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat

THE FL FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Page 5

A Jewish perspective on Anti-Zionism Damien Kanner-Bitteti FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.

GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT

In the last few months, discourse around Israel has become more volatile than ever. Anti-Zionism, which is a legitimate political and theological belief, has been conflated with the pure STAFF COLUMN bigotry and hatred of antisemitism. This has in turn led to the term “antisemitism” being politicized, overused and ultimately cheapened. As a Jewish individual, I’m appalled at this devaluation, which is dangerous enough on its own. The fact that it is deployed in service of ideology and violence, however, makes it all the worse. It is therefore more important than ever that we take care to distinguish anti-Zionism from antisemitism.

In order to distinguish anti-Zionism from antisemitism, we must first take a look at what the term “Zionism” actually means. In contemporary discourse, Zionism generally refers to the nationalist political movement founded in the 19th-century that radically reinterpreted Jewish tradition. Proponents of this movement, such as Theodor Herzl, argued that the terms “Zion,” “Jerusalem” and “Israel,” as used in millennia of Jewish prayer and tradition, should be taken as a call for the establishment of a Jewish nation-state.

Many Jewish people, however, opposed this idea for a wide variety of theological, political and moral reasons. This is a key factor in separating anti-Zionism and antisemitism: in fact, the history of Jewish anti-Zionism is as old as Zionism itself. Examples of theological antiZionism include the American Reform movement in the early 1900s and certain Orthodox groups in the modern era. The history of political anti-Zionism, on the other hand, is more secular; it includes groups like the General Jewish Labor Bund who argued that Zionism would undermine the presence of the Jewish people in Europe, and prominent Jewish scholars who worried that it would erase the history and culture of the Jewish diaspora. It is crucial to understand anti-Zionism as a legitimate political ideology, and that the multitude of reasons behind it — including Jewish tradition itself — are taken into account.

From this brief history, we can infer several things.

First, that while Zionism is unquestionably based in

Jewish religious belief, it is first and foremost a political movement. Second, we can see that from the ideology’s very inception, Jewish people have been some of its most prominent opponents and critics. And finally, we can see that the Zionist interpretation of Judaism is neither absolute nor beyond theological or political debate.

Why is this difference important? Why should this opposition matter to you or to me? It is important to understand that anti-Zionist ideology is often framed as inherently antisemitic, and that critics of Israel are systematically labeled antisemites. Additionally, and for a number of reasons, modern discourse around anti-Zionism has coalesced around college campuses, manifesting here at The College of William and Mary as well as at dozens of other schools. The US House of Representatives and the Israeli prime minister himself have criticized American college students for expressing legitimate political opinions, all based on the premise that anti-Zionism is antisemitic. When taking into account the power imbalance of such criticism, not to mention the false equivalence it is based on, any college student who believes in free speech should be alarmed.

Though distinguishing anti-Zionism from antisemitism is important in and of itself, I must ask how much it really matters in today’s climate. Such discourse comes far too late for Palestine, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries, where the United Nations has documented decades of violence and forced displacement — circumstances that continue to this day. The Palestinian

people in particular have endured conditions that AmnestyInternational has designated as apartheid, conditions imposed and enforced at the hands of Zionist forces. It is thus imperative that Palestinian lived experiences take center stage in any critique of the ideology that is responsible for them.

This is to say that, ultimately, I wish we lived in a world where Zionism could be debated in the abstract. I wish we lived in a world where ideologies don’t have consequences, where Jewish history and religious belief weren’t weaponized, where the Star of David wasn’t emblazoned on Israeli tanks.

But the reality is that we don’t.

We live in a world where over 28,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, have been killed in the last four months alone; where in the two weeks since I began this article, over a thousand more have been killed. We live in a world where, according to Human Rights Watch, almost two million more have been forced from their homes. We live in a world where Gazan children have been starved, disabled and traumatized by Israeli forces, with settlements planned on top of their graves. And in this world, refusing to embrace the ideology that is responsible for this violence is labeled antisemitic, while to many Jews, opposing it is their religious and moral duty. It should be yours too.

If you are interested in further sources, read more at flathatnews.com.

Damien Kanner-Bitetti ’25 is an English major and American studies minor from Arlington, VA. In addition to the Flat Hat, he is a member of Club B Soccer, Jewish Voice for Peace and a DJ for WCWM. Email him at dskannerbitett@wm.edu

STAFF COLUMN

Goodbye old friend: outgoing Editor-in-Chief bids farewell Molly Parks THE FLAT HAT

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

In the middle of each fall semester at the College of William and Mary, a very small group of students has one very important question to ruminate on. That group is the (typically) junior class of staff members on The Flat Hat and that question is: Do I want to be the next Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper?

In the second week of November 2022, I swiped my TribeCard to get into the Sadler Center dining hall for my DIY pressed turkey wrap that I perfected in my first two years at the College. As I said thank you to the dining hall worker standing behind the register, I noticed her name tag printed with the name “MELANIE.” Behind the register stood a woman who fearlessly shared with The Flat Hat her perspective that dining workers at the College need more affordable health care coverage and increased wages. Behind the register stood a woman who, in our interview for my article titled “William and Mary Dining Workers win their Union with Sodexo,” demonstrated the deep importance of worker solidarity. Behind the register stood a woman whose interview and gratitude for The Flat Hat coverage of the dining workers’ unionization affirmed to me the deep importance of independent student journalism.

That day, my 10-minute conversation with Melanie, a dining employee at the College for over 20 years, where we talked about our interview, the publication of the article and how we had each been since we last spoke, was my pin-point “Why EiC” moment. It was in this conversation that I comprehended the ability The Flat Hat has to affect individual people's lives, to document the history of this campus, to tell the grassroots stories of the real changemakers at the College. It was in this conversation that I knew I wanted to devote the rest of my college career to helping The Flat Hat realize this ability to the fullest extent.

In my four years on this beautiful campus, I have come to believe the College’s foundation is not about the bricks of the Wren build-

ing. It is not about the Crim Dell. It is not about the board of visitors meetings. This College’s foundation is the people who have studied, labored, taught and lived on this campus. It is, in my opinion, the job of The Flat Hat to archive the lived stories and diverse experiences of all of these people.

Luckily for this school, The Flat Hat honestly has just the perfect cast of characters to coordinate this effort. I would have to respectfully disagree with the brave soul on Yik Yak who anonymously, ever-so eloquently put in 2022, “u work for flathat ur a fugly twamp.” This staff — past, present and future — is filled with the most hardworking, down to earth and inspiring people at the College. I have been lucky enough to work alongside a group of friends who have kept me hopeful through some of the hardest times in College (i.e. The Flat Hat website crash of Friday, Nov. 3).

As I say farewell to the organization that has made my college decision worth it, I leave knowing that this paper is bound to only progress in the hands of incoming Editor-in-Chief Anna Arnsberger ’25. Anna is genuinely one of the best writers this paper has seen in a long time. One of the most rewarding experiences I have had on The Flat Hat was co-writing the “Finding Community Amidst Conflict” article with her. I am so inspired by the diligence and care Anna brings to every decision she makes. I envy the people who get to work with her in the future, as she naturally motivates everyone she works alongside to be a more compassionate, clever and efficient journalist. I cannot wait to see all that she does with this organization and cheer her on from afar.

Anna’s executive team is made up of Ethan Qin ’26 as managing editor, Agavni Mehrabi ’26 as executive editor, Ryan Goodman ’25 as digital media editor and Sarah Devendorf ’25 and Emma Henry ’25 as Co-Operations Coordinators. This group is full of some of the most passionate, hardest working people on campus and will make an excellent exec team.

Ethan will bring his approachable energy and confident creativity to news, sports and data. He has a unique ability to make anyone around him laugh using as few words as possible and I am lucky to call

him one of my good friends. Agavni is someone everyone on this campus should meet, simply because of her sheer ability to make you feel heard and appreciated. This aspect will translate perfectly into her role as executive editor as she makes her editors and interviewees feel at home. Ryan will bring his inviting humor and deep experience to the digital media sections, strengthening the photos, videos, socials and graphics sections while continuing Adam Jutt’s ’25 progress with the podcast. I could not think of a better duo to lead the Intern Program than Sarah and Emma. As two people who I often find myself looking up to, Sarah and Emma will be the best role models to lead incoming Flat Hatters in their first semester as student journalists.

Leading the news team will be editors Peerawut Ruangsawasdi ’26, Charlotte Castle ’27 and Mona Garimella ’27. With a blend of Peerawut’s experience and Charlotte and Mona’s eagerness and fresh perspectives, this news team has already begun to excel. Sports editors Max Grill ’26 and Maddie Mohamadi ’27 are two of the most skilled and confident early leaders on staff and I know there will be much good to expect from sports this year with them at the helm. Max, I am curious to see if Anna will now let “cooking” slide as an appropriate verb in sports pieces. For Data, we have Abhayprad Jha ’26 and Lisa Coleman ’25 leading the charge. These two have demonstrated nothing but exceptional writing ability and journalism skills. I am confident that their innovative ideas will help the data section prosper even more than it is already.

Miles Mortimer ’25 and Megan Rudacille ’27 will be the 2024 variety editors. I am always deeply impressed by Miles’s writing and compassion and cannot wait to see all he accomplishes in his second year in this role. Megan has proved herself invaluable to the paper as an intern and will undoubtedly continue to showcase this at an editor level. Returning to the opinions editors roles because they have not had enough of begging for new writers and crafting their own op-eds are Avi Joshi ’26 and Mollie Shiflett ’26. As two of the strongest editors from last staff who each bring the best vibes and quickest pages, respectively, Avi and Mollie will absolutely crush it in their second year of editing opinions, playing The Weeknd during prod night and drinking Chick-fil-a milkshakes.

Leading the videos team is the one and only Taiga Lewis ’26. There are too many good things to say about Taiga so I will just leave it at his video skills and aptitude for social event planning speak for themselves.

The ever-so kind Karis Koutsourelakis ’26 will be stepping into her second year as Social Media editor, showcasing her knack for graphics and content production. Juliana Gomien ’26, Laura Holt ’25 and Catherine Storke ’26 will all be stepping up to the plate as the new photos, podcast and graphics editors, respectively, and I know all three of them will hit it out of the park.

There are four roles on The Flat Hat staff that you don’t frequently or ever see in by-

lines, but whose impact on the paper is indispensable: the copy chief, webmaster, business manager and ombudsman. Crystal Wang ’25, who is thankfully returning as copy chief, is arguably the backbone of this paper. Her humor and our conversations about English literature have kept me grounded in some very difficult moments as EiC. When you talk about people who have kept me grounded as EiC, two positions immediately come to mind: webmaster and ombudsman. Matthew Berthoud ’25, who revived the Flat Hat website after the aforementioned crash of Friday, Nov. 3, will fortunately be returning as webmaster. Anna, look forward to Matthew’s long, yet somehow highly entertaining voice memos when the inevitable day of website troubles comes. Anna Saal ’26 will be stepping in as ombudsman and I have no doubt that she will be able to gracefully fill the very big shoes of her predecessor Sarah. Conor Downey ’25 will also be returning to his position of business manager, and I have no doubt that he will continue to excel in making The Flat Hat lots of ad revenue.

To The Flat Hat staff of 2024, soak up every moment you get as a part of this newspaper. You will not get nearly enough sleep or recognition for your hard work and there will be days when you ask yourself “why the hell am I doing this for free?” — trust me, I have had my fair share of them. But, if you persevere and lean into the community around you, you will walk away with not only a resounding belief in the importance of student journalism and free speech, but also some of the most meaningful friendships at the College. Let me take this moment to shoutout the outgoing senior class of The Flat Hat who has truly made my experience at the College worthwhile.

Vivian Hoang ’24, thanks for everything — thanks for calling me out when I need to be humbled about how much I talk about Philadelphia, thanks for writing the easiest articles to edit, thanks for always answering my late night text messages and knowing me well enough to not take it personally when I forget to respond. I have learned so much by simply being Vivian’s friend, and I am so excited to see where her life takes her post-grad. Thanks for being my closest confidant on staff, I can’t express how much Vivian has helped me grow as EiC and as a person.

Jake Forbes ’24 may have been my managing editor for the past year, but unofficially, he held a much more sentimental role. Jake waited for me to finish my work after every single production night (sometimes close to 3am) and would drive me home so I would not have to walk alone.

Sometimes those car rides were filled with laughter, some were filled with silence, some were filled with bickering and others even featured tears.

These car rides will always be among my favorite memories in college and I hope to have many more moments like this after graduation (even if you are selling your soul to the corporate world).

Jake is one of the most special people I’ve met and knows how to always help people stay hopeful in the darkest of times.

Anu Desai ’23 has made everyone on The Flat Hat staff think more deeply and care about each other more authentically. Anu is an incredible

copy editor and an even better friend. I know that after graduating this past fall, Anu has such a bright future ahead.

Chris Schneider ’24 has cultivated a booming Flat Hat videos department and should be so proud of her impact on this newspaper. She also makes the best egg drop soup and crispy brussel sprouts I have ever had (those at Flat Hat Friendsgiving can indeed corroborate this).

Joseph Wehmeyer ’24 made a name for himself as one of the most skilled and reliable writers for news throughout 2023. Stepping in as an intern in the Fall of 2022 as a Junior, Joe proved that to make an impact, it doesn’t matter when you join your college newspaper, it only matters how hard you work.

Ellie Kurlander ’24 at many points may have single handedly saved Flat Hat Magazine. She also wrote one of my favorite opinion pieces, “Give me sidewalks or give me death!” which I highly recommend reading. Shradha Dinesh ’24 has also been an excellent writer for our data team, as associate editor this past year. Named as one of ProPublica’s 2023 emerging reporters, she is going to do amazing things in and for the field of journalism.

In my Aug. 30, 2023 opinion “A note on student journalism,” I wrote that “our freethinking, autonomous student newspaper thrives with the consistent unwavering support of its readers.”

If you have persisted to read through all of my personal staff shoutouts, I implore you to refer this issue of The Flat Hat to a friend. The Flat Hat is built of a staff who sticks around because they each have their own personal “Melanie moments,” if you will.

Flat Hat staff is not paid, we receive no tangible compensation for what we do. Our reward for the hours, days, weeks we put into this job comes from the affirmations within ourselves, from others on staff and from our readership. We cherish our feedback from readers, because even if it is not always positive, it makes us stronger journalists. Share your thoughts, give us a “Melanie moment,” so we can become better writers, reporters and people.

To put it nicely, we don’t always have the best relationship with the powers that be on campus because we give light to the oftentimes sobering truths about the College. We don’t work for the board of visitors, we’re not here to blindly paint a pretty picture of administration, we’re here to hold the powers that be accountable for their actions.

This is a staff of fearless reporters who constantly work to uncover and investigate the authentic realities of what it means to be a student, a worker, a professor, a community member at the College.

For the past four years, I was lucky enough to call this staff home. For the past year, I had the privilege and honor to select and lead this staff, whom I now consider as close as family. It is with a grateful heart and a little more sleep under my belt that I sign off for one last time…

Stabilitas et fides, MP Molly Parks ’24 is the outgoing 113th Editor-in-Chief of The Flat Hat. With a bittersweet mix of emotions and many espresso shots as her fuel, she pens this farewell piece to the organization and the people she loves the most at the College of William and Mary.

Please bear with any dry humor that does not land or sentimental rambles.

THE FLAT HAT

Wedneday, February 21, 2024

STAFF STAFFCOLUMN COLUMN

Page 6

Adam’s Apple: Getting over breakups Adam Jutt FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.

GRAPHIC BY ISABEL LI / THE FLAT HAT

Who do you turn to when you need advice? A family member, such as a parent or sibling? A significant other? A best friend? A religious authority? If you have a trusted advisor who fits one of those descriptions, I have a message I think you’ll want to hear: You need to drop that person from your life, immediately.

You should never take advice from people close to you, from people who you trust and whose opinions you value. People like that provide clouded judgments influenced by their imperfect impression of who you are and often molded to align with what they think you want to hear, meaning the recommendations they provide will be biased and unreliable. And that’s the best-case scenario. That presupposes that they at least have good intentions, which is seldom true. In fact, in the long run, following the advice of trusted peers or mentors will likely get you killed. Often, at their very hand.

Just ask Caesar, a man killed for heeding Brutus’s advice to go to the Capitol.

Whether or not I slightly altered the details to make them better fit my thesis of “if you ask friends for advice, they will probably kill you” is not important.

What is important is the question: who can I trust to give me good advice?

I have spent a long time dwelling on this question, and I have an answer.

I’m not definitively saying my answer is the only valid answer, but I would be seriously wary of anyone trying to tell you something else. The answer is this: me.

You might be struck by the coincidence that, as the person who has meditated on the question of who to trust for advice, I happen to be the one presented as the only trustworthy advisor. Some of you might even try to calculate the odds that the answer to a question with eight-billion possibilities happens to be the one who is answering the question. Surely the odds of

that are low, right? But please, don’t waste your time on that problem! I did, and it took me a really long time. The answer, though, is that the odds are actually pretty high, and you shouldn’t be surprised or suspicious about my conclusion whatsoever.

Now that all doubts have been assuaged, put yourself in my shoes. You have just come to the remarkable conclusion that your advice is the only advice in which anyone should be interested. What do you do? Why, you start an advice column at your college newspaper, of course! It has been suggested by some that the idea for this column was actually a collaborative effort by Editor-in-Chief Anna Arnsberger and Executive Editor Agavni Mehrabi, i.e. that it was not my idea at all. And while that is technically and fully true on all levels, the flow of this introduction hinges on my ability to claim ownership.

So, after the column was created (note the intentional passive voice), I asked Flat Hat Social Media Editor Karis Koutsourelakis to post about it on the Flat Hat Instagram story, so people can send in their questions for me to answer in subsequent print issues of the paper. (For future reference, assuming this column continues, meaning Anna does not read this, regret letting me take the job, and kill the column to cut her losses — a non-negligible possibility — I believe that Instagram stories will be the main way questions are solicited. However, if you don’t have Instagram — very mature of you — or miss the story, questions will always be welcome at any time at any Flat Hatassociated email address. Please send them in!) The post read as follows: “Need advice? In a predicament? Would appreciate some guidance?

Then submit questions here to be answered in the Flat Hat’s brand new advice column! (Disclaimer: the advice given should almost certainly not be followed)” That disclaimer at the end there is, of course, nothing more than a spritzing of humor/sarcasm into the post: the advice I give here SHOULD be followed at all costs, no matter what happens. Not exactly my type of humor, but the hope was that it would appeal to our social media base.

A day later, I checked in with Karis and learned that we had collected a grand total of three responses. The Flat Hat Instagram account has 3,378 followers in total, which means that the 3,375 people who didn’t respond with a question made — and I don’t want to exaggerate here — the single biggest mistake of their lives. I feel heartbroken for them, of course, but nothing can be done.

The next task, then, was to pick which of the three questions to answer.

It was an incredibly tough decision, one that made me wish I had someone like me in my life to consult. One of the questions was from a member of the

GUEST COLUMN

IFC? I have seen better days

STAFF COLUMN

Flat Hat staff, so I ultimately could not pick it due to the ethical issues. One of the remaining two questions was written by a close friend of mine, who wrote it only after I forced him under implied threat of violence. So, thankfully, it cleared the ethical hurdle. I watched the gears spin as he brainstormed … here was an opportunity for me to solve any of his life’s problems for him in plain, written form. He eventually typed the following: “ingrown toenail fix, ASAP.” At first, I was grateful that he felt comfortable being vulnerable with me about the difficult medical issue hampering his quality of life. It occurred to me later, though, that he might have been joking. Unable to take the gamble and risk making a laughingstock of this column, I decided we had to go with the third and final question: “How do you get over a bad break-up, when you don’t dislike the person?”

Some would say I am the last person who should ever take a stab at a question like this, having never gone through a breakup, much less one of the bad variety. Some would say it’s almost impossible to give good advice here without more details about the situation. But I say: Probably time and space would be good, maybe (unless you don’t think so). Basically, you are in a very tough spot (very sure about that). Distancing yourself for a while to help expedite the moving-on process is pretty ubiquitous breakup advice (from what I’ve heard), but that is much easier when you come to the conclusion that the other person is awful (I assume). That said, it is important to differentiate between whether “not disliking them” means you just think they are a respectable person or whether it means you are still romantically interested. Sometimes, the former possibility is a disguise the latter possibility wears (totally winging it now). If it is the latter, either go all-in to try to save things (though apparently that doesn’t always work too well) or seriously heed the time and space thing. Just don’t seek out the middle ground (friendship, I guess) under the pretense of just liking them as a person, if you secretly want to get back to the way things were (which involved kissing, maybe). So, just do what feels… right. And mature. And appropriate. (And fun, if possible.)

Hopefully that helps! I would go into far more depth but, unfortunately, I am out of words, having already devoted around 1400 words for the exclusive purpose of answering your question. To those who suggest that 1200 of the words did not deal with the specific question at all, perhaps so I could avoid having to say much of anything about the actual topic in light of my ignorance, I won’t stoop so low as to respond.

See you in two weeks (please don’t kill this, Anna).

Adam Jutt ‘25 is a math and economics major from Cincinnati, Ohio who writes articles sometimes. Contact him at adjutt@wm.edu.

Low commitment, “casual” relationships -only way to date in college?

Avi Joshi and Duncan Griffin

Lana Altunashvili

THE FLAT HAT

FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.

JAMIE HOLT / THE FLAT HAT

As semesters begin at the College of William and Mary, there is a specific kind of excitement on campus and as students start to move in, the excitement among fraternity members for recruitment also begins.

Traditionally, rush is the primetime for fraternities to look for potential new members. However, there has been a gradual decline in support of fraternity life at the College, subsequently causing a lack of support for rush — the most crucial period for the survival of fraternity life organizations. The state of fraternity life at the College is facing a big problem as semester over semester, it keeps boasting lower rush numbers. We believe that a major factor as to why fraternities on campus are losing support is because of the state of the Interfraternity Council. The IFC, despite being an organization created to represent fraternity life on campus, continues — whether intentional or not — to propagate anti-fraternity culture.

Before we get into the problems with the IFC, what exactly is it? The IFC is a separate organization from fraternities that serves as an intermediary between the school and the individual fraternities, and it is the governing body of the fraternities. The executive board is made up of current fraternity members on campus, who are elected by the fraternity presidents. They vote on current issues in fraternity life , discuss new policies and are supposed to strengthen all frats on campus. However, we have noticed that many of the IFC’s efforts have not done anything to help fraternity involvement and have often hurt it. This was very clear during this most recent spring rush. The biggest change going into this past rush was the shortening of the original rush period. Historically, spring rush was a full 17 days, but with this past spring, the IFC decided to shorten the rush period down to 10 days.

What this meant was that rush — which already moved very fast — was condensed down even further and became quite overwhelming. The biggest problem we noticed was that 10 days is not enough time for potential new members to be able to truly get to know the frats they are rushing. Rushing a fraternity or a sorority is not just a serious time commitment, but it is also an extreme financial commitment — especially for college students. It is already a big decision whether or not to rush, but with rush being only 10 days this does not allow for students interested in rushing to be able to get a full picture of whatever organization they intend on joining.

Lack of support can also be seen through how the IFC uses its Instagram. First off, it rarely posts and if it does post, it is usually about hazing training or their

own events. Oftentimes, it has advertised wrong dates and times for rush events. The biggest example of this would be the fiasco that was Meet the Greeks this past rush. Meet the Greeks is the first event of rush and it is a time for fraternities to set up tables and talk to potential new members. This past rush, they not only shoved the event into James Blair Hall but also completely advertised the wrong time for the event (and with 15 fraternities all participating in this event, the second floor of James Blair was not really conducive to that). Now, obviously, we should never assume things like the wrong time being posted are ever done intentionally, because mistakes always happen. However, it is just disheartening to see an organization that represents every fraternity on this campus being so poorly run or mismanaged.

On top of the problems mentioned above, there is a lack of representation of positive narratives of fraternity life. During rush and throughout the year, the IFC regularly makes posts and sends emails about antihazing training. This is great, as hazing is a serious conversation and students should stay informed. The problem comes when the IFC heavily focuses on antihazing training and does not integrate advertisements that empower fraternity life. For example, during rush the IFC could also do posts about each fraternities’ philanthropy with explanations of each one, or even pictures sent in by all frats that can be posted to show the experience of fraternity life. The IFC could share information that reflects the positives of the College’s fraternity life culture. However, by dedicating all of its advertising to anti-hazing training, the IFC does not give narratives of fraternity life the exposure they should and it can turn off potential new members.

Along with all these problems, there is a clear lack of a strong relationship between the IFC and individual frats. Oftentimes, frats do not get to reap any of the benefits that the IFC promises us. For example, before this past rush, frats were told that if they held a minimum of three IFC-approved events, it would receive a set amount of money to spend on those events. So if a frat wanted to order pizza for an open house, it could use the allotted money the IFC was supposedly going to give it. I cannot speak for other frats, but Alpha Tau Omega did not receive any money for the events it had, so it had to use its own budget for those events. Yes, we have a budget for these events, but the IFC should not promise frats reimbursement and then never pull through. Things like this are part of the reason there is not a strong relationship between frats and the IFC. We genuinely are not trying to bring any hate towards the IFC. We just see an organization that is supposed to be helpful making way too many mistakes without truly fixing them. The IFC needs to realize that its duty is to defend and empower fraternities — not restrict growth of fraternity life.

Avi Joshi ‘26 is a prospective English and education major. He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Wind Ensemble. Contact him at asjoshi@ wm.edu.

Duncan Griffin ‘26 is a prospective finance major.

He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Gibbs Accounting Society. Contact him at dgriffin@ wm.edu.

GRAPHIC BY MONICA BAGNOLI / THE FLAT HAT

The 14th of February is a widely celebrated holiday, otherwise known as Saint Valentine’s Day. It’s a day that many look forward to, but many more seem to dread as companies decorate their websites with cupids and warm-colored hearts. Companies that assume you have that ‘special someone’ to spend this joyous holiday with.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect the people who manage to date in college. However, it was in a conversation with a friend of mine that we deemed it only possible to date in college on one condition: that it be a “long term, long distance, low commitment, casual” relationship, in the words of Ryan Gosling as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

Is this the only way to be in a relationship whilst getting a degree? Or are we just sour-faced pessimists who are slightly grumpy this time of the year?

If I’ve learned anything in my short time here, it’s that most students of the College of William and Mary are overachievers and not in a particularly bad way. We are in an academically-rigorous environment with the motivation to participate in everything that interests us. We have trouble saying no, even when we know we have little time to ourselves as it is. We take on more and more responsibilities until it is absolutely unmanageable for us to take on anything else. It feels good though, to be occupied and to be busy doing the things you love. This is where the question of love comes in. How are we supposed to have time for a significant other when we barely have time for ourselves and our friends, let alone a boyfriend or girlfriend? Some people I know spend days at Earl Gregg Swem Library, practically living there –- by the way, don’t do that, please. It’s for your own good. I suppose that’s my question to the people who have someone to spend this Valentine’s Day with: how do you do it?

Now, there’s nuance to every situation. Some people are long-distance, which I suppose fits the ‘Ken’ theory of a perfect relationship. It’s easier to focus on schoolwork and other extracurricular activities when you have a set time for every one of your calls, when you text throughout the day to let them know about everything you do. On the other side of the coin, it is, after all, long distance. I have so much respect for all of you who are making it work, so I hope your guys’ Valentine’s went as well as it could have, however far the distance is. On the other hand, if you and your significant other go to the same school, how hard is it to stay on top of your schoolwork, your job, your club

participation, your social life and your personal time?

Does it feel overwhelming, or do they all balance out to give you the perfect combination? I wish my statistics class taught me how to evaluate this one…

But why such an obsession with relationships anyway? Why is there this huge emphasis on whether or not you are taken, whether or not you have someone to go on a date with, whether or not you have a Valentine at all? Is it socially unacceptable or embarrassing to be single? Or have we as college students imposed that standard upon ourselves with the help of various social media outlets? As I am writing the article, I’m wondering why I’m so focused on this issue when I could be occupied with literally anything else — is it because I truly want something serious or because we are constantly fed these ideas of teenage love stories, so we think we aren’t whole without them? I truly believe that this obsession with ‘finding the right one’ is an epidemic in of itself that we need to eradicate.

While some of us are here, constantly romanticizing our interactions with people who don’t even know our names, waiting for replies that are never going to come, others are out there discovering and working on themselves for themselves and nobody else. This idea that we are fundamentally lacking something if we aren’t in a relationship is often planted in our minds and then keeps growing out of control until we don’t even question it. But why not question it this Valentine’s Day? The fact that we aren’t okay with being alone itself is reason enough not to date anyone for now and to grow fond of ourselves in the first place. It’s cliche but true — you can’t love someone else until you love yourself. So to all those concerned with not having a significant other, the minute you’re okay with being alone, they will come along. That’s usually how those things go anyway — they happen when you least expect them to. In the meantime, why not work on ourselves? After all, we’re stuck with us for the rest of our lives, so we might as well make that time worth it.

We could also go on and on about whether there’s a point to this commercial holiday at all.

Whether we are simply playing into the consumerist culture of the U.S. by buying Sweethearts and sending Candy Grams… One thing remains clear to me though — Valentine’s Day should be a day for not only romantic relationships but platonic ones as well. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re taken or not and it shouldn’t matter if you have a date on the 14th, because all your friends should be your Valentines. The bottom line is that it’s better to have a meaningful relationship with yourself and find someone later, rather than settle for the “long term, long distance, low commitment, casual” relationship right now while being unsure of what you want from life, not knowing who you are yet. What I want to say is that college is a time for self-discovery. If we stop to look around and appreciate what we are doing, and where we are, everything will come in time — slowly, but surely.

Lana Altunashvili ’27 is a prospective biology major. She is a James Monroe Scholar and a member of Club Tennis. Contact her at laltunashvili@ wm.edu.

variety

Variety Editor Miles Mortimer Variety Editor Megan Rudacille flathat.variety@gmail.com // @theflathat THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Page 7

REDEFINING GIRL MATH Shivi Royal ʻ27 publishes biography of female mathematicians, empowers women in STEM HANNAH SAWYER // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC.

For months, the idea of “girl math” has dominated pop culture. From TikTok influencers’ shopping hauls to casual conversations amongst friends, the term has widely become associated with women’s consumerism and spending habits. However, Computational and Applied Mathematics major Shivi Royal ‘27 is working to reshape the term in favor of female mathematicians by compiling their inspirational stories in her book, “Redefining Girl Math: 25 Trailblazing Female Mathematicians.”

“Girl math” is often used to describe women’s potentially-illogical financial calculations: for instance, according to girl math, anything bought with cash is free. Royal said that as she began to learn the meaning of “girl math,” she was determined to redefine the term for younger girls who were only becoming familiar with the pop culture definition.

“I don’t know why people were promoting that type of thinking, and then especially tagging ‘girl math’ at the end of that,” Royal said. “I know there’s many girls like me who are studying so hard in our math classes, and then there’s these jokes.”

Royal nodded to the use of the slogan by famous influencers and in social media content sponsored by companies, which she said has made her especially disappointed.

“What really drove me over the edge was seeing female YouTubers who would, if they got sponsored with certain deals like Pizza Hut or something, use that in their advertisement,” Royal said. “Like, ‘Oh, we gotta get on the shopping spree, girl math.’ It was very frustrating for me.”

Beginning in the summer of 2023, Royal, who enjoys watercolors, started painting portraits of female mathematicians. Royal said that as she did more portraits, she was inspired to look into the lives and scientific careers of the women she was painting, leading her to write a collection of biographies about female mathematicians.

Royal began the writing process by narrowing down to 25 female mathematicians to focus on and research. Royal used the University of St. Andrews archive database for much of her research and she said she worked to look into mathematicians from

varying time periods and from all over the world.

“The female mathematicians that I wrote about, they impacted the people that inspired others to learn math,” Royal said. “They also brought social change to their society.”

After she finished the original manuscript, Royal said she began reaching out to those around her to help her with the editing and revision process. She said her AP English Language teacher, her parents and her aunt — who is a middle school math teacher — all played a pivotal role in the editing process.

Royal did most of the editing on her manuscript within her first few months of her first fall semester at the College of William and Mary, and she said she would always find time to work on her passion project. Once she finished the revision process, she made the layout for the book, which included the watercolor portraits she had made of the women. The book was published online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble in December 2023.

Royal said that by publishing the book, she hopes to bring about a new meaning of girl math for young women. She said many girls have low confidence when it comes to mathematical skills, and she has observed that the men in her math classes tend to be more outspoken about their incorrect answers and are willing to confront the professor when they think that they are in the right. She hopes the books can act as encouragement for young girls to become more confident mathematicians.

“I was looking into a lot of research about lack of self esteem and what was very shocking to me was that if there was a boy and a girl who performed equally, or if the girl performed higher on her math exam, she had very less confidence in her computational abilities than her male counterpart, which baffled me. It all comes down to self confidence,” Royal said. “The first thing I hear so many girls say is, ‘I just can’t do that. I’m not good at it. I’m not good at numbers.’”

Royal said she is also working to change the stereotypical idea of a mathematician for future generations. She said many young girls don’t see themselves as mathematicians because of norms reinforced throughout society.

“It’s that stigma that the first person you would

COURTESY iMAGE/ SHIVI ROYAL think of who’s a scientist, or if you imagine a mathematician in your head, it would most likely be a male,” Royal said. “There’s that stigma and that lack of representation, yes, but hopefully we can change that for the future.”

Royal said she has seen an increase in women in her math classes, which is something she attributes to the increased support for the Women in STEM movement. Throughout Royal’s AP math classes in high school and her upper-level math courses at the College, she has noticed the number of women rise.

Additionally, Royal said representation of women in STEM fields making its way into the media has helped to raise awareness for women in STEM who have often been forgotten by history.

“Once they come into pop culture, they become very well renowned, like in ‘Hidden Figures,’” Royal said. “Nobody knew about those mathematicians and engineers until there was a movie made for them. It’s just a choice of which story gets their shot into the media.”

Royal said that by contributing to raising the awareness of female mathematicians through publishing her book, she hopes to permanently alter how young women view their ability to interact with math. She said she wants girls to see that there is more to it than just “girl math.”

“I want to show them that women have gone through many hurdles to be able to study mathematics, and also for any other girls out there who want to study mathematics, it’s an option that’s open to them,” Royal said.

REEL TALK: GETTING MEAN WITH REMAKES AND “MEAN GIRLS” MEGAN RUDACILLE // FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR

GRAPHIC BY EMNET ABRAHAM / THE FLAT HAT With every fairy-tale classic seemingly getting its own live-action remake and with superhero franchises churning out formulaic installations with the same handful of comic book characters, it seems like no matter what you do these days, you can’t escape “the remake.” We as a society do default to predictability —

in our chain restaurants, our cookie-cutter houses and, yes, our movies. However, once a source material has been through multiple rounds of adaptation, as is the case with “Mean Girls” (2024), audiences are right to question the necessity of another iteration.

A film adaptation of the 2018 Broadway

musical, which was based on the 2004 film of the same name, “Mean Girls” follows largely the same plot as the original: homeschooler Cady Heron, (played in this version by Angourie Rice), is forced to adjust to the cutthroat social scene of an American high school. In the film, she is taken in by the Plastics, a ruthless, popular trio led by Regina George (played by Reneé Rapp). As she begins to infiltrate the clique and rise through the social ranks via increasingly conniving schemes against Regina, Cady suffers the consequences of her cruelty and learns the value of empathy in the face of high school girls’ universal pettiness.

I went into this movie prepared for disappointment. As a die-hard theater kid, I am a fan of the 2018 Broadway musical, and I was lucky enough to see it live with much of the original cast. So, the inner middle-schooler in me had high standards for the film adaptation in terms of the music, comedy and staging.

And to give credit where credit is due, “Mean Girls” was overall a fun watch.

Being a fan of the musical actually ended up contributing to my enjoyment of the film, as the sheer joy of seeing familiar songs and lines reimagined on the big screen made for a generally exciting, if not groundbreaking, viewing experience. In my opinion, the points where this movie shines are where it embraces its origins in musical theater.

The film’s opening number hearkened back to the musical’s staging, embracing the spectacle of theater in creative ways: tearaway costumes, changing LED-screen backdrops, desks that rotated to switch classroom settings at the ring of a bell. Likewise, the movie

began in a garage whose door opened to the African Savanna, where a lifted tent flap revealed an American high school.

However, these transitions lack the same pizzazz in a medium where seamless cuts are customary.

I also felt that many performances were not Broadway-grade. Notably, Rice fell flat as Cady. Her energy evoked less of the quirky, unaware optimism of previous actresses, reading as shy at best. In “Stupid With Love” — an ode to a math class crush — Rice lacked expression, and her vocals were weak and highly autotuned, giving an air of monotony to what was written as a jubilant, unhinged inner monologue.

In fact, most of the film’s vocals reeked of autotune, and the production of the musical numbers was heavily pop-ified, as if composer Jeff Richmond forgot he was arranging a Broadway musical rather than a TikTok. Standout performers did emerge, as the plot progressed. As Rapp’s Regina offhandedly delivered cutting insults and swooped in on Cady’s calculus crush, she captured the cruel entitlement of a queen bee high-schooler, making Cady’s revenge plot all the more understandable.

After discovering Cady’s so-called weightloss bars had set her up to gain weight, Rapp belted out the vocally stunning “World Burn” number, where she framed Cady for writing a book of insults to the entire class. Auli’i Cravalho, who played outcast Janis, was equally compelling as she embraced the playful energy of her number “I’d Rather Be Me,” in which she rejected forgiveness in the fallout of the “burn book” while running and dancing through the school. Unsurprisingly, both performers have a musical background,

with Rapp reprising her role from the Broadway production and Cravalho having starred in Disney’s “Moana.”

Since watching the movie in January, I’ve seen my fair share of criticism toward this instance of remake-ception. Fans of the original chick flick expressed outrage at iconic lines being left on the cutting room floor. Meanwhile, lovers of the musical lamented the multiple songs excluded from the film, including both numbers led by Cady’s fabulous friend Damien, which was a glaring missed opportunity to spotlight Tony Award nominee Jaquel Spivey as one of the only Broadway talents in the cast. On the flip side, some viewers expressed frustration at the redundancy of having a remake at all. Why mess with, or milk the success of, a classic when you could — perish the thought — maybe write something original?

I can’t help but agree with the antiremake rhetoric. Regardless of my personal enjoyment, if the film’s best offerings are moments where it just emulates a previous adaptation, and to varying degrees of success at that, it seems unnecessary on premise and has failed before it even began.

But of course, movies are made for more than artistic value, and this movie shows in no uncertain terms the dollar signs in its eyes. The incessant product placement, including constant use of e.l.f Cosmetics that are distinctly out of character for the high-status Plastics, was laughably unsubtle. With each tube of lip gloss, the whole undertaking became a clearer and clearer cash grab. While “Mean Girls” may offer its audience some powerhouse vocals and moments of nostalgia, at what cost? Originality?

THE FLAT HAT

Wednesday, February 21, 2023

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;OL .YPĄU >LHYZ 7YHKH! /PNOZ SV^Z VM .YHTT`Z» MHZOPVU CATALINA CAMPOS // CHIEF FEATURES WRITER

GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE / THE FLAT HAT

Friday, Feb. 17, a Valentine’s Day-themed Homebrew event took over Lodge One in Sadler from 6-8 p.m. Homebrew, a committee within Alma Mater Productions, hosts smallscale performances that allow music enthusiasts to showcase their talent in front of a casual audience. This was just one of many such concerts hosted by AMP, a volunteer and studentrun programming organization on campus that provides activities and entertainment for the student body.

AMP Graduate Advisor Olympia Ghosh M.Ed. ’25, shared the inspiration behind the event.

“Homebrew is always based on student talent, and so the committee chair, Clara, is always inspired by bringing in multiple audiences,” Ghosh said. “Around this time of the month, it’s just a very good vibe, and it catches the season, so that’s mostly the inspiration.”

As they walked into Lodge One, students were met with an ambiance characteristic of Valentine’s Day, complete with white tablecloths, dim lighting and pink and red decorations.

There was also a craft station stocked with colorful construction paper, markers and glitter, where students could make and decorate their own Valentine’s Day cards to give to someone special or to keep to remember this magical night.

Ghosh described the students she advises and how the event was able to come together.

“There’s a lot of collaboration within the organization of AMP, and everyone just does a really good job improvising,” Ghosh said. “I just like seeing everyone do their job really well, and we enjoy doing it too.”

The student artists also enjoyed their role, with their performances being the highlight of the event. A variety of songs, music genres and instruments kept the student audience

engaged throughout the evening.

One student artist, Sophia Skiavo ’24, sang “The Bug Collector”

by Kenny Hendrix, “Northern Attitude” by Noah Khan and Hozier and “Not Strong Enough”

by Boygenius. A routine performer in Homebrews since her freshman year, Skiavo shared why she keeps coming back for more.

“I love Homebrews just because there’s so much freedom,” Skiavo said. “I really like choosing covers and doing them in a different style. I’ve done ‘Heart of Glass,’ I’ve done Phoebe Bridgers, and it’s just a setting that is very unique that I appreciate for me to just try new things and share them with my friends and people that I don’t know.”

Skiavo also does Homebrew events with her band, Get Back Soon, and plans to perform with the band at AMP’s next Homebrew in April. She recounted how far her band has come since its formation in freshman year, including remaining active with routine Homebrew performances.

“We would record our stuff to put on Facebook back when it was online because of Covid,” Skiavo said. “But ever since then, we stuck together.”

Another student performer, Will Pfeiffer ’24, sang “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam”

by The Vaselines, “I’ve Just Seen a Face” by the Beatles and one of his own original songs that he has been working on, called “I Might Be in Love.” He is currently writing an album and considers the song he performed as one of his best. Pfeiffer shared his sentiments about the benefits of Homebrews, including how it gives student artists low-pressure environments to try out new things and practice performing.

“They’re a fun, reliable gig,” Pfeiffer said. “They get me to go out and play more, which is something that I really appreciate.

I feel like I get some of that good extrinsic motivation, you know?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Sunday, Feb. 4, Los Angeles was buzzing with celebrities, paparazzi and much glamor as the 66th Annual Grammy Awards were being held. The awards show was hosted by Trevor Noah for the fourth time in a row, and the Crypto.com Arena welcomed a full range of celebrities, from the legendary Celine Dion to trend-setter Sofia Richie.

As can be expected, the red carpet had quite a variety of looks. With the presence of silks, feathers and sparkles, there is much to cover. If you were too busy getting back on track with the start of the semester to watch the event, fear no more. Lucky for you, this article has a compilation of the looks that definitely deserve some attention.

First thing’s first, let’s get back to black: floral black dress, straight neck, puffy sleeves and — are those bows? Yes, you guessed it! I’m talking about our beautiful Lana Del Rey. She was styled in a vintage dress that could not be more coquettecoded, with velvet flowers, tea-party gloves and pointed heels.

I should also mention that the “Summertime Sadness” singer’s outfit also sported a few bows — like, everywhere. From her hair to her heels, to the wrists of her gloves, it is safe to say that Del Rey really relied on this year’s bow trend. But let’s get real, could they have put more bows on this woman? It all looked very baleful in my opinion, as if she were attending a funeral. Who knows?

Maybe Del Rey already anticipated it’d be another year leaving the awards empty-handed. It could also be that I had very high expectations for her. Her past Grammy looks had been Born To Die-for (get it?), and I just wonder what happened this year.

Following with more vintage, Miss Olivia Rodrigo greeted the red carpet with a beautiful white Versace dress. This 1995 piece, first worn by Linda Evangelista, had delicate white and red beads that splattered from her chest to the very ends of the gown. The double spaghetti straps, red lipstick and matching earrings were too iconic not to love. Sure, it’s not something that could be considered out-of-this-world, but can you really go wrong with a classy look? I think not.

The crowd went crazy the second the talented Taylor Swift stepped out of her cab and smiled at the cameras. The Album of the Year winner was wearing a strapless white dress paired with

I mean, I play guitar all the time anyway, but it’s kind of fun doing it in front of people.”

A sizable student crowd attended the AMP event to support the performers and celebrate Valentine’s Day. Eleni Orphanos ’27 commented on how the evening’s performances tied together a range of themes characteristic of the season of love.

“We’ve heard a little bit about love, a little bit about heartbreak. You know, I feel like you’ve kind of covered everything that goes along with Valentine’s Day,” Orphanos said. “It’s been really awesome to be able to listen to everything.”

This Valentine’s Day event also presented an opportunity to celebrate all kinds of love, not just romance, as shown through the wide variety of songs performed that evening. Skiavo described how making cards with her friends created an opportunity to celebrate other relationships in the Valentine’s Day spirit.

“I had everyone draw their self-portrait and their name, and I’m going to post this on my social media later, so not necessarily romantic vibes, just bringing people together and bringing up different ideas of love and friendship and companionship,” Skiavo said.

The stereotype that Valentine’s Day has to be celebrated with fancy meals and intricate dates was also turned on its head.

Ghosh emphasized how the AMP Homebrew provided an opportunity for students to do something different or more relaxed to celebrate the holiday.

“It provides an alternative for students and couples and whoever doesn’t want to go out and party,” Ghosh said. “So it’s just a nice alternative for them and kind of a means to stay on campus, to stay close to home and celebrate with something nice. It’s got a kind of semi-formal ambiance to it, too, so it’s got good energy.”

some black gloves and her signature red lipstick. However, what stole the show was her necklace. Specifically made for Swift, a vintage Lorraine Schwartz watch was turned into a choker; and if that wasn’t enough, her stylist decided to add a 300-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond necklace. Trust me, it looked heavy.

Now, I can ramble about what a huge Taylor Swift fan I am, but I’m not going to do that. In fact, I’m going to speak my truth: the look was a complete miss. For starters, the dress didn’t accentuate her figure, and the thigh slit just made it look like a tablecloth that was wrapped around her body at the last minute.

I personally didn’t enjoy the whole black-and-white look, and I think we can all agree that the velvet gloves just didn’t go with the rest of the look. Now, I’m not a stylist or whatever, but I’m a true believer that if you wear a strapless dress you must keep the accessories simple. The choker-watch alone would have been more than enough.

Moving onto a wholly different style, Sam Smith was wearing what I’ll call… ‘original’ attire. Clad in an all scarlet-red, Smith’s cape, cane, top hat and veil looked very theatrical. Another good word would be dramatic, striking or maybe… extravagant.

I’m just going to stop now and be as forward as I can — Smith’s inspiration looked like it came straight out of a Disney villain’s costume. Cruella de Vil and Dr. Facilier crossover, anyone?

Sofia Richie stepped onto the red carpet ready to do what she does best: be an icon. Wearing an all-black gown, Richie pulled this look together with a slicked-back bun and delicate jewelry.

Sometimes simple is better, and I don’t think there could be a better example than her outfit. It was elegant, clean and the baby bump was just too cute not to love. It is clear why celebrities like the Jenners look up to her for fashion inspiration.

I wish to end this review on a good note, but, gosh has it been hard! I swear I don’t usually have that high of a standard, so please don’t get the wrong impression of me. However, if I am to be frank, the Grammy’s fashion looks were a complete disappointment — a flop in today’s slang. With that said, none of this is in any way, shape or form a representation of the characters of these celebrities or what I think of them. It could also very much be that I have zero fashion sense. I welcome this possibility and would love to know if I have dissenters.

Valentine’s Day... at your own tempo Collegeʼs AMP puts on event with music, food in Sadler to celebrate holiday of love

SKYLAR HARTGERINK // FLAT HAT VARIETY ASSOC. COURTESY IMAGE / PIXABAY.COM

sports

THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Page 9

WOMENʼS BASKETBALL

Tribe’s CAA win streak ends, falls to Campbell away, 57-46

Despite loss, teamʼs historic start shows promise for remainder of season MAX GRILL FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Sunday, Feb. 18, William and Mary women’s basketball (1211, 8-4 CAA) lost its three-game Coastal Athletic Association win streak, falling to Campbell (13-11, 6-7 CAA) 57-46 away at the Gilbert Craig Gore Arena in Buies Creek, N.C. The Tribe entered Buies Creek on a hot streak, beating CAA opponents Delaware and Hampton on the road last week en route to cementing a program best 8-3 record through 11 CAA matchups this season.

However, after a full week break from in-game action, the Green and Gold began Sunday’s game slower than expected.

After two layups from freshman guard Cassidy Geddes and one courtesy of graduate student forward Nylah Young, William and Mary was held scoreless in the last six minutes of the first quarter.

In that time, the Camels took off on a 13-0 run, headlined by five points each from graduate student guard Shy Tuelle and graduate student forward Svenia Nurenberg.

Nurenberg, who finished Sunday’s game with 17 points for the Camels, had an incredibly efficient day from the field. In just seven shots, the graduate student forward went 3-5 from three-point land and knocked down all six free throws she attempted.

In the second quarter, William and Mary flipped the script completely. Campbell’s offense turned ice cold, scoring only three points throughout the entire quarter. The Tribe took off offensively with Young starting the scoring just 13 seconds into the quarter, finishing a tough jumper in the paint. On the next offensive possession, junior forward Anahi-Lee Cauley knocked down her first basket of the day, converting on a solid two-point jumper to cut the Camel lead to five.

After another layup from Young, Geddes finished a tough fast-break layup after forcing a steal, cutting the lead to one and causing a Campbell timeout. Despite the Camels’ attempt to stop the bleeding, Geddes knocked down a three-pointer just minutes later, giving the Tribe a 17-16 lead with just under four minutes

left in the half. After two more Cauley buckets, the Tribe ended the half on a 16-3 run and went to the locker room leading 22-18.

The third quarter, unlike the first two, was far more even. In the first three minutes of the second half, Young wreaked havoc on the Camel defense, scoring eight consecutive Tribe points. In response, the Camels caught fire from behind the three-point arc, connecting on two consecutive threes to cut the Tribe’s lead to six with just over six minutes left in the quarter. After a couple traded baskets from both sides, Young added two more to her game total, going a perfect two for two from the free throw line.

However, the Camels persisted, firing back with its third threepointer of the quarter, this time courtesy of graduate student forward Brittany Staves. Both teams continued trading baskets until just 20 seconds left in the quarter, when Staves knocked down a timely three to secure the Camels’ lead once again. Now down by one, the Tribe turned to junior guard Bella Nascimento to take back the lead with just seconds left. Luckily, after Nascimento missed from inside the paint, senior center Kayla Beckwith cleaned up the board and knocked down a last-second layup, giving the Tribe a one-point lead heading into the fourth.

Despite the momentum from Beckwith’s clutch shot, William and Mary reverted back to its first quarter play in the fourth. In 10 minutes, the Green and Gold only managed to score seven points, giving Campbell the opportunity to run away with the game at home.

With solid shooting from the free-throw line, the Camels gradually pulled ahead. After a three from Nurenberg and a layup from senior forward Christabel Ezumah, Campbell extended its lead to double digits with just under four minutes left in the game. Despite its best effort, the Tribe was never able to close the lead, and as time expired, William and Mary found itself on the wrong side of a CAA matchup for the first time in four games.

Regardless of the loss, this Tribe season has been one for the record books, especially for head coach Erin Dickerson Davis.

After the team’s 65-55 win against Hampton on Feb. 11, Dickerson

JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT

Freshman guard Cassidy Geddes took over the Tribeʼs starting guard spot, putting up impresive showings on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court.

Davis became the fastest Tribe head coach to 30 career wins since 1929 and fastest to 20 CAA wins in program history.

“I wish I could say I did it and it was all me and pat myself on the back, but that’s just not true,” Dickerson Davis said. “These girls, no matter what I say, no matter what I do, come out here and they want to be the best. I’m proud of everything that we’ve gone through to get to this point, and I just hope that they continue to carry that confidence and that demeanor that we’ve been trying to instill in them into every game.”

The Tribe will look to get back in the win column Feb. 23, when it hosts CAA opponent Elon at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.

MENʼS BASKETBALL

William and Mary’s skid continues, drops fifth consecutive game Teamʼs 61-52 defeat to Towson marks Green and Goldʼs ninth loss in last ten games

SYDNEY WITWER FLAT HAT SPORTS

Thursday, Feb. 15, William and Mary men’s basketball (8-19, 3-11 CAA) fell to Towson (16-11, 9-5 CAA) 61-52 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. Notable performances include sophomore guard Trey Moss and junior guard Gabe Dorsey. Both players recorded a combined performance of 33 points, and Moss

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Sophomore guard Chase Lowe has become a regular starter for the Tribe and averages almost 13 points per game.

recorded five rebounds throughout the game.

Sophomore guard Chase Lowe recorded 11 rebounds and five assists for the Tribe.

Last season, the Tribe emerged victorious in its matchup against the Tigers, edging out a 68-66 victory. This victory broke a three-year losing streak to the Tigers, allowing the Tribe to gain late-season momentum. While this year’s matchup ended in a loss for William and Mary, the deficit was smaller than it has been in past losses to Towson. In 2022, the Tribe lost to Towson by 22 points and 15 points in two matchups that season. With this year’s loss, the Tribe only trailed its opponent by nine points, challenging the Tigers to work for its victory.

At 42%, The Tigers’ three-point percentage was more than double the Tribe’s 18.%. While percentages were closer for regular shots and free throws, the Tigers were superior to the Tribe in those categories as well.

The first half of the game was tightly contested between the two teams, with backand-forth scoring. Despite a quick start by the Tigers, the score remained tied 14-14 at the midway point of the first half. At half, the Tribe only trailed the Tigers by one point.

Towson had multiple players in the double digits for points and leaned on its wealth of talent to defeat the Tribe. Notable players in the Tigers’ win included sophomore guard Christian

JULIANA GOMIEN / THE FLAT HAT

Junior guard Matteus Case has seen a significant increase in playing time this season, averaging almost 29 minutes per game. Case has started the last six games for the Green and Gold, averaging just shy of nine points in that stretch.

May, graduate forward Charles Thompson and redshirt junior guard Nendah Tarke.

The Tribe’s late-season slump may be explained by several players sustaining injuries, including sophomore forward Charlie Williams and sophomore guard/

forward Jack Karasinski.

Despite these injuries and a five-game losing streak, the Tribe still continues to compete, setting its sights on UNC Wilmington (19-7, 10-4 CAA) Thursday, Feb. 22 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va.

LACROSSE

Green and Gold dazzles in home opener, wins 12-8 againt ODU

Draddy, Witwer combine for seven of teamʼs 12 goals in dominant offensive showing MADDIE MOHAMADI FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR Saturday, Feb. 17, William and Mary women’s lacrosse (1-1) defeated Old Dominion (0-3) 12-8 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in Williamsburg, Va. Though the majority of the game was closely contested throughout the first three quarters, William and Mary’s explosive fourth quarter secured its victory.

Offensively, the Tribe outshot the Monarchs 31-21, and players who did not start scored seven of the Tribe’s 12 goals.

ODU opened scoring in the fourth minute with a goal from junior midfield Sydney Taylor. Roughly a minute later, William and Mary responded with a goal from junior

attack Anna Dawson, assisted by junior midfield Paige Gilbert. With two minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Tribe sophomore midfield Maresa Moyer passed to sophomore midfielder Kate Draddy, who found the back of the net and secured a 2-1 lead for the Tribe. Taylor responded with her second goal of the game for the Monarchs just a minute later, evening the score 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw back-andforth action from both teams.

William and Mary junior midfield Margaret Mooney scored around three minutes into the second quarter, but Monarchs senior attack Olivia Tanneberger equalized the score with ten minutes, four seconds remaining in the half.

In the 22nd minute, freshman

midfield Finley Hoffman scored. Less than a minute later, ODU sophomore midfield Emma Rowland tied the contest once again. With five minutes, eleven seconds left in the half, ODU graduate student midfield Emma Arnold propelled the Monarchs into the lead, 5-4.

With roughly four minutes remaining in the second quarter, William and Mary sophomore attack Sydney Witwer scored, assisted by Draddy. Just 25 seconds later, Witwer scored her second goal of the game, giving the Tribe a one-point lead.

Arnold responded for the Monarchs with an equalizer in the 28th minute, evening the score 6-6 at the end of the half.

With seven minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter, Draddy scored her second goal of the game, giving

the Tribe a one-point advantage. In the 40th minute, Draddy passed to junior attack Sophia Chiodo Oritz, who extended the Tribe’s lead to two points. Less than four minutes later, ODU reacted with a third goal from Taylor, cutting William and Mary’s lead to one point.

The Tribe carried its offensive momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring four total goals.

Assisted by Draddy, Witwer scored again in the 48th minute, matching a career-high with three goals on the day. With nine minutes, thirtynine seconds remaining in the game, Draddy scored her third goal unassisted, extending the Tribe’s lead to three points. Sophomore midfield Lauren Rothstein put the Tribe in the lead 11-7 with a goal around 10 minutes into the fourth quarter. Less

than a minute later, Draddy scored her fourth goal of the day, tying her careerhigh in one game.

With just one minute, fiftytwo seconds left in the matchup, Tanneberger cut the deficit by one point with an assist from ODU graduate student attack Lilly Siskind, cementing the Tribe’s 12-8 victory.

William and Mary also recorded impressive defensive performances on top of the phenomenal offensive statistics. Junior goalkeeper Elise Palmer recorded nine saves and a .529 save percentage. Senior defense Kathleen Cozzi equaled a careerhigh five ground balls and posted two caused turnovers.

Tribe women’s lacrosse looks to secure another win against No. 20 Richmond (2-0) Feb. 21 at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Va.

sports

THE FLAT HAT | Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Page 10

FOOTBALL

Running backs coach Perry Jones inspires team on, off field

Jones hopes to help athletes grow as people, apply football to daily lives MADDIE MOHAMADI FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

Wednesday, Jan. 31, William and Mary football head coach Mike London announced Perry Jones as the Tribe’s new running backs coach.

For the past 11 years, Jones coached high school football, serving as head coach of Glen Allen High School in Glen Allen, Va. from 2019-23. This past season, he earned the team a spot in the Virginia 6A Regional Playoffs.

Prior to his coaching career, Jones played running back at Virginia, where he ranked fifth all-time in career receptions, ninth in all-purpose yards and 17th in rushing yards. As a senior, Jones co-captained the team, becoming the fourth player in UVA history to reach 1,000 career rushing and receiving yards.

As a student-athlete at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, Va., Jones was listed as the No. 143 high school recruit by ESPN. He also set multiple school records at Oscar Smith, accumulating 141 tackles his junior year and scoring 54 career touchdowns.

Though Jones enjoyed his time at Glen Allen High School, coaching college-level football was always his dream.

“I love how detailed you can get in the schematics of college football,” Jones said. “Starting off at a high school coaching level gave me a good foundation, so luckily, I’m able to take this next step.”

Jones was also drawn to William and Mary because of the connection he has with London, who coached him at UVA for three years.

“He knew I had aspirations to coach at the next level,” Jones said. “The bonds and connections we made there is something that sticks out to me, and I’m glad to get a little bit of that again.”

One of Jones’s mentors, Jesse Casey, also played football at William and Mary. Casey was Jones’s middle school history teacher and football coach.

“It’s special that my mentor also played here,” Jones said. “This is a great place to be.”

Starting off at a high school “ coaching level gave me a good foundation, so luckily, I’m able to take this next step.

- Running backs coach Perry Jones

”

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Prior to coaching high school football, new running backs coach Perry Jones played at Virginia under William and Mary football head coach Mike London. At UVA, Jones ranked fifth all-time in career receptions and ninth in all-purpose yards, becoming the fourth player in school history to reach 1,000 rushing and receiving yards.

On top of his solid foundation with the current coaching staff, Jones also looks forward to forming new bonds with Tribe football players.

“I’m going to be here for them and will do whatever I can to help them succeed,” Jones said. “One of my goals is to try and help them be not only good football players, but also good men.”

Though Jones has worked with Tribe football for less than a month, his impact is tangible to both players and coaches.

“He has a great perspective, specifically for our offensive staff and for our players,” offensive coordinator Mario Acitelli said.

“That combined with his playing career and who he was as a player is really good for us.”

Acitelli further emphasized Jones’s authenticity, on and off the field.

“It’s easy to work with somebody who’s humble, and he’s been great that way,” Acitelli said. “If I had to pick one thing about him that I admire, it’s how humble he is despite his accomplishments as a player, which are numerous.”

Junior running back Martin Lucas appreciates Jones’s relatability.

“He’s going to bring a lot of new talents for us because he used to play running back at UVA,” Lucas said. “He knows what he’s talking about.”

Lucas highlighted Jones’s work ethic and dedication to the

team as well.

“He always wants to be the best, and he always makes sure we try to be the best,” Lucas said. “I’m looking forward to taking my game to another level with him.”

In addition to connecting with players, Jones eventually hopes to win a national championship with the Tribe.

“The goal is always to win a championship, but I do also understand the value of maximizing the day and doing the best you can today,” Jones said.

Jones also looks forward to spending time with family in Williamsburg. He hopes to introduce his six- and two-year-old daughters to players, coaches and students.

“College won’t be unfamiliar to my kids when they get there,” Jones said. “Having a whole family experience is what I’m looking forward to.”

Ultimately, Jones aspires to help players apply football to their daily lives.

“A lot of the stuff that I’m still being presented with today, I can pinpoint a time in my football career that I can apply it to, which helps me get through tough times,” Jones said. “I’m a firm believer that football is a mirror of life.”

BASEBALL

Tribe defeats Holy Cross in opening home series, starts season 2-1

After splitting first two games, overpowering offense propels Green and Gold in finale LACI MILLER FLAT HAT SPORTS ASSOC. William and Mary baseball (2-1) opened up its season with a home series against Holy Cross (12) Friday, Feb. 16 to Sunday, Feb. 18. Though the Tribe dropped Friday’s matchup 2-4, it managed to close the back half of the series with two solid victories at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va. In Friday’s matchup, the first three innings went scoreless thanks to a dominant performance from Tribe junior starting pitcher Nate Knowles. He allowed just two hits over

three innings while recording eight strikeouts.

After Tribe junior pitcher Carter Lovasz took the mound for his relief stint at the top of the fourth, Holy Cross’s bats came alive, scoring three runs.

In the bottom of the inning, fifth-year outfielder Joe Delossantos homered to left field, getting William and Mary on the scoreboard.

The score held constant for the next few innings. Sophomore pitcher Owen Pierce replaced Lovasz on the mound in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, graduate student outfielder Ben Parker hit an RBI single to bring the score to 3-2. In the

top of the ninth, Holy Cross junior outfielder Connor Cooney singled to right field, driving in freshman infielder Alex Sandell to increase the Holy Cross lead back to two. William and Mary was unable to respond in the bottom of the ninth, recording its first loss of the season on its opening day. Lovasz was credited with the loss and Holy Cross’ sophomore pitcher Danny Macchiarola with the win.

In Saturday’s game, Holy Cross scored first, recording two runs in the top of the third. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Mark Hindy came to the mound mid-inning for

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

Fifth-year outfielder Joe Delossantos hit a three-run homer during Sundayʼs matchup, recording his second home run of the series and securing the Green and Goldʼs victory.

the Tribe, throwing two pitches to force a groundout and get William and Mary out of the inning. William and Mary’s offense came alive in the bottom of the fifth. An RBI single from Delossantos scored the Tribe’s first run of the game. A pair of consecutive hit-bypitches scored another run and loaded the bases, leading to a freshman first baseman/ outfielder Anthony Greco single to right field to score one more and an RBI double from graduate student infielder Luca Trigiani to extend the Tribe lead to three. The Tribe scored one more run that inning, marking a colossal six-run inning. William and Mary scored one more in the bottom of the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, Holy Cross scored two more on a triple to center field to make it 7-4. Another RBI single from Delossantos put William and Mary up four, a lead it held until the end. Saturday’s win marked the first win of the season and evened the series at 1-1.

Sunday’s matchup started off with a massive seven-run inning for Holy Cross.

In the bottom of the first, Parker hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to get William and Mary on the board. The Tribe tacked on one more in the bottom of the third.

The Tribe’s big inning came in the fourth, scoring five runs on only one hit thanks to a combination of hit-by-pitches and walks from the Holy Cross pitcher. In the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a Delossantos three-run homer and a senior catcher Nate Goranson two-RBI double, William and Mary scored five more. Holy Cross scored two in the top of the sixth, leading to a 12-9 Tribe lead. William and Mary scored once in the bottom of the seventh to give it a four run lead, which Holy Cross nearly closed with a three-run eighth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Goranson singled to score one more for the Tribe and increase its lead to two, which it held onto through the end. The Tribe won the series finale, 14-12, and the series, 2-1.

William and Mary will travel to play against Richmond (0-4) Feb. 20 at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va.