The Flat Hat August 30 2023

Carolyn Arthur Martin ʻ73 to speak at Opening Convocation

Former president of Amherst College, notable author and academic Carolyn Arthur “Biddy” Martin ʻ73 will give a welcoming speech to new students at the College of William and Mary during the 2023 Opening Convocation on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

“We have in Dr. Martin a trailblazing alumna, an accomplished professional and an unwavering advocate for broad-based, multidisciplinary education,” College President Katherine Rowe said in the W&M News announcement article. “Dr. Martin exemplifies the impact of a W&M education, distinguished by personalized learning with worldclass faculty.”

Martin graduated from Brookville High School near Lynchburg, Virginia in 1969 as valedictorian of her graduating class. As a student at the College, Martin studied English literature and was a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

After receiving her undergraduate degree, Martin acquired her Master of Arts in German literature from Middlebury Collegeʼs program in Mainz, Germany and her Ph.D. in German Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Martin has additionally received an honorary degree from the College during the 2012 Commencement ceremony.

After obtaining her Ph.D., Martin began her twodecade career in 1983 as a faculty member and an eventual provost at Cornell University, making her the first female provost of Cornell in her role as the chief academic officer and chief operating officer in 2000.

SAS director, Associate Dean of Students Kara Fifield discusses student-oriented vision

Each academic year brings many new faces to the community at the College of William and Mary. This fall, one of those new faces is Director of Student Accessibility Services and Associate Dean of Students Kara Fifield.

Fifield boasts a background in counseling psychology and previously aspired to be a therapist before pivoting to disability services while attending graduate school at Bethel University.

“When I was in graduate school, I did an internship in disability and I knew nothing at the time,” Fifield said. “It was something I was a bit nervous about, but when I started meeting with students every day, I knew this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing because I wasn’t getting paid and I loved it.”

Entering her 10th year working in higher education, Fi eld cited the unique age of college students as a motivator in her career.

“Because I have little kids, it’s hard to work with kids and come home to kids. So, when you have college students, there’s still that developmental stage from 18 to 22 that happens, which really excites me,” she said.

Following her internship, Fifield began working her way up the ladder, beginning as a graduate assistant. Upon graduating from Bethel University, the college created a position for her as a disability specialist. The following year, Fifield became interim director of Disability Services and served three years as director of the department. As director, Fifield oversaw a team of five.

“I think that’s one thing that is really unique about me is that I have done every sort of role in this field, and not everybody has,” she said.

Fifield recalled one of her favorite projects at Bethel, which was a program named “Compass.” The program matched students on the autism spectrum with peer mentors.

“We would do monthly outings together such as SkyZone, bowling or something else,” Fifield said. “That was something that was really important to me, that students not only get accommodations, but they start to develop social connections on campus because those students are not always ones that are going out.”

Following five years at Bethel, Fifield decided to look for new opportunities. She accepted a position at Lake Forest College in 2019 as the director of Disability Services. In this role, she had only one other colleague on her team.

Roughly a year and a half ago, Fifield began another national job search.

“I knew that I needed to keep growing in my career and there weren’t any opportunities at my last school to do that,” Fifield said.

She came across the open position at the College, and the opportunity to serve as both director of SAS and associate dean of students intrigued her. At the time, Fifield knew little about the College, but she said her visit to campus played a key role in accepting the position.

“I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t know much about William and Mary,” Fifield said. “I didn’t have a context of what the culture was like, but when I was on campus, I could just feel it. I took some time, I walked around campus, and I’m like, ‘I could see myself here.’ When I asked about the people, when I met the staff and asked how they were treated, it was so positive. That’s something that’s important to me, is to be somewhere that has a good culture for staff, because that’s not always the case.”

Coming to Williamsburg, Fifield also appreciated the smaller details of the College’s attitude towards SAS, particularly regarding the department’s name.

“That’s something I’m excited about here, too, is that it’s already ‘accessibility services,’ and I don’t need to make that change because that’s a big deal,“ Fifield said. ”There will always be a stigma about disabilities. With ‘accessibility services,’ that takes the burden off to know we’re here for access and want to make sure students get that support.”

At the College, Fifield plans to take a student-centered approach. She explained the importance of moving away from a medical model and more towards a social justice model.

“Instead of an intake appointment, I’m calling them ‘welcome meetings,’” Fifield said. “We want students to feel like we can have a conversation. It’s not just sit down, tell me what you need,

we’re going to actually talk together, get to know you and create a plan together. I want it to be a collaborative, interactive process.”

Fifield will oversee a larger staff of five team members within SAS. She discussed the importance of having a strong team dynamic.

”One of the biggest things for me is that as a team dynamic, people are cross-trained,” Fifield said. “That way, everybody knows how to do everyone else’s jobs, which is something that does not usually happen. I want to make sure that my staff knows what to do if someone is not there and they can help students as well. We also have our testing center that gets run out of the office and that takes a lot of time and support. It’s important to figure out what my team’s strengths are and what their interests are, so I want to keep developing that and help them move forward in their careers.”

Last year, SAS encountered difficulties with processing student requests and accommodations, leading to widespread calls for improvements. Fifield said she is aware of last year’s struggles and is entering into the job with open arms.

“I know last year was hard and I’m trying to be really sensitive towards that, but I also want to have a fresh start,” Fifield said. “The reason I was picked was the vision I have, which is really student focused. That’s something that I’ve always done, no matter what school I worked at, is making sure that there’s less red tape and students get what they need.”

In direct response to the struggles with wait times last year, Fifield is prioritizing cutting down wait times for accommodations. She noted that this is especially important over the next several weeks when SAS focuses much of their attention on sending accommodation letters out and ensuring students have the resources they need to begin the semester.

In line with her vision to put students first, Fifield has more immediate goals, as well as more long-term initiatives she hopes to implement. First, she detailed her plans to leverage the Student Advisory Council, which will consist of 10 students with disabilities that will meet with Fifield once a month to promote communication between students and the administration.

“We want to figure out what are the things they’re saying, get advice from them and make sure that we’re having student voices being heard,” Fifield said.

Additionally, Fifield hopes to leverage the student spaces in the SAS office within Sadler Center.

“We want to make sure students come here for more than just appointments,” Fifield said. “That’s something that’s important.”

When discussing her onboarding process, Fifield noted that she still needs to learn more about the College itself.

“I was picked because of my expertise,” Fifield said. “Coming here, I’m really sensitive to what happened before, but I’m also making sure students get what they need and are not waiting.”

Serving as both director of SAS and associate dean of students, Fifield juggles many responsibilities.

“My goal is really to support [Dean of Students] Stacey [Harris], to make sure she gets what she needs, because I’m part of her Dean’s Council, but I am also on the Care Team, too,” Fifield said. “I help out with those kinds of cases and concerns, so I’m looking at all students, but my main focus is students with disabilities and making sure that’s running well.”

Fifield said Harris’ extensive background in disability services is rare to find in the field, and she has relied on Harris as a support system in her first few weeks on the job.

While at the College, Fifield hopes to connect with students outside of her regular duties by attending community events.

“I want to be a part of the community and not just focus on students with disabilities,” Fifield said. “When I make decisions, I do focus on students with disabilities, but if we can do the universal model and it helps all students, then that’s great.”

In her free time, Fifield enjoys traveling. She lives in Williamsburg and has four children.

I think itʼs a fact that our culture and ethnicity and racial b ackgrounds influence the way that we live our lives, and the absence of that in tell ing our story is doing an injustice to that storytelling.

̶ Director of the Collegeʼs Asian American Student Initiative Diana Kim ʼ25

New

“I knew this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing”

JAKE FORBES // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR

RYAN GOODMAN /

Fifield first became interested in disability services after an internship during graduate school, slowly working her way up t o a director position.

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Muscarelle celebrates 40 years amid campus renovations

The anniversary comes as a key component of the Collegeʼs 2023-2024 Year of the Arts

EMMA

EDITOR

Monday, Aug. 21, the College of William and Mary’s Muscarelle Museum of Art launched an exhibit at the Williamsburg Regional Library’s Stryker Center to celebrate 40 years since the museum’s founding in 1983. e exhibit will be on display until Nov. 1, and explores the history, signi cance and origin of the Muscarelle starting over 300 years ago.

“Having such a long history with the Muscarelle personally, it means a lot to see the Museum still thriving in such a meaningful way,” Muscarelle Director of Collections and Exhibitions Melissa Parris wrote in an email to e Flat Hat. “I believe that every great university deserves a great university museum. With the 40th anniversary, we have the opportunity to re ect on the past, present and future.”

e Muscarelle’s 40th anniversary takes place alongside College President Katherine Rowe’s declaration of the 2023-2024 school year as the Year of the Arts, as well as a period of signi cant changes to the College’s campus, including the opening of a new music facility and the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall this fall. e Year of the Arts is spearheaded by a coordinating committee and focuses on arts education in the 21st century, while the faculty in the Arts and Sciences has a separate group who is also working to celebrate the arts.

“Arts and Sciences has been working on how to really put William and Mary on the map as a regional arts venue, given that we have these incredible new buildings and really, really creative, talented faculty and students,” Dean of Arts and Sciences Suzanne Raitt said. “So we have these two parallel e orts — a working group in Arts and Sciences and the Year of the Arts Working Group.”

ere will be a soft opening of PBK and the music facility on Sept. 9 featuring an inaugural performance by Leah Glenn, a Frances L. And Edwin L. Cummings professor of dance and Africana Studies, and her company, Leah Glenn Dance eatre. e event will include an open house and tours before the performance and a reception after.

e College’s planned Arts Quarter will also include the renovation to Andrews Hall and an expansion of the Muscarelle into the Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, which is slated to open in fall of 2024. According to the museum’s website, the expansion will triple the Muscarelle’s existing exhibition space and

CONSTRUCTION

include an event hall, seminar rooms, a courtyard, a large atrium and various storage and o ce spaces.

“I think having a really lively art scene and culture on campus is going to enhance the lives of any student who has any interest in it,” Raitt said.

“The arts are important to everybody, obviously, not just students, you know, imagination is what really makes us human and distinguishes us from other animals.”

those needs in the new building.”

Brashear mentioned that the Muscarelle has long been a champion of the visual arts in the state of Virginia, even functioning as the only art museum between Richmond and Hampton Roads at the time of its founding. e museum’s rst director, Glenn Lowry, Ph.D., now serves as the director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Lowry will attend the Muscarelle’s 40th anniversary dinner on Nov. 15 in the College’s Alumni House.

tentative placement in the new building. Upcoming exhibitions include a focus on Michaelangelo’s drawings for the Sistine Chapel in collaboration with the Vatican Museums to be presented in spring of 2025, an exhibit on the works of artist Lynne Drexler in fall of 2025 and later exhibits focused on African American still-life artists.

“Increasing our visibility will increase visitation and ultimately that will help us integrate more seamlessly into the curriculum but also into the life of the community,” Parris wrote. “We will also have increased space to work safely with museum collections, allowing greater access for faculty and students to view and study original works of art. Increased gallery spaces will enable us to have more of the collection on view as well as bring in traveling exhibitions.”

Brashear also voiced his belief that the expansion of the museum, along with the growing Arts Quarter, will increase visibility of the arts on campus.

“I think the arts have always been considered to be important to William and Mary,” Brashear said. “The expanded gallery space we’re going to have is going to allow us to do so many more things and quite frankly, simultaneously than we were ever able to do before.”

Brashear also mentioned that 14 student internships through the museum will be posted this fall. Hannah Saad ’24 currently acts as the Marketing and Events intern for the museum, and mentioned that she has been able to work with the museum’s first summer camp for kids and has done extensive research on the history of the Muscarelle for the 40th anniversary exhibit.

Muscarelle Director David Brashear has been involved with the Muscarelle since 1999, serving on the Muscarelle board of trustees for many years before being appointed interim director in January of 2019. In 2020, Brashear was o cially named director of the museum. Brashear will give a lecture on Oct. 10 in Tucker Hall eatre titled “Forward Vision: e Future of the Muscarelle Museum of Art.”

“To be engaged in an architectural project, like the expansion of the museum, has been really exciting for me — it’s something that ts really well with my personality and my skill set,” he said. “I have a deep, deep understanding of the needs that the institution has in terms of physical space and a good sense of how we have e ectively as a team decided to address all

As the museum prepares for this new chapter, Brashear emphasized the importance of using the new exhibit space and the opening celebrations in October to learn and re ect on the Muscarelle’s history. According to Brashear, the initial reaction to the exhibit has been positive.

“It is incredibly compelling, it’s really well done,” Brashear said. “It was a collective e ort by the sta , but it was designed primarily in the end by Julie Tucker, our marketing and events manager, who has incredible design skills. And it’s just an excellent exhibition. I think people are really going to like it.”

Brashear and Parris both discussed the museum’s potential to house more exhibits following its expansion, and mentioned upcoming exhibitions’

“It is important to celebrate the history of the Muscarelle because it gives us great insight into understanding the evolution of appreciation for the arts at W&M,” Saad wrote in an email to the Flat Hat. “The Museum has grown tremendously which is a testament to the emphasis that the College has put on dedicating resources to the arts. I am super excited for students to be able to use this space as a place to hang out, study, and appreciate the immense collection of art that W&M has!”

To Raitt, the expansions o er the College the opportunity to enhance the arts community and advance the technology of art facilities.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM

Inaugural production in renovated PBK Hall set for Sept. 9

Student, professional dancers to perform “Nine - A Tribute to the Little Rock Nine”

MOLLY PARKS FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Saturday, Sept. 9, the College of William and Mary will kick o the Year of e Arts by hosting a soft opening for the new Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall. e evening celebration will include the performance of “Nine - A Tribute to the Little Rock Nine” by the Leah Glenn Dance eatre, the inaugural production in the newly renovated performing arts building.

The kickoff will begin at 6:00 p.m. with an open house and public tours of the new PBK Memorial Hall. The performance of “Nine” will be from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the main theater, followed by a Q and A session. After the production, there will be a reception in the PBK atrium. The first 490 members of the public who arrive will gain entrance to the performance, per seating capacity.

Frances L. And Edwin L. Cummings Professor of Dance and Africana Studies at the College, Leah Glenn, is the founder and artistic director of the Leah Glenn Dance eatre. Student dancers

Historic

DANIEL KALISH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

e College of William and Mary is moving forward with a multi-million dollar and multi-year plan to renovate buildings on the Historic Campus, including the Sir Christopher Wren Building and the President’s House.

“ is amendment provides $4.9 million GF and $1.3 million NGF the rst year to support roof repairs, address water in ltration issues, and ongoing humidity control issues for the historic buildings at William and Mary. is brings total funding to $12.9 million GF and $1.3 million NGF for this purpose,” the proposed amendment to the Virginia state budget reads.

Construction on the Wren Building will begin after the 2023-2024 academic year concludes in order to limit disruption to existing classrooms

from the College and professional dancers from the company will perform together on stage during the production.

“

ey’ve been rehearsing all week and Leah tells me it’s just going incredibly well,” Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Suzanne Raitt said. “It’s just very

and o ces.

According to a press release from the College published on Aug. 8, the renovations are part of the university’s preparations for the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, which is expected to be a major tourist draw for Williamsburg. According to the press release, a 2022 Colonial Williamsburg assessment highlighted need for the renovations.

“An assessment conducted last year by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation identi ed issues vital to the structural integrity of both historic buildings,” the release reads.

Since the Virginia state legislature controls some of the College’s budget, funding for the renovation comes from budget requests and amendments.

“ e university originally submitted a budget request of $14.2 million for the full cost of

exciting to be the rst people to dance in a new space.”

Raitt noted the months-long preparation required for the production.

“We’ve been working towards this all year,” Raitt said. “A group of William and Mary students took a course in the Spring

the preservation work,” Chief Communications O cer Brian Whitson wrote in an email to e Flat Hat. “$8 million was included in the Governor’s proposed amendments to the 2022-2024 biennial budget in December, and both the House and Senate provided an additional $4.96.2M funding in their committee reports in February.”

However, the additional funding is held up in still-unresolved budget negotiations in Richmond. In a call with e Flat Hat on Aug. 14, State Sen. Tommy Norment’s Press Secretary Je Ryer said that it is still too early to tell when the budget amendments will be passed.

Norment is a sponsor of the budget amendment, which provides funding for the renovations. Norment was also appointed as a member of the College’s board of visitors by Governor

that was preparing them to get ready for the fall. ey were choreographing and trying out di erent things.

e soft opening precedes the later o cial ribbon cutting and building opening, which is scheduled for ursday Oct. 19, amidst the College’s 2023 Homecoming Weekend.

Glenn Youngkin in late June. However, due to a Code of Virginia statue preventing members of the Virginia General Assembly from serving on boards, commissions and councils administered by the executive branch, Norment will only start his term in January 2024.

“ e budget negotiations have gone on much longer than anyone could have anticipated,” Ryer said.

Nevertheless, the College is optimistic that the negotiations will be resolved soon.

“We anticipate resolution on the state budget in the coming weeks at which point we will know the level of state support for the historic campus preservation project,” Whitson wrote.

e College is also optimistic that the renovations will not negatively impact classes or offices in the

Wren Building.

“For the first time, we’re going to have state of the art facilities that we just haven’t had,” Raitt said. “I’ve been at William and Mary twenty-three years and I’ve seen incredible productions here, but I have not seen incredible buildings in which the productions were put on. We’re really looking to put William and Mary on the map as a regional arts venue. These are academic learning spaces, but also, equally, spaces for creation and experiencing and for outreach.”

According to Raitt, PBK Memorial Hall will be open to public productions, as well as student performances. The College also hopes the new arts infrastructure will encourage nonperforming arts major students to experience the world of production.

“Music and theater and dance touch the lives of far more students than those who are in the departments or those who declared dance or theater majors,” Raitt said. “We have hundreds of students who are working on productions, who are creating costumes, who are singing in the choirs.”

“Work at the Wren Building won’t begin until after the academic year, so we’ll be working on those details in the planning stage and work closely with anyone impacted once preservation work begins,” Whitson wrote.

e renovations have been a key priority of the administration and other College leaders in the past year. In the board of visitors’ April General Assembly Report pre-read, renovations were listed as a key legislative priority for the College.

Rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ‘74, P ‘02, ‘06 formed a committee in January 2023 which was charged with analyzing the preservation and safety on William and Mary’s Historic Campus, according to Poston’s letter to the members of the committee on January 12. Owen Williams ’23, a member of

the committee, told e Flat Hat that the group has been meeting since the Spring 2023 semester and as the renovations continue to be a top priority for the College.

“This is truly an exciting project for our university community,” Williams wrote in an email to The Flat Hat.

“As we approach 2026 and the nation’s 250th anniversary, Williamsburg and William & Mary are expected to play a significant role in our national celebrations as the birthplace of American democracy. This historic preservation initiative is a desperately needed project to provide updates to the safety, security and health and vitality of our historic campus buildings, which are the centerpiece of our ancient campus.”

campus renovations begin in anticipation for the nation’s 250th anniversary

The $14.2 million plan will make roof repairs, addresses other issues in the 300-year-old buildings

RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT

The Muscarelle Museum is currently undergoing a renovation to add gallery and classroom space set to be completed in 2025.

MOLLY PARKS / THE FLAT HAT

The performance of “ Nine - A Tribute to the Little Rock Nine” will be a soft launch for the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.

College addresses national discourse on affirmative action Students,

ursday, June 29, public and private higher education institutions across the country experienced a historic shift when the United States Supreme Court e ectively ended race-conscious a rmative action. Chief Justice John Roberts and the ve other conservative justices ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina that considering an applicant’s race as a factor in admissions violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI Civil Rights Act, reversing fty years of precedent.

In response to the landmark decision, College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe released a statement on June 30 that indicated the College was in the process of reviewing the opinion and potentially adjusting its “comprehensive selection process” with guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and Virginia state agencies. Rowe also emphasized the importance of diversity and inclusion to a ourishing College.

“ is week, we are asked to consider again, how students are recruited and who comes here,” Rowe wrote in the statement. “Within the law, William & Mary will remain intentional about recruiting the best and brightest students from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experiences.”

While the College has yet to announce any changes to its admissions practices, Director of News and Media Suzanne Clavet told e Flat Hat that the College will nalize any changes to its admissions practices following a board of visitors meeting in late September and prior to the College’s Early Decision I deadline on Nov. 1.

“William & Mary will continue to use a comprehensive admission strategy, including review of many components, such as strength of high school curriculum, GPA, personal essays and extracurricular activities as well as several optional elements, such as standardized test scores, teacher recommendations and interviews,” Clavet wrote in an email. “ is year we transitioned our optional essay component within the Common Application from a single, long-answer prompt to giving applicants the opportunity to answer up to two short-answer prompts from six options.

Our hope is this new format, and multiple options, will provide all applicants with better opportunities to share about their interests, experiences, talents, and communities.”

Clavet further con rmed that the College will fully comply with the ruling.

“In the past and aligned with prior Supreme Court decisions then in place, race was one of many factors that could be considered as part of a comprehensive application review process,” Clavet wrote. “Moving forward, an applicant’s race will not be included as part of the demographic information available to application reviewers during the admission process.”

With the College’s admissions practices in limbo as the administration evaluates how to proceed, students of color expressed concerns over the exclusion of race from consideration in the admissions process.

“I think that the perfect word to describe the feeling and reaction towards this ban is de nitely frustration and disappointment,” Diversity, Equity and Inclusion chair of the College’s Latin American Student Union, or LASU, Maria Areyan ’24 said. “And a setback, de nitely a setback.”

Areyan, a rst-generation college student, currently works to uphold LASU’s ve-year plan to create a diverse and welcoming environment for the club’s members. She says she is most concerned not about this upcoming school year, but the next one.

“I think we might see the e ects of this ban for next year, and it’s de nitely something that I can de nitely bring up within my committee and within my position within LASU,” Areyan said. “It’s something that we need to keep in mind and be proactive about so that we are not caught o guard next year [if] we see a decrease in minority group engagement — and representation, even — within William and Mary.”

Benjamin Boateng ’25, who works with the Center for Student Diversity and holds leadership positions in multicultural organizations like the Black Poets Society, similarly voiced fears about the next class of students to come to the College. According to Boateng, an already small population of students of color may dwindle even further due to the ruling.

“I would say William and Mary has a lot of work to do on the diversity forefront,” Boateng said. “Black individuals and People of Color make such

a low percentage of students, and if that continues to plateau or even go down, I would be worried for the Black students that do get accepted in the future and just the student populace in general.”

Dylan Abrokwa-Jassor ’24, a diversity fellow with the College’s government department and institute scholar with the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, shared a similar sentiment. Abrokwa-Jassor argued that taking away race-conscious admissions would negatively impact minority students and referred to past instances where ending a rmative action caused steep declines in the number of marginalized students on campus.

“I think that when you have a decrease in the size of the student population for certain marginalized people, that takes away from priority and budget fund allocation because it just becomes less of a priority if there’s less people who are going to be using that allotted resource,” Abrokwa-Jassor said. “I think in that way I was thinking about the school’s priorities, and [its protection of] marginalized people as-is is already soso, so I think that in the wake of this decision, it might be even more of a drastic indi erence towards our populations.”

Boateng expressed that the removal of race from the admissions process leaves out a critical aspect of an applicant’s identity. His younger brother, a junior in high school preparing to apply to college, is now unsure how to factor race into his upcoming college applications and essays and must face yet another barrier on top of standardized testing, academic achievement and extracurriculars.

“Whether I like it or not, my Black makes me who I am, and just kind of ignoring that through admissions takes away from my identity, and I feel like my place here at the College,” Boateng said.

Diana Kim ’25, the director of the College’s Asian American Student Initiative, or AASI, echoed Boateng’s sentiments and urged college admissions to continue seeking out and listening to applicants’ stories.

“I think it’s a fact that our culture and ethnicity and racial backgrounds in uence the way that we live our lives, and the absence of that in telling our story is doing an injustice to that storytelling,” Kim said.

like a big family:” College welcomes Class of 2027, transfer students

Orientation aides, new students share perspectives on orientation, decisions to attend the College

ABIGAIL CONNELLY FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR

The College of William and Mary is welcoming approximately 175 transfer students and 1630 freshman students in the Class of 2027. Upon arrival to campus, new students have undergone a comprehensive orientation process spanning five days of activities, lessons and group bonding. Orientation Aides on campus assist with the move-in and orientation after attending a lengthy training process.

“I was honestly longing to come back after summer just because my second family is at William and Mary and so many people that I met last year became OAs,” OA Kendyl George ’26 said. “It was really cool to go through training all together.”

During this year’s New Student Orientation process, OAs underwent a four-day preparation prior to new student move-in, a one day increase from last year. Freshmen and transfer students are also gaining an additional day of orientation.

e entire process has become a little bit longer this year,” OA Sophia Sickler ’25 said. “I guess that this year speci cally, there’s been some venue changes since Kaplan is under construction.”

With the expansion of orientation preparation, OA Megan Cressy ’25 felt that there was sufficient time to process the information covered in training sessions.

“We had more time to break and digest and had longer meal times,” Cressy said. “It didn’t feel rushed, it felt like we were able to process everything, which was good.”

Michael Culkin ’25 shared his thoughts on his second consecutive year of being an OA.

“It can be a really exhausting process, getting up early before everyone, staying later for staff time, but it’s definitely worth it trying to help the kids kind of reach out to new people,” Culkin said.

OAs also expressed their gratitude

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for Orientation Area Directors, who are accomplished undergraduate students that have previously been members of the College’s Orientation Staff. The OADs are hired to work alongside faculty and staff to plan and coordinate orientation programming for the following year’s New Student Orientation.

Culkin also reflected on the value of the relationships formed with both new students and upperclassmen.

“It’s kind of weird how you almost become best friends with the people you’re working with,” Culkin said. “I mean of course you’re bringing the freshmen class together, but it’s also kind of bringing upperclassmen together.”

For students joining the campus as freshmen or as transfer students, the orientation process offers a unique opportunity to learn about the campus layout and bond with other students. Through a coordinated series of lessons and group events, new students gain insight into the culture of campus, traditions and innovations associated with the College.

“ I feel like some of the things in orientation are definitely based on getting out of your comfort zone, so it’s definitely been a learning process for me, but I’ve learned a lot,” Anastasia Stoltz ’27 said. “The OAs have definitely been good at showing how welcoming [the College] is.”

Transfer student from Rappahannock Community College Bryce Fulford ’25 also reflected fondly on the orientation experience and his contentment with his orientation aides.

“The orientation experience so far has been excellent,” Fulford said. “Our OA’s have been fantastic in terms of showing us around campus and showing us unique opportunities on campus and stuff that we may not necessarily have seen on a traditional tour here. And just in terms of getting comfortable with the culture of William and Mary, orientation has been fantastic.”

Though the orientation process takes place over a series of multiple days, freshmen students indicated their gratitude for both coordinated events and free time to take on more independent activities and bond with fellow students.

“The OAs do a really good job of making it feel like summer camp,” Nick Kruzshak ’27 said. “The first few days are a really rigid schedule, and then they’re telling us that as the days progress, we’re gonna get more and more real, do what we’d like.”

Nicholas Hoelting ’27 indicated similar thoughts on the orientation process, taking note of fellow students progressively coming to admire the experience despite their initial anxieties.

“Of course, we have some lectures to learn, but we also have a lot of activities that are really good at making it natural for new people to interact with each other, which is not always a natural process,” Hoelting said. “I think even a lot of people who were kind of struggling or not looking forward to it at the start have kind of gradually come around.”

Though students have opportunities to bond with their orientation group, some freshmen and transfer students expressed desire to meet people outside of their initial arranged group. For freshmen students, orientation groupings are coordinated by subdivided sections of residence halls. Due to the arrangement of some residence halls on campus, certain sections of the buildings are designated samegender groupings.

“Getting to know people who aren’t just in our residence hall would be really nice, because we’ve got our [Resident Assistant] groups and our OA groups, which are essentially the same,” Neya Alper ’27 said. “It also threw me kind of for a loop when I found out they are same gender, same sex orientation groups, at least ours is just the way it worked out. Just having more opportunities

where you are essentially forced to make new friends from different areas around school.”

Freshmen and transfer students expressed collective satisfaction with their orientation experiences and shared reflections on their certainty to attend the College.

“It’s very cliche, but when you get onto the campus, you just get this feeling,” Stolz said. “That’s what I got with William and Mary, I toured twelve other schools and they just didn’t feel the same.”

Pearl Imbriale ’27 felt similarly to Stoltz, recalling her decision to attend the College after weighing other options.

“Logistically, I felt like it was the perfect size for me, had good academics and a beautiful campus,” Imbriale said. “ is is a really watered down statement, but the vibes were perfect for me. During my search, I looked at so many colleges, but I always went back to William and Mary.” For others, their introduction to the College was a long-anticipated process.

“I always wanted to go here, but it just didn’t work out at first,” transfer student from the University of Tennessee Megan Coppola ’26 said. “I finally got to come, and I just love this community. It’s like a big family. Everybody’s made me feel so welcome before. It’s like the prettiest campus I’ve ever seen. I also transferred for the smaller class sizes. At my old school, I just felt like a number.”

Transfer student from the University of Gettysburg Vanessa Broadrup ’25 shared similar perspectives, taking note of the characteristic qualities of students at the College.

“I’ve just always loved William and Mary — I grew up going to Colonial Williamsburg as a kid and I love the campus,” Broadrup said. “ ere’s a certain type of person that goes to William and Mary.

Rowe announces new working group to analyze the College’s fall in national rankings

Committee consults to address ranking options, attributes drop in rankings to recent changes in systemʼs methodology

Monday, Aug. 7, the College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe announced a new working group to lead the e ort to study and explore the College’s options in terms of rankings.

According to Senior Associate Vice President for Communications Brian Whitson, the group consists of students, faculty, sta , alumni and former board member representatives.

Rowe’s creation of the group comes after the board of visitors’ annual summer retreat in Washington, D.C., where Rowe discussed the issue of university rankings with board members. Since she took o ce in 2018, the College has dropped 13 places in rankings conducted by U.S. News and World Report.

e College’s Executive Leadership Team, also commonly referred to as

ELT, attributes the drop in the change in USNWR’s ranking methodology.

Following USNWR’s announcement of the 2022 rankings, when the College dropped three spots and ceased to be in the top 10 ranking for public universities, College spokesperson Erin Jay also attributed the drop in part to a change in methodology.

“We did see a slight drop in the U.S. News overall and public university rankings, which is a re ection of both the major changes in methodology the magazine implemented in recent years and the reality of nancial challenges the university faces,” Jay wrote in a press release in 2022. “W&M’s nancial resources rank among the lowest of all U.S. News top universities.”

Ahead of the board’s summer meeting, the ELT prepared a document titled “BOV Rankings Deep Dive” which states that USNWR’s ranking

formulas run against key commitments of the College.

“Beyond the laudable emphasis on social mobility, their formulas run against key commitments of this university: selectivity, our small class size, our commitment to efficiency and constrained spending relative to elite peers,” the document reads.

“Moreover, because rankings are a lagging indicator, retroactively factored on what happened last year, actions in response to them take at least a year to gain traction – during which time the methodology may change, as we have seen.”

e board and the ELT discussed the rankings in a meeting on Wednesday, July 26. According to the document, the ELT suggested to the board that, following consultation, it would have several options to proceed. “ e path forward is hard to discern

and we welcome consultation with the board,” the document further reads.

“Options include: withdrawing from the rankings to make a splash (despite lacking good information); taking negative news in September when it comes; preparing our community by asserting what we believe matters, though it may not count to USNWR.”

At the meeting, College Vice President for Strategy and Innovation

Jeremy P. Martin Ph.D. ’12, M.B.A ’17 emphasized that factors used by USNWR are changing and some no longer align with the College’s values.

College Vice President for University

Advancement Matthew T. Lambert ’99, who also serves as CEO of the William and Mary Foundation, noted that alumni care about outcomebased rankings such as alumni giving and internships. USNWR previously removed alumni giving from its

methodology earlier last May.

Board member Laura Keehner Rigas ’01 expressed her opposition to having the board vote on rankings altogether, preferring to delegate such a decision to Rowe. Fellow member J.E. Lincoln Saunders ’06 cautioned the board that should the College decide to withdraw, it should do so before USNWR releases its rankings in the fall.

However, following further discussion, Rector Charles E. Poston J.D. ’74, P ’02, ’06 and other board members agreed to charge Rowe with creating a working group to explore future options.

According to the group’s charge sent out by Rowe, Martin will lead the group, which will draft a formal statement conveying the best approach forward for the College.

faculty respond to historic end of race-concious affirmative action after Supreme Court decision

“It’s

PEERAWUT RUANGSAWASDI FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.

Welcome, Class of 2027

On August 31, the first day of classes — otherwise known as FDOC — commences, and with it, a new class of freshmen joins the student body. We here at The Flat Hat welcome you to the family. The class of 2027 has arrived amidst heavy campus evolution — everything from changes in campus dining to mass construction. We, The Flat Hat opinion editors, are going to do our best to offer some advice for incoming freshmen as well as clarify expectations.

The College of William and Mary has always been known for its beautiful campus, and it’s easy to see why. Intricate architecture, an abundance of lush foliage and a comforting atmosphere that reigns over all of Williamsburg. We recommend not just looking on campus for study spots; Colonial Williamsburg, just steps away from campus, has an abundance of cozy study spots. However, it is important to note that the campus has changed in quite a few ways over the past few years. One: construction is here, and it’s here to stay. The College’s Vision 2026 plan projects to change 80% of dorms and dining halls on campus by 2032, meaning new housing facilities will soon be built where freshman dorm Yates once stood, and large swathes of campus are closed off for the construction of a fourth Integrated Science Center building. While construction does mean progress in the future, for right now it is going to pervade much of everyday campus life. The construction has forced main routes on campus to be entirely blocked off, so be ready to get your steps in. A lot of steps.

Another topic we have to mention is freshman dorms. We all know about them, and we all (mostly) like them. However, there are some big drawbacks, especially if you are

unlucky enough to be in an older freshman dorm like Green and Gold Village, where small, sweaty rooms with cockroaches running amok create less than ideal living conditions. You’ve all heard about the lack of air conditioning in freshman halls, and by now you’ve (almost) all experienced it. At least there are some happy side effects to this: everyone will be forced into the air-conditioned lounges, which does lead to some good bonding time, and rooms cool off quickly with high-powered fans from Target. And then there are those of you who have been moved into what used to be upperclassmen dorms due to construction or were lucky enough to be placed into Lemon for non-medical reasons. Our only advice to you is to enjoy what the majority of your peers don’t have and soak up the A/C while it lasts.

Another big topic when it comes to the class of 2027 is the first year that the College will be switching its main food provider from Sodexo to Aramark. We join you in praying that this year will be an improvement on last year’s food (although we maintain that it wasn’t that bad, just way too repetitive). The best way to battle the food fatigue that will inevitably arise from rotating between only three on-campus dining halls is to just switch it up. Don’t eat the same thing every time. There will be a week (or two and a half, if we’re being honest) where you will love the pizza, and then, one day, you’ll show up, ready for another slice, and looking at the pizza counter will make you want to puke. Just spare yourself the pain, especially as new dining options like Column 15 and Starbucks are coming to campus. Too much of a good thing is never a good thing and all those other cliches.

Also, be wise with your dining dollars; $400 seems like a lot, but it goes fast — especially since Griffin Deals are a thing of the past. Hold onto those. You’re gonna need all you can get when

Here’s why our attendance policy needs to be changed

FLAT HAT Andy Fisher

policy also states that, per the College’s honor code, “a student’s explanation of class absence is expected to be truthful and therefore, should be sufficient in most instances.” Notably, the instances in which a student’s explanation is insufficient are not elaborated on.

you inevitably end up living off energy drinks and bags of chips during finals. The food at the College has always been a unique part about the entire experience, and we hope that a new era of quality has started.

So far, we’ve been going on and on about what you’re going to have to deal with as an incoming freshman — it’s a lot, but the same is true for any college or university. Amidst the negatives, there’s also so much to look forward to. We believe that the College offers one of the most inviting student communities around. It is constantly said during orientation that there is a place for you at the College, and we really believe so. Whether it’s through student-run organizations (like yours truly), Fraternity and Sorority Life, sports, faith, multicultural communities or music, you will find a group of people you connect with. It is one of the most rewarding parts about coming to the College.

We here at The Flat Hat invite the Class of 2027 to embrace the power of student media. The Flat Hat offers ways to let students say what they want and invoke the

STAFF COLUMN

freedom of the press. Every new year brings both good and bad changes, and it is important for students to be able to discuss those changes. That’s what publications and media are for: to give your voice a platform. So despite the problems that the College presents, it is up to us as students to make our community aware of our thoughts and feelings. Our opinions section is always open to new writers and guest submissions via email — we exist to let you express yourself to the fullest extent.

Welcome Class of 2027. We hope you find the things about the College that make you proud to be here.

MollieShiflett’26isanundecidedmajorwhowillprobably endupmajoringinHistory.SheplaysontheGoldWomen’s ClubSoccerteamfortheCollegeofWilliamandMaryandisan avidfanofmostsports—exceptgolf.EmailMollieatmrshiflett@ wm.edu. AviJoshi’26isaprospectiveEnglishandEducationmajor. HeisamemberoftheAlphaTauOmegafraternityandWind Ensemble.Helovestoplaydrumsandcook.Contacthimat asjoshi@wm.edu.

A note on student journalism

According to a recent study titled "Factors Associated With College Students’ Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic" published by John Hopkins, it is estimated that 31% of college students experienced generalized anxiety disorder while 41% experienced major depressive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before the pandemic, the frequency of mental health concerns such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder was increasing among college students, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says. According to the National Academies article, in 2018, 18% of students reported experiencing symptoms of MDD, whereas only 8% reported such experiences in 2007. The rise of mental health complications among college students is an urgent issue that must be addressed by the College of William and Mary community.

How can the College address this issue? National Academies suggests a holistic approach, in which all sectors of campus are involved. In this model, college administrations should set the tone for change. The sensibility of this approach is clear; students who felt supported by their institution during the pandemic experienced lower rates of both MDD and GAD. If our administration truly wants to set the tone for change, I propose amending the current attendance policy to be specific and inclusive of excused mental health days.

The current policy details that “except for reasonable cause,” students should be present at all regularly scheduled class meetings. However, it does not define what is considered a reasonable cause to miss class. The

This policy results in varying attendance rules among undergraduate courses, many of which are as vague as the blanket policy. This lack of clarity can make it hard to discern what professors consider to be reasonable causes for missing class and whether strained mental health falls under this category. Students in need of a mental health day are left with two options: falsely claim to have a physical illness or explain the situation honestly and risk being denied an excused absence. This situation is complicated further when professors require students to supply a doctor’s note when missing class. For these reasons, I find it imperative that the current policy be amended to more specifically and fully elaborate the reasonable causes for which a student can miss class, with one of the valid reasons for excused absence being mental health. I also believe that professors should not be allowed to require doctor’s notes for excused absences to make excused mental health days more accessible for everyone.

Let’s take a closer look at the symptoms of GAD and MDD to understand just how important mental health days are. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms of GAD include difficulty concentrating, restlessness, irritability, headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches, lightheadedness and difficulty breathing. Symptoms of depression include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, restlessness, headaches and digestive issues. Mental health struggles clearly impede students’ ability to come to class just as physical health struggles do, so students with MDD and GAD could greatly benefit from taking breaks from class when necessitated by their mental health.

Also significant here is the importance of attention and interest in learning. Educational psychologist William James notes the intricate relationship between attention, interest and the building of memory and associations. He regards these as essential components of the learning environment. If a student is struggling with their mental health, many of the symptoms they may experience — fatigue, difficulty concentrating or restlessness, for example — impede their attention and interest. Hence, a student in need of a mental health day is less likely to learn and retain

Wednesday, Aug. 30, the Class of 2027 will walk through the Sir Christopher Wren Building to celebrate the inception of their college experience. Current students at the College of William and Mary will line the centuries-old brick path running from the Wren corridor, welcoming the new members of the Tribe with open arms. The Alma Mater song will echo off the buildings throughout old campus, signifying the dawn of the 330th year for the College.

“Hark! the students’ voices swelling / Strong and true and clear,” the students will sing.

Strong and true and clear: words from the Alma Mater that also reflect the type of news produced by The Flat Hat. Through Stabilitas et Fides, the student journalists of The Flat Hat produce strong and true and clear news that swells all student voices. The Flat Hat lifts up student voices to create an authentic, inclusive and unfiltered picture of the College.

Why is our College’s tuition priced the way it is?

Why is our old freshman dorm being torn down?

What is the vision of the College, and how does it directly shape our futures? How can we find cultural or ideological groups that reflect our identities or beliefs?

Students deserve open and honest answers to these questions. Student workers deserve to hear their stories told. Student Assembly deserves an informed electorate. Student researchers deserve to know what projects are happening on campus. Student athletes deserve to have their game-winning goals, three-pointers and personal records recognized. The Flat Hat is here to help maintain a well informed campus population, breaking news that affects students, faculty and staff and the Williamsburg community.

Every community needs an independent newspaper that is by the people, and for the people. The Flat Hat has been this independent, grassroots newspaper since 1911. We work as unpaid student journalists to provide in-depth coverage on campus and local news, variety features, sport events and community opinions through written articles, data visualization and digital media. This paper would not be possible without the dedicated commitment of its over 70 staff members.

The Flat Hat is a written and digital record of critical events and topics affecting the College. This paper

course material, and as such, making them attend class often serves little to no purpose.

According to a Psychotherapy Networker article titled "Are Mental Health Days in Schools a Good Idea?", Psychotherapist Lynn Lyons argues that the benefits of mental health days are inconclusive. According to the article, Lyons advocates allocating resources for a comprehensive mental health program focused on “hiring more guidance counselors, mandating training on youth mental health for school staff, education for parents, a more effective referral system to local therapists, and targeted antibullying and suicide prevention programs” as a better solution. Though I do not disagree, I believe such a

chronicles the College’s history by students, for students. In addition to pictures of weekend trips to College Creek and souvenir tote bags from The Cheese Shop, College students will have old copies of The Flat Hat to help chronicle the good old days in 30 years.

Across the world, independent journalist voices are being repressed. In the United States, the prevalence of the phrase “fake news” is an existential threat to the nation’s foundational freedom of the press. Support for strong and true and clear independent news starts at the local level.

While attending the College as a student, faculty or staff member, please show your support for local news and student journalism. Our freethinking, autonomous student newspaper thrives with the consistent unwavering support of its readers.

If you support the production of a print newspaper with the aforementioned qualities, pick up a copy of The Flat Hat every other week from our newsstands around campus. You can find us in places like Chancellors Hall, Earl Gregg Swem Library and Aromas in Colonial Williamsburg. Read the paper online at flathatnews.com and issuu.com/theflathat. Follow us on social media @theflathat and listen to The Flat Hat Podcast on Spotify and Soundcloud. If you are interested in joining a newspaper staff with the aforementioned qualities, look into The Flat Hat Fall 2023 intern program by emailing our Operations Coordinator, flathat.operations@gmail.com.

So welcome Class of 2027, we at The Flat Hat look forward to bringing you weekly news to help commemorate your time on this inspiring, innovative and historic campus.

Stabilitas et Fides, Molly MollyParks’24isanEnglishandHistory doublemajorfromNewJersey. Mollyisthe113th Editor-in-Chief of the Flat Hat. Outside the Flat Hat MollyisinvolvedinclubtennisandsocialsororityKappaAlphaTheta.Mollylovestorun,write, drinkgreenteawithhoney,playwithherdog,and ispassionateabouttheimportanceofgrassroots journalism. EmailMollyatmmparks01@email. wm.edu.

program is the ultimate solution, not the first step. The first step in actively supporting students’ mental health is acknowledging that it is as important as physical health. The university wide policy that I suggest would accomplish this by treating physical and mental health absences equally.

READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM

AndyFisherisarisingsenioratWilliamandMary, majoringinmathandminoringinGermanStudies. Heworksasatutorforbothofthesesubjectsatthe WilliamandMaryTutorZone.Hehasablackcat namedRed,whohelpedhimeditthispiecebystealing hispen(severaltimes).Contactatapfisher@wm.edu

FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Molly Parks

GUEST COLUMN

GRAPHIC BY YELENA FLEMING / THE FLAT HAT

I am become Barbenheimer, lover of both movies

It’s been a long time since any movie has been able to grip audiences in the way that both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have. The COVID-19 pandemic made it feel as if the movie theater industry was dying. People could not go to the movies during the lockdown and after, the enthusiasm for theaters was incredibly low. Then, finally, along comes the announcement for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, set to be released on the same day. The dual opening feature dubbed ‘Barbenheimer’ exploded in popularity and finally got people to go to the movies. While I did not see both on the same day, both movies piqued my interest in different ways, and I’m going to do my best to explain why.

Much of “Oppenheimer”’s success is owed to the film’s director Christopher Nolan, who infused his signature stylistic choices throughout the film’s structure. The first half of the movie’s fast-paced editing commanded my attention even though at times I felt like I was watching a really long trailer. Though this editing style may have been harder to follow, it successfully engaged viewers, and the timing of certain scenes in conjunction with others was impeccable. However, this style does not continue through the entire experience. I only saw the movie once, so there might have been something I missed, but it really felt like at around halfway through the film, scenes became much longer, making the movie feel a bit longer than it actually was. I have conflicting opinions about this because on one hand, it irks the flow of the movie, but on the other hand, I didn’t feel myself losing interest in the film despite its length.

Besides the structure, the scenes in this movie were incredible. It never felt like there was one major plot twist; rather, the movie consisted of many plot curves. The decision to have some scenes in color and some in black and white also helped to emphasize the tone of certain scenes. For example, any scenes featuring Florence Pugh were filled with an overflowing tone of insanity mixed with horror, exemplifying the benefits of changing color palettes.

However, some production choices were not so great, which diminished the power of certain scenes. This is where some of the obvious complaints about the movie come about. My biggest issue — like many other people — was a lot of the time not being able to hear what characters were saying. It felt as if the actors were talking into mics plugged into toothbrushes that were tossed down the street, yet other times, the dialogue was clear. It just made an already complex plot that much harder to follow. And the soundtrack, while incredible and impactful, seriously needs to chill out. It never stopped, and I think some

STAFF COLUMN

Avi Joshi FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

scenes could have benefitted from no music at all.

I also found myself distracted by some of the casting decisions, though the lineup of actors and actresses in the movie were overall stellar. In particular, I think Josh Peck was a little weird for me just because of how much “Drake and Josh” I watched as a kid. In my head, the image of the nerdy and bombastic character from the Nickelodeon show being the guy who pushes the button for the test bomb just made me chuckle. The cast was still impressive, and it was clear that no matter how small a role people had, there was a lot of passion put into the making of the film.

Now let’s turn to Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which has been the most interesting in-theater experience I’ve had in a long time. Before the movie

messages in layers. I think it used feminism as a foundation for empowerment, and at no point did I feel lectured at. And yes, the movie is a comedy, but it’s a comedy that is able to not only entertain but also not invalidate its own platform. As Margot Robbie said in an interview with ABC, “It’s a comedy, but if you just call it a funny film you almost make it sound like it doesn’t have a lot going on.”

On top of being a good comedy, “Barbie” is genuinely a good movie. Scenes are filled with beautifully contrasted colors, and the soundtrack was perfect. It was clear how much the movie meant to both Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who shared great chemistry and passionate acting skills. I was never bored and remained charmed through the whole evening. If I was to name one of the few problems I have with the movie, it would be Will Ferrell’s character as Mattel’s CEO Ynon Kreiz. I’m not criticizing what his character represented, being one of the film’s many symbols of patriarchy, but at some point, he seemed to disappear from the movie. Gerwig could have done more with his character to make him a bigger part of the narrative.

even began, it was hard not to be entranced by the atmosphere the movie created. Mothers and daughters arrived wearing matching pink dresses, and even frat bros showed up in suits. In all honesty, it was fun to be part of the excitement of a movie again; it almost felt like a midnight premiere. I remained enchanted not only by the movie, but also the emotions running high in the entire audience — especially during America Ferrara’s impressive monologue towards the end of the movie, which deserved the applause it got in my theater.

From the perspective of a guy, I thought the film was able to be charming, funny and entertaining all while impressively presenting its themes and

Addressing the World Cup controversy

Mollie Shi ett FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

If you’re a soccer fan like I am, chances are that you have kept an eye on the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which wrapped up on Aug. 20. Spain beat England 1-0 to win its first ever World Cup, but it’s what happened after the final whistle that has everyone talking.

Spain has had more than its share of controversy over the course of its World Cup, with 12 capped players effectively being removed from the team before the start of the tournament due to the fact that they felt the coach Jorge Vilda had created a culture that had a detrimental effect on their “emotional state”, and they sent a letter to that effect, but he’s also not who we’re talking about right now.

For those of you who are aware of what happened, I apologize for the slow buildup, but I’ll get into it now. While the Spanish players were receiving their winner’s medals, Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Soccer Federation, grabbed midfielder/forward Jennifer Hermoso and kissed her in what was described by Spain’s Minister of Equality Irene Montero as a “form of sexual violence.” Later the Federation released a statement speaking for Hermoso, calling the incident “a mutual gesture.”

These sorts of actions, followed by an — admittedly awful — attempt to cover it up, or justify it, is a great example of all the things that are still wrong in the world of women’s sports. Now, I understand that this isn’t anything that any of you haven’t heard before, but as long as it continues to happen, and as long as environments are created where this sort of behavior is even remotely okay, someone has to continue to draw attention to it. The fact that a world champion, someone who has risen to the top of their craft, can be used and abused on live television is against everything we should be. This is just the latest — and most blatant — mistreatment that female athletes have had to deal with.

Every player, whether male or female, should be treated with the same amount of respect, but we live in a world where that respect is fundamentally lacking. And that disrespect comes in many different flavors. Just last year, Indiana’s Women’s basketball team, who at the time was ranked seventh in the nation, went to a tournament where they played Auburn in a hotel ballroom without bleachers for the fans or proper lighting. Or take the famous gym equipment controversy from the NCAA Basketball tournaments a few years back when male players were given a full weight room while the female players had six sets of dumbbells and a stationary bike.

There’s no quick or easy solution to this ingrained

inequality, but hopefully this incident will be a moment of change for what is now one of the best teams in the world. The United States had to face its own reckoning over the equal pay lawsuit that was filed by their soccer players; now it’s Spain’s turn. For there to be change, they have to listen to their players, and maybe that will only happen so that they can save face in front of an international community that has lost some respect for them, but at this point I’ll take anything.

The upside to this saga is that because of how public the violation was, FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales, but this is an organization that is known for being corrupt, so I’m not holding my breath that they’ll do the right thing all by themselves. And, given their previous actions in this case, I’m not holding out much hope for the Spanish Federation’s self-policing ability. They should be able to do what was right, but they haven’t so far. If they did, Rubiales would have been asked to resign immediately, and Vilda probably wouldn’t have been their coach for this World Cup (especially since he was caught on camera appearing to touch a female staff member inappropriately during the World Cup final), but no such luck.

When there is such long-lasting inequality, something drastic has to happen to force change. I can only hope that this makes people sit up and pay attention, and care at least for a little while.

Start small, watch a women’s sporting event and continue setting records for viewership like with this year’s Women’s World Cup. The more people watch, the more money it makes broadcasting companies, and the more likely they are to pay for the rights to competitions, in turn leading to more investment in the sport. The more people pay attention to something, the more it will start to matter. Or donate to foundations that are lobbying to create more gender equality in sports like Play it Forward Sport.

This is a large, complicated issue, and it is not going to be easy to solve, but if we start small and show that women’s sports are worth the time, attention and respect that they aren’t getting right now, we can build up enough momentum to where we can put women’s sports on par with men’s where it belongs.

MollieShiflett’26isanundecidedmajorwho willprobablyendupmajoringinHistory.She playsontheGoldWomen’sClubSoccerteamfor theCollegeofWilliamandMaryandisanavid fanofmostsports—exceptgolf.EmailMollieat mrshiflett@wm.edu.

Overall, Barbenheimer was a fantastic experience, and both movies have revealed something about the American public: its incredible lack of media literacy. I’m not trying to call people dumb, but the disappointing reality is that many people not only didn’t understand what either movie was trying to say, but also refused to look even a little bit deeper and use some of the skills we were taught in school to get something more real out of both movies. It really isn’t surprising the amount of people — and whether you like it or not, mostly men — who refused to see “Barbie” because they felt as if they were above it or that it was just women pontificating about their struggle. And when they did see “Barbie,” the point flew over their heads and straight into space. Ben Shapiro’s embarrassing condemnation of the whole film, which was filled with argumentative mistakes and literal false information, best exemplifies some of these toxic male perspectives. There were also countless people who didn’t like “Oppenheimer” because they cared more about the big thing that goes boom than the psychology of the maniac who made it possible. Ultimately, I’m interested in seeing the evolution of these movies in the public eye over the next few years. I can only hope more people will stop trying to only get pleasure out of the movies they see and start looking a little deeper.

“The Idol” seems like it was made to be talked about.

When the project was announced in April, and it was revealed that Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, and Lily Rose-Depp were the stars, it sent every Starboy fan and 2016 Tumblr user running to their keyboards. Everything about the show is so internetfriendly, especially the casting, which is stacked with chic and beautiful people: Troye Sivan, Jennie Kim, Rachel Sennot and Hari Knef, to name a few. Sam Levinson, the Emmy-nominated, parent-scaring writer/director of “Euphoria”, was pulled into the production, adding even more momentum. “The Idol” was all set up to be the buzzy, witty and sexy show of the summer. And then it wasn’t.

“The Idol” seems like it was made to be talked about.

So, let’s talk about it.

To put it simply: it’s just not very good. The premise of the story is that Rose-Depp’s Josslyn, a flailing child star turned pop singer, begins a relationship with Tesfaye’s Tedros, a skeezy club owner who leads an artistic cult. Any promise that this interesting idea had is negated by writing that is disjointed, unmotivated and mystifying without being at all interesting.

Despite the fact that a significant amount of the story is rooted in psychology, trauma, manipulation and abuse, all of our characters remain entirely onedimensional. We know our lead character Josslyn is sad — not because we understand anything about her — but because we can see her crying. Tedros delivers on the creep factor but is completely vacant of any of the magnetism or charm you would expect from someone capable of his level of manipulation and control. I understand that the show is about the outlandishness and depravity of the music industry, so I don’t expect the characters to be relatable or even believable. However, I expect them to at least feel like characters, and this they do not.

In promotions, “The Idol” was advertised as “the sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood.” Long, suggestive shots of Rose-Depp from ads promised us some goodold-fashioned small-screen raunch. On this front, it both delivered and did not.

Is there sex in “The Idol?”

Yes.

Is it sexy?

Absolutely not.

As the audience, we see a lot. We see Tedros slap Josslyn around and choke her with a bathrobe. We see him do this, and we see him do that, and honestly, after a while it gets kind of tiring. Josslyn’s sexual relationship with Tedros is supposed to be a key element of his manipulation of her; the “dark,” “twisted” and “freaky” places he takes her to are supposed to be critical to her art, her identity and her trauma, but it ends up feeling forced and exploitative. I’m sure there’s more I can say, but I don’t really care to say it. Creators of “The Idol” very obviously put a lot of weird sexual scenes in this show in order to make people talk about it, and I refuse to reward bad behavior.

A big problem with this show is that it feels like it spends five episodes talking, only for you to get to the end and realize it has nothing to say. It’s about fame and the abuse that celebrities are put through but fails to deliver on that narratively. It focuses on a strange and abusive relationship, and the strange and abusive sex that happens within that relationship but fails to say anything about either sex or relationships. The show’s ending is not only narratively weak, but it also undoes any commentary that the show attempts to make.

In an almost Freudian way, the problems with the show can be traced directly back to its development. Levinson was not the original director for the project — that seat belonged to Amy Seimetz, who has experience

Elizabeth Brady FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.

writing and directing tense, female-centered stories. According to Rolling Stone, Seimetz was hampered by budget restraints, tight timelines and profit expectations from HBO executives. Her replacement is speculated to be for a number of reasons: maybe HBO wanted a replica of “Euphoria” (which by season two had snared them over 16 million viewers), maybe Seimetz got fed up or maybe it was the fact that Tesfaye believed her vision to be too focused on the “female perspective” (because why would we want that in a story about a woman? I can’t think of a better creative team to tell a woman’s story than two men)!

Under Levinson’s direction, the vision for the project changed completely, and (similar to season two of “Euphoria”), sets became unruly, and rewrites became constant. It’s not hard to see how a scattered filming schedule and a chaotic set led to a show that feels as flimsy and unfocused as “The Idol” does.

The sad fact about Levinson is that the more I see from him, the less impressed I am. His work on the first season of “Euphoria” was an uncontested success, both visually and narratively, but season two ended up being a different story. Although the buzz and press from the first season made it a fun group-watch for the entire internet, the plot thinned significantly, rich characters flattened, and the visual tricks that worked so well in season one got a little stale. His work on “Malcolm and Marie” was even more of a letdown. Levinson enjoys making visuals, and he enjoys writing stories, but he’s not very good at writing characters — at least not ones whose experiences don’t directly reflect his.

Seimetz’s cut of “The Idol” is my personal Library of Alexandria. I was genuinely very excited to watch the show (I had an Instagram countdown and everything) and was really disappointed in the end result. There are pictures floating around on the internet from Seimetz-era set pieces that show the inside of a girl’s room stuffed with Josslyn paraphernalia, and I want to know so, so badly what a good version of the show is like.

There is a world where “The Idol” is everything it could’ve been: a sleek, smart and star-powered criticism of the music industry that populated mood boards and gave us the songs of the summer. However, we do not live in the world where “The Idol” is a good show; we live in this one, where the best version of it is still on the cutting room floor, the scripts are in wastebaskets and money is down the drain.

ElizabethBrady’25isapublicpolicymajorand anEnglishminor,andsheisamemberofAlphaChi Omega.Shelovesart,musicandmovies.Emailher ateabrady@wm.edu.

I’m disappointed in ‘The Idol’

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GUEST COLUMN

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TheWheel DEAl:

Skate Club president lands position as runner-up in Tony Hawkʼs national Skatepark Hero competition

On Thursday, July 20, voting for Tony Hawk’s Skatepark Hero contest came to an end. In an impressive feat of dedication and just a little bit of luck, Izzy Anderson ’25 finished in the final eight out of 55,000 contestants for a chance to skate with Hawk in San Diego as well as win a $10,000 cash prize.

Voting for the first round of the competition started on May 15, in which the top 20 skaters in each group were selected by the public. Anderson, the co-founder and president of the College of William and Mary’s brand new Skate Club, initially decided to join the competition to raise money to build a headquarters for the club in her backyard. The do-ityourself skate park would include a ramp and a free skateboard rental system open to all members.

Especially with the skate park nearest to the College slated for upcoming demolition according to the Triangle Skateboard Alliance, the space would be especially crucial for Anderson and her club’s members.

While the $10,000 would not have been enough to fund an official, large-scale skate park, even a smaller venue would have been beneficial for the College’s skate community.

“The goal is [to get] as many people on boards, as much as we can do with the space and within the law,” Anderson said.

The first half of the competition featured voting based on individually submitted profiles, and it involved five group-level elimination rounds until all but the top contestant from each randomly selected group remained. The second half of the competition included skate trick videos, and it ran from quarterfinals all the way to the last showdown.

“Every group winner had the ability to submit a clip of them skating to Tony Hawk. So no matter what

happens in the competition, Tony Hawk sees me skating, which is crazy,” Anderson said. “He could be watching me skate right now.”

In order to progress in the competition, Anderson took to social media every day — even despite the summer camp she worked in having poor reception. However, she said her surprising success made her efforts all worth it. She charged on, posting daily uploads of her skating and sharing posters as well as a t-shirt with the slogan “I want to meet Tony Hawk.”

“Everyone in my camp knew, my whole family knew,” Anderson said. “It became my identity a little, where I was like, ‘Go vote! Go crazy!’”

Supporters also had the option of making donations that would be converted to votes, and all proceeds would go to helping Hawk build skate parks in underprivileged areas. Anderson said she is glad to have contributed to such a cause.

Results came out on Friday, July 28, with Michael Manion from Southern Georgia taking the title of 2023 Skatepark Hero. Robert Zamora from New Mexico was also selected by Hawk himself as a separately dubbed Tony’s Pick. Anderson shared that although she finished in second place, she is thankful to everyone who voted for her and donated money to the Skatepark Project in her name.

“I will say I am disappointed just because I was so, so, so close, and it’s pretty raw right now, but the bright side is that we have established such a strong support network, and I feel insanely grateful for everyone that did something to help out,” Anderson said. “Being able to feel that amount of support in your life is not something I think everyone gets to experience, so I’m thankful for that, too.”

Anderson’s near win in the competition comes as a culmination of

years of skating. She experienced her first skate awakening after falling on a hill in the fifth grade while filming a video for a school project with friends, she says.

“That’s usually the reaction you’ll get from a big slam,” Anderson said. “It’s either ‘I quit skating altogether’ or ‘I’m going to go do that now.’…I was hooked, and the rest is history.”

Reflecting back on her journey, Anderson said that no matter what, she has already reaped the greatest reward just by the sheer act of skating. She voiced that the most valuable gift was already at her feet.

“I’m so grateful for skating,” Anderson said. “Because, man, when I think about skating, like with the Skate Club, with this competition, with the sport in general, it’s literally giving me everything that I love. Some of the best friends I’ve made in my whole life, I’ve made through skating, and some of the best memories have been through skateboarding... I just am so grateful for everything.”

Skate Club Vice President Evan Melnick ’26 expressed that he, in turn, is grateful to Anderson for putting her best foot forward into the Skate Hero competition. He recalled noticing Anderson’s commitment to the club from the moment she encouraged him to join its Snapchat group chat, all the way to this most recent effort.

“I think that what made it even cooler that she pushed through and made it happen is that it seems to other people who didn’t know about the competition that it’s just something she was trying to win. …” Melnick said. “… She dealt with that all in the pure spirit of just wanting to get more resources for the club … I’m just really happy that we have a leader of the club that puts the good of the members above her own pride.”

Like Melnick, Skate Club Secretary Helena Huber ’26 emphasized how thankful she is to Anderson, along with her co-founder Nora Wilson ’25, for continuing to build up the club.

“Izzy gave me a place,” Huber said. “I feel like I have a community, and I have my people, and she’s extremely welcoming even besides all of the skateboarding. She’s just a great friend … I’m really happy that she’s giving so many people a place because I feel like without that club, a lot of people would not have a community for sure.”

Melnick credits Skate Club’s strength as a community to its co-founders’ commitment to embracing skaters of all backgrounds. The club has even been affectionately nicknamed “Skate Club & Co.” because its numbers include everyone from first-time beginners to pros with years of experience.

“[Izzy and Nora] are very open to having new people in the Skate Club and all different types of people,” Melnick said. “So I ended up meeting a lot of people in different groups in the student body that I think I definitely would have never met if I wasn’t in the Skate Club. The energy that they bring to their social lives made it feel so much easier for me to meet people, not just with them … but just the way they lead by example in terms of talking to new people and having an open heart to strangers and other students. It made it feel like everyone wanted to build relationships at William and Mary. They showed me that when you put the energy out there, you kind of get it back.”

Anderson, along with Wilson, structured the club to have a dual focus on both athletics and social connections, making it attractive to students of all levels of interest and involvement. Members can find skating mentorships, play tricks-based games like the Game of Skate with

similarly skilled shredders or simply meet others interested in skate fashion and culture. Huber even says she has met international students from countries like China and Sudan while skating, proving just how diverse and welcoming the club strives to be under the watch of Anderson and Wilson.

Looking forward, Anderson and Huber both noted that the gender gap which exists in the world of skateboarding marks an ongoing area for improvement. Anderson received special words of support from other women for being the only female in the final eight contestants of the Skate Hero competition, and Huber recalled having a similar experience.

“Izzy and I were skating at Lincoln Memorial, and so many people came,” Huber said. “A lot of women, too, were like ‘Good job, I never see women skaters.’ It’s just a real qualm. I think a lot of young skaters, people who are going to win the Olympics soon, are going to be women and are women already, but it’s definitely male dominated.”

As the next academic year swings into action, Skate Club’s members plan to capitalize on the momentum Anderson has started in order to continue growing the club and fostering greater passions for skateboarding in Williamsburg, according to Melnick. A former diver, he encouraged those interested in skating to take the first leap into the deep end.

“I think definitely the most challenging thing in skating is probably getting started,” Melnick said. “For most people, that’s the hardest part. Once you start, you start to figure out what you have passion for and you have a reason to get back on the board and enjoy it.”

“Any person can pick up a board,” Huber reaffirmed. “Some people have boards that were found in a dumpster and some people have Walmart boards. It doesn’t matter, you can still skate.”

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COURTESY PHOTO /NORA HAEKEE

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ALL HANDS ON DECK

Poker Club goes all in on building knowledge, community through semiweekly games, meetings, beginner tutoring

MILES MORTIMER // FLAT HAT VARIETY EDITOR

there’s one winner left.”

According to some historians, the game of poker originated in the late 18th century in the United States. If this account is true, it would make the game one of the oldest in the nation. Therefore, it would only make sense that the College of William and Mary, one of the oldest academic institutions in America, would have a club dedicated to promoting and playing it.

The College’s Poker Club, which meets twice a week every Monday and Wednesday, is designed to be an outlet for experienced and novice poker players alike to play and learn about the famous card game. During most meetings, a series of games are played where club members are gradually eliminated until the players are whittled down to just ve; afterwards, the remaining club members compete amongst themselves to determine the winner for the day.

“People start trailing o because it’s a tournament style,” Poker Club President Taylor Ratts ’24 said. “So they trail o until there’s a nal table with the nal ve, and then until

The high-stakes elimination games, in tandem with the high-stakes nature of the game itself, often have the club lling the entire room with competing players. This popularity is further enhanced by the lack of mandatory organizational dues or rst-time entry fees, meaning the meetings are accessible to anyone interested.

“Everyone will get a stack of poker chips, we’ll ll the room, we’ll have a bunch of tables, and we will do a tournament,” Poker Club executive board member Ian Cobb ’24 said. “And if you lose your chips, you lose nothing because it’s for free.”

Due to the accessible nature of the Poker Club, many players, including novices and experienced players alike, attend the semiweekly meetings. The club works to accommodate the wants and needs of both groups, and as a result, anybody can participate in the games run by the organization, regardless of skill level.

“Some people get really into it and go to every single meeting,” Ratts said. “A lot of people, though, they just come to have fun.”

Despite the broad appeal of the Poker Club, the more skillful players still have a large incentive for winning. At the end of each meeting, the top five players who make it to the final table get points based on how well they did during the final game. This point system is continued throughout the semester, and earnings made from games involving small amounts of money are then distributed among the highest scoring members based on their rankings as prizes.

“At the end of every single meeting, the people who place in the top five get points, and at the end of the semester, the top five people with the most points across the entire club get a prize,” Zaven Masih ’26, a club member, explained.

In addition to the game of poker itself and the cash prizes the semester winners receive, one of the principal benefits of joining the organization is its opportunities for social

BEHIND BRICK WALLS

bonding. It’s common for brand new Poker Club members to walk in not just expanding their poker knowledge, but also their circle of friends.

“If you go, you could have a good time, and you could meet new people,” Cobb said. “And I think it’s a good social outlet too because there’s a lot of people who come to all the meetings because they’re competing for the cash prize, or they’re just there to unwind for a little bit.”

Masih further emphasized the deep social connections the Poker Club cultivates and creates.

“I’ve met multiple people there who I’ve done a lot of stuff outside the club with,” Masih said.

“So it’s just a great way to meet people.”

At the Poker Club, the social aspect of the club and the game itself often go hand in hand. For people who are coming to meetings with little or no experience, talking with and learning from more experienced players can bolster their knowledge and skill. This is something that rings especially true for Ratts, who despite currently being the president of the organization, initially joined with little familiarity of the game.

“In my first semester, I asked a lot of questions, and people were very receptive to those questions, and you wouldn’t be able to ask those questions during a real game,” Ratts said. “And for the first time I came, I think that was a moment for me.”

A priority for the club in the coming years is placing an emphasis on helping new players get acquainted with poker so that any student will be able to reap all of the benefits the organization can provide. Currently, the group is planning on expanding upon its designated beginners’ table that typically lasts for the first weeks of the semester.

“We have a table that’s set up for beginners or people who don’t know how to play the game, and we only hold that table for the first couple of weeks, but I want to hold that table for the entire semester,” Ratts said. “I think it’s important that we’re not just a club where we play the

game, but we teach people, and that’s one of the main things we do.”

This focus is embraced by both the executive board members and regular members of the organization.

“This is to teach beginners and welcome people into the game,” Cobb echoed. “That’s something that we want to emphasize.”

Regardless of the skill levels of the different members, the frequency of when members come to meetings and the new changes the organization seeks to implement, one priority has remained constant: above all else, have fun. The club’s penchant for being a gratifying way to unwind after a long day not only brings new members in, but also encourages returning members to come back.

“[Poker] can seem really stressful and seem intense, but at the end of the day, the club is meant for people to enjoy themselves and socialize,” Masih said.

PBK Hall and... the Music Building?

A deep dive into the collegeʼs new Arts Quarter, its challenges, architecture, bizzare name

“What’s Obama’s last name?” is a classic meme. Amusingly, some people were genuinely not aware that the answer lies in the question itself. Right now, a similar inquiry is being posed by many in the student body: “What’s the name of the ‘Music Building?’” Well, folks, the name is quite literally “Music Building.”

After over a decade of planning and construction, the College of William and Mary finally will begin using the new Arts Quarter this fall. The newly-renovated venue houses the Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, commonly referred to as PBK, which is named after the academic honor society founded right here at the College in 1776.

Its other part, however, currently lacks a unique name.

According to the College’s donation website, William and Mary Giving, the College is offering an opportunity for donors to donate $15,000,000 to rename the building. Those looking for cheaper things to have named after them could go for something such as a PBK Tool Room, which only costs $25,000.

But until then, people taking Conducting I with associate professor and Director of Orchestras David Grandis will have to contend with their class being located in Music 116.

“Regarding a name for the new building, it would be great if the donor was actually requesting a famous composer’s name rather than his own,” Grandis wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “I have nothing against the ‘John Doe Building for the Performing Arts,’ but it’s a bit of an ego trip and not as inspiring as Beethoven or, since this is the U.S., the Copland, Bernstein etc...performing center, for example.”

Regardless, many student performers, like William and Mary Choir Member Sailor Miao ’24, are excited to utilize the new facilities. Many in the Choir, or Kwah as it’s often colloquially called, know that the opening of the buildings will provide a plethora of opportunities to the organization.

“I am very excited for the opening of the Arts Quarter. Like many friends in the W&M Kwah before me, we didn’t have a set location for our performances because of space restraints,” Miao wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “With the installment of the PBK Hall, Kwah now has a permanent home with high quality equipment. All of us can now enjoy each other’s company without being squeezed together in Ewell Hall. I can’t wait to sing with everyone!”

President of the Barksdale Treble Chorus Chloe Jones ’25 expressed similar sentiments regarding the new bene ts the two buildings will provide.

“We are beyond EXCITED to have the new Arts Quarter because it will not only allow us to build community within our group, but also between our ensemble, with W&M, and the

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greater Williamsburg community,” Jones wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “With the opening of the new Arts Quarter, we will be able to have a more localized location for concerts and performances, which hopefully will allow more students to come watch us sing!”

Jones said the group spent the last year performing at o -campus venues such as the Williamsburg Presbyterian and Bruton Parish Episcopal Churches, respectively, due to space constraints in Ewell Hall. While the chorus remains grateful to these organizations, Jones noted the spaces had limited seating and were not as accessible to many students on campus.

However, the new venue does not come without its own criticism.

with sustainability. Co-Chair of the Committee of Sustainability, class of 1938 professor and Faculty Director of the Institute for Integrative Conservation John Swaddle says there is room for improvement for the venue, especially when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of local birds. In an email to The Flat Hat and on social media, Swaddle expressed concerns with the large number of bird collisions that have occurred with the building’s windows, detailing how the building’s design could prove dangerous for local wildlife.

“Some of the large, south-facing windows on the new Arts Quarter have a striping pattern but, unfortunately, it was installed on the internal (i.e., indoor) surface of the glass. Research conducted

architect Dan Pisaniello had detailed efforts to accommodate birds that may frequent the area.

“So one of the features of the window is that you’ll see this kind of frit on them, which does two things,” Pisaniello said. “One is because we’re facing south, it’ll help cut down some glare…so [that] you can see these big beautiful windows. But the other is we’re really sensitive to our local birds.”

Though the College’s implementation of the wildlife safety measures may not have been up to Swaddle’s par, Swaddle acknowledged there has been progress in addressing these problems. He says that he has been in touch with the College and has been appointed to the Design Review Board, which he was not a member of during the review process for the Arts Quarter.

“The good news is that we can solve this conservation issue,” Swaddle wrote. “We know how to tweak the appearance of glass surfaces so that they are safer for birds.”

Looking ahead, there are already many events planned in the new facilities. Two shows by comedian Patton Oswalt ’91 HON ’23 are slated to take place on Monday, Oct. 23 as part of the College’s Year of the Arts celebration. Grandis even laid out plans to collaborate with the William and Mary Choir for the orchestra’s inaugural session.

“Our inaugural season will include Beethoven’s 9th symphony, Fauré’s Requiem with the WM choir, a historical concert on the works of Max d’Ollone, a contemporary of Ravel…A descendant of the composer will be in attendance,” Grandis wrote. “We’ll also propose some crowd pleasers: Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, 1812 overture and John Williams’ Star Wars Suite.”

Grandis said he anticipates that he will begin his classes in the new space as soon as the semester begins. Other courses in the music department also relocated to the Music Building while Theatre and Dance Department classes will be held in PBK.

While the wait has been long, it is nally over. Many hope that the new space will enrich the College’s performing arts community.

“The old PBK (as well as the new hall in PBK) are not suitable for a symphony orchestra as their acoustic is meant to project spoken dialogs, actor’s voices,” Grandis wrote, stating that while a longer and deeper hall would be more suitable for an orchestra, it would be awful for theater.

Still, Grandis hopes that the acoustic will be one that allows the arts at the College to thrive. A proper acoustic, Grandis says, is vital for an orchestra to reach a balance: a blend of sound that is partly the responsibility of the conductor and partly the surrounding acoustics.

Additionally, criticism of elements of the building are not just limited to the music department, but also extend to faculty concerned

by students at W&M indicates that this won’t help much as the stripes will not disrupt the re ection on the windows,” Swaddle wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “This observation tells us that we need better communication between the scientists providing this evidence and the decision makers approving building plans on campus.”

While Swaddle says he is delighted for the Arts Quarter, noting its bene ts to the student body, faculty, sta and the community, he points to the need for more communication among planners, given the existing aws of the implementation of bird safety measures. During an exclusive tour of the Arts Quarter with The Flat Hat this past May, university

“In any case, one can say that the wait has been long since...1693,” Grandis wrote. “The new building looks ok from outside but is actually much better inside. This is a very exciting moment in WM history, and I hope it will entice students to rekindle their musical endeavors and join our classes and ensembles.”

Swaddle similarly echoed Grandis’ hopes of a bright future ahead.

“It’s wonderful for faculty, staff, and students to have modern teaching, practice, studio and performance spaces,” Swaddle wrote. “The performing arts enriches our lives, and I am glad the state and university are supporting the arts with these new buildings.”

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COURTESY PHOTO / NOAH FALK

GRAPHIC BY YELENA FLEMING / THE FLAT HAT

sports

Women’s soccer continues undefeated start to season

Sophomore Ivey Crain adds to hot streak with 89ʼ goal in tie against VCU

ELLIOTT LEE CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

Sunday, Aug. 27, William and Mary women’s soccer (2-0-2, 0-0 CAA) tied Virginia Commonwealth (1-2-1, 0-0 A10) 1-1 at Martin Family Stadium in Williamsburg, Va.

Zoe Doughty into a save in the 33rd minute. Having lined up in an unfamiliar 4-1-4-1 lineup to match their opponents, William and Mary struggled to find any rhythm during the first half.

It took until the 59th minute for the home side to register its first shot and the 63rd for a shot on goal. Junior forward Leah Iglesias worked a cross to sophomore forward Ivey Crain in the center of the box, but VCU junior goalkeeper Allison Karpovich managed to collect the subsequent shot easily. However, William and Mary continued to generate chances, tallying three more shots over the next 20 minutes.

Persistent William and Mary pressure paid off in the 87th minute, when the Tribe equalized on a Crain score. After winning the ball off senior VCU defender Margot Nezaj, Tribe senior defender Ginny Delacruz lobbed a hopeful ball over the Rams backline. Crain reached the ball first and struck a half-volley over Karpovich just inside the box to level the score at 1-1. This goal marks the 2022 Coastal Athletic Association Freshman of the Year’s third in four regular season games.

The equalizer seemed to further boost the Tribe momentum, as Iglesias and freshman midfielder Lindsay Wilson took a pair of shots inside the final two minutes. Following the match, head coach Julie Shackford recognized Crain’s ability to impact a game when it matters.

The Tribe entered Sunday’s home-opener with three consecutive shut-outs at the beginning of a season for the first time since 2011. However, VCU was not phased and scored inside of nine minutes. Redshirt senior midfielder Anna Bagley served a corner to the head of sophomore forward Kendyl Sarver at the back post, who redirected the cross into the goal to give VCU a 1-0 lead.

VCU continued to dominate offensive opportunities in the first half, outshooting the Tribe 5-0 and forcing fifth-year goalkeeper

“She could go 89 minutes and then win the game for you,” Shackford said. “You can’t put a price tag on that.”

Shackford also highlighted the performance of sophomore defender Leila Greene, who was unbeatable in the right-back role, noting how she came off the bench to add defensive solidity and help the Tribe stay in VCU’s side of the field for most of the second half.

Sunday’s draw means the Tribe have extended their unbeaten streak to four, the best start to a season since 2017.

The Tribe returns to action at home on Thursday, Aug. 31, facing George Mason in a 7 p.m. kickoff. Crain expressed a desire to capitalize on the current hot streak.

“I think we’re going to be super fired up, really wanting to get that win again. [We] definitely want to stay undefeated,” Crain said. “I think especially with tying VCU, we’re going to go in with a bunch of momentum trying to get this win.”

Tribe drop season opener in hard-fought game against James Madison

Graduate student Lauren Curran records impressive 13 shots in loss to Dukes, 4-2

EDITOR

Friday, Aug. 25, William and Mary field hockey (0-1) fell to James Madison (1-1) 4-2 in the team’s season opener at Busch Field in Williamsburg, Va.

The Dukes wasted no time in the opening minutes of the game, launching an offensive attack off a Tribe turnover that ended with a goal by senior midfielder/forward Mia Julian. The assist on the goal came from Dukes senior forward Tori Carawan.

The remainder of the first half became a battle of the defenses as neither team added any goals to the scoreboard. However, the Tribe recorded six shots on goal and had six penalty corners in the period, an encouraging sign going into the second half.

Shortly after the halftime break, Carawan widened the Dukes’ lead with an unassisted goal at the 31 minute, seven second mark. Later in the quarter, freshman defender Azul Covarrubias tacked on another goal off a penalty corner to increase James Madison’s lead to 3-0. Julian and senior midfielder/

MENʼS SOCCER

defender Carissa Tambroni received credit for the assist.

After going 38 minutes without a goal, Tribe

senior midfielder Jayden Moon responded to Covarrubias’ goal with a score of her own just 15 seconds later.

Covarrubias sealed the deal with her second goal for the Dukes in the 54th minute, with Julian and Tambroni both receiving credit for the assist again.

A late Tribe goal from graduate student midfielder/forward Lauren Curran off a penalty corner assisted by Moon proved to be too little too late, resulting in a Tribe loss of 4-2.

Though the home team struggled to get the ball in the goal, the game’s stat line was encouraging for the Tribe. William and Mary held a 24-10 advantage in shots, including 18 shots on goal. Additionally, the Tribe had 11 penalty corners, compared to three for the Dukes.

Moon was efficient on offense, putting both her shots on goal, scoring one and recording an assist. Curran led the Tribe charge on offense, recording 13 shots, including 10 on goal. Curran’s performance marks the second most shots by an individual in school history and the most for a Colonial Athletic Association Player since 2017.

William and Mary will travel to Winston-

Men’s soccer completes erce comeback, defeats Binghamton 2-1

Graduate midfielder Alfredo Bozalongo scores 72ʼ penalty kick to seal season opener win

Thursday, Aug. 24, William and Mary men’s soccer (1-1) fought back from behind and defeated Binghamton (0-1) 2-1 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in Williamsburg, Va.

Thursday night’s win began the Tribe’s season on the right foot as they look to bounce back in 2023, following the team’s first round loss in the Coastal Athletic Association tournament in 2022.

Hosting the Bearcats for the first time in over a year, the Tribe looked to jump out to a hot start and play aggressively on its home turf. The Bearcats, however, put up quite the fight.

Binghamton scored the game’s first goal in the 27th minute after junior forward Mael Lopes cleaned up a rebound just outside the Tribe box. Tribe graduate student keeper

Cole McNally managed to save Bearcat graduate student midfielder

Jack Green’s shot moments before, but Lopes found himself at the right place at the right time and secured an early lead for Binghamton with his first goal of the year.

Twelve minutes later, the Tribe equalized. Freshman midfielder

Gabe Ruitenberg connected with senior midfielder Augie Cooper on a perfectly placed corner kick to score his first collegiate goal with a header to knot the score at 1-1.

The game settled down for the remainder of the half and continued to be evenly matched

early in the second.

In the 72nd minute, a Bearcat foul in its own box gave the Tribe an opportunity for a game-sealing penalty kick. Graduate student midfielder Alfredo Bozalongo stepped up to take the kick for the Tribe, beating the Bearcat keeper with a clinical shot into the bottom right corner of the net. Bozalongo, who has started 52 of his 53 career games for William and Mary, scored his eighth career goal and put the team on top 2-1 with less than 20 minutes left to play.

The Bearcats failed to respond, and as the game came to a close in the 90th minute, the Tribe earned themselves a hard-fought win in their season opener at home.

Overall, the match favored William and Mary in almost every offensive statistic. The Tribe put more shots on goal (9-6), had a higher percentage of possession (59% to 41%) and had double the corner kick opportunities (8-4) than their opponent.

Despite dropping their next game to Coastal Carolina 2-1, the Tribe will try to maintain their earlyseason momentum rolling as they travel to Hamilton, New York to take on Colgate on Friday, Sept. 1.

Womenʼs soccer tied against VCU with sophomore forward Ivey Crain scoring the all-important goal to maintain the teamʼs undefeated start to t he season.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Despite a strong showing by the Tribe, the team was unable to overcome the early 3-0 lead put up by James Madison.

- Sophomore forward Ivey Crain

I think we’re going to be super red up, really wanting to get that win again. [We] de ntely want to stay undefeated.

sports

Soccer preview: teams rely on o -season recruitment, veteran presence

Programs look to bounce back from early exits in last yearʼs CAA playoffs

ELLIOTT LEE FLAT HAT SPORTS WRITER

With a mix of strong off-season recruiting, team depth and experience, William and Mary fans have much to look forward to for the 2023 men’s and women’s soccer seasons.

Women’s soccer head coach Julie Shackford said she is impressed by the depth of her squad this year. The Tribe retained all 15 players who earned a point in the 2022 season, including the reigning Coastal Athletic Association Freshman of the Year, sophomore forward Ivey Crain. Last year she led the team with 17 goals, and Crain has already bagged four more in the team’s first five games of the 2023 season.

the eye, playing up as a forward on top of her listed center back role. Widderich scored 112 goals in her high school career, with 50 coming in her senior year.

Junior forward Leah Iglesias joins the Tribe as a transfer from reigning CAA champions Hofstra. The New York native appeared in 20 games over the last two seasons with the Pride, including ten combined starts. Iglesias hit the ground running with the Tribe, scoring the game-winner against Richmond last Thursday.

The women’s team posted a 7-8-4 (3-3-3 CAA) record in 2022, booking a spot to the CAA tournament as the no. 7 seed. They bowed out in the first round following a 2-1 defeat to future semifinalists Drexel.

While women’s soccer retained a large percentage of its squad, the men’s program lost star players Alexander Levengood ‘23, Diba Nwegbo ‘23 and Nathan Messer ‘23 over the summer. They were responsible for a combined 57% of William and Mary’s goals last season, leaving head coach Chris Norris with a tough replacement job.

tournament as the no. 6 seed. However, the Tribe fell to eventual champions Hofstra in the first round.

Tribe fans are optimistic for both teams this season, with the women’s squad boasting an undefeated start to the season through four games for the first time since 2017, including three straight shutouts. The team opened their first two games in Philadelphia against Temple and St. Joseph’s Universities, earning a 4-0 and 0-0 result respectively. The Tribe then defeated Richmond 1-0 away before drawing Virginia Commonwealth University at home, 1-1. During this stretch, sophomore defender Nora Green-Orset was named CAA Defender of the Week. Having been a reserve player last season, she has started all four games this season as both a center back and holding midfielder. Women’s soccer will feature at home on Thursday, Aug. 31 against George Mason at 1 p.m. Fans can attend the game at Martin Family Stadium or watch the live stream on FloSports.

The Tribe started its season with a 2-1 comeback win against Binghamton. Over the next two weeks, the Green and Gold will continue out-o f conference games until they take on CAA opponent Delaware on Sep. 9th.

Fifth-year midfielder Jillian O’Toole and senior defenders Ginny Delacruz and Nicole Sellers were mainstays of the squad last season and are expected to play a prominent role for the Tribe again. Fifthyear goalkeeper Zoe Doughty will likely battle junior goalkeeper Morgan Wood for the starting spot once again, though Doughty has historically edged out her competition for the coach’s nod. Also rejoining the squad is junior midfielder Abby Mills, who was unable to play the last two seasons due to an ankle injury.

Though there are many veterans leading the roster, Shackford added an array of new faces to the team this offseason. Freshman defender Molly Widderich is proving to be more versatile than meets

Luckily, the Tribe can count on a number of incoming players to help boost its attack, most notably graduate student forward Merlin Luke-Miny. The New Zealand native played for hometown club Wellington Olympic Association Football Club earlier this year, helping lead the Central League outfit to a first place finish in the regular season with four goals and an assist. Additionally, freshman midfielder Aidan Morrison’s arrival to Williamsburg has been highly anticipated, having played with United Soccer League, League One’s Charlotte Independence prior to his arrival to William and Mary. He backed up his preseason hype with an efficient performance in last Thursday’s season opener against Binghamton, tallying three shots on target out of four total attempts.

While many of his attackers might be new, Norris’ midfield contains several key returning players, including graduate student midfielder Alfredo Bozalongo and senior midfielders Augie Cooper and Daniel Salom. The players shined in their season debut against Binghamton, with Cooper and Bozalongo scoring in the 2-1 victory.

Senior defender Cole Knapp headlines an experienced backline, which includes transfer graduate student goalkeeper Cole McNally. The former Wake Forest goalie spent four years in Winston-Salem and earned his first Tribe start on Thursday.

Last year, the men’s team ended the regular season with a 5-75 (3-3-3 CAA) record, which was enough to qualify for the CAA

Men’s soccer also opened the regular season with a victory, earning a 2-1 comeback victory against Binghamton at Martin Family Stadium on Thursday. Freshman midfielder Gabe Ruitenberg assisted Cooper’s goal from a corner kick, despite only playing 13 minutes. The team will play next on Monday, Aug. 28 away at Coastal Carolina. Tribe fans can watch the match on ESPN+, with kickoff slated for 4 p.m.

Womenʼs soccer has yet to lose through four games in the 2023 season, beginning 2-0-2 in out-of-conference play. The team faces their first CAA opponent next week.

Tribe football: What to expect in 2023 following last year’s CAA championship

Team hopes to build on last yearʼs record setting season, bring home CAA title again

Coming off one of the greatest seasons in William and Mary history, Tribe football is hungry to build upon its success. With 15 returning starters, strong leadership from head coach Mike London and a season opener on the horizon — Tribe football is back.

Last season, William and Mary tied a school record with 11 wins, advancing to the National Collegiate Athletics Association quarterfinals. Several team members received recognition for their role in the team’s success. Former offensive lineman Colby Sorsdal ’22 was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 National Football League draft to the Detroit Lions. Coach London, now entering his fifth season for the Tribe, was a finalist for the 2022 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year after leading the Tribe to a Colonial Athletic Association Championship.

“Our key focuses have been consistency and finishing,” junior wide receiver Josh Guilford said. “We believe that these were the two qualities that could have led to an even better season last year. You can have all the talent in the world, but without consistency and the mental and physical discipline to finish, you can never truly reach your goals.”

With a team returning 15 starters, experience and leadership are key factors for the team’s success. The Tribe brought back much talent, including junior outside linebacker John Pius, who was recently selected to the 2024 Senior Bowl Watchlist. Senior cornerback Ryan Poole is a captain for the team and will lead a strong defensive backfield, with standouts like senior safety Marcus Barnes and sophomore cornerback Jalen Jones. Senior linebackers Kevin Jarrell and Isaiah Jones are returning for their sixth

years, providing further leadership as team captains. Three of William and Mary’s top receivers from last season, juniors DreSean Kendrick, JT Mayo and Tyler Rose return, with starting quarterback junior Darius Wilson anchoring the roster in his third season for the Tribe.

With so many returners, there is a strong sense of comradery and chemistry within the team.

“This team’s chemistry is probably the best I’ve ever been a part of,” Guilford said. “We all know each other well on and off the field. It’s easy to play for your brother knowing he’s had your back for three plus years.”

Guilford also emphasized the value of the Tribe coaching staff.

“To this day, I still get goosebumps from some of coach London’s speeches to the team,” Guilford said. “He’s assembled a great coaching staff who want to see everyone on the team be a better player on the field, and better men off the field. The coaching staff is full of former players who understand what it’s like being a student-athlete and what it takes to play at this level, so it makes it easier playing for coaches who share that same fire and desire.”

Following months of offseason training, the Tribe have their eyes set on its week one

matchup against Campbell.

“It all starts with the first game against Campbell,” Guilford said. “We concentrate on doing everything we can to ensure the team goes 1-0 every week.”

William and Mary is set to face Campbell on Thursday, August 31 at Barker Lane Stadium in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

Ryan Poole: Senior corner looks to continue impressive Tribe career in 2023

Tribe defender earned All-CAA First Team honors during junior campaign last season

With the football season right around the corner, senior cornerback Ryan Poole looks to continue his impressive collegiate career for the Tribe on the team’s hunt for its second straight CAA title.

Poole, who redshirted his freshman year in 2018, has been one of the Tribe’s elite defenders for the last few seasons. In his sophomore year, Poole was named a member of the All-CAA Third Team, ranked fourth in his conference in forced fumbles (three) and accumulated 59 tackles, enough for second most on the Tribe’s defense.

In his junior year, Poole elevated his game to an even higher level. On top of starting each of the 10 games he appeared in, Poole was named to the All-CAA First Team. Most importantly, Poole played his best in some of the Green and Gold’s biggest games. In their win against Gardener-Webb in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Poole had four tackles, an interception and three pass breakups. Additionally, in the Tribe’s regular season matchup against Stony Brook, Poole recorded six tackles, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss and pass break up en route to one of the team’s six road wins. Poole has also earned CAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor

Roll accolades every season since his freshman year. With the team’s first game coming up this Thursday against Campbell and Poole’s leadership in the backfield, Tribe fans have plenty to look forward to from this years’ football team.

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MAX GRILL FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

The Green and Gold have been practicing for weeks in preparation for the teamʼs first game against Campbell.

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS

Coach London led the Tribe to a record-tying season last year, winning 11 regular season games before winning CAA title.