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JOSEPH WEHMEYER // FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC. EDITOR

Richard S. Perles Professor of Government Paula Pickering was ini tially hesitant to move foreign policy to the front of her Russian and Post-Soviet Politics syllabus in the Spring 2022 semester. But, as signs of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine grew, Pickering felt she had no other choice but to restructure the course in response to the events.

“I was following things in December and January very closely,” Pickering said. “I believe it’s important to understand the historical, domestic, political, social and economic context of Russia in order to then understand foreign policy and security policy.”

Of all the departments and programs at the College of William and Mary, perhaps none has felt the impact of world events over the past year more than the Russian and Post-Soviet Studies program.

“I remember the night very distinctly,” former Rus sian House Co-President Kathryn Webb ’23 said. “We were all sitting in one of the Hardy [Hall] lounges with our friends who lived in the Russian House, but also from the general department. We just kind of sat there for a while. Nobody really talked.” Professors and students alike acknowledge the particularly di cult experiences for those with rela tives in Ukraine, Russia or both. Many have had to bal ance academics with the emotional toll of processing these events and supporting the community around.

Yasha Barth ’24 and former Russian House Co-President Daniella Marx ’24, both RPSS majors, are deeply involved in the program’s community. Marx highlighted the RPSS communi ty as a protective and welcoming space to support fellow students.

“While it’s been emotionally di ed us and made us stronger than usual,” Barth said.

Students and faculty also acknowledged that some com munity members have experienced unprovoked hostil ity and discriminatory remarks for having Russian ancestry.

“Even people who don’t have family [there], it’s upsetting to see the brutality,” Pickering said. “People who study Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, who are learning holistically the lan guage, culture, politics, economics, they want to be studying there. All of a sudden, that dramatically changed their possibilities.”

Nevertheless, discourse between the RPSS communi ty has remained respectful and somber in light of the war.

“I think moving forward, we’ve been very introspective into how the department approaches the Soviet legacy,” Webb said.

On February 27, 2022, RPSS faculty released a statement strongly condemning the war and pledging support for Ukraine. Many faculty members frame the current war in Ukraine not as a con ict that began in 2022, but rather, one that has been ongoing for nearly a decade. “It started during the [Russian] annexation of Crimea in 2014,” associate professor of Russian and Post-Soviet Studies Alexander “Sasha” Prokhorov said. “ e war has been happening for all those years.”

In March 2022, the Russian House organized a Ukrainian Solidarity event in partnership with the Rainbow Coalition and Student Assembly representatives where community members could demonstrate collective unity and sorrow. e RPSS program continues to sponsor events and maintains awareness about the war. Recent speakers at the Col-

CAMPUS

Russo-Ukrainian war

lege include New York Times Moscow Correspondent Valerie Hopkins ’09, Geospatial Intelligence Team Lead and Russia analyst at the stitute for the Study of War George Barros ’19 and U.S Army Colonel (Ret.) Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, a senior member of the recently-created Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine.

e war in Ukraine sparked innovative data science research and collaboration between the RPSS program and other campus communities, including the Modern Languages, Film and Media Studies, Gender Sexuality and one third of students’ nal projects concern the war in Ukraine.

“Since the war, we’ve tried to incorporate more lms outside a speci cally Russian ethnic context,” said Marx. “Having more variety and post-Soviet and post-communist narratives.” Barth is also president of the recently renamed Melodia Eastern European Instrument and Vocal Ensemble, formerly known as the Russian Music Ensemble.

“Music goes beyond political spheres,” Barth said. “Our ensemble is not making any political statements but is using music to show o what each country is about and show that we can unite through music to overcome di culties.” e war also prompted the relocation of the College’s Russian language and culture summer study abroad program from St. Petersburg, Russia to Vilnius, Lithuania. After canceling the program due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, the program was postponed once again in 2022 after the invasion began.

“When the war started, everything froze,” associate professor of History and Global Studies Maria Cristina Galmarini, the faculty leader of the program, said. “It was impossible because of issues of visas and safety.” While many other universities in the United States relocated similar programs to countries like Latvia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. However, the College received a Project Global cer grant from the Department of Defense in 2021, which sponsors nationwide critical language education and overis grant established ties between the College and the European Humanities University in Lithuania and National Central University in Taiwan.

Both programs are set to have their inaugural sessions this summer should the security situation remain stable. Senior lecturer of Russian Language and Culture Bella Ginzbursky-Blum will lead the Project GO Russian Language program in the states, and Prokhorov will oversee the program internationally. For the College’s civilian program, the Russian language component will remain similar, but the cultural focus will shift. During the original study abroad program, a course taught in St. Petersburg would require students to select and research the history behind a site of memory in the city.

“Now, of course, I cannot keep doing that,” Galmarini said. “Instead, I will teach a course on the relations between Russia and the Baltics.” e RPSS community has also made impacts o -campus.

Ongoing student projects include analyzing speeches by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian troll activity on Twitter and comparing Spotify downloads between Russia and neighboring countries. Beyond the classroom, student researchers at the College are applying the e ects of the war to their own work. e Geospatial Evaluation and Observation Lab conducted research analyzing the environmental impact of armed con ict in Ukraine, and the Exodus Project researched the challenges of LGBTQ+ Ukrainian refugees.

Since the start of the war last spring, students in related organizations have fostered greater inclusions. Barth and Marx are both leading sta members of the student-run RPSS lm series, which presents ve to six lms each semester.

Prokhorova, Prokhorov, Ginzbursky-Blum and Assistant Director of the Studio for Teaching and Learning Innovation Mike Blum raised $3,500 for Salam Lab, a non-governmental organization in Krakow, Poland, which helps resettle Ukrainian refugees.

In January 2023, Prokhorov and his daughter visited Krakow for 10 days to deliver funds and goods, as well as volunteer at Salam Lab and another non-governmental organization, Soup for Ukraine, to provide food for refugees.

“It was a very rewarding experience,” Prokhorov said. “But what was also very heartbreaking was to see how many displaced people are in the area. And they all need living space and food.” Prokhorov noted the emotional toll of the trip. “ e ow is steady unfortunately,” Prokhorov said. ey keep bombing, people keep on arriving. It’s heartbreaking. It doesn’t go away. It makes me cry.”

Williamsburg Police apprehend one suspect in shooting on Scotland Street

MOLLY PARKS FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Sunday, March 19, The Williamsburg Police Department responded to a shooting on the 700 block of Scotland Street at approximately 1:54 a.m. According to the Williamsburg Police Department’s press release, the officers found three people wounded on the scene. Although the shooting occurred in close proximity to the College of William and Mary campus, no students were injured.

“Upon arrival, officers found three people who had been shot, a 25-year-old male, and two 24- year-old males. Williamsburg Fire units responded and transported the victims to Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News. All three victims are expected to survive,” the Williamsburg Police Department said in the press release.

The Williamsburg Police Department arrested 21-year-old Alvin Lapenze Jackson Jr. in York County at approximately 10:00 a.m. on Sunday in connection with the shooting. How - ever, the investigation remains ongoing.

“Jackson was charged with nine felonies that include two counts of aggravated malicious wounding; one count of malicious wounding; three counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony; and three counts of shooting of a firearm in a public place causing injury,” a City of Williamsburg news release responding to the arrest reads.

The College’s emergency TribeAlert system sent three notifications to students with updates on the incident. The original TribeAlert notification was sent Sunday at 3:34 a.m., informing students of the initial shooting. The second alert came at 7:35 a.m., updating the community that no students were injured, the area was clear and the Williamsburg Police Department investigation was still ongoing. The final TribeAlert notification at 10:58 a.m. contained the Williamsburg Police Department press release.

Sunday at 9:52 p.m., Co-Chairs of the College’s Emergency Management Team Ginger

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Ambler ’88, Ph.D. ’06 and Deborah Cheesebro, WMPD Chief of Police and AVP for Public Safety, sent an email to the College community. The Emergency Management Team Co-Chairs informed students of the College’s decision to increase WMPD patrolling of the campus perimeter near the area of the shooting for the remainder of the school year.

“Though this terrible incident occurred off campus, it is distressing to the entire William & Mary community given its proximity to our campus, to a residence hall and to establishments especially popular among students,” Ambler and Cheesebro wrote in the email.

“Out of an abundance of caution William & Mary Police have established increased patrols on the campus perimeter in the vicinity of Scotland Street and Richmond Road. These increased deterrence measures will continue on weekends through the end of the school year to ensure safety and to reassure students, families and other W&M community members.”

Cheesebro wrote in an email to The Flat Hat that ensuring campus and community

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“The safety of our campus and community members is the number one priority of every officer in the William & Mary Police Department. We understand how concerning events like the incident that occurred Sunday morning can be, and we want to do all we can to ensure that the members of this community not only are safe but also feel safe when they are on campus,” Cheesebro said.

This shooting is the second to occur on the 700 block of Scotland Street this semester. Jan. 25, a shooting occurred at approximately 12:47 a.m. The Williamsburg Police Department immediately identified and apprehended Michael Trenton Rusk, a 24-year-old male resident of James City County, as the shooter. The wounded victim was not a student of the College.

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