news insight
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“Thereʼs
so much learning, growth and adaptation thatʼs happening. Development is occurring sometimes in really rich and positive ways, but it may be tough for others to see.”
̶ Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness Dr. Chris Renjilian
Friday, Aug. 22, Raymond A. “Chip” Mason ʼ59, L.H.D. ʼ98 passed away at the age of 88. The College of William and Maryʼs Mason business school was named after Mason. Mason was the founder, chairman and CEO of the Baltimore-based investment firm Legg Mason. When he stepped down from his position in 2007, Legg Mason managed over $800 billion in assets.
During his years as a student at the College, Mason was a brother in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and worked for a tour boat in historic Jamestown. Mason was an impressive and well-respected leader in the Baltimore finance community. According to the Baltimore Banner, Legg Mason was one of the most prominent employers in the city, earning Mason the title “Mr. Baltimore.” Mason further grew his business exponentially through strategic mergers that maintained the independence of the acquired companies. His philanthropic dedication to the College helped its school of business develop national prominence. He was not only essential to the foundation of the school in the 1960s, but he also served on the Business School Foundation Board and continuously engaged with the campus community throughout his life.
Shalom Akolatse ’26 re ects on research, leadership opportunities, aspirations in graduate research
Akolatse
Shalom Akolatse ’26, 1693 Scholar and double major in math and chemistry, has found ways to connect with nearly every corner of the College of William & Mary. From lab research to poetry writing to welcoming new students on campus, his journey reflects both the importance of curiosity and community.
Akolatse first heard of the College years before he applied. As a military kid who spent part of his childhood in Williamsburg, the College was on his list from the very beginning. When he was offered the prestigious 1693 scholarship, the decision became clear.
The 1693 scholarship brings together a small, close-knit cohort of eight students per year. For Akolatse, the community it created was as valuable as the academic opportunities it offered.
T HE F LAT H AT
ʻSTABILITAS
“I had seven new friends in my year, essentially, that I came in with, and I think that was a really good starting point for my social life as well,” Akolatse said.
Akolatse reflected that the 1693 scholar community made the transition into college less intimidating while also giving him a strong network of peers and role models to look up to.
“There are a lot of people around, like the people above me, and honestly, in the years below me, who I really respect and I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from,” Akolatse said. “The people in my year are very, very cool. I think it’s been one of the best things that happened to me, really.”
Beyond the 1693 program, Akolatse has sought out opportunities that shaped his college experience in unexpected ways. Last year, encouraged by a close friend and fellow 1693 Scholar, he became an Orientation Aide.
“I love Orientation, honestly,” he said. “It’s such a fun time and you just get to give your all as being a part of the Tribe, and it’s one of the most rewarding experiences.”
He was also a member of the executive board of the Black Poets Society, last serving as the organization’s co-editor-in-chief. The experience pushed him to develop new skills that would set him up for success in his future academic research endeavors.
“Honestly, I think doing that was a good setup for my research in that I was not as prepared for that role as I could have been,” he said. “I think there were a lot of moments in there where I needed to get organized and consistent.”
Looking back, Akolatse emphasized that what stood out most was not just the leadership responsibilities but the sense of belonging that came with the role.
“What was fundamental about that role, and I
think something that I want to carry on to graduate school and onwards, is being a part of a community that really motivates me,” Akolatse said.
Inside the lab, Akolatse’s interests have shifted since he first arrived on campus. Originally on the pre-medicine track, he joined Associate Professor of Chemistry Tyler K. Meldrum’s lab, where he investigates material structures using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
In time, Akolatse fell in love with the research process, particularly his work with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This bacterium can cause serious infections, which eventually led him to reconsider his career path.
“I started here as a pre-med, and after a different research experience last summer, I realized I didn’t actually want to really go to med school,” Akolatse said.
In Meldrum’s lab, Akolatse studies how P. aeruginosa forms biofilms — dense, threedimensional bacterial communities that attach to surfaces. These structures not only make infections harder to treat but also raise questions about how microscopic systems organize and function.
For Akolatse, mentorship has been a central part of his research journey. He describes his relationship with Meldrum as one rooted in respect and independence, qualities that have pushed him to grow as both a student and researcher.
“He’s very big on independence, and every time I ask him a question, he oftentimes is asking me, ‘Well, what do you think?’” Akolatse said. “He’ll help me explore the options, but I think at the end of the day he is really invested in helping me develop as a researcher.”
Akolatse also noted the importance of the collaborative environment inside the lab. Earlier this summer, he undertook a coding project to improve data analysis systems for his research project. He found it very helpful to connect with the other students in the lab to discuss possible methodologies to accomplish his goal. While every student works on their own projects, Akolatse appreciated the support he received from the other students in his lab.
“We’re definitely very collaborative, even though we are focusing on our independent projects,” he said.
The common thread across Akolatse’s experiences has been the people around him. Whether through the 1693 program, student organizations or his work in the lab, he has found communities that both challenge and motivate him — experiences he will carry with him to what comes next.
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MONA GARIMELLA / FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR
MOLLY MARTIN // FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
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Akolatse, a rising senior studying math and chemistry, researches 3-D bacterial communities under Professor Tyler Meldrum at the College.
Business School Patron Raymond A. “Chip” Mason ʻ59, L.H.D. ʻ98 dies late August
School of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics introduces AI minor
New AI minor strives to teach students technical expertise whil e addressing ethical concerns
CLARE GIFFORD FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.
This fall, the College of William and Mary is offering an interdisciplinary artificial intelligence minor designed to give students technical expertise while addressing the ethical and social concerns of this evolving technology. This new minor is part of the College’s School of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics, which launched in July under the leadership of Douglas C. Schmidt ’84, M.A. ’86. The inaugural Dean of the School of CDSP, Schmidt, is also an acclaimed computer scientist, author and two-time College alumnus.
The School of CDSP will be located in ISC 4 — the newly constructed extension of the Integrated Science Center — with five different departments: Applied Science, Computer Science, Data Science, Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Until now, AI’s acknowledgment on campus was largely limited to professors including personal policies in their syllabi, following recommendations from the College’s Studio for Teaching and Learning Innovation.
Provost Peggy Agouris praised the minor for its alignment with the College’s 2025 initiative on education and innovation.
“This new AI minor and all the related courses in CDSP build on William & Mary’s tradition of inquiry and action while serving society ethically and responsibly,” Agouris wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “They bring together cutting-edge research and the breadth of the liberal arts and sciences, keeping the human perspective at the center of innovation.”
Schmidt, whose family has been connected to the College for over a century, received his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Arts degrees in Sociology from the College before earning his Master’s of Science and Doctorate in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.
Before becoming Dean, Schmidt served as the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation for the U.S. Secretary of Defense. He has also held several roles at Vanderbilt University, where he published extensively in computer science.
Schmidt continuously emphasizes that technical education must be balanced with critical thinking and reasoning in the School of CDSP’s curriculum. His goal is to foster what he calls “augmented intelligence” in graduates, meaning the combination of a strong understanding of AI with the critical thinking skills found in a liberal arts education.
“The curriculum is designed to give students a couple of things: technical fluency and also the critical thinking perspective
BOARD OF VISITORS
for how to use AI wisely,” Schmidt said. “It’s not just to know how to use it, but you have to know when to use it and when not to use it.”
Tucker Peters ’28, president and founder of the W&M AI club, views augmented intelligence as an incredibly useful skill for students to take with them upon leaving the College.
“I encourage W&M students to think about how [AI] can turn your dreams into reality, or how it can teach you concepts you have only dreamed of learning,” Peters wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “This will ensure that students are better protected in an evolving AI-centered workforce and will make their résumés, no matter what major or minor they pursue, more bulletproof.”
The AI minor requires 19 credit hours: four core courses — Introduction to Programming, Discrete Structures of Computer Science, Research Design and Statistics and Applied Machine Learning — in addition to two electives from a restricted list.
While none of the class titles explicitly mention ethics, Schmidt explained that social and ethical issues will be woven into the curriculum of every course.
“More than just focusing on how to teach people to build a system or use a tool to do something, we want to focus on our students building systems that will serve humanity, serve society, and that, of course, requires addressing things like privacy, equity and ethics,” Schmidt said.
Course syllabi will also be updated frequently to keep pace with the technology’s rapid evolution.
An AI major and an entire department are in the works, but a minor offered the fastest way to bring AI education to the College. Majors require approval from both the Board of Visitors and the Virginia State Council on Higher Education.
In the meantime, Schmidt encourages students outside the School of CDSP to take on this minor, emphasizing their role in bringing more diverse perspectives to technical fields.
“[Non-CDSP majors] are going to bring in cultural issues, human issues, and ethical issues, of course, and the technical fields desperately need that kind of focus…so what we’re really doing is creating a minor that is not intended for our majors,” Schmidt said.
Those still skeptical of AI are encouraged to enroll in a course, too. The School of CDSP underscores that AI cannot replace human creativity, but it can complement it by handling some of the more mundane tasks that occur between creation.
“People begin to realize that [AI]’s actually empowering because it allows them to offload a lot of tedious and mundane
and boring things, and then leave them more time to do the fun stuff, the human stuff, the creative stuff,” Schmidt said.
Peters echoed this sentiment. He challenged skeptics to try using AI and see if it can help them like it helps him — with studying, exploring new interests or finding information on lesser-known topics.
“I use it all the time to study, create practice tests for myself and dig into complex internal questions,” Peters said.
As AI is becoming increasingly embedded into the workforce the School of CDSP and the College aim to teach students how to use this technology as effectively and ethically as possible.
“We are responsible for helping students become good stewards of things that will make them have more effective careers,” Schmidt said.
For more information on the College’s AI policies and resources, visit the College’s AI website.
Board of Visitors summer session covers strategic planning, Rowe’s goals
2026 will be ʻYear of Civic Leadership,ʼ College finalizes Vision 2026 initiatives before reaccreditation
BELMAR
SAM
AND ALEXANDRA NAKAMITSU THE FLAT HAT
Tuesday, July 22 to Thursday, July 24, the College of William and Mary’s board of visitors held a summer retreat at the Washington Center to discuss strategic planning for the 2025-26 academic year, the campus comprehensive plan and higher education policy changes affecting the College. While the board did not convene in its traditional eight-committee format, the full board remained together for the entire retreat, covering each committee’s business throughout sessions including fiduciary overviews, institutional strategy and emerging topics in higher education and campus development.
As the five-year strategic plan, Vision 2026, comes to a close this year, College President Katherine Rowe and board members have underscored the execution of long-standing initiatives, including current housing and dining projects, the Workday enterprise software platform and United States semiquincentennial celebrations.
Rowe emphasized delivery on these initiatives to secure reaccreditation in 2026 from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Wednesday, July 23, Rowe presented her core institutional goals for the next two academic years, which she says will help the College reach “national preeminence” and advance its Vision 2026 framework enacted in 2022. She emphasized that over a dozen operational priorities can be categorized under the umbrella of “maintaining strategic excellence” amid federal policy shake-ups.
Rowe addressed the wider state of uncertainty enveloping higher education in 2025, comparing the College’s need for institutional resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic while also advocating for an “evergreen” strategic plan that stays relevant as external factors change.
“My goals for the year are focused on executing these projects really well at a time of high uncertainty and a relatively low control philosophy,” Rowe said.
Rowe highlighted the implementation of Workday, the College’s new enterprise software platform, as a central strategic focus of the next year. Starting Tuesday, July 1, Workday replaced some of Banner’s functionalities related to finance and human resources with the launch of its website and mobile application. Rowe anticipates that the move to Workday, which the College has been developing in partnership with Huron Consulting Services since 2023, will be a major logistical simplification for students and faculty.
“Onboarding a new faculty staff member
involves signing into eight different systems,” Rowe said. “You had to remember and use eight different platforms, now it’s one. That’s hours of human time.”
Rowe then outlined a framework created for the board by Adjunct Lecturer of Economics Peter Atwater, the Atwater Confidence Map, which she said will help the College navigate scenarios according to their level of risk and control. Concerning strategic planning in the current higher education policy landscape, board member AnnaMaria DeSalva ‘90 addressed Rowe on the need for careful risk assessment, stressing the Board’s role in anticipating risk factors before they affect the College.
“The bigger point that you’re making intersects with the notion of risk in general,” DeSalva said. “I think what you’re saying is this is a high-stakes leg of what we’re doing. You have outlined some of the risks, but just an observation might be that this board may want to or need to help management stare into the risks, and that is part of our job as a board.”
Rowe touched on the board’s unique role in foreseeing external factors affecting the College due to their role as a decision-making body not enveloped in everyday affairs.
“I’ve learned from prior board members that one of the most important functions of the board is thinking outside of everyone’s head, outside William and Mary’s bubble, looking to the horizon,” Rowe said. “But the views that we have, the goals that we give, a lot of them need horizon standards in a way that those of us who are driving the operational work often cannot.”
Later that day, the board split into breakout groups by committee to cover financial execution for the upcoming fiscal year. Following these discussions, the full board reconvened to consider changes to tuition ahead of their next tuition decision in the spring of 2026. Several members of the board expressed concern over the College’s reputation for being the most expensive public institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia, even after voting to keep costs steady for five consecutive years.
“After we held tuition at zero increase for five years, we were the highest public institution in tuition before we started doing that, and after five years, we were still the highest priced public institution,” board member and chair of the committee for financial affairs C. Michael Petters MBA ’93 said. “If that’s a brand or a reputation that we want to get rid of, that’s a strategic challenge to the institution that would require a cut to tuition, a very substantial cut to tuition.”
Compared to other public institutions in
the Commonwealth, the College relies more on tuition as opposed to other sources of income, such as endowments. In 2024, student tuition made up 36% of the College’s operating revenue.
Rowe highlighted the College’s small class sizes and student body as a reason for consistently having the highest tuition of any public university in Virginia. She suggested that in order to decrease tuition substantially over time, the College would need to adopt a different model comparable to much larger institutions like the University of Virginia.
“We could radically change our financial position, we could lower tuition if we tripled in size,” Rowe said. “The big difference between the public universities that are lower cost than us and high-profile is that they’re three times as large as we are. That has been a non-starter for the board for a really long time.”
Board member Laura Keehner Rigas ’01 suggested reorienting the College’s financial planning towards zero-based budgeting, a method of budgeting where the expenses for every operational cost are justified each new financial period. However, several board members raised concerns over the increased workload that zero-based budgeting would require for the administration, placing additional strain on operational efficiency.
“I think zero-based budgeting is a great tool, but it’s also one of those things that would be consuming,” Petters said. “It would be a consuming effort on the part of finance and the organization to go off and do that.”
Student Assembly President Zoe Wang ’25 MPP ’26 spoke on behalf of students concerned about a potential tuition increase, advocating that the board consider a decrease in the future.
“I might be saying the obvious when students obviously want our tuition to be lower,” she said. “I also want to say that I think students are kind of already feeling the financial impacts, I know, at least in the MPP degree, our graduate assistantships went from 20 hours to 10 hours, which has an effect on how much aid they’re receiving.”
Chief Business Officer Sean Hughes and Chief of Staff of Business Affairs Taylor Brings Ph.D ’23 presented the Campus Comprehensive Plan to the board, a plan that guides ongoing and future construction projects at the College’s multiple campuses. In September, the board will vote on whether or not to officially adopt the plan, which outlines several potential projects that would renovate existing spaces on campus as
well as add new structures.
“It’s changing quickly and evolving. We need to be able to respond to challenges that we don’t know exist today, opportunities that we don’t know exist today,” Brings said.
The plan is based on student feedback as well as geological surveys of the land the College is built upon. Brings and Hughes highlighted the importance of improving accessibility and environmental sustainability. The plan introduces a “100year vision,” which aims to address the environmental challenges brought on by climate change.
“We’re going to have to think a lot more about coastal resiliency than our colleagues who might be in the Piedmont region,” Brings said.
Proposed projects include expanding Boswell and Jones Halls, constructing additional parking facilities in the area, and creating more pedestrian-centered spaces along James Blair Hall and Landrum Drive. The presentation did not include an estimate of the costs of the proposed projects at the Williamsburg campus.
Hughes then presented schemas for development at the Batten School for Coastal and Marine Sciences at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which he emphasized faces heightened flood and hurricane risk in tandem with sea level rise. According to Hughes, potential expansions to the Gloucester Point campus by 2040 could include new academic buildings, an administrative complex, a riverwalk and an amphitheater.
Later that afternoon, the board transitioned into a discussion on institutional strategy, with the overarching goal of reaching “national preeminence” in the future.
After recapping the College’s milestones toward accomplishing Vision 2026, board members and administrators engaged with a set of five “problem statements” developed by Rowe that relate to shaping the College’s next five-year strategic plan. Before the exercise, Rowe underscored the importance of using positioning data — metrics used to assess an institution’s strengths and weaknesses — as a tool for strategic planning.
“Strategy has to be shaped by positioning data,” she said. “And what’s new is that we now have multiple cycles of positioning data, and that hasn’t been a part of strategy development for William and Mary before. And really listening to our students, especially to our undergrads, and what they say they want.”
Workday
CHIEF STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, July 1, the College of William and Mary launched Workday, an Enterprise Resource Planning platform that will partially replace Banner throughout the fall semester. Workday will become the main resource for student workers and faculty, integrating finance, human resources and payroll into one system. Work compensation, student hiring and other functionalities will all be located in Workday.
For the time being, Banner Student will remain the main resource for students. Banner Student will continue to host tuition payments and billing, class schedules, transcripts and other student information.
The first phase of the Workday rollout was the July 1 launch of Human Resources and Finance core functionalities. The second phase will go live in January 2026 and includes additional components to the website, such as budgeting, employee learning talent and performance tools.
“It is not yet determined whether student resources will be included eventually in the Workday transition,” Chief Information Officer Edward Aractingi explained. “As far as students, we’re exploring our options. We are talking with Workday and evaluating how we fix our environment, how we can modernize the student information system that currently is Banner.”
The main shift in student resources will be for student workers, as payroll systems will transition to Workday.
“Any student employee that is going to have that employee part of their experience or journey at William and Mary will interact with Workday, with sheets, and with payslips,” Aractingi said.
CAMPUS
Shifting from Banner, Workday allows student identification numbers and employment information to be visible within the College’s platform to users.
Chief Technology Officer Corinne Picataggi expressed the platform’s dedication to student privacy and the importance of using identification numbers over names and other personal information.
“If you think about our William and Mary ID number, we introduced that at universities because we didn’t want to use social security numbers,” Picataggi said. “We introduce ID numbers because they’re not meant to be private.”
“Using just a name in the Workday platform is tricky,” Picataggi said. “That’s where that ID number becomes an additional identifier to identify you as you, but it’s never used in a way that compromises your privacy or security.”
At a board of visitors meeting in July, College President Katherine A. Rowe expressed her enthusiasm and commitment to the new platform as a part of the College’s broader Vision 2026 strategic plan.
“For an administrator, it’s all in one place,” Rowe said. “Instead of getting a million emails saying to do this over there and sign into that system, it’s one system, one list. It doesn’t matter if it’s a timesheet or if somebody is requesting leave or travel authorization. It’s close to a state-of-the-art business system for the university.”
“It’s the technology equivalent of the Sadler Center or the Wellness Center,” she said. “There’s one stop for all the dimensions you might care about.”
In 2022, the College began to evaluate the possibility of updating the ERP system to a cloud-based system, rather than a server-based system like Banner. After several
demonstrations and feedback sessions hosted by Information Technology, the College began transitioning to Workday.
Before the July 1 launch, previous data and work systems had to be converted from Banner to Workday. Aractingi explained the timeline required for the data conversion process at an institution with decades of data.
“That was months and months that the team was doing to prepare,” Aractingi said. “Not just the technical side of extracting and transforming, but there was an incredible amount of time spent on validation.”
Aractingi explained other strengths of the modern interface of Workday.
“The state-of-the-art part comes from the technology but also the experience that it delivers to the users,” Aractingi said. “We have tools, like a mobile app that is very modern and intuitive because it has similar navigation and menu structures as other modern platforms that we use at work but also in our personal lives.”
Similar to many other transitions ongoing at the College as part of the Vision 2026 Strategic Plan, the Workday rollout requires significant investment. Operating costs for Banner have continued while Workday operations have begun with increased labor dedication for data conversion.
“The real cost is really that transition. It’s the work that we did over the last year and a half. During the transition, you’re paying for both because you were building the new system while you were still paying for the old system,” Aractingi said.
Aractingi added that the costs of eventually fully utilizing Workday will remain similar to the current operating costs of Banner.
College welcomes new associate vice president for health and wellness
Student Health Center reaccredited, online appointment scheduli ng to roll out in next few weeks
ursday, Aug. 21, the College of William and Mary announced that the Student Health Center, located at the McLeod Tyler Wellness Center, earned reaccreditation through April 2028 from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. e distinction, which only seven other Virginia universities have received, coincides with the arrival this fall of the College’s new Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness, Dr. Chris Renjilian ’05, following the departure of longtime wellness director and former counseling center director, Dr. Kelly Crace, to the University of Virginia last spring.
roughout his initial weeks as Vice President for Health and Wellness, Renjilian said he hopes to learn as much as possible about the College’s wellness ecosystem, continuing to support ongoing initiatives and services from prior semesters. However, Renjilian looks to eventually incorporate an academic side to his position, collaborating with various academic departments to conduct interdisciplinary research on student wellness.
“If we can think about health and wellness as a hub and a laboratory for learning about what’s most important for students to ourish, and we can answer those questions in detailed and meaningful ways over time, we actually create an engine for the health and wellness thematic area to grow along with what students need,” Renjilian said.
Renjilian shared that online appointment scheduling for the Student Health Center will hopefully roll out in the next couple of weeks. He
BOARD OF VISITORS
celebrated the addition as a boost for accessibility, while also emphasizing that students will have the chance to prepare themselves for the logistics of the modern healthcare system after graduation.
“It’s part of preparing students to be ready to succeed in the healthcare environment outside of William and Mary,” Renjilian said. “Because after your time at William and Mary, you’ll be engaging with patient portals and maybe scheduling some appointments online, which ones can’t be scheduled online, who to talk to. So we really should be thinking about mirroring here what those experiences are like in the outside world.”
As an undergraduate alumnus of the College, Renjillian aims to expand the wellness center’s services and continue providing high-quality care to the student body. He said that he aims to build on the notion of student flourishing that Crace worked on during his tenure, using his training in adolescent and sports medicine to inform his leadership.
“During the period of time we call adolescence and young adulthood, someone can be ourishing even if there aren’t obvious outward signs of productivity or being able to express all their values,” he said. “ ere’s so much learning, growth and adaptation that’s happening. Development is occurring sometimes in really rich and positive ways, but it may be tough for others to see.”
roughout new student orientation, the Wellness Center has organized events for students and parents to understand the College’s approach to wellness and familiarize themselves with resources available to students. Renjilian detailed
the information sessions he led alongside Director for Campus Recreation Linda Knight.
“We’re spending an hour talking about what health and wellness offers, but also philosophically, what health and wellness is all about and what parents can do to support their new students,” he said.
Renjilian noted that collaboration with the student wellness ambassadors will be a guiding component of his work alongside Integrative Wellness Manager Lindsay Heck, who manages the program. e Wellness Center brought on 12 new ambassadors this semester, bringing the total to 25 for the academic year.
“One of the things I’ve been most excited about is the fact that we have folks who are interested and motivated in co-creating wellness and bringing that to fellow students,” Renjilian said.
Grace Dreisbach ’27 has served as a wellness ambassador since fall 2024. She expressed excitement about collaborating with Renjilian starting this fall, as well as organizing several initiatives for students in the first few weeks of the semester.
“Suicide prevention week is coming up really soon, so our outreach and events committee is working really hard to do some tabling this week with lots of new resources for people on campus,” Dreisbach said. “I’m really excited for the new director, I think he has a really cool vision about what wellness means to William and Mary, and will help us continue pushing that message on campus.”
Student body president Zoe Wang ’25, M.P.P. ’26,
has focused on expanding access to health resources through Student Assembly in collaboration with the wellness center. In an interview with e Flat Hat, she shared her enthusiasm about working alongside Renjilian to continue rolling out services that SA has o$ered in the past.
“We are excited to continue working with our wellness o ces and Chris Renjilian, the new Associate Vice President for Wellness,” Wang wrote. “We look forward to continue funding STI testing and pregnancy testing at the Student Health Center and promote existing services that our Wellness Center o$ers.”
In the next few months, Renjilian hopes to broaden the College’s wellness ecosystem through continuing to offer services in collaboration with different sides of campus, which he says have evolved substantially since his time as an undergraduate at the College. Renjilian emphasized that boosting students’ awareness of the resources available to them remains a key priority for the wellness center this year.
“I think health and wellness has done a lot of work successfully under Dr. Crace’s leadership to think about the educational or experiential offerings to help people learn about this integrative approach to wellness,” he said. “That’s the fitness and wellness classes, the wellness application courses that people can take. It’s what we’re doing through the Center for Mindfulness and Authentic Excellence. So a lot of that is about getting the information out there.”
Board of Visitors talks communication strategy, future capital projects
College welcomes new director of federal affairs, brainstorms r enovations for pres i dentʼs house BOARD OF VISITORS from page 3
Following group discussions on the problem statements, several board members suggested edits which they argued would better reflect the College’s history and current trajectory on topics such as innovation, artificial intelligence and civic leadership. Provost Peggy Agouris suggested that the College focus on expanding the societal impact of professors’ research through publication in well-known academic journals, which she said could require creating new Ph.D programs to become more competitive.
“If you want to recruit somebody in biology, it’s great, and there’s a lot of research to be done, but they don’t have a Ph.D program. So a person who wants to do extremely solid things [in biology research], they’re not going to come to William and Mary.”
Chief Marketing Officer and Associate Vice President for University Marketing Heather Golden announced that 2026 will be the “Year of Civic Leadership,” following the “Year of the Environment” in 2025.
“We really want to be aligning ourselves around the [nation’s] 250th anniversary,” Golden said. “We know that faculty, students and staff really value our identity along the lines of civic leadership, and this is something that we can own based on our founding.” Later that afternoon, Assistant Vice President for Government & External
Affairs Ashley Hood introduced Julia Jester as the College’s new director of federal affairs. Her position entails strengthening relations with the federal government and advocating for federal research funding. Jester will be based full-time at the Washington Center starting this fall, after most recently working as Deputy Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy at the Association of American Universities.
“What I’m most excited about is the key role that she’s going to play partnering with our Vice Provost for Research, Alyson Wilson, with faculty, staff and administrators across the campus, helping us to emphasize our research strengths and explore opportunities as a newly-minted R1 institution,” Hood said.
The board then passed a resolution approving the hiring of Christopher Crawford ’07 MBA ’21 as the College’s new director of internal audit, followed by three more resolutions approving the acquisition of the Matoaka Dam, law school project funding changes and amendments to the campus capital plan.
July 24, the board reconvened to discuss the College’s stance on institutional neutrality, strategic communications and navigating shifts in the higher education landscape. DeSalva addressed balancing stakeholders’ expectations through deliberate communication
efforts, including those of the College’s president.
“I often define reputation as being the difference between what your stakeholders expect of you and how you’re performing against those expectations,” DeSalva said. “If your stakeholders have the wrong expectations, you’re immediately in trouble.”
Senior Associate Vice President for Communications and Chief Communications Officer Brian Whitson described Rowe’s communications strategy as a “second-day responder,” outlining her process for issuing statements on current events affecting the College.
“Any time that we’re putting out a campus-wide message, especially on something that is a sensitive issue, it’s probably come through 25 iterations,” Whitson said.
DeSalva touched on the current moment in higher education, highlighting the need for a cohesive brand strategy at a time when external factors are susceptible to change.
“This moment, this era for higher education is fascinating and extraordinarily intense because we are under a microscope,” DeSalva said. “There is so much pressure on higher education right now. But also, we have the demographic cliff, the market is changing, it’s becoming intensely more competitive.”
Later that morning, the board went
into a closed session to discuss Rowe’s performance. After the closed session, the board received a presentation on the Freedom of Information Act. As a public institution, board members are subject to FOIA laws and are required to undertake regular educational sessions on the matter.
FOIA generally requires that all meetings be open to the public and that all documents are accessible. Any Virginia citizen is entitled to attend open meetings and inspect public records, including texts, emails and voice messages.
Hughes delivered a presentation on the structural needs of the President’s House and potential future uses for the space. Built in 1732, the President’s House has historically served as the official residence of the College’s president. Rowe, however, has not resided there for the past two years due to safety concerns and structural issues of the building.
Hughes expressed the need for major repairs to the President’s House. Before becoming the home of the president of the College, it served as a hospital, a library and student housing. Multiple fires and a tornado have also degraded most of the original colonial craftsmanship of the structure.
“We have a long history of fires at the President’s House,” Hughes said. Renovation needs include repairs to the exterior stairs, gutters, floors
and interior stairs. Hughes also described structural and mechanical issues, such as sagging door frames and pumps that must be replaced or repaired. The building is also not currently ADA accessible.
“It’s a significant amount of work considering the size of the structure. Everything needs to be removed and replaced, essentially,” Hughes said. Hughes mapped out future potential uses for the President’s House and their estimated costs. To retain the structure as the residence for the president of the College, it is estimated to cost $16.6 million. Turning the space into an office or an event space would cost around $13-14 million. Hughes clarified that the actual costs will most likely be higher as the estimated figures are just based on a visual inspection of the building.
In response to Hughes’ presentation, the board passed a resolution to take steps to renovate the space. The Resolution to Preserve and Reimagine the President’s House will seek to initiate a preservation effort for the first floor of the President’s House and transform it into an event space. The board is expected to take further votes at a later date on what to do with the second floor of the building.
The board’s next meeting will be held from Wednesday, Sept. 24, to Friday, Sept. 26, in Blow Memorial Hall.
SUSANNAH POTEET
STAFF COLUMN
The summer I realized I grew up
Lana Altunashvili
This article contains spoilers for the show.
It seems that not so long ago, in 2022, the first season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” came out and captured the attention of many around the world. I, myself, had just read the book series by Jenny Han that inspired the television series. Being in Grade 11, I was going through a lot of the same things that protagonist Isabel (aka Belly) Conklin was going through: dealing with my rocky self-esteem, how others perceived me, teenage heartbreak, changing friendships, the pressure of performing well at school — the list goes on and on. This summer, , the third and final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” came out, and I decided to refresh my memory of both the show and the books. Honestly, with every episode that comes out, I realize more and more that I’m growing up, that time is going by. At the same time, I’m discovering that these seemingly trivial shows can also teach us some lessons.
Having rewatched the first two seasons this summer, I can say with about 100% certainty that this season is far more dramatic than any before. The amount of pure drama with cheating, manipulation, unfortunate accidents, etc., in the first few episodes alone is jarring. Even afterward, the introductory drama is followed by countless disagreements and futile fights. For those who
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haven’t read the books, for example, not only does Belly’s brother, Steven, not get into a car accident after an argument with Taylor, but he doesn’t even date her in the books. Taylor and Steven, in fact, aren’t explored at all as characters aside from their connection to Belly and how she sees her relationship with brothers Conrad and Jeremiah. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that a book adaptation is trying to grab the attention of its young adult audiences by “spicing it up” and packing it with various side plots to make the show more engaging and divisive, but the extent to which “The Summer I Turned Pretty” does this surprised me.
All of that being said, the show is also still surprisingly close to the source material. Some dialogue is taken straight from the pages of the book, especially that between Belly and Conrad, which is particularly nice for readers who have loved these books for years and are now being taken back to when they first read the trilogy themselves. However, for better or for worse, with every episode, I realize that everything happening to these characters could be resolved quite easily; all the miscommunications are simply the result of an immaturity they have yet to outgrow.
Jeremiah and Belly are jumping into marriage like it’s easy, Belly is actively ignoring her feelings for Conrad, Conrad thinks he’s doing everyone a favor by staying out of the way, Taylor can’t for the life of her confess how she feels to Steven, but also can’t let go… Watching every episode, I ask
Willy and Mary #11
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myself: What are they thinking? At 20 years old, even I have enough common sense not to do whatever they are doing.
And yet, at the end of every Wednesday, I am simultaneously taken back to and yearning for simpler times. As if I were 17 again, I freak out when Conrad and Belly have some sort of scene together. I start holding my breath when he narrates an episode, and it turns out that Belly is still someone he deeply loves and cares about. I get emotional when we see scenes of Belly with her mom, Laurel (probably the only sane person on the show, along with Conrad), when I see how different the Fisher boys’ dad is with Jeremiah, or during flashbacks with their deceased mom, Susannah. Despite the first season being released only 3 years ago, so many things have changed that I feel nostalgia for times when romantic love was the most important to me and everything was as easy as “yes” or “no.” All that mattered was whether Belly ended up with Jeremiah or Conrad (or herself, as some devoted theorists point out). The show takes me back to when I was 17, when my biggest worries were whether one guy would ever speak to me again, whether I would get a good grade and whether I would get to deliver a speech at graduation. Three years later, it’s nice to know that I can still watch this show and worry about someone else’s dramatic life, filled with their own worries, rather than think about my own.
Even so, the show teaches us what to do and not to do. It’s funny to talk and laugh about, but these characters aren’t far from how people truly are. We deal with loss, grief, insecurities and being misunderstood almost every single day. And if we don’t want to be like certain characters, or maybe even all of them except for Laurel, we may as well learn from their mistakes instead of our own.
And still, whether you are team Jeremiah, team Conrad, team Belly or something else entirely, enjoy the trivial things. Whether in your own life or by watching something lighthearted like “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” enjoy the small things that don’t need too much thought or worry. Because before you know it, another three years will have gone by with you and me looking back at this summer, longing for simpler things to worry about.
Lana Altunashvili ’27 is a prospective international relations major. She is a James Monroe Scholar and a member of Club Tennis. Contact her at laltunashvili@wm.edu.
STAFF COLUMN
Senior year scaries
I don’t necessarily know if everybody has this idea or not, and given that I don’t know, the answer is probably that absolutely no one has had this thought and I’m making s— up, as usual, but I sort of thought that I’d be going into senior year with a plan. And if I didn’t have a firm plan, then I would at least have the beginnings of a plan.
I’ve spent a lot of this past summer trying to figure out what that plan was. The curse of being surrounded by type-A friends is that almost all of them have had a plan since our freshman year. They came in knowing they were going to graduate from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, or knowing they were going to be a doctor or a physician’s assistant. I never really had a plan — just an assumption that I would eventually have one, like it was gonna fall into my lap or something.
Safe to say that never happened. So I’ve been sitting for three months trying to figure out what the f— I’m supposed to do with my life. And I have the basis of a plan, but I always thought I’d feel more confident in it than I do.
Cue quarter-life crisis. Or almost a quarter-life crisis, I’m not quite that old yet. So I guess then the question is: What’s the point of this article? It’s not gonna be a pity party or anything … well, not any more than it already has been. I kind of just wanted to reflect on all the misconceptions of things I thought I’d have in my senior year. Some of these are going to be painfully obvious, almost to the point of cliche, but things are cliche for a reason, right?
And I guess the biggest cliche is what I’ve been dancing around. I think that everyone assumes that eventually they’re going to know what they’re doing, or at least have confidence in going in a general area. My sister is graduating with me this year (twins), and she’s definitely taken the “must have a plan” thing to heart. The amount that she’s researched grad schools and obsessed about making the absolutely correct decision has given me more second-hand anxiety than I thought was possible, and I guess that’s led me to making a different kind of decision.
I’m not saying that I went all hippie and decided that I didn’t need a plan, but I guess I’ve figured out that an outline is better than having every step planned out. It gives you the freedom to screw up, pivot and change plans. It lets me enjoy more of
my senior year instead of panicking. I mean, I definitely will panic. I’m panicking as I write this, but I think the biggest thing I’ve learned in the past three years is that giving yourself the space to say, “That didn’t work, let me try something else,” is one of the most powerful things that you can do when you’re trying to figure things out.
I also thought that by the time I got to my senior year, I’d feel ready. Not ready for senior year to start, but ready to get through it and move on. But I’m not. And maybe that’s partially because I don’t have a plan, but I think another part of it is just a part of getting older. Like how there comes a point where you sort of stop looking forward to your birthday — not presents, never presents, but just that the idea of getting another year older doesn’t have the same appeal that it did when you were six.
I think I’ve figured that out too, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. The older you get, the more things become about what you’re losing or leaving behind. You’ll have plenty of exciting experiences and opportunities in front of you, but nothing will ever be the same again. That was also true when you left high school for college, but at least on my part, I was still thinking that, even though I wouldn’t see the same people all the time, a lot of my time at home would be the same. Now I know that’s not how it works.
I am looking forward to this year, seeing all my friends again and doing all the senior year things. Mug nights, wine and cheese, senior week, one last blowout. But that’s the other thing. It will be the last. So I’m here. No plan. Not ready. And that’s fine.
Mollie Shiflett ’26 is a double major in history and linguistics, not that she knows what to do with that. She is one of the captains of Women’s Club Soccer Gold for the College of William and Mary and is an avid fan of most sports — except golf. Email Mollie at mrshiflett@ wm.edu.
FLAT HAT
Mollie Shi ett
GRAPHIC BY MOLLIE SHIFLETT / THE FLAT HAT
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Be a good roommate: Advice for peaceful coexistence
Isabella McNutt FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.
Arriving at The College of William & Mary almost two years ago, I assumed I had roommate life down. After all, I’d shared a room with my little sister for years — how different could it be?
But I can confidently say that living with someone in college is a crash course in communication, compromise, and patience. You’re not just sharing a room, you’re sharing routines, moods, pet peeves, and the occasional passiveaggressive silence.
And no, I don’t have it all figured out. But I’ve learned enough to know what not to do if you want to avoid turning your shared living situation into a passive-aggressive nightmare.
The biggest rookie mistake? Thinking your roommate can read your mind. They can’t. Not when you want the room quiet, not when you’re bringing six friends over for “chill hang,” and definitely not when you’re silently seething about the passive-aggressive way they stack the dishwasher (or don’t).
Clear, open communication isn’t just helpful, it’s survival. Want the lights off by midnight? Say so. Hate the thermostat set to “Arctic Tundra”? Speak up. The “we’ll figure it out as we go” strategy sounds carefree, until you’re three weeks in, plotting their downfall over an unspoken grudge about chore duty.
Yes, these conversations can be awkward. But
STAFF
trust me, nothing is more awkward than silently resenting someone because you never clarified whether “cleaning the bathroom” includes the floor, the mirror, or just good vibes.
The beauty (and chaos) of college life is that 4,000 people show up with different lifestyles, and somehow, we’re all expected to make it work. Some roommates wake up at 6 a.m. Others don’t sleep until 6 am. When you’re in a tiny room together, those differences show up fast. That’s why compromise isn’t optional; it’s essential. Wear headphones instead of blasting music. Dim the lights when they’re asleep. Save your marathon FaceTime call for when they’re not racing a midnight deadline. It sounds simple. Obvious, even. But living with someone teaches you just how different people really are, and how far a few small adjustments can go.
Here’s the truth: there’s no such thing as the perfect roommate. I’ve made my share of mistakes: forgetting to clean, not communicating clearly, letting frustrations simmer. But what really matters is owning your missteps. Apologize, learn, adjust. The worst thing you can do is pretend everything’s fine. Resentment doesn’t stay quiet forever; it usually explodes over something ridiculous, like whether the window is open or closed. Talk things out. Be direct, calm, and
respectful. It might feel uncomfortable in the moment, but it’s a lot better than stewing in silence.
Living with someone else will teach you as much about yourself as it does about them. You’ll learn to be more self-aware, more patient, more communicative. I’m not the perfect roommate, and I probably never will be, but every new living situation has made me a better communicator, a better listener, and, frankly, a more tolerable human to share a space with.
So, no, I haven’t cracked the code on flawless cohabitation. But I’m learning. Maybe by year three, I’ll have a system down pat. Or maybe I’ll just keep growing, and honestly, that’s probably the point.
In the meantime, here’s to the ongoing, imperfect, and very real art of not driving your roommate crazy.
Isabella McNutt ‘27 (she/her) is a junior from Budapest, Hungary, who intends to major in both international relations and history before going onto the pre-law track. She loves playing basketball, reading in any genre and going on little coffee dates in Colonial Williamsburg. She’s hoping to both write a large variety of opinions pieces while also building new friendships within the paper. Email her at immcnutt@wm.edu.
We need a different approach to protecting DEI
COLUMN Liam Glavin FLAT HAT NEWS ASSOC.
Since the start of the new Trump administration, Republicans have been on a racist tirade, threatening and attempting to dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs at universities across the country. They’ve been successful in many cases, including at the University of Virginia.
These conservative efforts have been widely successful because of what the Trump administration has threatened against universities: the withholding of millions and even billions of dollars in critical federal funding, if, for example, they don’t end their diversity programs or if they don’t viciously crack down on pro-Palestinian, antigenocide student protestors.
While I’m deeply concerned about the implications of us po ssibly losing millions of dollars in critical funding for research and other university functions, I feel that I worry more about the consequences of us capitulating to a fascist and racist presidential administration attempting to remake higher education for the worst — especially to the detriment of the many marginalized students who go here.
The Flat Hat recently reported that the College of William and Mary changed the title of Chief Diversity Officer to Senior Advisor to the President. We also renamed the Center for Student Diversity to the Student Center for Inclusive Excellence. These changes follow the Board of Visitors passing a resolution that affirmed a commitment to a “values-based” and “merit-based” education, without explicitly calling for the dismantling of DEI or other diversity programs.
I worry that these capitulations are half measures that will not ultimately stop the Trump administration from withholding millions of dollars in critical funding from the College.
I’m incredibly concerned that as long as basic structures (whatever we call them) still exist across this university to care for the experiences, lives and plight of marginalized students, then we will not be spared from devastating funding cuts. We need a different approach. We should fight the Trump administration.
There’s already precedent for universities resisting the fascist whims of Donald Trump. Harvard has already taken his administration to court over
the withholding of $2.2 billion in research funding after the university didn’t capitulate to Trump’s outlandish demands. Hundreds of university presidents across the country have also signed a letter condemning the Trump administration’s “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” in higher education. The College administration notably did not sign that letter.
Former President Barack Obama gave a speech this spring at Hamilton College in Upstate New York. He brought up a point that I found to be great. “If you are a university, you may have to figure out, are we in fact doing things right?” he said. “Have we in fact violated our own values, our own code, violated the law in some fashion? If not, and you’re just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, that’s why we got this big endowment.”
Contrary to what the Trump administration might argue, we have not violated any rules, codes or laws by helping and providing for marginalized students. It is not illegal to do any of those things. So, then what do we have to lose? What do we have to lose if we know that we’ve broken no laws or other rules around discrimination? Why should we give in to this fascist intimidation?
As Former President Obama suggests, we also have a massive endowment. According to the College’s website, the endowment reached approximately $1.45 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. What’s the point of this giant pile of money if we aren’t using it to protect the interests of the university? Isn’t that what endowments are for? $1.45 billion would undoubtedly be more than enough to launch a strong legal defense, and we’d likely only need to use a small fraction of the money.
Above all else, I fear for the legacy we are setting for ourselves through this capitulation. How will history look on us when people see how we cower in the face of authoritarianism? I presume not fondly. I’m also concerned about how these changes will likely impact the future of the College.
Although people from College President Katherine Rowe’s administration want to claim that these changes don’t affect the functioning of the university, especially in providing for marginalized students, we’ve already sent the wrong message. I’m worried that marginalized students will simply stop choosing to come here after they see how we pathetically refuse to defend their interests, which would be profoundly devastating because these are the kinds of students who make us who we are.
At the end of the day, I think that the overarching question on this issue is one of who we want to be as a university. I chose a university that values diversity and the flourishing of unique perspectives, which ground us all in a shared humanity.
Liam Glavin ‘27 (he/him) is a governmentmajorfromFallsChurch, VA.Helovesrunning,readingand spendingtimewithfriendsandhopes toinstillvaluesofpoliticalandcivic engagementacrossthecommunity. Contact him atljglavin@wm.edu.
Eva’s Apple #7: The greatest social media platform
I am green, gold and grateful today! Does that sentence sound familiar? Maybe because that’s how I started my most recent LinkedIn post. If you already knew that, I love you. For those who didn’t recognize it, you’re either new here (welcome!), or you’re not on that LinkedIn grind yet. Let me get you both up to speed.
Seeing as it’s a new school year, allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Eva, and this is my satire advice column. Did you miss me? The question this week is as follows:
“Hi Eva! Two questions: how was your summer, and how do I become a LinkedIn warrior?”
What an exemplary inquiry. Your question has given me my stage, and I’m ready to sparkle.
I’ll start by talking about my summer. Observe how the question asked how my summer was, but not what I did. This question-asker is an empath. We are not our achievements. We are not our accolades. We are our attitudes. I will thus answer this question with a limerick, which some say is the most emotionally vulnerable poetic structure, about a formative moment this summer.
A gecko broke into my place
There’s terror all over my face
Brought him out to the hall,
But then BAM on my wall
There’s a second one poised for the chase.
A picture is worth a thousand words; but, with words, I just painted you a picture. What’s that worth, then? Like a million words? More, even? Anyway, if you actually want to know what I did this summer, you can look at my LinkedIn.
FIRST SEGUE OF THE SEMESTER!!!
This brings me to your second question.
So you want to become a LinkedIn warrior? A year ago, I had that same goal in mind. I put my heart and soul into it and made it happen. I have a foolproof five step plan for you, and if you follow this very closely, you will be successful. But you have to be willing to sacrifice.
1) Your LinkedIn background photo needs to turn heads. Your profile photo doesn’t matter nearly as much as the canvas it’s painted on. Imagine your smiling face resting upon a backdrop of ferrets dressed in tuxedos (classy) or you biting into a wax candle (intimidating). For example, my LinkedIn background photo
is me walking across the Crim Dell Bridge by myself. You mean she’s going to be alone forever? No, dear reader. It shows that I am destined to be a successful solo entrepreneur. Just me, myself and moolah. Shark Tank, here I come.
2) Be prepared to lose everything. LinkedIn has everything you need to be happy. If your friends don’t have a LinkedIn, they are no longer worth your time. Anyone who won’t make an account to help you grow your network literally hates you. They say to keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer. I’m revising the proverb. Keep your connections close and manipulate everyone else without regard to their goals, aspirations and feelings. Nothing more to say. Moving on.
3) Get to 500+ connections as quickly as possible. You see, on LinkedIn, your connections counter stops at 500. Whether I have 501 or a bajillion connections, it’ll always say 500+ under my name. You have to get to 500+ by any means necessary. Last year, I looked up every RSVP from the Evite list for my aunt’s birthday party on LinkedIn so I could hold attendees accountable face to face if they had not yet accepted my connection request. The road to 500+ is a long, steep and winding one. If you have to burn some bridges to get where you need to go, be assured that the view from the top is well worth it. Any. Means. Necessary.
4) You are no longer allowed to read my col umn unless you connect with me on LinkedIn (observe this prime example of a go-getter mindset).
“How could she enforce that,” you ask? “Well, I don’t even like her writing that much anyway,” you say. To that, one might reply that you should be careful about messing with them because they have friends in high places. I, on the other hand, am not going to go there. Because I am the friend in high places. I have 500+ connections, a vast LinkedIn network of friends and colleagues that I can utilize to exact revenge on any readers who choose not to enter into this
mutually beneficial agreement. Maybe you weren’t aware that The Flat Hat is a subscription model. It is, though, and this is how you pay your dues.
5) You need to generate traction. To reach LinkedIn stardom, you can’t just be posting on your own page. Other people need to be posting about you too. How do you make that happen? Become the co-host of a chicken-related celebrity interview show. We have “Hot Ones” to test spice tolerance and “Chicken Shop Date” to show off social skills, but there is still room in the market for more. Allow me to present… “ChickIn,” a new show where celebrities fill their pockets with corn and then sit for a job interview with the objective of both landing the job and also protecting the pocket corn from hordes of live chickens being progressively released into the room throughout the episode. I’m looking for a co-host, my partner in crime. People will be posting about our creativity and on-screen charm. Connection requests will flood in by the thousands. If interested, please dm me on LinkedIn.
If you’ve made it this far, that’s cause for celebration, and I never show up to a function empty handed. My gift to you is a nugget of sincerity in this sea of satire, a “Love is Blind: Habibi” in the Netflix queue of life. I want to take a moment to reflect on the fact that there’s so much to be green, gold and grateful for (e.g. me). Whether you’re new to the College of William and Mary or returning, you all have an opinions columnist to worship look up to. Let’s put this gratitude to work, shall we? Make sure you read up on all the past issues to practice your advice absorption, and maybe try dropping my new catch phrase, “green, gold and grateful,” a couple times an hour in conversations, essays, job interviews or really anywhere you can spread my wisdom and whimsy. Sound good? Okie dokie. I’ll see you in two weeks.
#greengoldandgrateful #opentowork EvaJaber‘28(she/her)isaprospectiveEnglishorinternationalrelations
GRAPHIC BY HANNAH YANG / THE FLAT HAT
STAFF COLUMN
Eva Jaber FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.
GRAPHIC BY MICHAEL GABRIEL / THE FLAT HAT
GRAPHIC BY NORA YOON / THE FLAT HAT
GRAPHIC BY MICHAEL GABRIEL / THE FLAT HAT
REEL TALK: "Superman"
James Gunnʼs “Superman” makes kindness punk, focuses on heroʼs humanity
Spoilers for “Superman”: Superman saves a squirrel. That’s not necessarily the most important thing about James Gunn’s “Superman.” There’s the excellent acting, the music that knows when to energize versus solemnize and the humor (“Justice Gang” is, indeed, a dumb name). As other reviewers have noted, the movie does have a fast pace that can be a bit much, and I think that the narrative spent too much time in Lex Luthor’s prison. However, the characters make up for the messy narrative. You’ll love the goofy antics of the dingus — sorry, I mean extremely distinguished — Green Lantern, known as Guy Gardner. Lois Lane’s bravery, cynicism and desire for justice weave together into a character you’ll cheer for and wish you could meet.
SACHI PALLEM // THE FLAT HAT
Lex Luthor claims to love humanity so much that he despises aliens, yet he kills and silences humans to hurt the superhero that fights for them. He is evil mixed with hypocrisy, power without accountability and ego without challenge.
Everything I’ve said so far doesn’t address the squirrel, though. Movie reviewers don’t typically start by mentioning random rodents, so why did I?
To answer that question, let me ask you one: in the middle of a fight scene with a giant lizard-like creature, with people running and screaming, with buildings as vulnerable as Jenga towers stacked all around, would you care at all about a single squirrel’s life? Would you remember that the critter even existed?
Superman did. He saved a dog, he saved people. He also protected a squirrel.
Reviews of “Superman” have praised the film’s themes about upholding justice and compassion. They proclaim that Superman’s character itself should represent these themes as boldly as possible. That’s why the squirrel matters: the scene shows the movie does not just want to preach these messages, but to explore and test its protagonist’s commitment to these ideas.
The obstacles Superman faces in his desire to be a beacon of kindness rain down on him scene after scene, persistent and heavy. He loses the approval of Earth after it’s revealed that his parents sent him to conquer our planet. He has to babysit his cousin’s unruly and mayhem-inclined dog Krypto. He has to reckon with criticism from his girlfriend Lois Lane, and he has to decide who he should be and why.
Superman ultimately listens to Lois but upholds his values. He saves Krypto from Lex Luthor despite the dog’s past shenanigans, and he saves person after person (and animal after animal) regardless of his parents’ desires and who the public believes he is. Superman’s actions show that, for this hero, his duties and determination for a better world
override all else. The obstacles Superman faces gradually reveal his character, culminating in his final challenge.
In the movie’s climax, a military conflict between two fictional nations comes to a head as the military of Boravia invades the country Jarhanpur. Boravia’s leader claims he wants to free the Jarhanpurians, while the Jarhanpurians see this invasion as a takeover by a corrupt government and are prepared to fight back. Superman sides with Jarhanpur, and his stance causes other characters to question whether or not he has the right to intervene and what the implications of his actions are. Lois herself asks Superman to respond to these concerns.
These questions are valid. They need answers. But so does the question that lies in the audience’s heart as the film progresses, as it’s revealed that the United States will not intervene because of its alliance with Boravia. Later on, Lois and fellow journalist Jimmy Olsen reveal why Luthor worked to imprison Superman and Luthercorp provided weapons to Boravia. After its conquest, Jarhanpur will be split between Luthercorp and Boravia. The land is a holy grail of oil, and the people are in the way.
When human rights are on the verge of violation, when corruption and violence rise to consume more of our humanity and when no government wants to step in even as civilians are about to be murdered — what should be done?
In the film, a little Jarhanpurian boy holds up a flag for Superman, even as his friends run and a soldier aims a gun at him. That’s the moment when the question “what should be done” must be answered. Superman attempts to fly as quickly as he can to Jarhanpur. He believes first and foremost in protecting people who have no one to protect them. His answer to the question posed above is simple: if no one else will act, I will. Yet, when Superman is caught up fighting Luthor’s henchmen on the other side of the world, it’s ultimately
Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific and Metamorpho who aid the Jarhanpurians. I read a comment online where someone pointed out that Superman could not have succeeded without other people’s support. They highlighted that the movie’s themes, although embodied by Superman, cannot be enacted only by Superman. Superman needed his fellow heroes — and the investigative work of journalists — to stop Luthor’s plans. The implication: even if Superman existed in our world, he alone could not save those who needed to be saved.
In other words, the movie points out that good cannot be accomplished by a single pair of hands with the weight of the world placed in their palms alone. Good is done by countless hands carrying countless pieces of that weight.
I believe the movie is not encouraging you to emulate the protagonists exactly; it’s not asking you to break any laws, nor is it asking you to turn into a metahuman. It is asking you to stop ignoring the pain in your heart when you see injustice, the pain you dismiss because you think you are powerless. It’s asking you to care about the child with the flag. It’s asking you to remember that other lives matter regardless of what borders they reside within.
From what I’ve seen, movies with clear, shameless personalities are the kind that audiences fall in love with and think about over and over again. These kinds of movies are not just distinctive, but often have much to say. They provoke the audience with new ideas and old worries, inquiring into why we see the world as we do and whether we should update our vision.
“Superman” will both resonate in the future and stick with us now, thanks to its interrogation of our moral vision, of who and what we decide to care about and why. The movie will echo in our ears because of its call for a world of justice, compassion, accountability, transparency and joy.
Penne For Your Thoughts: Anna’s Brick Oven Pizza And Pasta
night in the middle of spring semester my junior year at the College of William and Mary. After a week of wrestling with midterms and essays, all I wanted was pizza and cold sparkling water. I opened my delivery app then tapped in my usual order: a Margherita pizza. By 7 p.m. that night, I was at my desk in Tribe Square, unsealing a box that smelled of something more than an ordinary late night. The first bite was a quiet surprise. Tomato, creamy mozzarella and basil folded together in a harmony that pulled me straight out of Williamsburg. For a moment, I was in Italy. It was not just good; it was the kind of good that makes you curious about this pizza shop. Right then, I decided I needed to go to the restaurant in person.
The next weekend, I invited my closest food partners, two fellow students, to a Williamsburg restaurant hunt. We drove to the far end of Richmond Road, where Anna’s Brick House Oven Pizza sat in a modest looking building. From the outside, the restaurant was unassuming, but I could feel a certain energy — the kind that makes you expect a great meal.
The chef, I later learned, came from Carini, a small town outside of Palermo, Italy. She brought with her not just skill but quiet confidence in the food she served. With excitement, we started with a shared appetizer: mozzarella caprese. The dish was simple, as it should be, and all about balance.
The mozzarella was impossibly fresh and cool.
The balsamic was just sharp enough to brighten each bite.
After a few minutes, the main courses arrived at our table. We ordered Margherita pizza, fettuccine Alfredo and shrimp marinara. The
dine-in pizza that I ordered was just a preview for everything we were about to experience. The pizza was cooked in a brick oven and had a crust that crackled before giving way to a soft center, tomatoes at peak sweetness and mozzarella melting into gentle pools. Basil and the faint smokiness of the fire tied it all together. I cannot stress enough how delicious the pizza was. I was particularly impressed by the chefs’ pizzamaking performance. Everybody who visits the place is welcome to watch the live dough making through the kitchen window. I suggest you experience visiting the actual restaurant rather than ordering delivery.
The Alfredo dish was silky without being heavy, the sauce clinging to each ribbon of pasta without drowning it. The shrimp marinara was bright and garlicky with olive oil layered into tomato sauce. The sauce tasted like it had been made from scratch, the shrimp tender and perfectly brined.
The pasta they served attached a professional validity to their Italian restaurant identity. We ended with gelato. I went for a sea salt caramel flavor that was nutty and creamy enough to make me glad I saved room. My friends chose chocolate and a mixed flavor, each one a sweet final note to the evening. I assume that their choices were good as well, seeing as they both left empty bowls. After the meal, when I got back to my dorm that night, I thought about how some people meet their great love by accident, or stumble into a once-in-a-lifetime moment. For me, it was ordering a pizza on an ordinary Thursday and finding a small corner of Sicily, Italy, in Williamsburg, Virginia. Now, whenever I need to feel a little Italian, I know where to go. I am hoping your semester brings you a little luck too. Maybe yours will start at Anna’s Brick Oven, just like mine.
HANNAH YANG / THE FLAT HAT
DANIEL CHOI / THE FLAT HAT
v s . B a s k i n R o b b i n s
As people appear on the College of William and Mary’s campus once again to decorate dorms, prepare for classes and reunite with friends, an important question arises: where will students flock to find a sweet treat?
“There’s nothing William and Mary students love more than ice cream,” Olivia Kerr ’27 said in a message to The Flat Hat.
Tyler Ellison ’28 added the benefits of this sweet.
“You can never go wrong with it. It’s flexible and reliable, it can work alongside other desserts, and it’s just such a staple that you can basically find it anywhere,” Ellison said in a message to The Flat Hat.
Anywhere indeed — ice cream is incredibly easy to find in Williamsburg. While Center Court, the dining hall at the Sadler Center, offers soft serve ice cream, its machine is often out of service. Students at the College have to search for alternatives for their ice cream fix — and there is no shortage of options in the area
“It’s great to have so many ice cream shops walkable to campus,” Tommy Soffronoff ’27 said in a message to The Flat Hat.
A popular spot is Prince George Street, a short walk from the Sir Christopher Wren Building. This street is home to not one but two ice cream shops, serving up cold relief from the heat of Williamsburg in August.
“I think it’s very funny how they’re both so close to each other,” Ryan Booker ’28 said.
In fact, Baskin-Robbins and Kilwins, the two stores, sit almost directly across from each other, allowing the sweet smell of sugar to permeate the street between them. However, despite their obvious similarities, specific differences stand out.
First of all, Baskin-Robbins is a chain, meaning its diverse range of flavors feels familiar. As such, it’s a popular choice for profit shares with Recognized Student Organizations at the College.
“I’ve definitely been to more [profit shares] involving Baskin-Robbins, and I think it’s really cool having organizations in W&M interact with the larger Williamsburg
ELLA GREENE // CHIEF FEATURES WRITER
community like that,” Ellison said in a message to The Flat Hat.
Getting ice cream is a social event, which is why it’s also important to consider other factors when choosing which place to stop by to grab a quick treat.
“I think that seating would play a role, because I know that Baskin-Robbins has more inside seating, whereas I think Kilwin’s has a little bit more outside seating,” Booker said.
While reliability points go to BaskinRobbins, Kilwins takes the cake on variety. Known for different sweets in addition to ice cream, they offer alternatives for those who may have dairy restrictions but don’t want to miss out on the group adventure. Their sorbets are particularly popular.
“It’s maybe a little bit more expensive, but it feels worth it. I especially appreciate how many sorbets they have for especially hot days. I like to get raspberry sorbet or seasalt chocolate caramel,” Soffronoff said in a message to The Flat Hat.
Price is an important factor too. Neither store accepts dining dollars, so students are extra cognizant of costs as they embark on their ice cream searches. Kilwins has a reputation for being the more expensive of the two options.
“It’s a bit expensive, and at least Sadler has the soft serve, which isn’t as good as a good scoop of ice cream. But I’m not trying to spend a bunch of money,” Clare Osberg ’28 said.
Despite the prices, Kilwins is still thought of fondly by students at the College.
“It’s more of a Williamsburg staple,” Osberg said. “It definitely feels more upscale, like Colonial Williamsburg vibes versus Baskin-Robbins, which feels obviously more like a chain.”
Students emphasized this sense of novelty. With Kilwins being a less prevalent chain than Baskin-Robbins, oftentimes, students only associate Kilwins with Williamsburg. This makes it a unique option when at the College.
“I didn’t realize Kilwins was a chain for a while,” Kerr said in a message to The Flat Hat.
After weighing all the important factors, students still struggle to pick a favorite ice cream shop. In fact, Booker thinks having both options contributes to short wait times and good experiences.
“I think they both are great in their own right,” Booker said. “I feel like it’d be easier on both stores if they’re not super crowded after some sort of event or that kind of thing.”
With multiple demographics to serve, it’s
true that just one store might not be able to keep up with the ice cream needs of the area.
“Between the Williamsburg humidity, tourists and college students, there’s plenty of demand to support both!” Soffronoff said in a message to The Flat Hat.
Remaining true to the College’s love of dualities and ampersands, students’ ultimate ice cream consensus is that both Baskin-Robbins and Kilwins are essential fixtures in Williamsburg.
BY
sorry watching “Sorry, Baby”
Indie film offers thoughtful design, complex characters
This article contains discussions of suicidal ideation. As someone who devolved into actual weeping when the credits rolled for Celine Song’s directorial debut, “Past Lives,” I was excited to see the trailer for another directorial debut produced by A24: “Sorry, Baby” by Eva Victor. I went to the theater a fair amount this summer, so I was introduced to “Sorry, Baby” with a vague indie heartwarmer trailer that left me suspicious but curious. The trailer gave very little away, and I could ascertain almost
nothing about the plot, conflicts or characters of the film. After reading the synopsis, my friend Emily questioned if we should go see this movie because it “looks sort of dumb.” Here is what the movie is about, according to AMC Theatres: “Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on … for everyone around her, at least.” What are you talking about, AMC? Why are we playing these games?
Nevertheless, we decided to go see the movie. And when we walked out, like the little performative Letterboxd gremlins that we are, my friends and I all rated the movie, then laughed as we recounted moments from the film on the way home. For the sake of journalistic integrity, here are our respective reviews:
Me (5 stars): “I’ve never watched a movie like that”
Emily (4 stars): “this made me laugh so hard i began to cry. and also wow. wowie”
Matt (5 stars): “why was practically nobody else in the theatre laughing at the jokes in this movie :( ”
As you can tell, oh boy, did we like that movie. Like “Past Lives,” its style was focused and affectionate, presenting each of its characters with patience and giving you a chance to see them from afar before moving in closer. No matter the emotional distance the movie keeps from its subjects, however, Eva Victor’s vision of the characters and the settings they enter and exit felt clear and studied. The same calm, affectionate outlook portrays them and their decisions as friendships wax and wane, and people fall in love, move or finish graduate school. This lens also captures Agnes as she recovers from the bad thing that happens to her, which, in the interest of not detracting from the complexity with which the film portrays this event, I’m choosing not to explain. What I can say is that despite being centered mainly around the life of an English graduate student (and later, a professor), the movie is anything but pretentious. While the dialogue and scenery of the movie indicate Victor’s familiarity
with literature, the lm never gets lost in its own intentions, instead letting the slow, disjointed events of the movie breathe and give o their own impressions without unnecessary commentary. In addition to the movie having so many comedic moments, it simultaneously lets the viewer sit with the disorienting experience of trauma and how we change in response to it. One of the most isolating aspects of a traumatic event is that no one can understand how uniquely terrible and sti ing it was for you, but “Sorry, Baby” forgoes the idea that living after the event has to be a great battle. While Agnes undoubtedly struggles with her experience and how she feels about it, the movie never makes the audience fear for her life. While the movie glances over mentions of Agnes’s suicidality after the event, it doesn’t dive into emotional moments of deep depression or terror. Instead, the film designates quiet scenes about her friend being there or conversing with a sandwich shop owner as the important moments that the film is about. And as anyone whose friends or themselves have struggled with thoughts of suicide will understand, this decision to show from the beginning that Agnes is still there, still alive and learning how to be alive after such a difficult period is a profound kindness and comfort. It takes restraint and skill to look at a traumatic experience without a sense of urgency, without a timeline for how quickly Agnes should recover and what signposts we should look for to understand that she has moved past the event. These are natural things to wonder about, especially for the person who has undergone such severe trauma. But “Sorry, Baby,” with its focused design and many surprises, asks if those questions are really worth forcing yourself to wonder about. And, as someone who loves to worry, I felt delighted and reassured by the strong sense the movie gave me that, seemingly against all odds, we begin to understand the pain we have experienced, and life opens up as easily and naturally as anything when you stop trying so hard to force it to.
sports
Tribe o ense roars to life after frustrating opening week
After string of early nail-biters, William and Mary
CHARLES VAUGHAN FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR
It was the night of Thursday, Aug. 21, at Martin Family Stadium, and not a single face on the Tribe sideline was smiling.
William and Mary (1-2-1, 0-0 CAA) had just turned in its best offensive performance of the season, an occasion that would typically be cause for celebration. Over the final 45 minutes of its matchup against visiting Loyola University Maryland (3-0-1, 0-0 Patriot), the Green and Gold applied near-constant pressure to the opposing defense, outshooting the Greyhounds 11 to three and forcing them to make six saves. Loyola junior goalkeeper Brigid Mulholland hardly had time to breathe. During one stretch early in the period, William and Mary unleashed four closequarters volleys within the span of 120 seconds. An observer who simply skimmed the box score would have concluded that the Green and Gold cruised to victory.
But that observer would have been wrong. Every Tribe shot, no matter how well-placed it appeared to be, managed to miss the back of the net, skimming past a post, bouncing off the hands of Mulholland or careening into the outstretched leg of a Greyhound defender. As luck would have it, when Loyola finally mustered a counterattack and generated a corner kick in the 79th minute — one of just two it attempted during the second half — freshman forward Savannah Manset tapped it in, giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage they did not relinquish.
“I think we did as much as we could do,” William and Mary head coach Julie Shackford ’88 said. “I mean, we controlled the momentum of the game. We had good opportunities. We knew that the corner was probably going to be the way they scored if they did score, but I think we controlled most of the game. Just a little bit unlucky.”
The night began with the Greyhounds wreaking havoc on the William and Mary backline, attempting six shots before the hosts could attempt three, but the Tribe settled in at the 29-minute mark after freshman goalkeeper Gwen Doughty snuffed out a dangerous chance in the penalty area. When halftime arrived, the visitors were outshooting William and Mary 7-4, a margin that was quickly erased. Behind the efforts of junior midfielder Lindsay Wilson and senior forward Ivey Crain, who rocketed three shots at the goal, the Tribe manufactured opportunity after opportunity in the second period.
“I thought all of our frontrunners put a lot of pressure on their backs,” Shackford said. “I thought Lindsay Wilson was phenomenal tonight. She really linked play for us. She was dangerous on both ends. She was really dangerous in the second half.”
However, Loyola adopted a conservative strategy after taking the lead, and the Greyhound defense proved impenetrable in the game’s final ten minutes. 89th-minute shot attempts from William and Mary senior forward Sheridan Brummett, junior midfielder Paige Seitz and freshman forward Ellie Leffler brought the Martin Family Stadium crowd to its feet but ultimately amounted to nothing.
Shackford’s squad grew accustomed to nail-biters during the opening week of the 2025 campaign. Friday, Aug. 15, the Tribe salvaged a season-opening tie against George Mason (0-2-1, 0-0, A-10) courtesy of
FEATURES
What
you missed
a late goal from Wilson. Sunday, Aug. 17, the Green and Gold watched a last-second shot from senior midfielder Madison Moon fly awry in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Old Dominion (2-0-1, 0-0, Sun Belt). But in neither of the team’s first two games did it mount the attacking onslaught it did against Loyola, a fact that made its defeat all the more frustrating. Nevertheless, Shackford made clear she expected her team to fend off discouragement and keep up its intensity against future opponents.
“They’re all going to be like that,” Shackford said. “There’s so much parity. You literally could win every game or lose every game. And hopefully, we’re going to be on the other side of that.”
Shackford didn’t have to hope for long. Sunday, Aug. 24, the Tribe returned to Martin Family Stadium to take on Appalachian State (31, 0-0 Sun Belt). The Mountaineers entered the contest undefeated, boasting wins over Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami (3-1, 0-0, ACC) (FL) and strong mid-majors Western Carolina (1-2-1, 0-0, SoCon) and Davidson (3-1, 0-0, A-10) . Led by sophomore forward/midfielder Ellie Garrison, the reigning Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, the Mountaineers had accumulated six goals over their first three games of the season and had pitched two consecutive shutouts. William and Mary associate head coach Marsha Lycan ‘87, standing in for a COVIDafflicted Shackford, acknowledged Appalachian State’s strengths but echoed Shackford’s rhetoric: the Tribe knew it was capable of competing with anyone if its shots found the back of the net.
“They’re a 3-0 team, so they’re going to be coming in with a lot of confidence,” Lycan said. “Probably the most potent attack that we’ve faced, so that’s always a challenge. Despite our record, we feel like we have perhaps the most potent attack that we’ve had in our years here, and we’re just ready for the goals to start falling. Our defense is sound, we’ve been lockdown defensively, including our freshman goalkeeper [Doughty] and we just need to put things together in the final third today.”
William and Mary was paced early by Crain, the Tribe’s leading scorer in each of the past three seasons. In the seventh minute, the forward controlled a throw-in from senior defender Leila Greene, navigating around two members of the Appalachian State backline and breaking into open space. Her subsequent shot attempt was handled by Mountaineers redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Claire Jacobi, but Crain challenged Jacobi again in the 19th minute. After Doughty saved a hard shot off the foot of Garrison, the Tribe quickly moved the ball up the field and generated a clean look for Crain at the top of the box. However, she was unable to find pay dirt.
Crain attempted three more shots before the half ended, senior defender Nora Green-Orset whizzed a header over the crossbar and Wilson fired a hard volley that was inadvertently deflected by senior midfielder/forward Alyssa Kenealy. The Green and Gold entered the locker room with a 7-4 lead in shots but nothing to show for it, and for a moment it seemed as though William and Mary was once again going to find itself on the wrong end of a close game.
But Crain assuaged the Tribe’s fears in the 53rd minute. With Appalachian State playing high and aggressively, William and Mary
claims
junior defender/midfielder Molly Widderich lofted a service over the heads of three Mountaineer defenders, dropping it deep into opposing territory. As she had in the seventh minute, Crain whirled around the Appalachian State backline. This time, she wouldn’t be denied. Crain’s initial touch sent the ball rolling past the charging Jacobi, who collided with her own defender, and Crain sped towards the unattended goal to give William and Mary its first lead of the season.
The excitement on the Tribe sideline was palpable, exemplified by Crain, who threw her arms in the air after recording her first goal of the campaign. However, the Mountaineers had no intention of letting the hosts rest on their laurels, and Garrison immediately led an offensive barrage that nearly killed the jubilant mood in Martin Family Stadium. Desperate to find an equalizer, Appalachian State ratcheted up offensive pressure that generated a corner kick. William and Mary denied its opponents’ initial service, but Mountaineers redshirt sophomore forward Kyli Switalski controlled the deflection and sent in a hard, low cross that found a wide-open Garrison at the top of the goal box. Appalachian State’s leading scorer flipped a rightfooted shot in the direction of Doughty, but the Tribe keeper dove to her left and got an arm around it, preserving William and Mary’s lead dramatically. Doughty finished the afternoon with five saves and her first career shutout.
over the break in Tribe spring sports
and Mary athletic honors, awards, staff changes from May, June
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS
CHARLES VAUGHAN
Although most students went home the moment spring exams ended, many Tribe athletes remained on campus, competing into the early summer. Throughout May, several of William and Mary’s 23 athletic programs battled into the postseason and raked in awards. In the following months, others made staff changes and saw alumni soar to professional success. Before the 2025-2026 athletic year begins in earnest, it is time to recognize the achievements the Green and Gold’s spring athletes accumulated over the break.
BASEBALL
In head coach Rob McCoy’s first year at the helm of the program, William and Mary got off to a slow start but caught fire in conference play, winning five of six Coastal Athletic Association series from March 28 to April 27. To cap off the streak, the Tribe rattled off six consecutive victories, taking two of three games against Campbell, beating Navy in a midweek matchup and sweeping Stony Brook. Unfortunately, William and Mary wasn’t able to sustain its momentum into May, losing nine of its final 11 regular-season games and failing to record a win at the CAA Tournament. Nevertheless, the Tribe managed to post a 14-13 mark in conference play despite its roster being “as injured as we possibly could be,” as described by McCoy. Four William and Mary players were selected to an allconference team: senior outfielders Christian Rush and Lucas Carmichael, freshman infielder Jamie Laskofski and graduate student outfielder Ben Parker, whose 34-game hitting streak and .413 batting average earned him the CAA Co-Player of the Year award. Parker is the first William and Mary player to be named conference player of the year since Ben Williamson ’23, who became the 12th Tribe alumnus to appear in a Major League Baseball game April 15. After being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the second round of the 2023 MLB draft, Williamson spent the last two seasons working his way through the organization’s minor league system, finally getting his big break on Jackie Robinson Day against the Cincinnati Reds. The third baseman recorded a single in his first major-league at-bat and has since been lauded by Mariners manager Dan Wilson for his excellent defense.
In other Tribe baseball news, senior reliever Carter Lovasz, William and Mary’s all-time leader in saves, was chosen by the Atlanta Braves during the eighth round of July’s MLB draft. Lovasz, an All-CAA selection in 2022, 2023 and 2024, concluded his college career with 225 strikeouts, a mark that puts him tenth on the program’s all-time leaderboard. In 2025, Lovasz posted nearly 1.5 strikeouts per inning. McCoy described him as “just spectacular” after he turned in a nine-strikeout performance against CAA runner-up UNC Wilmington in April.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S GOLF
Both men’s and women’s golf enjoyed respectable seasons in 2025, with the former program posting five top-five finishes and the latter
program placing sixth at the CAA Championships. The women were able to achieve success despite not having a permanent head coach, something that changed May 12 when William and Mary hired Jonathan Howard away from Christopher Newport. Howard, a CNU alumnus who joined its women’s golf program as an assistant before its inaugural 2017 campaign, had served as the Captains’ head coach since 2022. Last year, he powered his alma mater to a school-record season scoring average of 315.7 and a national ranking of No. 20.
“My deepest thanks to Director of Athletics Brian Mann for this incredible opportunity and for trusting me to lead such a distinguished program,” Howard wrote in a statement. “I’m profoundly grateful to the entire Christopher Newport University community for their unwavering support and inspiration. I look forward to this next chapter in Williamsburg with immense gratitude and enthusiasm.”
Nine days later, Tim Pemberton ’05, the head coach of the Tribe men’s golf program since 2021 and the interim Director of Golf during the 2024-2025 season, was elevated to permanent Director of Golf. Under Pemberton, the men have recorded four of the top ten season scoring averages in program history. William and Mary Director of Athletics Brian Mann cited the academic success of Pemberton’s athletes, his engagement with the community and his performance in the interim role as additional factors that led to his promotion.
“[Pemberton] showed tremendous leadership as the Interim Director of Golf over these last several months, and I look forward to his continued impact on our student-athletes,” Mann wrote in a statement. “Tim has also built a terrific culture within the golf programs and engages with alumni as well as anyone in our department. His strategic guidance will be a benefit to our new head women’s golf coach, Jonathan Howard.”
LACROSSE
Although William and Mary women’s lacrosse didn’t have its most successful season in 2025, posting an overall record of 6-10 and going 2-6 against CAA opponents, one of the Tribe’s highest points came on the last day of the campaign. Hosting Campbell at home April 26, William and Mary erupted for a season-high 19 goals, knocking off the Fighting Camels and sending off its 15-member senior class in style. The contest saw multiple Tribe players rack up impressive stat totals: senior Paige Gilbert accumulated seven points on four goals and three assists, redshirt freshman Molly Delaney caused four turnovers, a performance that earned her the CAA Rookie of the Week award, junior Kate Draddy scored six goals and senior Ainsley Huizenga recorded her fourth hat trick of the season.
Later that week, Gilbert was named to the All-CAA second team for the second consecutive season. The midfielder racked up 60 draw controls, 56 points, 37 goals and eight hat tricks on the year, leading the Tribe in each category. She departed William and Mary with her name cemented into the program record books, ranking sixth on the all-time draw controls list with 133.
Neither tennis program concluded the 2025 season with the results it wanted, as the women fell short of their fourth consecutive CAA title and the men failed to make the conference tournament, but that didn’t stop six Tribe athletes from claiming all-conference honors.
On the women’s side, seniors Hedda Gurholt, Alessandra Anghel and Ine Stange, junior Sia Chaudry and sophomore Francesca Davis were each honored with All-CAA accolades. Gurholt was named to the first team in both singles and doubles, Anghel was named to the first team in singles and the third team in doubles, Stange was named to the first team in doubles, Chaudry was named to the third team in singles and Davis was named to the third team in doubles. The Tribe’s cascade of awards befitted a senior class that won three consecutive CAA championships and maintained a conference winning streak that numbered 28 games and lasted from 2022 to 2025.
On the men’s side, freshman Gur Trakhtenberg was named to the All-CAA second team in singles. He paced the Green and Gold in both singles and doubles, knocked off Monmouth’s Mateo Bivol, a member of the All-CAA first team and became the first male William and Mary freshman in ten years to be awarded an All-CAA singles nod. READ MORE AT FLATHATNEWS.COM
sports
Tribe kicks o campaign at old conference rival Furman
William and Mary seeks to beat Paladins for second consecutive season
think night and day just from what I’ve watched them.”
School is back in session, and with it, William and Mary football is here at last.
After spending over 270 days away from the gridiron, the Tribe (0-0, 0-0 CAA) will kick off the 2025 campaign Saturday, Aug. 30, as it travels to Eugene E. Stone III Stadium in Greenville, S.C., to take on the Furman Paladins (0-0, 0-0 Southern). With the program losing a group of core offensive players, the game will ring in a new era of Green and Gold football, and William and Mary is in for a letdown if it harbors any hopes of easing into its transitional period. Since the pandemic ended, Furman has posted a winning percentage of 60.4%, going 10-3 in both 2022 and 2023 and claiming the Southern Conference championship in the latter year. The Paladins slipped to 3-8 in 2024, but they return plenty of experienced players and have never suffered back-to-back losing seasons during the nine-year tenure of head coach Clay Hendrix. ESPN’s SP+ metric ranks Furman the 62ndbest team in the Football Championship Subdivision, making it William and Mary’s toughest opening FCS opponent since 2022.
The Tribe and the Paladins both joined the SoCon in 1936, but the regional nature of the era’s schedules and the conference’s significant size — it consisted of 16 members at the time — prevented the schools from meeting on the field for another 23 years. Considered a significant underdog before its inaugural trip to Williamsburg in 1959, Furman shocked the Green and Gold with a late passing touchdown and put the nail in the coffin with a dramatic two-point conversion, spoiling William and Mary’s homecoming by a score of 8-7. Turnovers doomed the Tribe in the 1960 edition of the budding rivalry, but the program avenged itself as the decade progressed, rattling off four consecutive blowout victories.
However, future matchups would occur only sporadically and were often uncompetitive in nature. The teams next faced off in 1972, when William and Mary accumulated 340 rushing yards in a 31-7 pasting of Furman; two years later, the Paladins responded by forcing eight Tribe fumbles in an ugly 10-0 victory. Furman scored two more lopsided wins over the Green and Gold before William and Mary departed the SoCon after the 1976 campaign, putting the series on indefinite hiatus.
Since then, the programs have occasionally exchanged punches, with one blow always being followed by a proportional response. Furman ended William and Mary’s season in the 1989 FCS playoffs, but William and Mary upset the No. 7 Paladins less than a year later. William and Mary scrapped its way to a road triumph over Furman in 1994, but Furman stomped the Tribe 52-6 in 1999. The result remains the Green and Gold’s worst home loss since 1958. “As Saturday’s football game progressed, the outcome went from bad to worse to just plain awful. The Tribe were humiliated,” a former edition of The Flat Hat wrote in the aftermath of the defeat. During the following campaign, the Paladins recorded a 34-10 victory that went unanswered until last season, when William and Mary staged a 14-point comeback to even the all-time series at eight wins apiece. The Tribe racked up 384 yards on the ground during its 34-24 home win, but with its top three rushers having graduated, head coach Mike London’s squad must devise a new blueprint to beat Furman.
The Paladins did not meet their lofty standards in 2024. Despite being ranked No. 9 in the preseason FCS Coaches’ Poll, Furman opened the campaign with a 76-0 loss at Ole Miss before handing Charleston Southern its only victory of the year and recording just two SoCon wins. Hendrix’s bunch, dragged down by bad close-game luck and a rash of injuries, was likely better than its 3-8 record. Nevertheless, a tepid offense, a porous defense and an inexperienced roster that turned the ball over a whopping 23 times gave the Paladins little chance at sustained success.
“Golly, we weren’t very good at anything, to be honest with you,” Hendrix said at the 2025 SoCon Football Media Day. SP+ rated Furman the 94th-best team in the FCS, the program’s worst finish since 2015. However, statistical models and media polls alike project a return to competence from the Paladins not because of transfer portal additions — Furman brought in fewer transfers than almost any other team in the SoCon — but rather because of retention. Due to a massive wave of graduations and injuries, the program was forced to start several underclassmen last season, almost all of whom return in 2025. Hendrix is cautiously optimistic that the increase in experience will produce better outcomes.
“[Last year], I knew we were a lot younger, a lot less experienced, and then I just never dreamed the number of injuries that we’d have,” Hendrix said. “We ended up starting guys I really weren’t even sure would play a year ago, but hopefully that pays off for us this year. I think we’ve recruited well. I think we’re retained well. I think our coaches do a great job of developing players; we’re that kind of program. I think it’s always great when you’ve got a returning quarterback. We may be the only school in America that has all three quarterbacks back from a year ago. I know they’re clearly better, I
Of Furman’s returning quarterbacks, sophomore Trey Hedden is the presumed starter. A SoCon All-Freshman team selection in 2024, Hedden earned the starting role three games into the season and recorded 1,767 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns and nine interceptions on the year. He was up-and-down during Furman’s loss to William and Mary, tossing two touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 13 of his 26 pass attempts for a total of 264 yards. Most of his production came in the form of an early 84-yard touchdown strike; outside of that explosion, Hedden posted a mediocre 7.2 yards per pass attempt. The story of the game mirrored the story of Hedden’s season: flashes of excellence combined with stretches of fair to middling play.
The passing attack proved far more effective than its ground game counterpart, which is typically a prominent feature of the Furman offense. The Paladins do not deploy the pure triple option in the style of military academies, but they are accustomed to having a quarterback who is dangerous on his feet: Hendrix, a former Air Force offensive line coach, is a proponent of designed QB runs. During the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, signal-caller Tyler Huff ran for a combined 1,285 yards; in both seasons, he ranked second on the team in rushing. Hedden, conversely, is pocketbound, gaining just 93 ground yards in 2024. Multiple injuries to running backs further limited the Paladins’ options, and Furman finished the season having accumulated a paltry 988 rushing yards, the fifth-lowest mark in the FCS. Against William and Mary, the Paladins ran for 84 yards to the Tribe’s 384.
Hendrix acknowledges his squad’s offensive shortcomings but expects to see improvement, claiming Hedden has greatly improved both his physical and leadership abilities. As the sophomore enters his first full year as Furman’s starting quarterback, the team’s offense has been tailored to Hedden’s skillset, something that wasn’t the case in 2024.
“As long as I’ve been around, we’ve got to be able to run the football,” Hendrix said. “We’ve taken great pride in that. [We were] not very good for a number of reasons a year ago, and to be honest with you, I put a lot of that on me. I think we were still largely doing a bunch of Tyler Huff stuff without Tyler Huff playing quarterback, and Trey’s a different guy, but a really talented guy in a lot of areas. I don’t think we probably adapted to that. We’ve made some changes structurally.”
Supporting Hedden will be a running backs room Hendrix describes as “young but really talented” and a receiving corps the coach claims is among the most solid he’s had at Furman. Leading rusher Myion Hicks departs, but sophomore Gavin Hall, named to the SoCon All-Freshman team last season after racking up 321 yards on the ground, is poised to step into a featured role. During a November contest against VMI, Hall rattled off a 46-yard run, the team’s longest of the year, and became the only Furman player of 2024 to eclipse 100 rushing yards in a single game. Hall also averaged five yards per carry to Hicks’ 3.6.
Behind Hall on the depth chart sit redshirt junior Jayquan Smith and freshman C.J. Nettles, both of whom are expected to see playing time. Smith is a veteran who was in the midst of a solid 2023 campaign before he suffered a knee injury that sidelined him for nearly two years, while Nettles rushed for 3,886 yards and 62 touchdowns in high school.
Furman brings back five of its top eight receivers and adds two transfers: graduate student Kerry King from East Carolina and graduate student Nick Ragano from Wake Forest. The former Football Bowl Subdivision players will provide depth for an experienced unit headlined by senior Ben Ferguson, who racked up 349 receiving yards and three touchdowns in 2024. Praised by Hendrix for his steady hands, Ferguson is best known for a viral circus catch he made against Samford during the 2023 season. Alongside him returns redshirt junior Ethan Harris, who has 20 career receptions. The receiving room is augmented by star sophomore tight end Jackson Pryor, a preseason All-SoCon first team selection who hauled in two catches for 88 yards against William and Mary in 2024, and graduate student tight end Joshua Burrell, who missed most of last season with an injury after transferring from Florida State.
The Paladins’ reclamation project could potentially hinge on the performance of the offensive line. Although the group allowed 35 sacks last year, four of its starters return, including redshirt senior Luke Petit and redshirt junior Eli Brasher. Both are preseason AllSoCon selections; the former is a jack of all trades who has made starts at all five line positions over the course of his career, while the latter was a mainstay at left tackle in 2024. The remainder of the line will be filled out by redshirt sophomore Chris Luna, redshirt senior Ryan Lamb and graduate student Jaydon Collins, a Wake Forest transfer. Going into last season, the Furman offensive line was the program’s least experienced unit, bringing back just one starter; now, it owns a collective 57 career starts. Hendrix describes it as the most improved group on the team and claims it could reach the heights of the 2022 Furman line, which gave up just 15 sacks and helped the Paladins run for 5.1 yards per carry.
The Paladins didn’t receive a significant talent infusion over
the offseason, but it’s safe to predict their experienced offense will attain some level of improvement. By all accounts, Hedden has gotten better since the Tribe last saw him, and unlike in 2024, he’ll be at the helm of a system that takes the rushing burden off his shoulders and plays to his strengths. By Hendrix’s own admission, William and Mary should expect to see a run-first attack that creates opportunities for Hedden to throw out of play action and get the ball to playmakers like Pryor and Ferguson. Although it’s too early to tell to what extent Furman’s reliance on internal development will pay off, the Paladin offense should look much more cohesive than it did last November, cutting down on the turnovers and penalties that plagued it throughout last season. The William and Mary front seven, which was occasionally shaky against the run in 2024 and loses many of its starting linebackers, faces an early test: an opponent that isn’t elite, but that is certainly capable of doing damage if it returns to the form it displayed in 2022 and 2023.
After once being considered the class of the SoCon, Furman’s defense also experienced a steep fall from grace last year, giving up a league-worst 426.6 yards per game and struggling against both air and ground attacks. Opponents scored points on the Paladins in a number of different ways: William and Mary romped to 384 rushing yards, Western Carolina quarterback Cole Gonzales put up a SoCon record 620 passing yards, and Mercer turned in a balanced effort of 213 rushing yards and 290 passing yards. That’s not even to mention the 76-0 drubbing Ole Miss handed Furman in the first week of the season, a result Hendrix said drained the confidence from his young defense.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been part of a game, a first game where you felt like we could take absolutely nothing from that game other than our guys hung in there,” he said. “I really felt like that set us back. We had a young team anyways, and it just kind of set us back.”
Furman’s defense wreaked little havoc in the backfield, recording 20 sacks, 64 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles; each mark ranked in the bottom two of the SoCon leaderboard. The Paladins were also among the 30 worst teams in the FCS at preventing explosive plays. In Hendrix’s eyes, the unit’s struggles could be boiled down to these main failures, which he believes are remediable.
“We just gave up too many big plays for probably a couple different reasons,” Hendrix said. “Got to be better at rushing the passer, which I think we are. I still think we’re able to redshirt some guys, I think that can help us. We’ve plugged a guy here and there that I think can help us. We’ve been a group that plays great team defense, that’s kind of been our history. Certainly didn’t do that as good a year ago.”
Like its offense, Furman’s defense focused on retaining depth rather than importing transfers. The line is tasked with replacing All-SoCon first team selection Luke Clark and longtime Paladins Jeremiah Jackson and Xavier Stephens. Luckily for Furman, it boasts nearly ten returning linemen, five of whom have starting experience. It’s currently unclear exactly what combination of players the Paladins will put in the trenches against William and Mary, but the Tribe will likely see lots of defensive tackle Caldwell Bussey, a 2024 SoCon All-Freshman team selection who racked up five starts, 15 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks a year ago.
The linebacking corps is in much the same spot, losing AllAmerican Evan DiMaggio and productive veteran Amaah Achina but bringing back several starters and up-and-comers who gained experience off the bench in 2024. According to Hendrix, the group was “thin and young” last season and “certainly lacked any depth;” however, he believes the unit now “looks different in terms of numbers, overall skill level and competition.” Furman’s linebacker room is led by redshirt sophomores Ryan Earl and Raleigh Herbert, who combined for 80 tackles in 2024. Hendrix expects Earl, a preseason All-SoCon first team selection, to pace his position group as it attempts to return to effectiveness. Alongside the young duo will likely be graduate student transfer Jordan Burrell, who saw significant game action during his career at Lenoir-Rhyne, and veteran redshirt senior Brandt Babin. In the secondary, almost all of Furman’s cornerbacks depart, but the newcomers may be more promising than those who left. Junior Eddie Jackson III and graduate students A.J. Seay and Keon Jones, each of whom transferred in over the offseason, accumulated large amounts of playing time at their last stops. Their additions instantly make the corner position one of the most experienced on the team. The Paladins’ outlook is even better at safety, where graduate student transfer Taylen Blaylock, holding 35 career games under his belt, joins three returning starters, one of whom is SoCon All-Freshman team selection Billy Lewis. Taking into account the recoveries of redshirt sophomore AK Burrell and graduate student Justin Hartwell, two projected starters who suffered injuries during the 2024 preseason, Furman’s secondary could rank among the better units on the team.
CHARLES VAUGHAN FLAT HAT SPORTS EDITOR
JONAH PETERS / THE FLAT HAT
William and Mary celebrates after defeating Furman 34-24 Sept. 21, 2024, at Zable Stadium. The win, the Tribeʼs first over the Paladins since 1994, was powered by 384 rushing yards on 54 attempts and saw William and Mary erase a 14-point deficit.