Vol. 109, Iss. 25 | Tuesday, February 18, 2020
The Flat Hat
CAMPUS
Student athlete arrested, released on $10,000 bail
Football player faces charges
The Weekly Student Newspaper
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Coronavirus complicates student travel plans, causes academic adjustments
Students discouraged from traveling to China adjust previously scheduled trips
ALEXANDRA BYRNE FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER
ETHAN BROWN // FLAT HAT MANAGING EDITOR
See ARREST page 4
VP FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION SAM JONES TO RETIRE JUNE 2020 In an email sent to the College of William and Mary community Feb. 17, College President Katherine Rowe announced the forthcoming retirement of Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Sam Jones ’75, M.B.A. ’80. Jones worked as a university staff member for over 30 years, serving under five different College presidents. “I am humbled to have been able to work at William & Mary,” Jones said in a press release. “It is a rare opportunity that allowed me to spend my career at an institution for which I have such great affection and which gave me so much — my wife, my education, a wonderful community to raise a family, long-standing friendships, and the opportunity to work with students, faculty, staff, university leaders, donors and volunteers who share my passion and love for this university.” Vice President for Finance and Technology Amy Sebring will oversee areas of the administration that Jones supervised, including emergency management, auxiliary services and public safety. According to the email, Sebring will take on these priorities as Chief Operating Officer, a new administrative role designed to foster a more cohesive executive team. Sebring will also be responsible for managing the College’s finances. “Four years ago, Amy Sebring was selected in a national search as Sam Jones’s eventual successor – with a view to the continuity that a gradual transition in this essential role would provide.” Rowe said in the email. “She has proved a trusted and effective leader, joining Sam as a full partner in the senior leadership team at William & Mary. I am delighted she has agreed to this expanded role. I have enormous confidence in her vision and leadership.” - Flat Hat News Editor Leslie Davis
Jan. 25, just three days after the spring semester began, students, faculty and staff at the College of William and Mary received an informational health advisory email from Emergency Management Team Chair Sam Jones detailing COVID-19 and its ramifications for campus. In the past several weeks, the College has sent out three additional campus wide updates and instigated several precautionary measures against the virus, prompting students to alter their travel plans to China and other Asian destinations. Since December 2019, the coronavirus has sparked concern throughout the international community. Originating in Wuhan, a city in China’s central Hubei province, the disease has spread to all Chinese provinces as well as to other countries in Southeast Asia. According to World Health Organization reports released Feb. 12, an estimated 60,000 coronavirus cases are either confirmed or suspected throughout China with an additional 28 countries The College facing at notified Iskandar least one about the confirmed heightened CDC case. alert level, stating WHO data she would need indicate that to appeal if she the United wanted to travel. States had 13 confirmed cases of the coronavirus by Feb. 12. Of those confirmed cases, 11 patients have travel history of visiting China, potentially illustrating the virus’s journey across the Pacific Ocean from Asia to North America. As of Feb. 18, Virginia does not have any reported and confirmed cases of the coronavirus. However, the College is taking precautionary steps to promote campus health in the weeks preceding spring break, when many students are anticipated to travel home or to alternative destinations. According to the third update email that Jones sent to community members Feb. 14, the College has banned all university-sponsored undergraduate travel to China and has imposed a mandatory r e v i e w process for Iskandar notified all universitythe school that sponsored she would not be faculty, staff studying abroad and graduate and her restudent travel. enrollment process T h e s e began. decisions accompany the College’s recommendation that students exercise caution if they choose to travel over spring break, especially if it entails visiting countries with confirmed coronavirus cases. “Spring Break begins March 7,” Jones said in an email. “As you begin to look toward your plans for that period, we encourage you to follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the State Department if you are planning to travel outside the country.” Beyond spring break, uncertainty surrounding the outbreak’s severity and duration is impeding summer break plans as well. Some Chinese and international students at the College are unsure of whether traveling to China will disqualify them from reentering the country given the s i t u a t i o n ’s volatility. The College Xiangyi sent the third Fang ’21 has follow-up email struggled to update to decide her students, staff travel plans and faculty. during the ongoing
SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS, RESPONSES JAN. 25
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JAN. 31 GRAPHIC BY CARMEN HONKER / THE FLAT HAT
A football player for the College of William and Mary was arrested Feb. 8 on one felony count of breaking and entering and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery, according to John Heilman of the Williamsburg Police Department. According to the initial investigation, George Eberle ’22 broke into a woman’s home on Matoaka Court, just beyond campus grounds, before sexually assaulting her. Both Eberle and the young woman who reported the assault are students at the College, though the two did not know each other. Police were called to the scene at approximately 2:45 a.m. and they reported no injury or property damage. The next morning, around 9 a.m., Eberle was located and arrested by Williamsburg Police and transported to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. He was released on $10,000 bail Monday, Feb. 10. “This is a criminal investigative file and any further dissemination of information could harm the prosecution’s case,” Heilman said. Eberle’s terms of bail and current residence are unclear. Currently Eberle remains on the College’s football roster as the team moves into spring practices. Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations and Strategic Communications Peter Clawson explained the College’s position regarding the arrest. “Certainly, William & Mary takes the charge of any crime seriously,” Clawson said via email. “The safety of our community and the well-being of its members are among the university’s top priorities. Any student charged with a serious crime may also face campus disciplinary action where sanctions could range from warning to dismissal.” Clawson did not make an official statement on whether or not Eberle will practice with the team for the spring semester. Furthermore, he did not outline any additional measures the athletic department plans to take in regard to working with student athletes to educate and prevent sexual misconduct. He did, however,
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Protestors act without evident intentions
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outbreak. While she is from Guangzhou — a Chinese city hundreds of miles away from Wuhan — Fang is reluctant to travel back to her home in China at the end of the spring semester, partially because of her concern that the United States will impose even more stringent travel restrictions on individuals visiting the country. “I was planning to go back in May The College and return by sent the first June for summer informational session, but now health advisory I’m worried that email and I might not be contacted Iskandar allowed to enter to check on her the States by the travel plans. time I come back,” Fang said in a written statement. “I’ll see how the situation goes and then decide whether to book a flight.” Other students pursuing study abroad programs in China have similarly had to adjust their plans in response to the virus. Rowan McDowell ’21 intended to spend a full academic year in Chengdu, China as part of his specific program, and while he successfully completed his fall semester a few months ago, he is now unable to go back to China and complete the program’s spring portion because of the College’s official policies regarding student travel to the country. McDowell is currently biding his time in South Korea as he waits for his program in Chengdu to reopen, but he anticipates that his return to China will be indefinitely delayed. While South Korea has experienced fewer concentrated coronavirus outbreaks in recent weeks, McDowell is still exercising The College caution to sent a follow-up preserve his email update to health during his students, staff and time in Asia. faculty. “I wear a facemask outdoors now, and pay extra attention to washing hands and sanitation,” McDowell said in a written statement. “It is just a precaution however, what’s really makes a difference is not living in the quarantined province or having any infected family members.” Jenna Iskandar ’21 planned to spend February through May in Harbin, China as part of a thirdparty study abroad program but had to revise her plans significantly following the outbreak. She first became aware of the coronavirus’s ramifications for her study abroad experience when her third-party program provider contacted her and advised her about longer wait times for visas and administrative approvals related to the virus. Once WHO and the Centers for Disease Control published reports about the spread of the coronavirus in mid-January, Iskandar received word from the The College College asking sent the second her about her follow-up email intended plans update to now that her students, staff program had and faculty. been temporarily discontinued. “After CDC issued their highest-level warning, that was when William and Mary reached out, the program reached out, and basically all the programs were getting cancelled at that point,” Iskandar said. Iskandar was offered alternative third-party postings through her study abroad provider in Taiwan and Thailand, but she chose to return to Williamsburg about halfway through the second week of classes. Despite her delayed arrival on campus, Iskandar said she was pleased with how administration and faculty handled her situation, especially when it came to organizing her academic plans without the time she’d See CORONAVIRUS page 3
Inside Variety
Inside Opinions
Index Profile News Opinions Variety Sports
of The College of William and Mary
Lucas Harsche ’23 says that the recent protests against College Chancellor Robert Gates lacked any clear purpose. page 6
Exploring the pasta-bilities
A new twist on a classic Italian dish: bean-based spaghetti creates exciting culinary frontiers. page 8