SPORTS>> PAGE 8
VARIETY >> PAGE 7
Tribe Tribetriathlete thrashes Hofstra SPORTS >> PAGE 8
Emma Langley ’17 balances classes with world championship triathlons. Prewitt, help College pick up a 78-62 winthe in front of aatpacked Dixon’s Tarpey six three-pointers key a 100-79 rout for College KaplanKaplan Arena.Arena.
Vol. 104, Iss. 31 | Friday, February 20, 2015
And the Oscar goes to... The Flat Hat staff places predictions for the winners of this year’s Academy Awards.
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“But this was freshman year, “the rose-colored glasses I thought, and people would through which I first learn. Things would viewed the College get better.”
Film Festival builds presence ‘The Hunting Ground’ premieres AMANDA WILLIAMS Flat hat assoc. news editor
The College of William and Mary’s eighth annual Global Film Festival will run Feb. 19-22 at the Kimball Theatre. GFF began in 2008 as a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Williamsburg Theater — renamed the Kimball Theatre in 2001. The Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies and the Roy R. Charles Center are the Festival’s primary sponsors; however, more and more sponsors have contributed over time. For the last two years, the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission has awarded the Festival a grant that has allowed GFF to grow. Recently, Canon Virginia, Inc. has also donated money to bring in more filmmakers and cameras to support film studies’ own production projects, as well as to use as prizes in the student film competition. Support from Canon Virginia, Inc. allowed the festival to launch student workshops starting in 2013 called DIY/FIY — Do-It-Young/Film-It-Yourself. The 2008 Festival, called “A Festival of Film History,” was locally focused and only included the pre-series films in conjunction with the one-credit film class. The 2009 Festival more closely resembles what GFF is today: a global festival with a broad programming theme. Visiting assistant professor of film and media studies and Director of the William and Mary Global Film Festival Timothy Barnard has worked with the Festival since its inception and said he believes 2009 was an integral year for its development. “We kind of started to establish some things that we remain committed to, which was bringing in filmmakers and trying to bring in filmmakers from different parts of the world, but then also we realized that we wanted to include special live performances and special parties — in between films we would have receptions,” Barnard said. Each year the team has worked to bring in awardSee GFF page 4
“the College must do better” “suggested to me that I was at William and Mary only due to affirmative action”
Students speak out
disappeared”
“as pained as we were, we tried to ignore these incidents”
“asked why I did not get a ‘real job’”
bY meilan solly // flat hat assoc. news editor
“people of color at this school are not just here to pad statistics”
The quotes featured are from 24 student letters written to the Board of Visitors and administration regarding racist incidents on campus. See page 2 for full excerpts.
Students propose Bias Response Team, Zero Tolerance Policy In an effort to address the current racial climate at the College of William and Mary, Taylor Mack ’15 and Brittney Harrington ’15 have created the Call to Community Action: A Request for Administrative Response to Racial Bias Instances. Directed toward the administration and the Board of Visitors, the document seeks to confront administrative inaction and promote a safer racial environment on campus. In the call to action, Mack and Harrington present two proposals for administrative responses to bias incidents. They also included a series of 24 personal letters from students and alumni. The letters recount instances of racism and racial bias on campus. The first proposal, the Zero Tolerance Policy, categorizes bias incidents as student conduct violations to be investigated under the
current student conduct process. “More likely than not, a student conduct violation will result in a warning, community service or education on the offense,” the call to action states. “The goal of the William and Mary Bias Zero Tolerance Policy is not to punitively punish students who commit acts of bias out of ignorance and innocent intent.” This proposal could prove problematic, however, according to Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. “I’m sure this is a well-intended policy but we know from experience how dysfunctional campus disciplinary systems are, and we really need to
STUDENT GROUP
See COMMUNITY page 3
STUDENT LIFE
American Indian Student Assoc. revived THON dances for Students of all faiths join together to celebrate American Indian culture 10 hours straight SARAH CASPARI FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER
After a two-year hiatus, the American Indian Student Association at the College of William and Mary resurfaced last fall. Now
operating under the title of American Indian Student Association, the organization aims to educate the College community about Native American culture and issues tribes face today. At a Center for Student Diversity event at
the beginning of last semester, Mackenzie Neal ’18 saw a sign for NASA, but was told the organization no longer existed since all of its members graduated in 2012. Neal, who is part Quapaw, revived the club to connect with an unfamiliar part of her heritage, and is now the organization’s president. “The Quapaw tribe is actually in Oklahoma,” Neal said. “And I grew up in Virginia, away from that area … so I just knew that my mom had moccasins on the Christmas tree every year, and I didn’t really know what that was for.” Neal said she feels as though she missed out on the opportunity to attend powwows when she was younger, but is making up for it with the club’s upcoming Native Dance and Drum Demonstration. The event will take place March 28 in Trinkle Hall and will feature demonstrations of traditional music and dance, as well as a raffle and Native American vendors selling crafts like beaded items and pottery. Proceeds will benefit the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life, which advocates for native people throughout the Commonwealth, and the
SARAH CASPARI / THE FLAT HAT American Indian Student Association president Mackenzie Neal ‘18 demonstrates for members how to make a dreamcatcher.
Index News Insight News News Opinions Variety Variety Sports
Today’s Weather 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ALISON ROHRER THE Flat hat
One-hundred-and-seventy-seven students participated in the College of William and Mary’s inaugural TribeTHON, a 10hour dance marathon held to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. The event, which took place Feb. 14, raised a total of $13, 279.24, exceeding TribeTHON’s goal of $10,000. The idea for TribeTHON formed when executive directors Eileen Dolan ’16 and Thomas Fergus ’16 were freshmen, after Dolan attended a dance marathon at Pennsylvania State University. “We really wanted this event to tie together the whole William and Mary community, so that includes different clubs and the faculty because that will make us have the biggest impact,” Dolan said. Co-executive director Thomas Fergus ’16 explained that TribeTHON was successful in its first year in comparison with other school’s first dance marathon events. “The first ever dance marathon was at Indiana University and their first-year yield was a couple thousand dollars so on a campus as small as ours, we were extremely happy with the turnout and how much money we raised. … With schools of our size, that is a tremendous amount of money,” Fergus said. To start TribeTHON on the College’s campus, the TribeTHON
See AISA page 3
See THON page 4
Inside Variety
Inside Opinions
Choosing how to conduct our discourse
Mostly sunny High 21, Low 9
Raise over 13,000 for hospitals
On both a campus and national level, word choice and political correctness are treated as simple matters of sensitivity. page 5
Laughing in Lodge 1
Comedian and College alumna Sara Schaefer ‘00 entertains with a standup routine. page 6
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The Flat Hat | Friday, February 20, 2015 | Page 2
THE DIGITAL DAY
Snapchats from Students
This week’s edition of Snapchats from Students shows there’s snow place better than Williamsburg in winter. One snapchat welcomes a new student to campus but rumor has it they’re a little cold. Despite icy road conditions, one car seems to be enjoying the wintry weather. While some enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, others have a more refined taste and a better stocked liquor cabinet. Remember to send your snowy snapchats to the FlatChat.
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William Penix reviews a remake of the horror film “The Town that Dreaded Sundown.”While he appreciated the stylization of the film, he found the substance to be lacking. Read the rest of William’s blogs online at Flathatnews.com. “If anything, the most frustrating part of watching ”The Town that Dreaded Sundown” was trying to uncover its deeper meanings and supposed subversion of the genre, only to come away with almost nothing. Hints and nudges weave throughout the film, offering commentary on genre conventions; the film self-reflexively employs familiar tropes while simultaneously avoiding others. “The film demonstrates an awareness of the genre theory that has called slasher films covertly conservative entertainment. It spends much time depicting a town steeped in patriarchal, religious traditionalism that would rather keep its female protagonist quiet than work through its own trauma. Additionally, the film’s victims are killed after engaging in or speaking of sexual acts that such a town would consider transgressive, which demonstrates an awareness of slasher tropes and serves its rhetoric on conservative societies. Frequently, the film displays sparks of intelligence, only to fail seeing them through. They are undone by the movie’s conclusion: All of it is a cinematic ego boost.”
After William and Mary’s nailbiting defeat against Delaware, Flat Hat Sports Editors Mick Sloane and Chris Weber team up with Meredith Ramey and Abby Boyle to discuss the details of the game. However, dicsussion quickly turns to the whether or not the Griffin is the ideal mascot to represent the College’s rich history and the difficulty of recieving one of his high-fives. Be sure to listen to Flat Hat Sports Talk on SoundCloud or flathatnews.com
“I cannot stand the Griffin.” Chris Weber ‘15
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CAMPUS POLICE BEAT
Feb. 15 —16 caroline nutter/ THE FLAT HAT
CORRECTIONS The Flat Hat wishes to correct any facts printed incorrectly. Corrections may be submitted by email to the editor of the section in which the incorrect information was printed. Requests for corrections will be accepted at any time.
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Conference drew more than 200 students and alumni to Miller Hall. This conference is unique to the College and provides an opportunity for alumni to share their business wisdom and experiences with students interested in the field. Social entrepreneurship, which was the basis of the conference, involves working with the community to solve
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Sunday, Feb. 15 — An individual was arrested for simple domestic assault on Merrimac Trail.
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Monday, Feb. 16 — An individual was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on South Henry Street.
Personal Narratives from the Call to Action Erica West ‘17 “Over the course of that same freshmen Fall 2013, I was told by a white counterpart that ‘black women were only pretty as long as they looked white;’ it was non-too subtly suggested to me that I was at William and Mary *only* due to affirmative action, and not because I was debate captain of my state finalist high school debate team, in the top 5 percent of my graduating class, or in five different honor societies, among other accolades; and perhaps most disturbingly, peers in my own freshman hall were confused why I was offended after they told me of a ‘Colonial Bros and Navajos’ mixer between a sorority and a fraternity. “The most recent events with the fraternity and sorority racist mixers are just another checkmark on the growing list of racially motivated microaggressions that have permeated William and Mary since I arrived. I realize that Greek life in and of itself is not inherently bad — it fosters leadership, cultivates logistical acumen and in the best cases can provide a positive social outlet in an area that quite frankly can be lacking in that department. That said, the College must do better.” ONLINE
FH
For the full Call to Action: A Request for Administrative Response, visit Flathatnews.com
Keaun Barrett ‘16 “I have been subject to subtle acts of racism when questioned about my work ethic and achievements at the college. I work at a Starbucks off campus and time and time again I get expressions of disbelief when I say I attend William and Mary. My colleagues come to this Starbucks often, including some of my professors. A Caucasian female student responded with, ‘Congratulations,’ when I told her I was currently attending William & Mary. She is a peer of mine at the College, so why was such a response warranted? I perceived it as a failure to acknowledge my own accomplishments at the College and the obstacles I had to bypass to get there. Her facial expression told a story of shock and disbelief, which is often the response I get from others that do not know me. “I have even been asked if I was jokingly, ‘slave labor’ by a professor because of my work ethic at Starbucks, [and I] have then been asked why I did not get a ‘real job’ like my fellow colleagues during the summer. My work ethic to support and aid my family is no laughing matter and it was perceived as such during these inquiries. These are daily issues that I must face as a man of color. This does not mean that I want those issues to be rubbed in my face by members of my college community.”
Ebony Lambert ‘16 “I had not been here two months when several drunken White students yelled the word [‘n-----’] out of the window of their SUV at my friends and I as we walked back from a party at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday night. (I use plain speech here as time has not diminished my memory of the incident or the devaluation that was laced in the word — I do not believe that it is my place to do so here either.) It was not even a full week later when a friend of mine, another young Black woman, was called a [‘j----boo’] while standing at the bus stop. As pained as we were, we tried to ignore these incidents ... but ignoring ignorance and bigotry does not make it any less likely to find you. It is hard, unbelievably so, to try to maintain a balanced, healthy life when you are constantly battling threats you do not understand, that almost always take you by surprise. Bigotry wears many faces, however, so I was constantly affronted by people I counted as friends. People I had dinner with everyday tried to pet my afro as if I were an animal, told me I was not really Black if I could not sing, sat in classes with me and argued that slavery had, in fact, enhanced Black life in American society. But this was freshman year, I thought, people would learn, [and] things would get better.”
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The Flat Hat
Campus Events
SEED dialogues encourage conversation
Center for Student Diversity introduces pilot program to promote discussion about diversity on campus Elizabeth Flood flat hat staff writer
Many believe that diversity needs to be a topic of continuous conversation to maintain its prevalence on campuses like the College of William and Mary. SEED Dialogues are ongoing dialogues designed to address issues of social unity and equality. The Student Engagement and Empowerment through Dialogues project started on campus in the fall. The project is as an endeavor led by the Center for Student Diversity to promote conversations about diversity on campus. “We are offering them as a pilot project this year, and expect to continue and build the program in coming years,” Associate Director for Diversity Education and head of the dialogues Margie Cook said in an email. The dialogues stemmed from the Diversity Peer Educators program, which runs diversity sessions for freshmen during orientation week. The Center for Student Diversity wanted to find a way to extend those conversations past students’ first week of school.
The opportunity to do just that arose this summer when Cook and five students attended the PULSE Institute at Bucknell University, a program offered by the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network to help college campuses promote dialogue and exchange among students. The PULSE Institute, which stands for “Perspective. Understanding. Leadership. Sustained. Exchange,” teaches campus groups the skills to maintain ongoing conversation on campus regarding diversity issues. “We’d been thinking about doing something like this for a while and were finally able to make it happen, especially after learning more at the PULSE Institute,” Student Assembly Secretary for Diversity Initiatives Hannah Kohn ’15 said in an email. Kohn was a facilitator of last year’s dialogue about religion. She is helping with long-term planning for the program this semester. There were two dialogues in the fall: one on race and one on religion. Two ongoing dialogues are scheduled for this spring: one on gender and one on race. Two student facilitators run each dialogue and every dialogue group consists of between eight and 16 students, who apply to participate.
FEATURE PHOTOS
Sivan Yair ’16 became involved with the dialogues after being a Diversity Peer Educator. She participated in last fall’s dialogue on religion. “I really enjoyed it, and the way it brought people together,” Yair said. “So I got involved to be a gender facilitator this year.” Every dialogue runs for about an hour and a half and consists of seven sessions over the course of seven weeks. Yair said she usually starts her dialogue with an open discussion about the participants’ personal experiences. “The power of a dialogue is the focus on personal experience — the opportunity to listen to another student talk about how their life has been shaped and impacted by some aspect of their identity, and to share the same about yourself,” Cook said. Cook said that during the dialogues, the facilitators try to create an atmosphere that differs from that of a lecture. Yair said that her job as a facilitator is more about initiating open exchanges among the students than teaching them. “I hope that students can trust one another enough to open up and allow themselves to be mutually vulnerable, a phrase that one of my friends
used to describe how we can get closer to true understanding,” Kohn said. “We must be able to be okay with feeling uncomfortable — that is what builds awareness.” The dialogues are specifically designed to represent a diverse group of students. The application to participate asks about both the student’s leadership qualities and their background. “What I really love about it is that it brings people together who wouldn’t normally come together to talk about these Dialogues,” Yair said. Kohn said that she also hopes the dialogues will encourage students who would not normally talk about these issues to open up. While the dialogues begin with open discussion, the facilitators also plan activities to encourage person-to-person exchanges that will hopefully increase awareness about each other’s perspectives. Kohn and Yair both stressed their hope that the dialogues will foster better listening on campus. “That is how we can understand each other better,” Kohn said. “And create a true community for everyone here at W&M and when we go out into the world.”
CLASSES CANCELLED AFTER SNOW FALL
COURTESY PHOTO / NICHOLAS MONTALBANO
molly menickelly / THE FLAT HAT
COURTESY PHOTO / NICHOLAS MONTALBANO
The College of William and Mary closed Tuesday, Feb. 17, after several inches of snow fell Monday night. Provost Michael Halleran emailed Thursday afternoon commenting on the inclement weather and the school closure decision-making process. “I seek to balance the safety of campus community and our commitment to carrying out our teaching and research mission,” Halleran said in the email.
American Indian Student Association reforms after two years Group hopes to address issues affecting Native American populations, like poverty and food sovereignty AISA from page 1
American Indian Science and Engineering Society, which promotes Native American representation in STEM fields. AISA Vice President Emily Williams ’18 is native Diné on her mother’s side and native Hawaiian on her father’s side. Like Neal, she grew up without
paying much attention to these roots, and hopes to explore them through club activities. Williams said that through the organization, she would like to bring awareness to the problems of food sovereignty and obesity in Native Americans. “They’re not eating the foods that their bodies are used to anymore — maize, peppers, pumpkins, fish, deer
— foods that they kind of evolved with, and part of the reason they struggle with obesity so much is because things that are in mainstream markets … like sugar, flour, wheat, they can’t really digest it,” Williams said. “Their bodies aren’t meant to digest it because they haven’t grown with it.” Emily Martin ’18, a member of the group who has Kickapoo roots, said
she would like to address poverty on reservations through the club. “Reservations are actually the poorest areas of America,” she said. “They are below Appalachia. They have the highest poverty rates and the most alcoholism.” While many members of the American Indian Student Association have familial connections to Native American tribes, Neal said the club has
also attracted history and anthropology students. All are welcome to join, regardless of background. “I think college is a great place to raise awareness of Native American issues,” Neal said. “Especially because this is a time when people are realizing different cultural values and being exposed to things that they weren’t in their hometowns.”
Students present Call to Community Action to Reveley and BOV
Student proposal regarding bias on campus recommends zero-tolerance policy, bias response team COMMUNITY from page 1
hesitate before pushing tons more cases into such a broken system,” LoMonte said in an email. “When you bring someone up on disciplinary charges, you’re talking about putting them at risk of suspension or even expulsion, which are life-altering consequences, and that ought to be reserved for truly severe acts of wrongdoing. The ‘call to action’ talks about zero tolerance for instances of bias even where the incident is done out of ignorance with no malicious intent, and that’s exactly the kind of case where discipline seems completely inappropriate.” The second proposal, a Bias Response Team, seeks to create a group of community members to provide support for victims of bias incidents and work to further discussion of the College’s racial climate. Harrington and Mack began working on the call to action several days after accusations of insensitive party themes at Greek life events arose. “We were disappointed by the lack of prompt action by the administration,” Harrington said. “There is a pattern of racist things not getting a reaction from the school because of free speech or having something happen that’s not
a prosecutable hate crime … but at some point, people in power have to make a decision about whether they’re going to prioritize the free speech and expression of people who are doing things that are racist or the comfort of students who are already marginalized.” The two have met with College President Taylor Reveley, Rector Todd Stottlemeyer ’85 and Chief Diversity Officer Chon Glover to discuss their ideas. Harrington said that all three were receptive to Harrington the call to action, as well as hearing students’ personal experiences with racism at the College. “Working to improve the racial climate on campus is of great importance to me and members of the Board of Visitors,” Reveley said in an email. Prior to the creation of the call to action, Reveley announced that he was in the process of creating a Task Force on Race and Race Relations. It will be led by Glover and will include students, alumni, faculty and staff.
“[Our ideas] are going to be taken to the task force, who will then use the time and resources they have to figure out what solutions are best for the campus,” Harrington said. “That may be entirely some of the ideas we presented, maybe some in part, or maybe something entirely different.” Although the call to action’s intended audience is the administration and the BOV, it has reached other individuals on campus. “We’ve been reached out to by a lot of people, faculty especially, and that was really surprising because … when we were working on it, I wasn’t thinking that it was going to get all over to everyone,” Harrington said. “It was a thing to the people who had power imploring them to take action.” Mack also spoke about the call to action at the Feb. 10 Student Assembly meeting. “When I went to the SA, I articulated what Brittney and I had already done, why we wrote the call to action, [and] what its intended purpose was,” Mack said. “[I] tried to create some transparency around it so that we can get as many supporters and allies around it as possible.” Moving forward, Mack said he hopes the call to action sparks discussion about the racial climate
on campus. “I wanted it to be a conversation starter,” he said. “I wanted it to be thought-provoking but not provocative. I really hope it gets people thinking about what they can do on the individual level. … When things happen, go to the administration, talk to the administration, report to the administration. Keep those dialogues open because that’s how things are going to change.” Harrington voiced similar thoughts on longterm goals for the call to action. “The end goal here is cultural change,” she said. “It’s people not doing racist things because they genuinely believe no one deserves to feel like [that] in their home and the place they exist 24-7 nine months out of the year … people make light of their experiences and think it’s funny and think it’s worthy of a party costume. That’s what we want, and that’s a hard thing to achieve. It takes time, and it takes resources. It takes people with power standing up. It takes white students saying they don’t support racism standing up to their white peers. But in the meantime, while we’re waiting for this cultural change to happen, there need to be policies in place so students know they will be held accountable if they do things that damage the safety of the community.”
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The Flat Hat
Friday, February 20, 2015
Administration
College launches new website design Creative Services team redesigns website, improves webpage loading time, mobility ainE Cain flat hat News editor
The College of William and Mary recently unveiled a redesigned website to better reflect the school’s new style guide. “We knew the design of the university’s website needed to be addressed immediately to effectively represent the importance of our brand and visual identity,” Creative Services Director Tina Coleman said in an email. Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Henry Broaddus said that the College’s Creative Services team handled the change completely in-house. Outside consultants and designers did not contribute. “We wanted W&M’s website [to be] dressed in its finest in time for Charter Day, and the homepage has never looked better,” Broaddus said in an email. In addition to the changes in appearance, the loading time for certain pages has improved. The only cost of the project was the cost of securing rights to use the new web typeface, Avenir Next. This required a subscription based on the number of page views anticipated annually.
The College pays $91.67 per month for the rights; the site receives between 20 and 25 million page views annually. Associate Director of Design Justin Schoonmaker was the lead designer on the visual identity and web redesign projects. He said that the goals of the website remodeling were to employ official university colors into the primary web color palette and to provide a prominent place for the new university logo in order to gain recognition. The new site uses color contrast and white space rather than boxes and lines to distinguish between areas of content. “We employ a team of award-winning designers in Creative Services that have a track record of producing excellent work, so we were confident we could execute the project in-house,” Schoonmaker said in an email. “As we started the redesign, however, several other opportunities presented themselves that then turned into major project goals. We realized we had an opportunity to ‘clean’ the site up by getting rid of superfluous lines, boxes and other dividing visuals.” Schoonmaker also noted that the Creative Services team took advantage of current technologies in web programming and image
COURTESY PHOTO / WM.EDU
The College of William and Mary ‘s Creative Services team members created the College’s new website design in-house.
optimization. The end result is a homepage that loads faster than the previous homepage on a mobile phone. “The website is the first (and one of the most prominent) steps the university is taking to tie
its visual communications into a single, cohesive look and feel,” Schoonmaker said. “This cohesion greatly affects the [recognition] of our marks, which in turn greatly affects the strength of our brand.”
College to be first campus to premiere ‘The Hunting Ground’ Global Film Festival starts Thursday Mug Night Series, continues 24 Speed student film competition GFF from page 1
winning filmmakers and filmmaking teams, as well as famous actors, including Michael Cera and Jared Gilman (star of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom”). In 2009, the festival partnered with the Earl Gregg Swem Library Media Center’s 24 Speed student film competition, in which students wrote, shot and edited a short film in 24 hours. Gilman was a guest
judge for the 2013 competition. In addition to the traditional Wednesday Pre-Festival Series — five films shown on-campus and presented by the College’s faculty — this year included a new Thursday Mug Night Series. It was comprised of four weeks of cult-classic films leading up to the 2015 GFF and also offered a deal on AleWerks beer for those using an official GFF mug. Jan Hüebenthal, a second year American studies Ph.D.
candidate and assistant director for GFF, expressed confidence that the Mug Night Series will become a festival program staple in the future. “The Thursday Mug Nights were completely new this year and they were a runaway success,” Hüebenthal said. “It really proved that there is a sustainable, long-standing interest among the student population for the festival, which is very neat to see.” The biggest excitement for this year’s
COURTESY PHOTO / WILLIAM AND MARY GLOBAL FILM FESTIVAL
The Global Film Festival will take place at the Kimball Theater Feb. 19-22. The festival received a grant from the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission.
festival is the sneak preview of “The Hunting Ground,” slated for Friday night. Public Relations Chair for the William and Mary Global Film Festival Carlton Fleenor ’15 explained the importance of GFF screening this film. “It’s actually the biggest thing that GFF has ever done,” Fleenor said. “This is the first post-Sundance showing of this film, which is a really, really big deal. It’s ahead of the New York and the LA premieres.” The documentary focuses on sexual assault on college campuses, following two former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill undergraduates as they grow from survivors to activists. Barnard first saw the film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and decided — even though it is not a foreign film — that it fit well with the theme of renewal because of the growth of the two women, Annie Clark and Andrea Pino. “I was completely blown away,” Barnard said. “It was just so powerful. It’s a brilliant documentary by a brilliant documentary filmmaker, but it was also just [that] the subject really hit home, and so immediately I approached one of the distributors.” “The Hunting Ground” is not set for a theatrical release until after the GFF;
this has proved problematic for the screening permissions process. Due to the post-release plan for the film to go on a tour of college campuses and the hard work of the GFF team to convince the distributors, the College will be the first to show this documentary. “It speaks to what we’ve become that we’re able to secure something like that, I think that’s really powerful,” Hüebenthal said. “I think ‘The Hunting Ground’ is really a great example of how we’ve grown, of how we’ve been able to establish ourselves. … We’re actually the first college campus in the United States to screen this film, which is amazing.” Not only will the College screen the film, but Clark and Pino will also attend the Festival Sunday. In addition to a question and answer session, the women will be presented with the Rising Young Talent award, which was developed in 2012 as a way to honor the actors. This award complements the Global Film Can award, which was introduced at the 2011 GFF and is presented to filmmakers or filmmaking teams who exhibit notable achievement in global film production. This year’s Global Film Can will go to Director Kirby Dick and Producer Amy Ziering for “The Hunting Ground.”
177 students participate in 10-hour dance marathon at College TribeTHON board challenged alumni, faculty to donate; hopes to expand event in coming years THON from page 1
board reached out to everybody they knew, including alumni and faculty members. Many recent alumni, who were on campus as the event was first being planned, donated money. The board also challenged faculty and staff to raise money by setting up a webpage for them. Going forward, board members said they hope to diversify the event by involving more student organizations. They are hopeful that people will be more excited about the event in the future,
now that some students have been exposed to it. The board plans to raise its goal every year, to get sponsorships from local businesses and to garner more focus on the event over the course of the entire year. The event included performances from the Syndicate hip-hop dance team, singing by a capella groups and dance lessons led by the morale team. A core group of individuals stayed the entire time, while others came and went. There were about 90 people present at any particular time during the event.
Every participant wore a hospital bracelet with the name of a child at CHKD. Before the rave at the end of the event, organizers cut off participants’ bracelets and gave them a glow bracelets to commemorate the time spent dancing. Teams that raised the most money overall and at the fastest rate earned prizes. Fundraising chairs Erik Nelson ’16 and Brian Garland ’16 added up the money during the event and reported it to Dolan and Fergus to announce at the end. The executive board members said they were genuinely surprised by how much money they
raised overall and from the event itself; they said they view the event as an overall success. Catie Pinkerton ’16, who participated in the inaugural TribeTHON, said she was enthusiastic about the event. “The entire room was bursting with energy and passion to help the children and their families,” Pinkerton said. “I thought it would be hard to dance for 10 hours; however, I left not exhausted but renewed … by the fact that our William and Mary community had come together for a great event and an even better cause.”
Courtesy photo / TRIBETHON
The first TribeTHON took place Feb. 14 in Trinkle Hall to raise money for Children’s Hospital for the King’s Daughters. The TribeTHON board set a goal to raise $10,000, which they exceeded by raising a total of $13,279.24 by the end of the event.
opinions
Opinions Editor Isabel Larroca Assoc. Opinions Editor Annie Sadler fhopinions@gmail.com // @theflathat
The Flat Hat | Friday, February 20, 2015 | Page 5
EDITORIAL CARTOON
STAFF EDITORIAL
Saving speech
GRAPHIC BY BRIAN KAO / THE FLAT HAT
Defining our discourse consequences. Absent is a sense of relevance, a sense of immediacy. Our campus debate has taken place in the immaterial realm of representation. We distance ourselves from the people about whom we speak. We prefer to euphemize. We would rather deal in abstractions than human lives. Political dialogue runs a parallel course. Policymakers prefer to treat immigration as a distant phenomenon, a disembodied process that happens on unseen peripheries. Politicians speak about FLAT HAT OPINIONS COLUMNIST immigration in language that avoids talking about human lives. They brand immigrants as “illegals” or The recent ruling by federal judge Andrew Hanen “aliens.” These words have become a default for many against President Obama’s executive action on when talking about immigration, but their ubiquity immigration has returned immigration to the forefront doesn’t make them meaningless. These words have of national political discourse. While never absent from real, profound implications. public consciousness, immigration has re-emerged as a Words are not inconsequential. When politicians potent and divisive issue. Obama’s policy would provide speak of “illegal aliens,” they imply that a certain those who qualified with temporary protection from group of people, because of the circumstances of their deportation and provide them with work permits. The birth, does not deserve the security, health, education executive order also covers undocumented immigrants and prosperity necessary in American life. They who were brought to the U.S. as children, suggest that “illegal” encompasses the protecting them from legal limbo. whole of an immigrant’s identity and Limited in scope, the executive that the immigrant’s very existence action has nevertheless drawn the fury is illegitimate. The terms overlook of people who believe that the essence the humanity of those to whom they of their American identity will be diluted refer. They brush aside not only the Our campus by the provision of basic services to of terrifying strife in Guatemala debate has taken stories people who don’t look like them. The and economic collapse in Mexican place in the debate over immigration, especially the farmlands, but also memories of family immigration of people who don’t hold immaterial realm left behind and dreams for children yet proper documentation, has inflamed to come. a nerve at the core of the American of representation. Using the word “alien” is a way to psyche. The resulting conversation has make ourselves comfortable with the We distance been contentious. It has prompted deep things are, to assuage doubt over ourselves from way public introspection, a reexamination the mistreatment and constraint of of what it means to be American today. the people about others. The word normalizes imbalance Something, however, is missing from discourages sympathy. The same whom we speak. and the conversation. We need to have a politicians that make laws affecting conversation about words. the livelihoods of immigrants attempt At the College of William and Mary, much has to place as much distance as possible between been made recently of political correctness, seen themselves and the consequences of their policy. by some as necessary sensitivity and by others as Political correctness is not about pure semantics. superfluous. This conversation comes at a time in Words matter not just because they confer meaning, which issues of huge import — including race relations but because they also define the nature of our — have touched campus directly. In forums public relationships with those around us. On campus we and anonymous we have declared our opinions. Two speak and act as though we exist in a vacuum. Yet this general viewpoints have emerged: One group calls for can never be true. Words will always find an ear and cautious self-awareness, while the other decries what it action will always find a heart. When we belittle or sees as touchy white guilt. caricature, we keep problems abstract. We maintain Each side seems to agree that there is no more at distance. We secure unreality. Only when we recognize stake in this argument than words and attitudes. Both that we have an audience, and that the audience is just views imply that sensitivity is, at best, a nice gesture, as complex as us, can we speak meaningfully. and that a lack of sensitivity doesn’t have any serious Email Quinn Monette at qpmonette@email.wm.edu.
Quinn Monette
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In 1988, the University of Michigan responded to a number of instances of racism against black students by instituting a speech code. According to the ACLU, in the 18 months the policy was in effect, 20 black students were brought up on charges of using offensive speech against a white student, including the punishment of one black student for using the phrase “white trash.” In the 1989 federal court decision Doe v. University of Michigan, this speech code was ruled to be unconstitutional. In later years, similar codes at the Universities of Connecticut and Wisconsin were also struck down. This week, a proposal submitted by two students to the Board of Visitors, College President Taylor Reveley and other college administrators requests that the College of William and Mary adopt a speech code very similar to the ones that have failed at other institutions in the past. Such a policy would make it possible to discipline students for voicing their opinions — and like the speech code imposed on the University of Michigan, it would inevitably hurt those it intends to help. The proposal, titled “A Call to Community Action,” calls for a “zero tolerance policy” for acts of bias, which it defines as “a negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons” based on a set of personal characteristics. The proposed policy would “classify bias incidents as a student conduct violation to be dealt with” through the student conduct process. The proposal suggests that punishments would likely take the form of “a warning, community service, or education on the offense” — but minor disciplinary action is still disciplinary action, and it is a problem any time a student is disciplined for voicing her opinion. The policy would allow the College to punish speech that does not meet the legal definition of harassment. In Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, former chancellor Justice Sandra Day O’Connor articulated the legal definition of harassment as conduct which is “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive … that the victims are effectively denied equal access to an institution’s resources and opportunities.” This is a far cry from how the proposal defines acts of bias. This proposal would also set a dangerous precedent. The burden of proof would be on the accused, rather than the accuser — and if the accused cannot prove that “a bias incident did not occur,” the dispute would go to the student conduct council. Azhar Majeed, a spokesman for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the new proposal would “be restrictive of students’ First Amendment rights” and threaten the College’s “green-light” speech rating with FIRE, a position held by only 18 other colleges in the country. Frank LaMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, reviewed the proposal for The Flat Hat. He said that attorney general Eric Holder and education secretary Arne Duncan called for the elimination of zero tolerance policies, noting that they tend to disproportionately punish minority students. Such zero tolerance policies open minority groups to punitive action — be they liberal or conservative, white or black, religious or secular, racist or activist — while doing little to address bias on campus. The proper response needs to focus on the victims. The second part of the proposal, the Bias Response Team, does address this problem with its goal of being a “first line of support and information for community members who need care and direction in a time of hurt.” However, we are doubtful that a Bias Response Team would not be at all punitive when the proposal states “a BRT plays a key role in accessing perpetrators of bias not to punish them, but to educate them and ensure additional bias does not continue.” What forms would this education take? Would they be voluntary or compulsory? Administrators should not be in the business of disciplining students for voicing their opinions, even offensive opinions, unless they constitute harassment or a hate crime. What does help victims, however, is allowing them to share their experiences in both safe spaces and public forums. While we oppose punitive solutions to bias, we wholeheartedly support the creation of a forum for victims or witnesses of bias. Allowing them to share their experiences and be heard will do more to fight ignorance, promote inclusiveness and protect students than any speech codes. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Flat Hat. The editorial board, which is elected by The Flat Hat’s section editors and executive staff, consists of Abby Boyle, Matt Camarda, Zachary Frank, Meredith Ramey and Ellen Wexler, as well as incoming editorial board members Áine Cain, Madeleine Bielski, Tucker Higgins, Kaitlan Shaub and Kat Turk. The Flat Hat welcomes submissions to the Opinions section. Limit letters to 250 words and columns to 650 words. Letters, columns, graphics and cartoons reflect the view of the author only. Email submissions to fhopinions@gmail.com.
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COMMENTS @THEFLATHAT
Keep the celebrations happy and indoors after midnight, and things should be okay — that’s what grownups do, and that’s where we hope you’re headed. — Beth Chambers on “A wrong course”
These rocks rock: in defense of Sadler’s stepping stones
Zachary Frank FLAT HAT ONLINE EDITOR
A year and a half after their introduction, those slate stepping stones outside the Sadler Center remain the Nickelback of the campus of the College of William and Mary. Drawing the ire of seemingly every student forced to waddle over their misguided existence, the stones seem to serve no purpose other than, maybe, to instill in the student body a love of hopscotch, or to help students practice their puddle-jumping skills for when the rainy season
comes. One wonders if they will die out — like purple ketchup or Clippy the Microsoft paperclip — from the campus of the College. However, encumbrance or no, those dreadful rocks need an ally, a friend, someone to stand up and say, “Yeah, well, I mean, maybe they’re not quite so awful?” Perhaps I’ve been inspired by the upcoming publication of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman.” Atticus Finch’s admonition that, “You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them” (or on them, as the case may be), comes to mind. God-awful stones, I’ll be your Mockingjay. A quick glance downward provides all the ammunition one needs to defend the metamorphic path: The rocks aren’t red. Are you inside? Go outside. Look around. Remember “The Yellow Wallpaper”? It’s like that, but change the color. Buffeted on all sides by imitation colonial brick and mortar, it’s hard not to remember what Howard Roark said about tradition-worshiping architecture (though we should, admittedly, probably forget a
great deal of what Howard Roark said): It’s a copy of a copy of a copy. Where’s the variation? In her Feb. 12 column, Meredith Ramey praised the accent walls gracing the interior of Earl Gregg Swem Library. While accent walls are certainly an improvement, isn’t it sad that they garner such attention? We’ve gotten to the point where just a different color of paint will elicit compliments. This should be par, not birdie — and the stones are, forgive me, a step in the right direction. So maybe we, as a student body, should take a step back from our communal, years-long ritual of hate (not that group-hate doesn’t have its place; remember “The Sound of Music Live!”), and recognize the stones for what they are: a misguided first attempt at a more aesthetically diverse campus. All those stones want to do is throw some grey into the lives of students as they rush from the ground floor of Sadler to the middle floor of Sadler. Is that such a crime? Let’s celebrate innovation, together, as we welcome and encourage a more dynamic, less terracotta, future.
That said, maybe we should think about flipping them long-ways. Just a thought. Get to it, vandals of the night. Email Zachary Frank at zsfrank@email.wm.edu.
GRAPHIC BY ANNABEL MCSPADDEN / THE FLAT HAT
variety
Variety Editor Tucker Higgins Variety Editor Devon Ivie flathat.variety@gmail.com // @theflathat
The Flat Hat
| Friday, February 20, 2015 | Page 6
And the winner is...
The Flat Hat staff predicts the winners of the 87th Academy Awards
Best Picture
Best Director Wes Anderson
‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ COURTESY PHOTO / FLICKR
Despite the tough competition, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’s’ director Wes Anderson took home two “Flat Hat Oscars” — one for Best Director and one for Best Picture.
Best Actor
Best Actress
Supporting Actor
Supporting Actress
COURTESY PHOTO / FLICKR
Michael Keaton — ‘Birdman’ Edward Norton — ‘Birdman’
COURTESY PHOTO / GDCGRAPHICS
Julianne Moore — ‘Still Alice’
Meryl Streep — ‘Into the Woods’
Best Animated Feature ‘Big Hero 6’
Best Screenplay ‘Birdman’
‘The Theory of Everything’
COURTESY PHOTO / FLICKR
In the battle for Best Original Screenplay, ‘Birdman’ came out on top, while the “Flat Hat Oscar” for Best Adapted Screenplay went to ‘The Theory of Everything.’
COURTESY PHOTO / FLICKR
Disney’s ‘Big Hero 6’ won the proze for Best Animated Feature Film, though the unnominated ‘Lego Movie’ was a hotly contested second.
The Flat Hat
y n n u girl F Friday, February 20, 2015
Page 7
College alumna Sara Schaefer brings laughs to Lodge 1 LAURA HALL THE FLAT HAT
Following the premiere of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” another highly anticipated event took place for students at the College of William and Mary. Bringing together over 60 students who sought a good laugh and relief from the blustery weather, the stand-up comedy show “50 Shades of Schaef ” delivered all the scandal of its namesake without the controversial plotline. Sara Schaefer ’00, an alumna of the College and professional comedian, performed Saturday night for an enthralled group of students, packed up to the edge of the stage in the newly renovated Lodge 1. The evening opened with several routines by 7th Grade Sketch Comedy, a student group which Schaefer helped form as a student. Schaefer previously co-hosted a television series on MTV titled “Nikki & Sara Live” and performed at the College a few years ago. According to AMP comedy chair India Braver ’16, AMP normally does not bring back repeat performers; they were excited to make an exception with Schaefer. “We just thought it would be really cool if we brought someone back who had this connection to the campus,” Braver said. “We thought it was important to showcase the fact that our alumni do go on to do professional comedy and get their own shows, and also they come back to their school.” Colleen Coggins ’15 was a fan before seeing her show this past Saturday night. “I saw her on YouTube, so when they said she was coming, I had to come,” Coggins said. Schaefer’s set included many personal stories, including peeing her pants at a grocery store in New York City. She also elaborated on her time as a student at the College, describing how her broken tailbone — the result of a late night walk to Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall — required her to carry what she referred to as an inflated toilet seat. She also told jokes about the new Lodge 1 renovations, which had many students nodding along in agreement.
“What was the plan?” Schaefer said. “It’s like Martha Stewart came in and was like: ‘This shouldn’t be an entertainment venue. This should be a cafe.’” Schaefer also entertained the crowd with sarcastic comments about her own fame and success. “I need you to act like you care. I want you to act impressed that somebody from your school is up here at this huge venue,” Schaefer said. But Schaefer has made it to stages considerably larger than the one at Lodge 1. On television, Schaefer has appeared on episodes of “Inside Amy Schumer” and “Last Call With Carson Daly.”
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I want you to act impressed that somebody from your school is up here at this huge venue. — Sara Schaefer ’00
Members of the 7th Grade Sketch Comedy group said Schaefer’s accomplishments are inspirational. “It’s something we would all ideally like to do, even though sometimes we are afraid to say it out loud,” Carly Machlan ’16, a member of the comedy group, said. Another member, Kareem Obey ’16, said that he can visualize himself in a career similar to Schaefer’s. “This is what I imagine for myself,” Obey said. “It inspires hope.” According to Kelsey Sweeney ’15, Schaefer provides a role model to the 7th Grade members looking to break into a career in comedy. “At least some of us have taken interest in a career [in comedy], we’ve seen her stuff, read her stuff,” she said. “I’m meeting this person that is a celebrity in my mind, and she has this connection to me. That’s so cool.”
COURTESY PHOTO / SPLITSIDER.COM
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
It’s no secret that boobs are beautiful Don’t despair if your cleavage doesn’t compare to the likes of Kate Upton — celebrate your unique body
Mallory Walker BEHIND CLOSED DOORS COLUMNIST
This column goes out to all the ladies and their lovely racks. Whether you raise a glass or pour one, today we do it for all the breasts out there — boobs are wonderful and should be celebrated for all that they do. They nourish wee babes, make great pillows when used to comfort a friend, and manage to look fantastic through all that life throws at them. However, I know a lot of us may feel a little insecure about our tatas. And who can blame us? The media feels the need to brainwash us into believing that boobs are meant to be perfectly round, bouncy and perky at all times. We’re told by Victoria’s Secret that unless our “over-theshoulder-boulder-holder” is pink, lace and full of padding, there’s no hope for any of us in life.
It’s easy for us to forget that most of the boobs we see when we flip through magazines are airbrushed and stuffed in order to achieve the optimal amount of cleavage. We need a reminder that breasts come in all shapes, colors and sizes, and no matter what are absolutely beautiful. I know nothing is weirder than having a stranger tell you your boobs are fantastic, but I promise I’m not the weird townie you ran into at the bars last weekend. I’m simply a believer in self-love and all it entails, including your rack. Whether you think they’re too small or big, too droopy or lopsided, I know when it comes to our breasts we all probably have some kind of critique. But when it comes down to it, your cans weren’t meant to look like everyone else’s.
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I was always worried that my milkshakes wouldn’t bring any boys to the yard because they weren’t big or close together enough to produce cleavage a la Nicki Minaj. But as I’ve grown older and more experienced in the ways of the world, I’ve learned that it is not about how many people your milkshakes bring to the yard. It is about loving your cans, even though they might not look like Kate Upton’s. Still not feeling the love for your boobs, despite my words of wisdom and well-placed Kelis reference? Have no fear. Everyone has insecurities and they certainly don’t go away in an instant. If your bee-stings are bringing you down, take the time to show them a little TLC. For example, I always feel a little bit better
If your bee-stings are bringing you down, take time to show them a little TLC.
about myself when I’m wearing a bra that fits exceptionally well. Treat yourself to a piece of lingerie to get you and your boobies feeling fine and fabulous (La Perla, anyone?). Or maybe try to take the alternative route and ditch the bra for a change. The no-bra look was all the rage back in the day (has anyone else seen “Friends”?) and I’d say it is prime time to bring the trend back. Though bras can be great for keeping our goodies in place, they can be ridiculously uncomfortable at times. Free your tatas and see if that gives you a new outlook on life. There is no time like the present to practice a little self-love, whether your insecurities are about your breasts, booty or even your brain. In fact, I challenge you to take this advice and show a little extra love to whatever you may be insecure about. I know I’m not the only one in this big world who thinks every single inch of you is incredible and who wants you to feel radiant all day every day. And when you get a chance, be sure to tell your boobs you love them. Give them an encouraging pat or a loving squeeze, because you and your boobies rock. Mallory Walker is a Behind Closed Doors columnist who loves her rack whether or not her milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard.
sports
Sports Editor Mick Sloan Sports Editor Chris Weber flathatsports@gmail.com @FlatHatSports
The Flat Hat | Friday, February 20, 2015 | Page 8
FEATURE
By land, by sea,
bicycle
Emma Langley ’17 defines the term triple threat by competing in triathlons while enrolled at the College SARAH CASPARI FLAT HAT CHIEF STAFF WRITER A typical Monday for Emma Langley ’17 begins at 7 a.m. At 7:30 a.m., she heads to the Campus Recreation Center to swim until 8:30 a.m. Then, since she also works as a lifeguard, she vacuums the pool for another hour. When she’s finished cleaning, she heads home to eat breakfast and get ready for class, which she attends from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. From 1 to 3 in the afternoon, she bikes. At 3:30 p.m., class again and, later on, a meeting with the cycling club finishes off the day. Other days, Langley works running into the mix. For the triathlete, balancing training for races with the pursuit of a degree in kinesiology has been an exercise in discipline and time management — an exercise with which she did not always have to contend. Last semester, she ran three triathlons on two continents in the span of one month — a commitment only made feasible by sacrificing a semester on campus. In her time off from school, Langley ran two world championship races in Canada and one in China during September Langley and, at the last minute, tacked on a victory lap in North Carolina in October. In the last race — a halfIronman that consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1mile run for a total of 70.3 miles — Langley achieved her personal record, finishing in four hours and 38 minutes. Now that Langley is back, she is
training for a spring break race in Puerto Rico and working toward the same thing as every other student at the College of William and Mary: finding post-graduation employment. While other students are attending career fairs in business-casual ensembles, touting Cohen Career Centerapproved resumes, Langley is hitting the pavement, or the pool, dressed in and armed with athletic attire and equipment. If the Puerto Rico race goes well, she will qualify for this year’s world championship. Langley eventually hopes to receive her pro card, allowing her to race professionally. “When I graduate, right out of college I’m going to have to find a job to make some sort of extra income,” Langley said. “You don’t actually make that much money winning races, but you make money on top of that with sponsors and other sorts of obligations like that … but that’s the goal I’m focusing on — to get my pro card and to hopefully be good enough to have that be my full-time job eventually.” Langley plans on doing triathlons well into her future, but this is a recent development: not two years ago she was a high school varsity swimmer and a recreational runner. When she decided she would attend the College but knew she would not be swimming for the varsity team, her coach recommended she pick up biking and give triathlons a try. Her first race was an Olympicdistance triathlon: a 0.9-mile swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a 6.2-mile run. In the same season — the summer between high school graduation and her freshman year — she completed several more Olympic races and a halfIronman. Even though she has always been an athlete, triathlon training helped her
COURTESY PHOTO / EMMA LANGLEY
Emma Langley ’17 competed in two world championship triathlons during a semester away from the College and looks to compete in more.
bring her fitness to a new level, which became a big part of why she latched onto it. “Part of it was the fitness, because I got in great shape really fast,” Langley said. “Another part was, one of the reasons I was so sick of swimming was the monotony of it: every single day, getting in the pool twice a day for two hours. It was too much. With triathlons, you’re doing three sports, so you mix it up so much, and it’s so much more fun. And you get more fitness by doing three different things rather than just the same thing over and over.”
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swimming. Every pedal stroke was a Herculean effort, and she still had 13.1 miles of running to do once she got off the bike. “I consider myself to be a pretty mentally tough person, and that’s a big part of triathlon and endurance sports,” she said. “But to literally be at the point where no matter how hard your mind is telling you to keep going, your body physically will not let you — that is just — I don’t know the word to describe that. But I’d never felt that before, and yes, you’re breaking physically, but the fact that you’re still trying to
One of the biggest lessons the triathlon has taught me — it sounds so cliche — but if you work hard, you’re going to succeed. — Emma Langley, ’17
Though biking was the sport she added last, she now considers it her strongest discipline. Performing well in her first races, as well as subsequent ones, and enjoying the challenges and variety of balancing three sports at once has kept her motivated to keep racing. “When you’re good at it and you love it, it just makes it 10 times more fun,” Langley said. As is the case with any challenge, though, “fun” isn’t always the word Langley would use to describe her experience. At last year’s race in China, she realized she was low on nourishment while she was biking — the second of the three events, following
tell yourself to push on and can’t is so mentally difficult too. It’s just an awful, awful feeling.” Confronted with the possibility that, for the first time, her mental determination might not be enough to overcome her physical exhaustion, Langley only knew she had to keep pushing. She finished the race and won her age group. “One of the biggest lessons the triathlon has taught me is — it sounds so cliche — but if you work hard, you’re going to succeed,” she said. “I didn’t just get on the bike or get in the water and I’m magically good. Even though I did well my first season, I put in so
much training before that, too. And I feel like sometimes a lot of people don’t get that because they just think, like, ‘Oh, you’re talented.’ And yes, talent is a part of it, but hard work is always going to be the factor that gets you where you want.” Though triathlons are an individual sport, Langley said training with friends keeps her motivated to continue pushing herself. Now, she practices with the club swimming team and the cycling club at the College. The triathlon club is smaller, but they also train together and will attend the collegiate championship in April. This year, Langley is sponsored by Perfect Fuel Chocolate Elite Team. Her freshman roommate, Sara Taylor ’17, said Langley’s ability to balance her training with the rest of college life is inspiring. “I can’t accurately describe how inspirational, hardworking, supportive, and simply fantastic she is,” Taylor said in an email. “Along with living a normal college life of ordering pizza at 2 a.m. and downing chocolate while watching Hulu, she will throw in a 100-mile bike ride or a half marathon.” According to Langley, this ability to inspire and motivate others is another important part of what drives her. “One thing that motivates me now is that people will come up to me and tell me that I inspire them to work harder, or just work out or go for a run,” Langley said. “That’s obviously a really good feeling, to know you’re impacting people in that way.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
College falls to Northeastern 75-64 in road matchup Tribe deadlocked in three-way tie for second place in Colonial Athletic Association after rough defeat in Boston TYLER SHAW FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER William and Mary fell to Northeastern 7564 at Matthews Arena Wednesday in Boston, Mass. This loss may affect the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title and post-season seeds. At press time, the College sits at a three-way tie for second with Delaware and UNC-Wilmington. Northeastern (18-10, 10-5 CAA) started the game with a 19-6 run and never looked back. The College (16-10, 10-5 CAA) couldn’t close the gap to fewer than seven points over the course of the game, and never took the lead. With sophomore guard Daniel Dixon still out with a hamstring injury, the College faltered in its defensive efforts. The Tribe’s defense couldn’t slow the Huskies’ offensive attack, allowing Northeastern to make over 63 percent of their three-point shots. Additionally, Northeastern dominated the Tribe on the boards in the first half, as the College only grabbed four defensive rebounds to Northeastern’s 15. The Huskies
netted 13 assists on 14 completed shots. Entering halftime, the College trailed Northeastern 37-28. “[The deficit] is a bad statistic, and not the formula for success,” head coach Tony Shaver told Tribe Athletics. “But [Northeastern] missed just eight shots in the first half and got five of them back in the first half. It’s just not a winning formula there.” Despite its first-half struggle, the Tribe trailed by only nine points and began a promising comeback bid, answering Northeastern shot-for-shot for much of the second half. The Tribe faced a seven-point deficit with just over 14 minutes left, but the Huskies responded with an 8-1 run to increase their lead to 14. Northeastern led by Dixon as many as 19 points, eventually wining the game: 75-64. Senior guard Marcus Thornton put up 17 points, breaking the 2,000-point barrier for
his collegiate career. Thornton is on pace to break the Tribe’s all-time scoring record of 2,052 points, which Chet Giermak set in 1950. Junior guard Terry Tarpey matched Thornton’s pace, also scoring 17 points. Tarpey added five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two Tarpey blocks. The College has three games remaining before the CAA Tournament in Baltimore, Md., scheduled to take place March 6-9. The Tribe plays its final road game Sunday, facing Hofstra at 4:30 p.m. The Tribe and Hofstra’s last matchup was Jan. 28 in Kaplan Arena, where the College won definitively 100-79. The Tribe returns to Kaplan Arena to play two final home games, against Towson Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. and Drexel Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. The game against Drexel will be the final home game for seniors Thornton and forward Tom Schalk, and will be nationally televised on Comcast Sports Network.
WELCOME TO THE 2K CLUB Senior guard Marcus Thornton broke the 2,000 point mark in Wednesday’s loss, finishing with 17 points and bringing him to 2,016 career points. Thornton became the second-highest scorer in College history, and is on pace to become the Tribe’s all-time scorer during the final three games of the season. There are two other Tribe players to reach 2,000-point distinction: Jeff Cohen ‘61 and Chet Giermack ’50, who reached 2,003 and 2,052 points, respectively. Additionally, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thornton as one of 16 finalists for the inaugural Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award Thursday.
— Flat Hat Assoc. Sports Editor Sumner Higginbotham
COURTESY PHOTO / TRIBE ATHLETICS
Senior guard Marcus Thornton