Vol. 107, Iss. 1 | Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
Flathatnews.com | Follow us:
of The College of William and Mary
GPP launches 33,000 letters
Muscarelle to open exhibit Museum will show Monroe’s unseen letters
These include ones by King George III SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
The first roughly 33,000 digitized documents in the Georgian Papers Programme, a collection of archival documents from Windsor Castle, will be released on Saturday, Jan. 28. Some of these documents include letters written by King George III during the American Revolution. Starting in November 2014, representatives from the College of William and Mary in conjunction with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture met in the United Kingdom with the archive’s partners, including the Royal Collection Trust and King’s College. According to history professor and Director of the Omohundro Institute Karin Wulf, these early meetings started with discussing how a partnership with the College could be mutually beneficial. “[Director of the Reves Center for International Studies and Vice Provost for International Affairs] Steve Hanson was reached out to ... This was in November of 2014 and we started talking about mutual interest in archival excavations,” Wulf said. “We just sat down and talked about our mutual interests and we went from there. I think one of the things that is really appealing on all sides is that this partnership isn’t about just having partners, it’s an academic partnership that’s meant to expose materials for schools who can then interpret it. Within a matter of months, we had our first fellows in the See GPP page 3
REVELEY REACTS TO IMMIGRATION EXECUTIVE ORDER On Sunday, Jan. 29 College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley sent a campuswide email about President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. This executive order restricts immigration from the countries of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen into the United States for 90 days. It also suspends the Syrian refugee program indefinitely. “W&M’s Reves Center for International Studies has taken the lead in determining the order’s implications for our international students, faculty and staff,” Reveley said in his email. He also included a link to another message sent the same day by Director of International Students, Scholars and Programs Stephen Sechrist. “We will continue to welcome and support our international people, and keep them informed, to the best of our abilities,” Reveley said. — Flat Hat Assoc. News Editor Noah Petersen
COURTESY PHOTOS / WM.EDU
One of two copies of Sandro Botticelli’s isolated Venus paintings will be on display at the Muscarelle Museum of Art from Feb. 11 with 15 other paintings.
College searches for ‘divine’ Botticelli painting travels from Italy to Muscarelle MADELINE MONROE // FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR From Turin’s Galleria Sabauda, one of artist Sandro Botticelli’s two Venus paintings in the world will leave Italy to go on display for the first time in the United States. Its first American host is none other than the College of William and Mary’s Muscarelle Museum of Art, which will have its halls decorated with classic works from Botticelli upon its reopening Feb. 11. “For our constituents, for our visitors, it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these works in the flesh, so that’s significant,” Head of Collections and Exhibitions Management Melissa Parris said. “It’s an artist who’s among the most important artists in our history. We of course have a fine art history and studio program here so that is good for students to be able to see master works first-hand.” Through a partnership with Italy’s Associazione Culturale Metamorfosi, the Muscarelle was loaned the Turin gallery’s Venus painting along with 15 of Botticelli’s other works from cities and churches in
Italy, according to a press release. Titled Botticelli and the Search for the Divine: Florentine Painting Between the Medici and the Bonfires of the Vanities, the exhibit’s next and only other American host will be Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, starting April 18. The transport of valuable, 500-year-old works presents its own set of challenges for the museum. Parris said that securing the collections’ transport involved “a very complicated set of logistics” that was challenging because it required working with different fine arts agents in Italy. Once the shipping is settled and the works arrive at the museum, Muscarelle staff must ensure that the works fit in the galleries, despite prior preparation. “There’s a lot of discussion about layout which our curator usually has prepared in advance,” Parris said. “But then sometimes objects will come and we may find we have to slightly adjust some of our earlier expectations because of the challenges with the installation.”
Logistical concerns, such as art pieces fitting within the layout, are not the only issues that the museum must address come installation. Lenders make requests that the host institution must fulfill during the process, such as installing protective guard rails to presenting the art in a way that conveys its natural condition. The Muscarelle’s Assistant Director and Chief Curator John Spike works with Facilities and Exhibitions Manager Kevin Gilliam to ensure that these requests are met. One work, Botticelli’s “Saint Augustine in the Studio,” came with its own specific design requests. “Everything has to be thought through and we have to respond to our lenders’ request,” Spike said. After years of effort, planning and negotiation that went into this exhibit, Muscarelle Director and CEO Aaron De Groft said that he believes that the exhibit will afford visitors a rare opportunity to See VENUS page 3
Feb. 11, an exhibit titled Written in Confidence: The Unpublished Letters of James Monroe will open at the Muscarelle Museum of Art. The Earl Gregg Swem Library acquired 25 unpublished letters written by and for James Monroe, containing an ongoing correspondence between Monroe and Monroe’s Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford. Director of Special Collections Jay Gaidmore first heard about the letters’ existence from a historical documents dealer, Nathan Raab, who Gaidmore had previously done business with. Gaidmore said he was eager to acquire the letters because they were unpublished. “We were able to negotiate a good price with him and set up payment over the next five years to make it much easier to purchase them,” Gaidmore said. Instruction and Research Associate for Swem Special Collections Meghan Bryant M.A. ’12, Ph.D. ’16 was tasked with the transcription of the 25 letters. Bryant worked in collaboration with professors, historians and others to aid in her effort. She said that her biggest challenge was putting the letters in context in order to create a coherent narrative. “Each of the letters is really a fragment from a series of letters that [Monroe and Crawford] were exchanging back and See MONROE page 4
Students join annual anti-abortion protest in Washington, D.C. March for Life sees similar numbers to Women’s March following Trump inauguration SARAH SMITH FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
During an average week in Students for Life, the group’s 15-20 active members write letters to state and federal representatives, volunteer with their Pregnant A week after an estimated 700,000 people gathered on Campus initiative and do volunteer work with Hope for the Women’s March on Washington, students from Pregnancy Care Center. This past week, students made the College of William and Mary’s Students for Life signs as they prepared to join in the annual march of traveled to Washington, D.C. for a different march — anti-abortion advocates. the annual March for Life. One member, Rita McInerny ’19, who has been attending the March for Life since she was in the eighth grade, said she has continued to go because of the inclusion she sees in the movement. “I was awed by the realization that there truly is a place for everyone in the pro-life movement — it is inclusive of all men and women, at each and every stage of life,” McInerny said in a written response. “As I continued to attend the March for Life and the surrounding pro-life events year after year, it became even more apparent that the March for Life and the entirety of the pro-life movement provides a voice for the voiceless — the unborn, women, minorities, the abused, refugees, the elderly, the disabled, immigrants and all those who are unheard and vulnerable in our society. The pro-life movement is the movement for anyone who wants to be on the side of science, the vulnerable and the oppressed.” This year’s March for Life occurred a week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. During his first week in office, Trump signed an executive action to reinstate the “Mexico City Policy,” which denies US government funding to international nongovernmental organizations that perform abortions. Students for Life President Sam Malanga ’19 said COURTESY PHOTO / STUDENTS FOR LIFE Students joined annual anti-abortion protest in D.C. on Jan. 27. that although she personally does not agree with
Today’s Weather
Index Profile News Opinions Variety Sports
TALIA WIENER FLAT HAT ASSOC. VARIETY EDITOR
Emily Chaumont ’18 mourns the loss of Candy Counter, a former staple of Campus Center. page 6 Sunny, High 61, Low 45
See MARCH page 4
Inside Sports
Inside Opinions
A eulogy to the late candy counter
2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
many of Trump’s stances, she shares in the excitement following some of his recent anti-abortion actions. “I don’t agree with most of Trump’s stances, except for his pro-life ones,” Malanga said. “People recognize that he isn’t pro-life after birth, like with immigration and prisoners. I think it’s hard for me because I don’t agree with the things that he says, but I am happy that there are certain things that are getting passed.” For students like McInerny and Malanga, the March for Life is a positive event. Malanga said that while it does serve as a peaceful protest against Roe v. Wade, she thinks the overall atmosphere is “fun.” McInerny echoed this, and said that she enjoys what she feels is an overall positive experience every time she goes to the March. “Each year as I finish the march at the Supreme Court, I look behind me at the marchers who are still walking,” McInerny said. “The sea of happy faces holding signs declaring their belief in the beauty and value of each person, enthusiastically chanting and singing about their love for life never fails to inspire me with hope. One day, a society that values all of its members — from the beginning to the end of life — will be a reality. The pro-life movement demands that no matter who occupies the White House, that our country implements laws and policies that respect all life at every stage of development.” Students for Life Vice President Grace Pluta ’19 said that for her, the March for Life advocates for more than the lives of the unborn. “To me, pro-life encompasses the sustainability of
Tribe men’s basketball takes down UNC-Wilmington
William and Mary outscores the Seahawks 96-78, taking down the Colonial Athletic Association leader. This win leaves the men undefeated at home. page 10