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Prewitt, help College pick weekend up a 78-62 front post of a packed Kaplan Arena. William Tarpey and Mary has a winning aswin fiveinsports five winning results.
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Vol. 105, Iss. 12 | Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Takeaways from stowaways
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STUDENT LIFE
GREEK LIFE
Panhell pens letter to NPC NPC withdraws bill support ELEANOR LAMB FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
moment to acknowledge the other terrorist attacks committed by the Islamic State group in other countries over the past few days. College President Taylor Reveley also came to the vigil toward the end of the hour to show his support and sign the banner. People could be seen holding hands, shedding tears and bowing their heads during the vigil. It was originally envisioned by a few students and was quickly supported and expanded by the French House, the residence hall dedicated to French and Francophone culture at the College. “I was [thinking], we need to organize an event, a silent one, a peaceful event, to remember,” French House tutor Elizabeth Zahoui said. Thompson Hangen ’17, who helped organize the vigil with several other students, said he believed there was significance in the College
The House of Representatives proposed the Safe Campus Act of 2015 July 29 to monitor how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual violence. The College of William and Mary’s Panhellenic Executive Board wrote a letter to the National Panhellenic Conference asking the governing body to reconsider its support of the legislation Nov. 9. This past Friday, the NPC withdrew their support of the Safe Campus Act. The Safe Campus Act, proposed by House member Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), assures that students who have been sexually assaulted would have the choice of pressing for a criminal investigation. If they chose not to pursue a criminal investigation, campus officials would be unable to launch their own investigation into the allegations. Campus officials would also not be allowed to establish no-contact orders or class and dorm changes without a criminal investigation. Alexandra Phillips, vice president of programming on the College’s Panhellenic Executive Board and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, met with her fellow executive members a couple weeks ago to discuss the implications of the national organization’s support. Together, they decided to write a letter voicing their concern. Phillips wrote the initial draft of the letter, which was published Nov. 9. “We, as the elected leaders of the Panhellenic community, believe that it is also a privilege to have a place on our campus and that the institution has the right to investigate and hold accountable organizations that violate our Honor and Conduct Codes,” the published letter stated. Phillips said she was particularly upset with NPC’s support because she and her fellow executive officers, as well as student representatives from the Interfraternity Council, had just been working on a task force combatting sexual violence when they found out the national body was supporting the Safe Campus Act. The NPC represents not only undergraduate sorority students, but also alumnae. In the midst of addressing these issues on sexual violence with the task force, the executive board wanted to alert the NPC that they believed their support was misplaced. “We thought it was morally wrong to support the legislation,” Phillips said. “We felt that this legislation would have undermined the College’s ability to protect its students. We thought it was important to
See VIGIL page 4
See LETTER page 4
ALL PHOTOS BY AMANDA WILLIAMS / THE FLAT HAT
College of William and Mary students and faculty honored the victims of terrorist attacks committed by the Islamic State group during a candelight vigil.
Vive la France
Students hold vigil in wake of terrorist attacks in Paris LEONOR GRAVE THE FLAT HAT
In the wake of the terrorist attacks committed by the Islamic State group in several locations in Paris this past Friday, Nov. 13, students at the College of William and Mary held a candlelight vigil Nov. 15 to show support for France and honor the victims of the harrowing attacks. The attacks, which left at least 129 dead and 350 wounded, are the deadliest France has experienced since WWII. At 8 p.m. Sunday night, students and faculty alike lined up along either side of the path, illuminated by candles, leading from the Sunken Garden to the Sir Christopher Wren Building. People stood in silence for an hour, interrupted only by a few brief comments from Thibault Vermeulen ’16, a resident of the French House, who thanked the attendees for coming and encouraged people to sign a banner that read “Peace for Paris” with messages of support for France. He also took a
COLLEGE ANNOUNCES $1.5 MILLION DONATION FOR IWC Bee McLeod ’83, MBA ’91 and Goody Tyler have donated $1.5 million to the College of William and Mary’s planned Integrative Wellness Center, according to a press release from the College. The IWC is due to open in fall 2017, and this gift will fund construction and the interior space of the building. “The health and safety of students are top priorities for the university — and for us — and we hope that our gift can help make the center one of the best wellness facilities in the nation,” McLeod said in the press release. “We fully support plans to house all important aspects of health promotion and treatment under one roof and our investments in this area show our commitment to helping make this a reality.” Their contribution will go toward the IWC’s recreation center. “In our eyes, the recreation center is an extension of the wellness center since they are both integral components to improving the health of the campus community,” Tyler said in the press release. “Over 90 percent of students utilize the recreation center and for many it is used to help relieve stress and anxiety, so we are thrilled to contribute to this cause.” Tyler was made an honorary alumnus in 2011. The married couple previously donated $2.5 million to the College’s library system and $1 million to the Student Recreation Center. “Bee and Goody’s investment in the health and wellbeing of the campus community is quite wonderful,” College President Taylor Reveley said in the press release. “Their gift provides very welcome impetus to our ongoing efforts to meet mental health needs on campus.” — Flat Hat Editor-in-Chief Aine Cain
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STUDENT LIFE
FIRE speaker discusses student rights Sevcenko defends free speech, academic freedom in universities NATE WAHRENBERGER FLAT HAT ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR
Catherine Sevcenko, associate director for litigation at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, came to Ewell Hall Nov. 11 to discuss free speech and academic freedom. In Sevcenko’s talk, she provided a legal and moral defense for allowing free speech in public universities and analyzed recent national events at such educational institutions as the University of Missouri, Yale University and the College of William and Mary. The event was hosted by the Society for the College, an independent association of alumni and friends of the College whose stated mission is to promote good governance at the College. FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation whose mission is to defend and sustain First Amendment and due process rights in American higher education. According to Sevcenko, FIRE spent its first 15 years as a watchdog organization, working with administrators, students and media to encourage colleges to allow free speech.
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expression to specified areas of campus. She said that the College has one of the 23 “green light ratings” from FIRE for its speech policy. In her talk, Sevcenko began by explaining and defending the legal status of free speech in public universities. “There is no legal definition of hate speech,” Sevcenko said. “I think everybody thinks of it as saying something offensive. It’s using epithets; it’s saying rude things to people. All of that is true, but all of that is protected by the First Amendment. The purpose of the First Amendment is not to protect nice speech. Nice speech doesn’t need protection … The problem comes with something you don’t want to hear.” Later in the speech, she went on to criticize Mizzou’s police department, who recently released an email asking students to report hurtful or hateful speech. “Particularly on a college campus, the idea that one group should be silenced at the will of another group is anathema to everything that a university stands for,” Sevcenko said. See FIRE page 4
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“At the high-water mark, about 80 percent of colleges had unconstitutional speech policies,” Sevcenko said. “[FIRE’s activities] got the number down but not far enough.” Thus, in the last year and a half, FIRE has begun a litigation project, filing suits against 10 schools and settling seven cases for around $350,000 in attorney’s fees and damages. “What we had found is that students don’t know their First Amendment rights; administrators are happy to … interpret legal doctrines in a way that allow them to suppress free speech, and there’s no cost to that,” Sevcenko said. “So we have decided that if you find a student whose rights Sevcenko have been violated, if that student sues, then the school is facing bad publicity, litigation costs and damages.” Sevcenko said that many of these cases involved “free speech zones,” where students are required to restrict their public
The artist behind the educator The Muscarelle Museum of Art displays artwork produced by College faculty. page 7