Vol. 109, Iss. 16 | Tuesday, October 22, 2019
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
of The College of William and Mary
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Analyzing war and peace Global Research Institute launches two new project teams on human rights violations, nuclear proliferation DAISY GARNER / / FLAT HAT STAFF WRITER
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his fall, the College of William and Mary’s Global Research Institute introduced two new undergraduate research labs. Professor Jeffrey Kaplow’s NukeLab will address different aspects of international nuclear proliferation and Kelebogile Zvobgo’s International Justice Lab will focus on global human rights and justice issues. Both labs will place an emphasis on joint student-faculty research and strive to provide students pursuing international relations with new opportunities for academic enrichment. The International Justice Lab will be the Global Research Institute’s first lab focusing solely on human rights institutions, and NukeLab will be the first lab focusing on nuclear security. NukeLab’s three core projects focus on various aspects of nuclear proliferation, and all projects are ultimately designed to formulate answers to policy problems. In NukeLab’s first project on assessing proliferation risks, researchers will focus on analyzing which countries are the most likely to seek out nuclear weapons. Researchers will use data that they obtain to develop a proliferation risk score. Part of the funding for this project comes
GRAPHIC BY EMMA FORD AND NATHAN SEIDEL / THE FLAT HAT
from a federal grant from the Air Force Academy and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which looks at global nuclear threats and weapons of mass destruction. Mapping nuclear nonproliferation regimes will be NukeLab’s second project. Student researchers will focus on analyzing how membership in the nuclear nonproliferation regime affects the policy choices regarding nuclear proliferation that a country ultimately makes. This project will analyze institutions and agreements and treaties that hinder countries from obtaining nuclear weapons. By using tools featuring participation patterns, the project will produce a dataset of country membership in the
nonproliferation regime. NukeLab’s third project, which analyzes the past and future of nuclear proliferation, will focus on the evolution of motivating factors behind nuclear proliferation over time, and will attempt to determined what nuclear proliferation will look like in the future. Kaplow discussed his desire to bring social science tools into his lab’s focus on policy. “One of my real interests is in trying to do good social science work that can also be relevant to the policy world,” Kaplow said. “And that is one of the goals at NukeLab, is to bring these social science tools to bear on important policy problems that we face in the nuclear security community.”
The International Justice Lab will be the Global Research Institute’s first lab focusing solely on human rights institutions but will mirror existing GRI initiatives including the American Bosnian Collaboration Project and ongoing African development projects. Within the International Justice Lab, Zvobgo will continue research collaboration with the Security and Political Economy Lab, her former researcher lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the National Science Foundation. The International Justice Lab’s three core projects focus on international human rights, transitional justice and international laws and courts. The first project focuses on public opinion on human rights and how these ideas correspond with national interests. It will also focus on other accountability mechanisms, which provide relief and redress to communities harmed by development projects. Transitional justice, including widespread and systematic human rights violations and the legacies of it, as well as tools countries can adopt to deal with human rights violations, will be the International Justice Lab’s second project. Lab researchers are currently focused on truth commissions, which promote accountability on human rights violations through narratives on political violence. The International Justice Lab’s third project focuses on international laws and courts. It focuses on how governments respond to See GRI page 3
CAMPUS
Coaching with confidence from the sidelines
Jill Ellis discusses World Cup wins, empowering her players, spearheading female leadership MARY TRIMBLE THE FLAT HAT
A packed Commonwealth Auditorium greeted Jill Ellis, ’88, L.H.D. ’16 and College of William and Mary President Katherine Rowe Saturday, Oct. 19 as they sat down for a conversation about leadership, athletics and the role of women and girls in those fields. Ellis, who returned to the College for Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, led the U. S. Women’s National Soccer Team to two FIFA Women’s World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019 before stepping down as the USWNT manager in July. Ellis and Rowe were introduced by Samantha Huge, the College’s athletics director. Rowe expressed in her opening remarks how grateful she was to welcome Ellis back to campus because of her joyful and hard-working approach to leadership. Their conversation centered largely on Ellis’s brand of leadership and investigated how that leadership style empowered her while handling the scrutiny accompanying coaching a highprofile and successful athletics team. Ellis came under fire in 2017 for a widely publicized shake-up of the team roster, when she removed many veteran players from the starting lineup. Ellis characterized 2017 as one of the hardest years of her career because she faced criticism from many public figures. “Ignore them,” Ellis said. “The cornerstones of success are hardship and struggle.” Ellis said a critical aspect of her team’s unique culture relies on appreciating the steps that led them to success,
Index Profile News Opinions Variety
Sports
EMELY AVALOS / THE FLAT HAT
Ellis shared with Rowe her approach to leadership, female empowerment.
but also on recognizing what steps can be taken to improve themselves further. “Excellence is a moving target,” Ellis said. “Even if we are on the right track, if we sit there, we’ll get run over.” Zoe Doughty ’23, who plays on the College’s women’s soccer team, said she appreciated how practical Ellis’ advice was. “The connection of playing soccer here after her and finally getting to see her in person was amazing,” Doughty said. “Some of the things that she was saying we actually bring into our team environment. It’s really cool to see that what we are working
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See JILL ELLIS page 4
Inside Variety
College health insurance policy incurs excessive fees
Rainy High 73, Low 52
on and trying to implement in our team culture actually works, and you get to see the success of it and know that it’s not just something you talk about but it’s something that’s really useful.” Rowe directed the conversation towards a broader discussion of women in sports, both as athletes and as leaders. Rowe noted that as a devoted Ultimate Frisbee player and coach, it was special to talk to a woman who had done so much to alter women’s sports for the better and who embodied what it meant to be an alumna of the College. Ellis responded to a question from Rowe about where the next generation of female coaches will come from and laid a framework for how these leaders can be cultivated. “We have to create an environment that people want to be in,” Ellis said. “If we want more females in coaching, we need to clean up the environment. We need more leadership willing to give earned opportunity to women.” Rowe then opened the floor to questions from the audience. One audience member, who stated that she played soccer as a forward and defender on the Tribe’s team, asked what Ellis looked for in a player. Ellis stressed the importance of self-belief and confidence, both of which were themes that she had touched upon earlier in her conversation with Rowe. “It is not my job to instill confidence,” Ellis said. “There has to be an ownership on confidence.” Ellis also commented on the importance of persistence, a
Anna Burns ’21 says that College’s lack of transparency regarding the insurance waiver policy has negative repercussions for many students. page 6
Showtime at the College
AMP’s Homecoming comedy show featured entertaining standup sets from Shapel Lacey and Trevor Wallace. Both comedians took risks with their jokes, addressing normally off-limits topics. page 7