The first week of classes was cut short when Williamsburg found itself in the path of Hurricane Irene. Last Friday, students received an earlier-than-expected break when asked to evacuate campus until Tuesday.

Hurricane Irene was a Category 3 storm with winds up to 120 miles per hour when it hit Williamsburg.

“When the moment of truth finally came it wasn’t a tough decision, because there was a great risk of loss of electric power,” said College of William and Mary President Taylor Reveley. “If we can’t light the dorms or feed the students then [the students] go hungry and become mutinous. We can’t take that chance. The only saving grace is that it didn’t happen with freshman move-in.”

The Emergency Management Team, in consultation with the president and provost, decided to reschedule Convocation for this Friday and to cancel all campus events Friday through Monday. Residence halls re-opened Tuesday at noon.

“The track of the storm shifted west and intensified overnight and now there is a high likelihood that the Williamsburg region will see significant rain, wind and, more important, loss of electric power and continuing over the weekend,” said Sam Jones, Vice Chair of the Emergency Management Team, in a campus-wide email.

Hurricane Irene was the latest in a series of natural disasters to hit Virginia. It was preceded by an August fire in the Great Dismal Swamp, as well as a 5.8 magnitude earthquake Aug. 23 in Mineral, Va.

“I am not pleased at the great trilogy of the Great Dismal Swamp fumes followed by the tornado, followed by the earthquake, followed by the hurricane,” Reveley said. “What’s next? The great mutant locust?”

Oleta Coach Lines stepped up to shuttle students to Northern Virginia after the evacuation went into effect. For $25 per person, Oleta drove students to the Springfield Metro station in Fairfax, Va.

Howard Smith described his company’s relationship with the College as one rooted in devotion.

“[The hurricane] opened up a door we had been trying to open for 15 years,” Smith said. “It took this disaster for people to realize our service and our dedication to William and Mary … It was because of William and Mary that Oleta was founded in 1986 … I taught my son to take care of William and Mary first. It’s been here for over 300 years, they’re not going anywhere. Other clients, they come and go. In the long run, William and Mary should always come first.”

For international students evacuating for the hurricane, the Wendy and Emery Reves Center for International Studies provided evacuation assistance.

“Anticipating a possible evacuation, we readied our internal protocols and drafted communications to our international students and host families,” said Steve Sechrist, director of international students, scholars, and programs, in an email. “We knew that 232, or almost half of our international students, were living on campus and we had to be prepared to help them. To international students living off campus and to our Global Friends Host Family community members, we explained the situation and asked for volunteers who would be willing to host a stranded international student for the weekend.”

International students who needed housing over the weekend found it with host families and graduate students living off campus.

“Initially we had 42 international students who indicated a need for assistance,” Sechrist said in an email. “That number quickly dwindled as they received offers to go home with roommates, hallmates, and friends. This is what we had hoped would happen as it is the best option in terms of safety and comfort.”

International student associations such as the Chinese Student Organization also offered spaces to students, Sechrist said. Some students decided to stay in local motels and others were placed with host families and graduate students living off campus. All in all, every international student had somewhere to stay for the duration of the evacuation.

“We are looking forward to hearing feedback from the students we worked with, and from everyone in the William and Mary community, about ways we can further improve our response for international students in emergency situation like this,” said Steve Hanson, vice provost for international affairs, in an email. “We want all of our international students to feel fully welcome and supported here at William and Mary, and being able to help out in a time of crisis is an important way to convey that support.”

Sechrist was impressed by the number of people in Williamsburg willing to host students who needed somewhere to stay.

“[The hurricane] certainly provided an unforgettable start to the year,” he said. “From our perspective, seeing our College community (including our host families) open their homes to international students was really remarkable. It was a true testament to the generosity and warmth of our community.”

Associate News Editor Ariel Cohen contributed to this report.

The College of William and Mary will be evacuated with Hurricane Irene looming approximately two days away from Williamsburg. The College is also closed Friday and Monday for the evacuation. Governor Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency for Virginia early Thursday.

While the state of emergency does not include evacuations for the Hampton Roads area, Virginia is bracing for floods and hurricane winds. Students will be notified of the College closing through the campus-wide notification system.

Check back with the Flat Hat for more on this developing story.

Incoming freshmen may have heard that Williamsburg is a boring town. This past year, myriad issues have come across our desks here in The Flat Hat office; from bike theft on Jamestown Road to full-blown election scandals. One could say we’ve seen it all. But in order to save you all some time, here are the top ten most dramatic, important and newsworthy events of the 2010-2011 school year.

Tuition Hikes
Here is one you probably knew about already, especially if you are an out-of state student. Although the College is a state school, it carries the price tag of a private institution for all of the non-Virginia residents.
This past year, the Board of Visitors decided to increase undergraduate tuition, fees and costs by 5.5 percent for in-state students and 5.7 percent for out-of-state students. Total costs for in-state students
are now $22,024, while they are $44, 854 for out-of-state students. The Board of Visitors approved the increase in tuition this past April after the College lost nearly $7 million in federal stimulus aid, a 1.5 percent decrease. Since 1980, state funding for the College has been reduced 30 percent. “Fiscal year 2012 is going to be a bear,” College President Taylor Reveley said. “If we had gotten more state budget cuts this
year we really would have been up a creek.” Although a Virginia institution, the College currently only receives approximately 10 percent of its overall funding from the Commonwealth. The low funding percentage has some students and administrators discussing privatizing the school.

Todd Weaver

All across campus this past year, students could be seen sporting white wristbands with green lettering
reading “One Tribe. One Family.” as a means of supporting Todd Weaver ’08, an alumnus killed in Afghanistan Sept. 9, 2010. Weaver came to the College after serving in the Army National Guard and during a 10-month tour in Iraq. On campus, he studied government and international
relations, participated in the Reserve Officer Training Core program and studied abroad in Russia.
After graduation, Weaver became a member of the 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Fort Campbell, Ky. He died in combat in
Kandahar, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. “He did what he did because he believed in William and Mary, his solders and his family. We are very proud of him and very proud that he went to William and Mary,” Weaver’s father Don Weaver said while addressing student athletes at their end-of-the- year awards ceremony. The day after Weaver’s death, students
placed hundreds of small American flags in the Sunken Garden. In November, the College planted a beech tree in the Wren Courtyard to permanently memorialize Weaver. Three women from the Westboro Baptist
Church, who believe soliders’ deaths serve as divine punishment for the country’s sins such as homosexuality and abortion, protested Weaver’s funeral, but they were surrounded by a counterprotest of more than 100 Williamsburg residents, College students and the Patriot Guard. The 1LT scholarship fund, established by his family and wife, will pay for one government major’s study abroad experience each year. The scholarship will be implemented within the next year. Private donations as well as the Student
Athletic Advisory Committee sales of the “One Tribe. One Family.” wristbands have gone to raise money for the scholarship. As of the end of the 2010-2011 school year, over $30,000 had been raised, with $18,870 coming from the SAAC wristband sales.

Election scandal
Every April, Student Assembly elections are held on campus. This year’s race of Kaveh Sandeghian ’12 and Molly Bulman ’12 vs. David Alpert ’13 and Tamara Middleton ’14 caused more controversy than usual.
The Student Assembly Elections Commission suspended Sadeghian’s campaign for two days in reaction to his alleged offer of as much as $6,443 to alleviate the financial woes of the Publications Council, which sets the budgets for student publications, in the event of his election. The funds would be distributed through the SA’s Executive Discretionary account. In emails describing the exchange, Pub Council Chairwoman Meredith Howard ’11 urged members to vote in support of Sadeghian’s candidacy. The Flat Hat is a member of the Pub Council and received the email directly from Howard. The Review Board of the Student Assembly repealed the sanctions made by the Election Commission suspending Sadeghian’s campaign after an emergency hearing at 6:45 a.m. the next day, deeming there to be insufficient evidence to uphold the suspension. Sadeghian received a formal warning issue because the Review Board believed the situation could have been handled with greater political tact. Despite the drama of the campaigns,
Sadeghian and Bulman won the election with 56 percent of the vote. “I am so glad that Molly and I did not
give in to the drama during the situation,” Sadeghian said. “We kept it relevant and stayed calm. This is a good taste of what next year has to be like.”

New Fraternity Housing
If you haven’t noticed already, fraternity housing at the College, known as The Units, is a far cry from what you see at your typical Southern school. In response to the dissatisfaction with Greek housing, 11 houses will be built on Ukrop Way as a part of a new fraternity complex. Each house will hold 17 students, adding 187 new beds and 81,00 square feet to on campus housing. The $26 million dollar project
will break ground in 2012, with a projected competition date of fall 2013. Not only will the new complex affirm and strengthen fraternity life on campus, administrators say, but it will also help to alleviate the
housing shortage on campus. “Every year students get bumped,” ViceChair of Inter-Fraternity Council John Zachary ’12 said. “This is a way to make the Greek community happy and at the same time give students room. It frees up spaces in the Units to help alleviate the problems Residence Life is having, especially with the addition of students every year.”

Tribe Square/ Construction
Construction on campus was not uncommon during the 2011-2012 school year, with renovations across Old Campus and construction on Tribe Square making walking to class more like navigating a confusing maze. Construction outside Monroe, Jefferson, Ewell and Jones Halls caused many inconvenient road blockages, potholes, power outages and other disruptions to students across campus. Much of the construction on Old Campus was completed this summer, but continued construction projects will carry
into the fall. Tribe Square, a project that broke ground June 2010, will provide on-campus housing to upperclassmen as well as four new off-campus dining options. So far, the William & Mary Real Estate Foundation has announced the inclusion of the Pita Pit, The Crust and Subway Cafe. The fourth restaurant remains yet to be determined. The dining options in Tribe Square will not accept meal swipes or Dining Dollars, but each individual institution is welcome to sign up for the Express payment system if it chooses. “[Tribe Square] speaks to two of our most pressing undergraduate needs,” President Taylor Reveley said. “A place for undergraduates to live very close to campus… and a place for students, and particularly those able to drink, to buy reasonably priced food and find something to do in a venue that does not close up like a clam at 8 o’clock.”

Living Wage Coalition
Living wages was the buzzterm thrown around campus this past year. The student-run Living Wage Coalition (LWC) covered the campus with signs demanding “LIVING WAGES NOW!” and hosted sit-ins outside President Reveley’s house, the most dramatic culminating in the late-night arrest of five students
outside the Brafferton building. A living wage is defined as the salary someone needs to meet what the LWC deems the basic necessities of life: healthcare, food, childcare and housing. The group calculated that in Williamsburg the living wage is $18.29, but asserts that 75 percent of College housekeepers are making less than $10.57 an hour. “We are going to continue to fight until the President realizes that the economic crisis is no excuse for allowing vital members of our Tribe family to live in poverty,” LWC member Maggie Russolello ’12 said. “We will continue to educate the campus and take action until every worker is paid enough to support themselves and their families.” Sit-ins, walk-outs and protest rallies are just some of the events that the LWC has hosted in the past year in attempts to persuade the administration to raise the pay wage of College housekeepers and staff.

Parking
One of the advantages of attending the College is its proximity to Williamsburg, DC and Virginia Beach. Yet since parking is one of the biggest problems on campus, as a freshman, you will often find yourself exploring DOG Street more than DC. “Parking is a nightmare on campus,” resident parking pass holder Michelle Barber ’12 said, “and everyone knows it.” The demand for parking far exceeds the number of parking spots that the College can provide. Residents can currently park at 17 locations on campus, with the two main areas being William and Mary Hall and Zable Stadium parking lots. The College has been working to alleviate the problem of parking on campus. Currently only juniors, seniors and graduate students can obtain on-campus parking passes. Freshmen and sophomores can obtain on-campus parking
passes. In addition to on-campus parking spots, students can buy monthly parking passes at nearby off-campus car garages. With the introduction of Zipcar in, students now have more options for transportation. There are currently 8 cars available on campus for students to rent. These cars can be rented for an hourly rate of $8 on weekdays and $9 on weekends and a daily rate of $66.

AMP
One of the main perks of life at the College is the plethora of events that Alma Mater Productions (AMP) brings to campus. This past school year AMP brought acts such as Eric Hutchinson, Supermash Bros, Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Roots and Delta Spirit to campus. Other popular AMP events include the annual “Screen on the Green,” during which students can watch a movie under the stars on the Sunken Garden. Once a year AMP transforms the Early Gregg Swem Library into every TWAMP’s dream, also known as “Club Swem,” a karaoke dance club on the first floor of the library. This year’s AMP fall kickoff concert will
take place Sept. 3rd at Matoka amphitheatre and feature the rap artist Big Sean.

Rally on the Sunken Garden

Despite spring finals starting the next day, hundreds of students gathered in the Sunken Garden on May 2nd around midnight to sing patriotic songs, set off firecrackers and make patriotic speeches. They were celebrating the capture and death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. After President Barack Obama’s
speech announcing the event, a small group of freshmen gathered in the Garden to celebrate with American flags and chants. Within minutes 300 fellow students had joined them. Several students climbed on top of the Pepsi truck that remained in the Garden from the previous Friday’s Last Day of Classes festivities to make speeches honoring American soldiers. “We all ran to Sunken Gardens to
celebrate the news and my friend and I climbed a truck parked on the Sunken Garden, then proceeded to lead a USA chant,” Dan Velez ’13 said. “Everyone joined the chant. The atmosphere was electric and excited.” One student, Findlay Parke ’11, drove his car onto the Garden blaring music and waving a flag out of his sunroof. As students gathered around Parke to continue the festivities, William and Mary Police rushed to the scene. As the police escorted Parke and his car off the Garden , students followed chanting,
“Let him go!” Despite protests, Parke received a ticket for reckless driving and endangerment of lives. Students rallied around Parke and collected donations to help pay off his fine. Although many students took to celebrating the death of bin Laden, not all members of the Tribe found the event joyous. Some were disappointed in the reaction. “I understand that Osama bin Laden’s a major mass murderer and he
deserved to be brought to justice but I don’t think it is reasonable that we are celebrating quite this unreservedly,” Nick Shmedding ’12 said.

1,490 new freshmen are welcomed into the College of William and Mary community today.

This freshmen class comes from a 12,800-student applicant pool, a record-breaking number for the seventh year in a row. Out of the incoming freshmen class, 28 percent are students of color, six percent are international students, 10 percent are first-generation college students and eight percent are legacies.

“It is a class that is incredibly diverse,” Director of Admissions Henry Broaddus said. “It is more racially diverse than we have had in the past few years. It is a broadly talented and accomplished group of people that will do wonderful things in their time here and will go on to be wonderful alumni that will serve the institution well.”

While the racial diversity and number of international students of the incoming class increased from years past, there were no other major changes from past classes’ profiles.

“Last year’s class was incredibly strong. The year before was incredibly strong,” Broaddus said. “All of those groups are special in their own ways. It is a class that was built on previous successes. It continues to be the best and brightest Virginians and the best and brightest students from around the world.”

Along with an increase in the number of international students, this freshmen class includes 30 students participating in the dual enrollment program with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This program will allow students to study for two years at the College and two years at St. Andrews.

“They will be the first cohort of these joint degrees,” Broaddus said. “There will be another group that will begin this program at St. Andrews that were admitted in Scotland.”

The program was designed to combine the strengths of the two education systems in order to create a joint international degree.

“The program will combine one of the best aspects of the liberal arts undergrad experience with the kind of focus and depth that is the hallmark of the British program,” Broaddus said. “It is a very exciting venture to be able to provide another international education and experience of this kind.”

The arrival of freshmen represents the hard work of the admissions office.

“I firmly believe the ultimate measure in the College’s enrollment efforts walks through the Wren Building in the fall,” Broaddus said. “That is more than breaking down the academic details and profiles. That group of people and all of the wonderful stories that they bring and the talent they bring, that is the ultimate benchmark.”

While the admissions office watches the new students arrive on campus, the orientation aides and directors prepare to welcome a new class and ease their transition.

“I am incredibly excited to welcome this class because it’s our biggest class ever and they are well rounded and diverse,” Parent and Family Orientation Aide Director Ryan Barnes ’13 said. “They will represent our school well.”

Orientation Aides arrive at school a week in advance to begin training and preparing for the freshmen.

“We had to change around how many groups we had for the incoming size, but beside that it is just your normal good old orientation,” Barnes said.

Orientation Aide Steve Dachert ’13 thinks the opportunity to meet new classmates in college is one of the most rewarding experiences.

“Learn as much as you can about your fellow classmates because, in my opinion, that is what makes William and Mary students so great,” Dachert said. “You really don’t know how much they have to offer, but you have four years to get to know them.”

The benefits of welcoming freshmen to the College apply to College administrators as well.

“I think that it is such an exciting time when all of us who are part of this community can kind of renew our affection for it when we get to see people who are becoming members of this community,” Broaddus said. “It reminds us all how fortunate we are to be members of the College.”

1,490 new freshmen are welcomed into the College of William and Mary community today.

This freshmen class comes from a 12,800-student applicant pool, a record-breaking number for the seventh year in a row. Out of the incoming freshmen class, 28 percent are students of color, six percent are international students, 10 percent are first-generation college students and eight percent are legacies.

“It is a class that is incredibly diverse,” Director of Admissions Henry Broaddus said. “It is more racially diverse than we have had in the past few years. It is a broadly talented and accomplished group of people that will do wonderful things in their time here and will go on to be wonderful alumni that will serve the institution well.”

While the racial diversity and number of international students of the incoming class increased from years past, there were no other major changes from past classes’ profiles.

“Last year’s class was incredibly strong. The year before was incredibly strong,” Broaddus said. “All of those groups are special in their own ways. It is a class that was built on previous successes. It continues to be the best and brightest Virginians and the best and brightest students from around the world.”

Along with an increase in the number of international students, this freshmen class includes 30 students participating in the dual enrollment program with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This program will allow students to study for two years at the College and two years at St. Andrews.

“They will be the first cohort of these joint degrees,” Broaddus said. “There will be another group that will begin this program at St. Andrews that were admitted in Scotland.”

The program was designed to combine the strengths of the two education systems in order to create a joint international degree.

“The program will combine one of the best aspects of the liberal arts undergrad experience with the kind of focus and depth that is the hallmark of the British program,” Broaddus said. “It is a very exciting venture to be able to provide another international education and experience of this kind.”

The arrival of freshmen represents the hard work of the admissions office.

“I firmly believe the ultimate measure in the College’s enrollment efforts walks through the Wren Building in the fall,” Broaddus said. “That is more than breaking down the academic details and profiles. That group of people and all of the wonderful stories that they bring and the talent they bring, that is the ultimate benchmark.”

While the admissions office watches the new students arrive on campus, the orientation aides and directors prepare to welcome a new class and ease their transition.

“I am incredibly excited to welcome this class because it’s our biggest class ever and they are well rounded and diverse,” Parent and Family Orientation Aide Director Ryan Barnes ’13 said. “They will represent our school well.”

Orientation Aides arrive at school a week in advance to begin training and preparing for the freshmen.

“We had to change around how many groups we had for the incoming size, but beside that it is just your normal good old orientation,” Barnes said.

Orientation Aide Steve Dachert ’13 thinks the opportunity to meet new classmates in college is one of the most rewarding experiences.

“Learn as much as you can about your fellow classmates because, in my opinion, that is what makes William and Mary students so great,” Dachert said. “You really don’t know how much they have to offer, but you have four years to get to know them.”

The benefits of welcoming freshmen to the College apply to College administrators as well.

“I think that it is such an exciting time when all of us who are part of this community can kind of renew our affection for it when we get to see people who are becoming members of this community,” Broaddus said. “It reminds us all how fortunate we are to be members of the College.”

As a new year at the College of William and Mary begins, new Student Assembly President Kaveh Sadeghian ’12 offers some advice for the class of 2015.

Becoming part of the Tribe begins with the first baby steps on campus, according to Sadeghian.

“Orientation is where it starts,” Sadeghian said. “Relish everything that it has to offer, soak it in. One of the things I always tell tours is that it’s what you make of it. You get what you give kind of thing. So just be willing and be flexible, and be open to new experiences, try new things. There’s only one year where you get to be a freshman, so be a freshman.”

The SA plans to make its presence known during the week of freshmen orientation. As part of a new initiative to make the SA more approachable to the student body, the group will sponsor a photography shoot following Convocation.

“[The SA] has some really cool stuff happening during orientation,” Sadeghian said. “We’re getting this photo service. There’s going to be two photographers at the Sunken Garden right after Convocation on the circular steps, with the [Sir Christopher] Wren Building in the back. It’ll be framed and you can get unlimited photos with your OA hall, freshman hall, or your OA, whatever.”

In addition to increasing the SA’s involvement, Sadeghian wants a large part of his term as president to involve revamping the SA’s image to the student body.

“I want the SA to have more of a tangible presence in students’ lives,” Sadeghian said. “The SA does a lot of behind-the-scene things, like we appoint college committees and make sure that there’s a student presence in Williamsburg. They are these gears that have always been going and they need to keep going; they need to be maintained. After a while you forget that they’re there, because they’ve just always been rolling. So I wanted…in addition to making sure the gears are well oiled and working, [to] make sure that there was a facet of Student Assembly that’s very present to students.”

Sadeghian has been an Orientation Aide since his sophomore year, and wants every freshman to have a good time at the College.

“It has to be not in the sense that it’s oppressive like ‘we’re here, Big Brother’s watching,’” Sadeghian said. “It’s like ‘we’re here because we’re students and you’re students, we’re all students.’ What do you want on this campus? Let’s make it happen.”

According to Sadeghian, freshmen should not hesitate to join the College community.

“There’s no reason to be intimidated or anything like that,” Sadeghian said. “Everyone on this campus is so excited to have freshmen here. I know friends who are counting down to Convocation. And I know a lot of people who were freshmen last year who are like, ‘I can’t wait to be on the other side.’ Everyone’s rooting for them.”

In one of the College of William and Mary’s biggest traditions, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith ’71, J.D. ’79 will welcome freshmen by speaking at Opening Convocation Aug. 26 at 4:30 p.m.

“I feel honored and somewhat nostalgic, as it’s been 44 years since I was sitting out there as an entering freshman with my parents,” Smith said.

Smith attended the College as an undergraduate before earning a master’s degree at the University of Virginia in 1973. She later returned to the College to earn a law degree and worked as a lawyer in Norfolk until she was appointed as a federal judge of the Eastern Virginia District Court in 1988.
Smith was the first female federal judge in Virginia.

“I always wanted to do law, so at age 27 I commuted to law school from Norfolk,” Smith said. “It was the time that I realized in my career that I wanted to try something that I had always in the back of my mind wanted to do. I did, and I loved it, and this is where I landed.”

While building her law career, Smith has remained closely tied to the College. Smith served on the Alumni Association board of directors from 1990 to 1996 and spent one year as board president. Smith received the alumni medallion in 1997, the highest honor an alumni can receive.

“I was there for the groundbreaking of the new Alumni House that we have. I am very proud to have won the alumni medallion,” Smith said. “I routinely come back to sit on moot courts with the law school and I hope that giving this Convocation speech will be a way to contribute.”

Returning for Convocation brings back memories of one of Smith’s favorite traditions at the College.

“It starts your life at William and Mary, and William and Mary is a school of tradition,” Smith said. “If you have accepted admission there you know that, but that doesn’t mean that things can’t change and that you can’t build upon tradition.”

Smith recalls a tradition she was not particularly fond of during her freshman year.

“I had to wear a duck beanie on the first week of school which meant I was a freshman. You had to stop and salute the upperclassmen,” Smith said. “I am glad that tradition went by the way. I think it is better to integrate the freshmen than [to] make them stand out with a green and yellow duck beanie.”

While the beanie tradition was not her favorite, Smith believes others are significant.

“Sometimes traditions are there and they are silly and sometimes traditions are there and you look back on them and they have even more meaning,” Smith said.

For Smith, Convocation signified the beginning of a new phase in her life.

“It was the first time I had lived completely independently. It’s the time I started my growth as a young adult. I strengthened my value system and developed new values,” Smith said. “William and Mary provided an outstanding platform for me to move into my adult life and career, and I will always be able to treasure those four years.”

For faculty like College President Taylor Reveley, Convocation is a time for the College community to come together at the beginning of the year to welcome in the freshmen.

“It makes good sense at the outset of each academic year to bring the campus community together for these rites,” Reveley said. “It’s also the occasion where our new students get an immersion in William and Mary traditions as they walk through the Wren Building with its bell tolling in their honor.”

Orientation Aides who have spent the past week welcoming freshmen and transfers on a more personal level are able to watch new students come together during Convocation. For Orientation Aide Steve Dachert ’13, it’s a rewarding experience.

“It’s really a blast because it is kind of a culmination of all of the work you have put into Orientation,” Dachert said. “It’s kind of cool to see after a few days of classes how much your hall has bonded and to see them welcomed by the William and Mary community when they pass through the Wren building.”

As Smith returns to the College next week, Smith is reminded of the strength of the institution that began her adult life and continues to be a part of her life as an alumna.

“William and Mary is the strongest that its ever been,” Smith said. “It’s a wonderful place to spend four years, and it’s the finest liberal arts education that I know of.”