The College of William and Mary hosted a panel discussion March 19 at Alan B. Miller Hall investigating the legacy of slavery throughout its 317-year history.

The symposium followed the Board of Visitors’ April 2009 resolution supporting the “Lemon Project,” an examination of slavery at the College advised by history professor Robert Engs. The project draws its name from a slave named Lemon, whom the College owned in the early eighteenth century.

“Our board did this, as they stated clearly in their resolution, in acknowledgement not only of the College’s ugly history in its owning of slaves and treatment of African-Americans in the Jim Crow era, but also in understanding of the lingering impacts of this history on present day relations between the College and its neighboring communities,” College Provost Michael R. Halleran said. “We also hope that William and Mary might become a model for other collegiate institutions — especially in the South — as they, too, seek to come to terms with [a] past tainted by racism, and face futures that must include all races equally.”

English and philosophy professor Terry Meyers began the discussion by criticizing College spokesman Brian Whitson’s comment to the Richmond-Times Dispatch. Whitson described the College’s anti-discrimination policy, saying the College had “a long history of inclusion.”

“I would say [it has been] probably 35 or 40 years that we’ve been working toward this actual diversity, actual inclusion, perhaps more recently than that,” Meyers said. “That’s about 10 percent of our history, so 90 percent of our history has been a history of exclusion and of bigotry against blacks and against women.”

Meyers mentioned that former College President Thomas Roderick Dew — who served from 1836-46 and is currently the only person buried beneath the Wren Chapel — was a strong supporter of slavery. Meyers argued that Dew’s burial at the Wren Chapel, after his remains were shipped back to the College from Paris to be re-interred in 1939, sent a signal to blacks that they were not welcome at the College.

“In the antebellum years, William and Mary was the pro-slavery think tank for the South,” Meyers said. “They generated all the theory, the economic accounts, the political accounts, the moral accounts that justified slavery.”

However, he noted there were bright spots in the College’s past. Former College President Benjamin S. Ewell served from 1855 to 1888, a period in which the College, devastated by the Civil War, struggled to survive with little funding. Ewell also served as a Confederate soldier and participated in the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862.

“After the war, he was a quick and strong proponent of suffrage for blacks, for education for blacks,” Meyers said. “William and Mary actually, unbeknownst until now, is one of the earliest, and I think maybe the earliest, university or college in the country to concern itself in an institutional way with the education of black children.” This education however, Meyers points out, was not particularly forward thinking.

Engs, who was on the panel, expressed surprise at the resentment some long-term residents directed toward the College.

“Any efforts to improve relations with the black community has to reach far beyond apologies for slavery and to include apologies about ongoing injustices and [enact] plans for remedies,” Engs said.

Engs disclosed that an American flag given to the College by the Ku Klux Klan flew at Confusion Corner until 1959, when it was moved to the Marshall-Wythe School of Law parking lot. However, he said the roots for present-day animosity extend centuries back.

Eighteenth-century College professor St. George Tucker, who taught law from 1801-1804 was the last faculty member to oppose slavery before the Civil War.

Engs also noted that while the College may have owned as few as five slaves during the Antebellum period, it purchased the labor of many more. Some slaves handling housekeeping belonged to the College steward, rather than the College itself. Some students brought their own slaves with them to college.

“It’s apparent that slavery and the hiring of slaves were an integral part of the operations of the College,” Engs said. “Slaves were also sold to help the College through economic hardships. That was part of the reason why the College had so few slaves by the 1850s. It sold them off to pay the bills.”

19 colleges and universities across the country are presently investigating the role of slavery in their pasts. 12 of these institutions are southern, and seven are public.
Ultimately, Meyers said the College can only come to terms with its racial history by admitting past mistakes.

“It takes a long time to overcome that,” he said. “So I think what we’re doing today is taking an honest look at ourselves or beginning an honest look at ourselves.”

College of William and Mary administrators and students came together with community members Wednesday night to discuss whether or not the College prepares students to change the world.

The lecture was the fifth installment of the campus conversation series, which was designed to focus on the challenges the College faces as a 21st century liberal arts university.

Panelists included Co-facilitator of the Student Environmental Action Coalition Caroline Cress ’10, Tom Fitzpatrick ’04 J.D. ’09, Office of Community Engagement and Scholarship Assistant Director Melody Porter and founder of 1693 Productions Adam Stackhouse ’04. Bailey Thompson ’09 served as the facilitator for this installment of campus conversation.

The panelists opened the discussion by sharing how their area of study or involvement at the College has equipped them to change the world.

“[The College] equips us with many tools,” Kirkpatrick said. “One of those is community. Because we are such a close community … we have a very high value on service.”

Kirkpatrick also listed the strength of graduates writing skills and opportunities for leadership as preparatory advantages.

“Because we are a relatively small school with way too many organizations, we have a lot of opportunity to be student leaders,” he said.

Cress said that Kirkpatrick was mostly right, but also spoke of some of the College’s shortcomings.

“The one thing I regret is the institutional side of the College, and not let[ting] me think as big as I would like to,” Cress said. “My experience here environmentally … putting sustainability on the map here … all of those fights were big. They were big fights for small things… it never asked me to think outside of the box … William and Mary needs to lead by example.”

Stackhouse also mentioned the positive effects of the Counseling Center, the Dean of Students Office and Earl Gregg Swem Library.

Thompson then asked the panelists if they felt there was a relationship between service and changing the world.

“There are a lot of students who don’t participate in what we would call traditional community service,” Stackhouse said. “The question is if William and Mary gave them what they need to change the world without the need to do service. I would say yes.”

“We need to start thinking about service in a broader sense,” Cress said. “While I think that William and Mary can prepare you to be successful without being involved in service you have to be involved in service in some sense of the word in order to change the world.”

Finally, Thompson asked the panelists to elaborate on what the College could do to improve the tools it gives students to implement global change.

Porter spoke about the need for greater support for student ideas.

“I have had so many conversations with students about what they want to do, and it’s huge,” Porter said. “I think that that is a struggle that we all face all the time, but I wish there were ways we could be more supportive to students who have these inventive ideas.”

Cress listed areas to which the College should devote more resources.

“Not to be blunt, but the College needs to step up and increase the diversity initiatives and the sustainability efforts,” she said. “I think a lot of the students have a lot more respect for the people who work here than the people who hire them. We also need to learn about sustainability. If we expect students to respect it in later life, we need to start teaching it now.”

Kirkpatrick also pointed out that students could make a greater effort to be involved and informed members of the Williamsburg community.

“We think about our relationship with the community in the whole three-person rule thing, but we don’t really think about our relationship with the community beyond that,” Kirkpatrick said. “And I think that sustainability and some other things would come from that.”

The next campus conversation’s theme is “Changing Understandings of Liberal Education.” It will be held April 2.

Students at the College of William and Mary know Jamestown Field as the location of the College’s newest residence halls. Its newest project, however, will not house students, but one of Williamsburg’s neediest residents.

Volunteers from the College have teamed with the Williamsburg Housing Partnership, Inc. to construct a new home for a city resident currently living in meager accommodations.

Director of Community Engagement Drew Stelljes said that HPI had several goals in the construction of the house.

“First [is] to build a warm, safe and dry home for a resident of our community,” Stelljes said in an e-mail to The Flat Hat. “Second [is] to generate awareness of the housing needs of some of our neighbors.”

The cost of the project is expected to total $35,000. Once construction is completed, the mortgage will be transferred to the homeowner.

Stelljes said that the idea for the building project came from a discussion between himself and Abbitt Woodall ’02.

“One day, Abbitt and I were considering new and innovative ways to get students, faculty, alumni and community involved,” Stelljes said. “We both thought it would be ideal to have a house build on campus. We quickly contacted a variety of people at [the College] and in the City of Williamsburg. All were enthusiastic. The project has unfolded in just a few months.”

One of the groups HPI contacted to help with the project was the College’s Sharpe Community Scholars program.

“[We want] to get the William and Mary community involved,” Jamonika Williams ’13, a Sharpe scholar, said. “We’re known for our community service. Getting students involved is a good way to strengthen the community. We were actually looking around for a project, and this was the perfect opportunity.”

Volunteers said that the build location was chosen to facilitate the construction of the house.

“It’s a nice open space, and it’s a good place to get student volunteers,” Schone said.
The house’s future resident currently lives in a trailer that lacks basic amenities.

“[She is] living in a trailer, which is falling down,” HPI volunteer and former College physics professor Harlan Schone said. “Housing Partnership and the county wanted to help, and we’re doing it by destroying her trailer, but only after we have a replacement house.”

While the recipient of this house has running water, according to Stelljes, a lack of indoor plumbing is a concern for many members of the Williamsburg community.

“Dozens of James City County residents are still without indoor plumbing,” he said. “Providing indoor plumbing to all of our residents is one of HPI’s goals.”

Although HPI has no plans for a future building project at the present time, Stelljes said that they would like to make it a yearly event.

“Together we will raise a house each spring and build a home for our neighbor,” Stelljes said.

Stelljes said that the building project could help unite the Williamsburg community.

“The outpouring of interest has been incredible. The phone has been ringing non-stop,” he said. “It is wonderful to witness students and community members working on a house together in order to improve the lives of our neighbors.”

The College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly approved a budget for the 2010-2011 academic year at its meeting Tuesday.

Sen. Brittany Fallon ’11, who serves on the Finance Committee, gave a brief presentation summarizing the planned expenditures, expected to total $600,750.

When divided among the 6,750 undergraduate and graduate students at the College, the necessary student activities fee would be $89 per student, a $2 raise from last year’s fee.

The approved budget grants funds to approximately 73 percent of the requests made by student organizations at the College.

Alma Mater Productions will receive $135,000 to finance speakers, concerts and other entertainment. AMP received the most funds of all organizations that applied for funding.

Other large expenditures that were approved include $14,771 for Steer Clear, $29,565 for the Marshall-Wythe School of Law’s Student Bar Association and $9,020 for the Graduate Student Association.

The SA also granted an appeal from the Biology Club for $3,450 to fund an upcoming movie screening event.
The Biology Club is partnering with the Student Environmental Action Coalition to bring the faux-documentary “Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy” to campus.

Dr. Randy Olson — the film’s director — will be present to answer questions following the screening.
Finance Secretary Fayfay Shang ’11 said that since student admission would be free, the screening would essentially cost $22 per person.

The total cost of the event — including Olson’s appearance fee — is $5,500. The Biology Club expects approximately 250 people to attend the film screening.

“This is expensive,” Shang said “It isn’t really consistent with what we usually do.”

However, the SA granted the additional $3,450 needed to fund the event by unanimous consent.

The movie screening will take place April 12 at 7 p.m. in Andrews Hall 101.

The SA also passed the Why Three People Act by unanimous consent.

The bill is a response to comments made by recently-elected Chair of the Williamsburg Board of Zoning Appeals C. Stewart Goddin at a meeting earlier this month.

Goddin said that the three-person rule does not target students at the College, but mostly large immigrant families, who he said live together in confined spaces.

The act, sponsored by Sen. Steven Nelson ’10, condemns Goddin’s remarks and asserts that families are actually protected by the three-person rule.

SA Vice President Ryan Ruzic J.D. ’11, said that, in light of Goddin’s comments, the Executive Branch of the SA decided that Goddin is unfit to work with to amend the three-person rule.

Williamsburg City Council candidate David Dafashy was present at the meeting to introduce himself to the student body.

Dafashy, a Williamsburg native, has been a doctor at the College’s Student Health Center for the last two years.

He stressed that open communication with his potential constituents, specifically students, is an important part of his election platform.

“Even if we have differences of opinion, I want you to feel comfortable enough to come talk to me,” Dafashy said.

Dafashy also endorsed Scott Foster ’10 for the second available position on the council.

City Council elections will be held May 14.

In a presentation to Williamsburg City Council members Monday, City Manager Jackson Tuttle projected a significant decline in city revenues for the 2011 fiscal year.

According to Tuttle, the city can expect $31,077,012 in revenue during the coming fiscal year, a 3.2 percent drop from 2010.

“Until the city returns to the point where we return to a strong financial balance … we’re not going to be comfortable,” Tuttle said in a budget briefing last Saturday. “If we could get back to 2007 to 2008, that would change everything.”

Since peaking at $35 million during the 2008 fiscal year, city revenues have been on the decline, forcing across-the-board reductions in the city’s budget.

To accommodate a balanced budget, the city has been forced to cut funding for city departments by 3.4 percent and outside agencies by 8.1 percent. City personnel was cut from 185 to 182 positions. There will be no merit or cost-of-living raises for the second year in a row.

“Most of the cost reductions are coming out of city departments and outside agencies,” Tuttle said.
The most significant cuts are to city funding for Colonial Williamsburg and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance.

The decreases are due in part to the city’s declining share of the Historical Triangle Room Tax. According to Tuttle, the city’s share of the tax has fallen to 38 percent — in the past, the city received over 50 percent of room tax revenues.

Room and meal taxes, garnered from the local tourism industry, are two of the city’s most important revenue generators. Five-percent room tax revenues have declined by over $1 million since 2008, but meal tax revenues have not been as severely affected.

At Monday’s meeting, the council decided to grant an additional $50,000 to the Tourism alliance, which would offset some of the cuts recommended by Tuttle.

“I would say that it is going to be a significant challenge to the organization,” Dick Schreiber, a representative from the Tourism Alliance, said. “We need to force the recovery, things that are new and lost money. That’ll mean going into our budget and find things that are weaker.”

In a presentation at the council’s work session Monday, Schreiber pointed out that total visits to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens drop well below weekend averages in May, September, November and December.

“For Williamsburg to succeed, we need to address these things,” Schreiber said. “If we could get those three to four areas back to where the averages are, that would be meaningful.”

The tourism alliance is not the only organization making cuts.

“We’ve trimmed down our expenditures to accommodate the declining revenues,” Director of Finance Phil Serra said. “We’ve always had a balanced budget.”

Tuttle also recommended introducing a $2 per-car fee at Waller Mill Park and cutting hours of operation at the local pool.

“We believe we’re at the bottom right now,” Tuttle said.

The city council will vote on a final budget at its May meeting. Budget updates will continue throughout the spring.

Tuesday, March 16 — An individual reported larceny of a bike at 400 Landrum Dr. Estimated value is $100.
— An individual reported larceny of an iPod Touch at 601 Landrum Dr. Estimated value is $300.

Thursday, March 18 — An individual reported larceny of a bike at 101 Wake Drive. Estimated value is $75.

Friday, March 19 — A student was arrested and charged for alleged underage drinking at Unit C.
— An individual reported vandalism at the Yates Parking Lot. A brick was thrown through the driver’s rear window. The estimated value is $150,

Saturday, March 20 — An individual reported credit card fraud at Governor’s Square. The estimated value of loss is $570.

Monday, March 22 — An individual reported larceny at 700 Ukrop Way for an iPod and other items. The estimated value was $800.

Two students at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Monterrey, Mexico were shot and killed March 19 when Mexican troops entered the campus in search of suspected drug cartel gunmen.

Jorge Antonio Mercado Alonso and Javier Francisco Arredondo Verdugo were mechanical engineering graduate students at the school, which is located in Nuevo Léon, a state in the northeastern region of Mexico.

Mexican army officials claimed Friday that the two dead men were gang members, according to Nuevo Léon Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza. However, this report was changed Saturday, when Mercado’s mother failed to reach her son after hearing news of the shootout and traveled to Monterrey to identify Mercado’s body.

“I offer a public apology and take responsibility for having given information that ended up not being correct,” University rector Rafael Rangel said to CNN.

Rangel said that both students had scholarships for excellence.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon also gave a statement expressing his regret for the killings, as well as his grief for the families of the fallen students.

“The Mexican government expresses its most deeply felt condolences to the families,” the Interior Ministry said in a press release. The Federal Interior Ministry has promised a thorough investigation of the students’ deaths.

Nuevo Léon witnessed intense fighting Thursday and Friday, as suspected gang members blockaded more than 30 roads with hijacked vehicles in attempt to prevent military reinforcements from arriving.

Starting in the afternoon of March 18, men armed with pistols and sticks pulled drivers from their vehicles, parking SUVs and trucks across highways, even slashing tires and setting vehicles on fire. Police used tow trucks, to unblock all roads by Friday evening, clearing up traffic in Monterrey.

The blockades were a response to increased anti-drug action from the Mexican government, head of public security for Nuevo Léon Luis Carlos Treviño Berchelmann said.

In addition to the two students who were killed, crossfire between military and drug cartel gunmen left over 30 dead, according to officials.

The area has been plagued by gang violence between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels after a recent gang murder.

Scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany have found a way to make objects invisible in three dimensions for the first time. The researchers covered a 0.00004 by 0.00005 inch piece of gold with an invisible cloak made up of crystals with air spaces that could bend light to hide the gold beneath it.

Fifteen students at Cairo University were arrested for protesting Israeli plans to build new homes in East Jerusalem. Hundreds of students across Egyptian universities have protested but only students from Cairo have been arrested. The students also demonstrated against proposed Israeli plans to name two West Bank Islamic Shrines as Israeli heritage sites.

University of Calgary students protested against the arrival of Anne Coulter, scheduled to deliver a speech at the school. Coulter has been receiving negative reviews from the start of her Canadian speaking tour. Despite the protest, the $10 show was sold out. Her scheduled talk at the Univ. of Ottawa created enough controversy for the school to cancel the event.

Tarleton State University rescheduled Terrence McNally’s “Corpus Christi”, a play that depicts a gay Jesus marrying two of his apostles, due to outraged responses from the community. For security reasons, the play will now be limited to invited guests and relatives of the cast. The play has garnered a strong backlash from the Christian community and religious groups.