Vol. 115, Iss. 2 | Wednesday, March 5, 2025
The Weekly Student Newspaper
of
The College of William and Mary
flathatnews.com | @theflathat
RYAN GOODMAN / THE FLAT HAT
Keller Boothby, Kyle Pulliam and Finn Lalley were three of many Tribe basketball players who played in a tight game against Northeastern University, each providing a strong offense to push the Tribe to CAA quarterfinals and a successful season.
Men's basketball clinches fourth in CAA standings, first time since 2019-20 season
Tribe will receive double-bye into CAA tournament quarterfinals, looks to make March Madness tournament ETHAN QIN // FLAT HAT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Saturday, March 1, William and Mary men’s basketball (17-14, 11-7 CAA) wrapped up its regular season schedule with a 70-68 loss to Northeastern (17-14, 9-9 CAA) at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. Ahead of the 2:00 p.m. tipoff, the Tribe honored six graduating players as a part of its Senior Day celebration: graduate student forwards Malachi Ndur and Keller Boothby, senior guard Matteus Case, senior guard/forward Gabe Dorsey and senior forwards Caleb Dorsey and Noah Collier. The game’s magnitude was apparent to all parties, as a coveted position within the top four of the Coastal Athletic Association standings was on the line for William and Mary. The last time the Tribe finished in the league’s top four was the 20192020 season. With a lot to play for in front of a crowd of 4,355, Case, Gabe Dorsey, Boothby, Caleb Dorsey and Ndur started for the Tribe. The Huskies won the tip but were unable to score on their first possession against the Tribe’s
man-to-man defense. William and Mary got on the scoreboard after Gabe Dorsey found Boothby on the wing for a three-pointer. Caleb Dorsey doubled up with a wing three-pointer of his own, staking the Green and Gold to an early 6-0 lead. Northeastern got its first bucket after breaking through the Tribe press and finding sophomore guard JB Frankel on the wing for an open triple, but William and Mary continued its hot start after inside shots by Caleb and Gabe Dorsey stretched its lead to eight. Shortly after being substituted in, freshman guard Isaiah Mbeng drained a wing three-pointer of his own, marking the Tribe’s fifth made field goal in five tries. The Green and Gold’s first miss came on a Gabe Dorsey layup attempt. The score remained 13-5 for an extended period of time as both teams suffered through a stretch of sloppy play on both sides of the ball. Northeastern junior forward Youri Fritz broke the scoring drought at the 13 minute, 47 second mark, converting a tip shot.
Mbeng immediately answered, coming off a Caleb Dorsey ball screen that freed the guard for a three-pointer. Northeastern followed that with a three of its own from junior guard LA Pratt. Boothby notched his second triple of the game after multiple swing passes found him open behind the arc, pushing the Tribe up 19-10. At the 10:18 mark, Mbeng stripped the ball out of junior guard Harold Woods’ hands and fired a transition pass to Case, who rose for an electric righthanded dunk that lit up the Kaplan Arena crowd. The Tribe offense then went stagnant for the next several minutes as the Huskies went on a scoring run to make the score 25-23 and come within one possession of the Tribe. Both teams proceeded to trade trips to the charity stripe, with the next eight points coming from free throws. Gabe Dorsey drained his first three-pointer of the matchup at the 2:04 mark of the first half, finding himself open after working the two-man game with his brother.
After Frankel responded with a three-pointer, Caleb Dorsey attacked the basket, converted a layup and drew a continuation foul, making it an andone play. Following the made free throw, the Tribe extended its lead to ten with 1:23 left in the period. At the 31 second mark, Mbeng found a cutting Case, who connected on a reverse layup. Mbeng then fouled Frankel, sending him to the line for two free throws. Frankel made both free throws, giving the Tribe the last possession of the half. With 20.9 seconds left on the clock, Mbeng held the ball and looked to run down the clock. Caleb Dorsey set a ball screen, rolled to the basket, received a pass from Mbeng and converted an open layup. The Tribe entered the locker room up 41-31, bolstered by a 14-point half from Caleb Dorsey. “Caleb was great, he found his openings,” head coach Brian Earl said. “He did a great job lifting us up in that first half.” SEE SPORTS PAGE 9
AROUND THE 'BURG
James Blair Middle School, named after College's first president, faces renaming
Community members call for middle school name change, no current renaming applications at College
SAM BELMAR FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR
Tuesday, Feb. 18, the WilliamsburgJames City County School Board convened to discuss a potential name change to James Blair Middle School. The three-hour meeting, which welcomed public comments from teachers, parents students and residents, resulted in the board voting 5-1 to establish an administrative name change committee. Over the next three months, the committee will closely review historical information, survey to gauge community opinion and share their findings with the board. According to the WJCC school board’s website, the committee will compose 2-3 students, parents, and faculty from the middle school, as well as school board members, an administrator, residents and the assistant superintendent for school leadership. If approved, the change would take effect in August 2025. James Blair co-founded the College of William and Mary in 1693, then served as its first president for 50 years until
INDEX Profile News Opinions Variety Sports
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his death in 1743. During his tenure, Blair relied on slave labor from the region’s native inhabitants to build the College’s infrastructure. The Committee for Contextualization of Campus Landmarks and Iconography outlined Blair’s role in exploiting slave labor for the College’s benefit on its website. “He enslaved the natives of the land in order to provide students for the Indian School at the College, which in turn created more revenue for the College,” CCL&I’s website reads. “Blair often employed slavery when it would be of financial benefit to the College and therefore himself. He was the first to introduce enslaved people to the College, leasing his own personal enslaved people to the College to aid in its construction.” The CCL&I’s 2023-24 Findings and Landscape Report, released last November, revealed that 25.75% of the College’s buildings are currently named after enslavers. The College did not rename James Blair Hall, which houses the Lyon G. Gardiner history department, in 2021 following a months-long community
effort to rename campus buildings named after racist figures. In April 2021, Morton, Taliaferro and Tyler Halls became Boswell, Willis and Chancellors Halls, respectively. Associate Director of the Lemon Project Sarah E. Thomas explained that while the College decided not to rename Blair Hall, the Principles of Naming and Renaming Working Group recommended in their February 2021 report to College President Katherine Rowe that historical context be provided for the statue in Blair’s name. “They did recommend specific renamings and contextualized statues and portraits of Benjamin Ewell, John Tyler, as well as James Blair, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe,” Thomas said. Thomas outlined the Lemon Project’s role in reviewing applications for name changes, including making recommendations to rename or contextualize campus landmarks. “Anyone can submit an application,” Thomas said. “When an application is submitted, we’re a committee with the Lemon Project and Special Collections,
KYLIE TOTTEN / THE FLAT HAT Local school board voted to form a name change commitee in light of James Blair's legacy as a slaveholder.
and we go through the applications, we go through the citations and check everything, and then we say, ‘yes, those citations are correct,’ and then we move it forward.” Thomas shared that the College
never received an application to rename Blair Hall amid calls for historical reconciliation. No applications have been submitted since 2022. SEE AROUND THE 'BURG PAGE 3
Inside Opinions
Inside Variety
Inside Sports
Professor Kurt Williamson discusses the negative consequences of the recent NIH cuts page 6
Students share their favorite snacks, go-to orders, appeals of Lodge 1 page 7
Green and Gold enters CAA tournament on three-game skid, still secures double-bye page 9
NIH Cuts: How much is the health of a nation worth?
Tribe Talks: Cold Pressed Orders
Tribe menʼs basketball ends regular season with a home loss