The past five years have been far from uneventful. For The Flat Hat newspaper, stories from the Variety and Opinions sections have ranged from pieces covering the infamous emergence of Yik Yak across campus to tales of barefoot students meandering around Swem Library. Sorted by view count and interactions with individual posts, the following fifteen stories have been some of the most attention-grabbing pieces from the past 1,827 days.

For the past three years, Cameron Lynch ’23 has been advocating for the needs of the immunocompromised. Currently working as an intern for Save the Children, serving on the Board of Directors for the Disability Law Center of Virginia, and acting as the undersecretary for Disability Affairs on campus, Lynch’s life centers around disability advocacy.

On February 7, 1945, The Flat Hat newspaper released an issue containing an anonymous editorial written by Editor-in-Chief Marilyn Kaemmerle ’45. The editorial was titled “Lincoln’s Job Half-Done” and promoted the inclusive treatment and admission of Black students to the College of William and Mary in the postwar period. Twelve days later, Kaemmerle found herself removed from the paper and all but expelled from the College. How did this brief editorial result in Kaemmerle’s rapid removal from The Flat Hat and incite a slew of nationwide coverage?

In 1776, the College of William & Mary established an American tradition with the nation’s first fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, originally consisting of five students. Since then, Greek social life has dramatically expanded, not only at the College but across the country. Join Managing Editor Bailey Langhans ’26 as she explores hazing and drugging concerns at William & Mary.

On September 22, 2022, the College of William and Mary revealed its intentions to explore a new school for computing, data, and applied sciences. The announcement comes at a time when technology is the buzzword of the century, with the College seeking to cement its place as a data-driven destination for higher education.

Richard Bland College of William and Mary is governed by the College’s Board of Visitors. Its alumni and administration say it’s time for them to chart their own destiny.

Artificial intelligence is transforming countless industries across the globe — higher education is no exception. Continue reading to explore how professors at the College of William & Mary are adapting to a world with ChatGPT.

*record scratch* *freeze frame* 

Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this major... 

Join us on our Reflection era tour as we reminisce about the classes that changed us. (Apologies to Marion: we know you wrote an article last semester about how aestheticizing ourselves is bad, but just this once, ok?).

If there’s one thing Flat Hat Magazine staff is good at, it’s gossiping. So, buckle up, y’all: we’ve got major tea to spill. The craziest, funniest, and most chaotic true stories we’ve heard, all in one place.

Since arriving at the College of William and Mary in 2016, Visiting Assistant Professor Jessica Stephens has become a well-loved and core member of the Classical Studies department, and her infectious energy and enthusiasm have attracted students across disciplines to the department. Over the past few years, Stephens has pioneered new courses that connect ancient history to contemporary issues, widening the scope of what has traditionally been considered “Classics.” Read on to hear about Stephens’ novel approach to this corner of academia as well as her efforts to foster community with students.

Taylor Robertson ’23 details his journey creating art through AI image generators like Lensa and Midjourney, discussing their current capabilities, potential benefits, and ethical and legal considerations.

True crime media is nothing new — society has always had an interest in shocking and gripping cases, especially taboo ones. However, social media platforms like TikTok have sparked conversations about the ethics of true crime. Is it ethical to call true crime “entertainment?” Emma Saunders ’24 attempts to sort through the convoluted tangle of opinions on the intersections of social media and true crime.

Katie Fitzgerald ’26 takes a trip down memory lane, reminiscing on the good ol’ days of the emo 2000s while reflecting on the current emo trend in all its glory. By looking at examples of both pure, nostalgic emo music, as well as more mainstream, clout-chasing artists capitalizing off of a trend, join us as we attempt to discover the cause of this resurgence.

This past January, my parents and I visited the place they had met 25 years prior: Cairo, Egypt. While all my previous travels have offered insights into the country I was visiting, this trip in particular allowed me to see firsthand what I had learned in History and Government classes at the College of William and Mary. Egypt has been a vibrant place for over 5,000 years, and I was able to experience the brilliance of both ancient and modern Egyptians.

In a world of fast fashion and social media, it can be difficult to keep track of the latest trends. What is even harder to understand is why “old” trends are re-emerging. Join Ava Edwards ’26 as she examines why corsets, tracksuits, bell bottoms, and more are back — at least for now.

A fairly ubiquitous childhood experience, fairy tales have long served as a repository of delight and fascination for young children. However, through careful analysis of the source material that modern fairy tales ostensibly seek to retell, Sharon Sandler ’25 reveals the dark and even grotesque underbelly of these seemingly innocent stories. Through thick and thin — that is, disturbing and even more disturbing — Sharon braves the depths of the Brothers Grimm’s twisted tales, tracing their problematic ties to violence, incest, cannibalism, misogyny, and even the rise of Nazism.

The whimsy of Y2K and all its associated context seems to be scratching an itch for our generation. More than just a yearning for tacky fashion, our nostalgia may be an attempt to restore the youth to our increasingly soulless society.

Studying abroad invokes a range of emotions, including exhaustion and burnout. Continue reading for a brutally honest appraisal of a semester abroad in Granada, Spain.