Fall 2022 Staff
Looking for other staff members? Spring 2023; Fall 2022; Spring 2022; Fall 2021; Spring 2021; Fall 2020
Ellie Kurlander ‘24
editor-in-chief
Ellie is a government and art history double-major from Atlanta, GA. Her passions include Pine scented candles, ABBA, cuddling with her dogs Freddie Mercury and Mo, petitioning to ban the production of all Jeep Trucks and attempting to domesticate the campus squirrels. In her spare time Ellie daydreams about founding an a cappella club for ungifted singers called the Tone Deafsᵀᴹ. Ellie’s most notable claim to fame is when her dog peed on Joe Biden’s sister.
Linda Li ‘24
editor-in-chief
Linda is a Government major and GSWS minor from Shanghai, China, but she claims Canada as her second home. She knows she enjoys writing and sucks at math but still feels overwhelmed by her peers doing finance/consulting—alas. In her free time, Linda enjoys re-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine, cooking noodle dishes, and exploring on a bike. Also, she thinks you should never “save” a nice outfit for the mythical fancy occasion. Just wear it!
jr herman ‘24
Chief of Staff
JR Herman is a Classics and Ancient Near East & Africa Studies double-major from Norfolk, VA. You can probably find JR on her laptop (her natural habitat) doing the usual: checking email, editing, designing graphics, jamming out to French bops, deciphering Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, or writing a letter to the governor in Latin. Feel free to reach out to JR to talk about anything—the importance of the Oxford comma, what JR stands for, favorite literary classics, meme trends, amongst other quirky and niche topics.
India Turner ‘24
creative director
India (yes, like the country) is a Government and Journalism double major. She is from Boulder, Colorado, and can be found talking about her love for everything Colorado Daily. She's prone to last-minute adventures and can be found riding her beach cruiser in CW, hiking in Matoaka, and taking random car trips to new places (while listening to Christmas music, of course). When she isn't out adventuring you can find her dancing with Pointe Blank, searching for red velvet cookies at the dining halls, and getting Wawa hot chocolate. However, her budget can't afford daily hot chocolates after the first week of class, so now she just looks longingly at Wawa whenever she passes by.
Andrew Johnston ‘25
creative director
Andrew is currently undeclared but has an interest in public policy and environmental science. He has lived in Virginia for most of his life and enjoys watching soccer and football. Andrew insists that pineapple on pizza is not only acceptable but delicious. If you run into him on campus, it will most likely be in the line for Sadler Express as he eats there with alarming frequency.
Mary Trimble ‘23
Managing Editor
Mary Trimble is a French and European studies double-major on sabbatical from basically everything while she studies abroad in Paris in the Spring of 2022 (except The Flat Hat Mag, because dedication). She is expending all the additional energy this affords her by trying to avoid “Emily in Paris” clichés, visiting all 20 arrondissements, and failing remember the word for “spoon” in French no matter how many times she looks it up. When in the ‘Burg, she’s a research assistant with Teaching, Research and International Policy Project at the Global Research Institute and a French tutor. In her rare free moments, she can be found watching any number of movies released before 1965 or explaining to people why, even though she is from Louisiana, she has the most generic accent known to man (the answer is also why she is a French and European studies major).”
Mary Beth Bauermann ‘24
deputy editor
Mary Beth is an American Studies and English double major from just outside of Baltimore, MD. On campus, she works at the Writing Resources Center, teaches Cardio Dance at the Rec, writes for Vinyl Tap Magazine, and tap dances with the Rhythm and Taps club. When her nose isn't in a book, you can find her playing guitar with her band, searching for zen on her yoga mat, listening to music like it’s going out of style, eating peanut butter, and watching every TV show and film starring David Tennant. Mary Beth is a proud Beatlemaniac and if you ever ask her about The Beatles, there's a good chance that she will never stop talking.
Georgia Thoms ‘23
Editor-at-large
Georgia is a Biology and Classical Studies double-major from East Lyme, CT (but is truly a Manhattanite). Apart from the Magazine, she is involved in CW Coach and Livestock Program, Pre-Vet Club, is Vice President of Pointe Blank Dance Company, and spends many hours studying Latin and Ancient Greek. Besides showing every soul pictures of her two dogs, Theodore Roosevelt and King Leonidas, she writes poetry, listens to true crime podcasts, crotchets, and geeks out over anime and basically any fandom. You can catch her consuming her body weight in Aroma's croissants whilst sprinting to her next class.
Livia Martinez ‘25
Digital Director
Livia Martinez is from Frisco, TX. She is pursuing a Self-Designed major, Communications and Digital Media Management, and a Psychology minor. Livia loves all things film! She has a podcast with her parents called Strangelove of Movies and is the Secretary and Social Media Director for the Film Society at W&M. Besides that, Livia serves as the Digital Editor for ROCKET Magazine, Undersecretary of Outreach for Student Assembly, a Staff Writer for Vinyl Tap Magazine, a Resident Assistant, a Trained WCWM 90.9 DJ, and a Social Media Assistant for Swem Libraries. But, nothing is more important to her than the Flat Hat Magazine! Livia is always on Instagram, so feel free to reach out to @liviamartinez8!
Rebecca Altman ‘25
copy chief
Rebecca Altman is a government and urban studies double-major from Lower Merion, PA. Her writing pursuits began with Dance Moms fanfiction at the age of 12, and they haven’t slowed down since. When Rebecca’s not playing sudoku, you can find her singing with the Christopher Wren Singers or being a percussionist in Wind Ensemble. She’d like to think that she’s one of those “hot female percussionists,” but she’s not sure if that’s 100% accurate. Rebecca loves iced oat milk lattes, the Beach Boys, cheddar-chive biscuits, and learning about America’s highways and byways. She somehow despises nearly every mainstream condiment, except for fry sauce, which is composed of ketchup and mayonnaise. She doesn’t understand how this is possible.
Vivian Hoang ‘24
COPY CHIEF
Vivian Hoang is from Fairfax, Virginia and hopes to use her History and Journalism & Media Studies double major to uplift marginalized voices through digital media. Outside of Flat Hat Magazine, she is the Variety Editor of The Flat Hat, writes for Vinyl Tap Magazine, is a Peer Reviewer with the James Blair Historical Review, and is lovingly dedicated to her FASA and VSA fams! If you ever run into her on campus, you'll probably see her doing one or more of the following: lifting weights at the Rec, munching on wings at Wing Night (she never misses a week), or accumulating 100k minutes on her Spotify Wrapped due to the sheer volume of music and podcasts she listens to—yes, she is in Doja Cat’s top 0.25% listeners, and she is proud.
Emma Saunders ‘24
copy Editor
Emma is an English major concentrating in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from Virginia Beach, VA. If she's not in her room watching trashy romance dramas with her roommate, you can find her in Swemromas with an iced tea. She will stop to pet any dog she sees on or off-campus, but she loves her two dogs Zoey and Riley most of all. She did have a My Chemical Romance phase, but don't ask her about it because she may or may not burst into tears.
zachary lutzky ‘24
multimedia editor
Zachary Lutzky is a physics major from Baltimore, MD. He spends his free time walking the woods and Colonial Williamsburg taking photos and enjoying nature. If you see Zach in the wild, there is a 75% chance he will have his camera on him with a big lens attached. Zachary is passionate about photography, science, and history. He is always willing to teach people about photography and take their photos.
Justin Sherlock ‘23
Multimedia editor
Justin is a biology and film & media double-major from Danville, VA, Hampton, VA, and Gainesville, FL (military family). On campus, he is involved with many things photography-related: photo club, The Flat Hat newspaper and intro photo! He’s currently going through a slight Kacey Musgraves phase, but only Golden Hour. His favourite social media sites are LinkedIn and Tinder. In between classes you can usually find Justin listening to lo-fi hiphop beats or casual indie pop on Sadler terrace. He believes Taco Bell creates the foundation for vegetarians world-wide and considered writing a strongly-worded letter to the CEO when potatoes were discontinued (the spicy potato taco is the most joyous food in this world).
Kiseki Carter ‘25
social media editor
Kay is a pre-med student from Newport News, Virginia. She says she’s a bio major but she probably will be switching majors at least three times before she declares. Her fatal flaws are that she has a license but can’t drive, wants to be mysterious but talks too much and spends money she doesn’t have. She’s obsessed with pink the way most people are obsessed with purple, and she loves her boyfriend’s three cats like they were her own. Usually, you can find her in Swem pretending to do work.
Marion Biondi ‘24
Style editor
Marion is a psychology major and still figuring out which of her thousand interests she will choose to minor in. She is from New Jersey (along with half of campus, it seems), just a few minutes from Princeton University campus. Marion is newly appointed style editor and can’t wait to bring her photoshoot dreams to life. Outside of the Magazine, she is a passionate Wellness Ambassador for the Wellness Center and a member of Humans of W&M. Marion is full of guilty pleasures, including laying in bed for hours on end, indulging in film scores, and thinking about her next spicy tuna roll. Despite her introverted tendencies, Marion won the friendliest superlative in 8th grade, so feel free to say hi if you see her.
JANE ZHOU ‘24
PRODUCT MANAGER
Jane is an anthropology and marketing double-major from Beijing, China. She’s crazy about rambling alone and talking to herself in CW, especially deep at night. This is her first time in America, so raw broccoli, onion, and mushroom at the salad bar shocked her since she is used to Chinese vegetable stir fry. She likes doing cooking experiments, although she has failed many times. Jane quit drinking bubble tea, but she has fallen in love with caffeine and cannot start the day until she grabs a cup of iced coffee every morning. She also loves reading novels and feels like she’s lived many different lives.