The Flat Hat
About
The Flat Hat has been the College of William and Mary’s student newspaper since 1911. It covers the College and the surrounding area of Williamsburg, Virginia, printing on every other Wednesday of the academic year. The Flat Hat office is located in the Sadler Center basement in the Student Media Suite.
The Flat Hat derives its name and motto (“Stabilitas et Fides”) from the Flat Hat Club, the nation’s first secret society. The Flat Hat Club was founded at the College in 1750 and included among its members St. George Tucker, Thomas Jefferson and George Wythe. It is believed that the Flat Hat Club was the precursor of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, established at the College in 1776.
The Flat Hat printed its first issue Oct. 3, 1911.
The Flat Hat is produced entirely by a volunteer all-undergraduate staff. It has no faculty adviser. The student journalists of The Flat Hat control all online and print content. The production of the paper’s news and editorial content is in no way supervised by any College administrator. The Flat Hat also controls its own business department.