The summer continues to be a busy time at Coastal Virginia's premier university of the liberal arts and sciences.
Many high school juniors and seniors are visiting campus this week, July 24-29, as part of Virginia Private College Week,
sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV).
Virginia Wesleyan is one of 24 private colleges in Virginia offering
campus tours and information sessions about admission, financial aid and
academic programs, and dispelling common myths
about the cost of a private college education. Remaining information
sessions will be held today and Friday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Saturday
at 9 a.m. Please encourage prospective students you may know to visit
during this special week.
Also on campus this week, Virginia
Wesleyan’s Center for Sacred Music, along with the Robert F. Boyd
Institute, is hosting the annual Sacred Music Summer Conference.
This non-denominational worship and arts event offers continuing
education opportunities for church musicians, worship leaders, music
teachers, and all who are interested in the sacred arts. The week opened
Monday with “Over My Head, I Hear Music” in Monumental Chapel and
concludes Saturday evening with a finale, “Sing to the Lord with
Cheerful Voice,” at Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk.
New to the conference this year is Dr. Bryson Mortensen’s Choral
Leadership Academy for high school students interested in developing
their conducting and rehearsal techniques. Many thanks to Dr. Sandra
Billy, Director of the Center for Sacred Music, for coordinating this
wonderful annual event.
We welcomed high school educators to
campus July 9-14 for the National Association of Biology
Teachers/Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (NABT/BSCS) Biology Teacher Academy,
presented in partnership with HHMI BioInteractive and supported by the
Virginia Department of Education. I have no doubt that this group walked
away from this professional development experience, facilitated by
several of our talented faculty, with new perspectives on teaching
biology and many ideas for their classrooms. It is a pleasure to host
these educators annually and to help further their instruction
techniques through our fine facilities and state-of-the-art equipment.
Celebrations
for our NCAA Division III softball champions continue. On Monday, we
had a great time at the Norfolk Tides game where the team was honored
during the pregame ceremonies. National Player of the Year Hanna Hull
'20 threw out the first pitch to "Rip Tide" as VWU coaches and
administrators watched from a sky box, courtesy of our friends at
Kaufman & Canoles. Members of the team and I will travel to Richmond
today to meet Governor Terry McAuliffe, and this evening we will host a
“Cheers with Champs”
alumni gathering at the capital city's Southern Railway Taphouse.
Graduates and friends are invited to come meet the team and have their
photo taken with the championship trophy.
I am proud to report
that the Greer Environmental Sciences Center is nearly 100 percent
complete. The furniture is in, and several faculty members will now
begin the move to their new office spaces. I look forward to the
dedication of the building on Founders Day, September 7. Additional
information will be shared soon about our full day of Founders Day
activities and celebrations.
The Avenue of the Sciences has also
been completed. This new roadway connects Honors Village and the road
to Godwin Hall going past Blocker Hall. Construction is running smoothly
on the Betty S. Rogers Track and Field Center, and site concepts are in
progress for the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center. Chants
and cheers can also be heard across campus from our YMCA Camp Red
Feather visitors. The new Frank Blocker Youth Center is up and running
and is in full use as part of this summer partnership program.
We
are nearing completion of our transition to Virginia Wesleyan
University. Visitors to campus will now begin to see newly branded
signage, with banners and directional markers displaying our new name
and logo. Our website has been updated to www.vwu.edu,
and faculty and staff emails have transitioned to the new domain as
well. I thank each of you for your support throughout this exciting
process.
We have been devoting our time and energy to the smooth
start of the fall semester and look forward to the return of our
students in just a few short weeks. I hope your summer season continues
to be productive as well.
