Dialogue: Nota Bene: Weekly Update

April 11, 2022

Good morning,

The spring student-led Marlin Business Conference, “Commerce Reimagined,” is here! I hope faculty, staff, and students make a special effort to join in the conference events. View the entire conference schedule.

We will open the conference tonight at 6:00 p.m. at The Hive in Virginia Beach Town Center with special guest speaker Jon Pruden, VWU Trustee and CEO of TASTE Family of Businesses. This event is free and open to the public.

The conference will continue throughout the week with high-caliber guest speakers like Delceno Miles, CEO of the Miles Agency and President of Virginia Beach Vision; Priscilla Monti, Senior Vice President of Programs and Communications for Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce; Linda Peck, Executive Director of the Greater Norfolk Corporation. Don’t miss your chance to learn from some of the top executive talent in Coastal Virginia!

ET CETERA

Spring Alumni Weekend returned for the first time since 2019. Our festivities began Friday with Bob Marlin’s Birthday Bash with live music and games on the Brock Commons Lawn. Traditions continued with our spring picnic and alumni scroll signing ceremony on Saturday. We hosted the Parents Council at DeFord Manor. We welcomed prospective students to campus for Marlins Day. We tried not to sing along during the JukeVox Live performances. We cheered for the Marlins during our Senior Day athletic contests and the 12th Annual Strike Our Cancer softball event. Most of all, we enjoyed a wonderful weekend full of smiles and excitement with Marlin alumni, parents, friends, and students.

View the Spring Alumni Weekend photo gallery and Marlins Day photo gallery to catch up on all the weekend's fun.

After two and a half years of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia Wesleyan athletes were able to congregate together for a kickoff celebration of Division III Week at the Tassos Paphites Soccer Complex last week.

My special thanks to Andrea Hoover-Erbig, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics; Alex Gallagher, Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach; and Trish Doherty, Administrative Assistant/Business Manager, Athletics; for spearheading the planning of the event that truly celebrated the spirit, hard work, and dedication of our student-athletes with an evening of food, games, and friendly rivalries. Learn more.

President Biden has proposed a $88.3 billion education budget for the 2023 federal fiscal year. In his proposal, the Pell Grant would double by 2029, there would be increased spending on minority-serving institutions and community colleges, and a focus on workforce development. Read more.

As I have reported in the last several editions of this weekly newsletter, the troubles plaguing the United Methodist Church continue. One of the biggest issues is the third postponement of the General Conference until 2024. Organizers of the assembly are now looking to address the main problems cited in favor of postponement in order to accelerate the timeline for the event. Other current concerns in the Church are regarding disaffiliation due to the branching off of the Global Methodist Church and five recent rulings from the Church’s top court.

I will continue to keep the Virginia Wesleyan community apprised of news and developments within the Church.

AROUND TOWN AND ACROSS CAMPUS

Dr. Mazur Wins Mednick Fellowship Award

Congratulations to Dr. Eric Mazur, the Gloria and David Furman Professor of Judaic Studies and Fellow of the Robert Nusbaum Center, on his award from the Mednick Fellowship Committee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. The Mednick Fellowships are designed to encourage the professional development of faculty members and improve their academic competence through research and advanced study.

2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit

The Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, hosted by Second Nature and the Intentional Endowments Network last week. VWU was honored by Second Nature with a grant from the Second Nature Acceleration Fund.

During the summit, I participated in a panel with representatives from the University of New Hampshire and our oCIO from Brown Advisory, “Making ESG Intention Actionable.” I discussed the environmentally friendly investment of our full endowment and the mission of the Batten Honors College. Dr. Elizabeth Malcom, Director of Sustainability and Professor of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, participated in the summit panel, “Virginia Heat Watch: Heat Mapping to Assess Vulnerability and Address Inequity in Virginia Communities,” where she discussed the outcomes of last summer’s Heat Watch Campaign.

We look forward to VWU’s continued participation in the summit next year.

Esports Season Recap

VWU Esports now fields teams in four different sanctioned games with 28 athletes competing in League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and Fortnite. The Marlin Fortnite team made their debut in NACE’s Regional Open series of events this semester. A highlight of the 2022 League of Legends Spring season was defeating Marshall University in a powerful matchup. VWU’s Overwatch team entered the spring in a rebuilding phase. For the first time in the program’s history, Marlins Rocket League fielded two teams in NACE’s Rocket League Divisions—Open and Varsity. The Rocket League team competing in the NACE Open League finished the regular season with an impressive 4-2 record and secured a national playoff spot as the 16th seed. This marked the first playoff appearance in our esports program history. Our team's overall success would not be possible without the leadership of our team captains: Brandon Kwon, Spencer Weinstein, Paul Nelson, and Chris West.

VWU Esports is excited for the 2022-2023 season thanks to a strong recruiting class, including a player ranked in the top 1,000 worldwide Rocket League rankings. We look forward to the continued success and growth of the program, establishing VWU as one of the dominant esports programs in the country. Be sure to follow all the competition live on our newly redesigned Twitch channel, plus keep up on news and announcements on Twitter and Instagram.

A Night to Remember: 2021 VCIC Humanitarian Awards

I continue to be grateful for the 2021 Humanitarian Award from the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities. It was a very special night, and I invite you to view the photos from the ceremony or watch it online.

The Robert Nusbaum Center’s Justine L. Nusbaum Lecture Returns

This year's lecture features Dr. Johnny Finn, an Associate Professor of Geography and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University. He will provide an overview of the theoretical and historical underpinning of racial segregation in Coastal Virginia; present his research team’s findings on today’s landscape of racial, economic, and environmental inequality that is the legacy of nearly a century of segregationist housing policies; and reflect on important next steps for our region. The lecture is free and open to the public at the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m.

Mark Swingle Retires from Virginia Aquarium

I attended the retirement celebration for Mark Swingle, Chief of Research and Conservation, of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center last week. It has been a pleasure working with Mark as a member of the aquarium’s foundation board and through VWU’s relationship with the aquarium. During the celebration, Mark was surprised by a special retirement gift as friends and members of the board personally donated to create a research fund in his name. Best wishes to Mark as he embarks on the next step of his journey.

STAY CURRENT ON VWU NEWS AND FEATURES

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REFLECTIONS

I hope you find these links useful to my recent columns and publications:

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