June 5, 2023
Good morning, |
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Congratulations to VWU Athletics on two great performances to close out the spring 2023 season. |
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The Marlins softball team had another remarkable season, finishing off the year with a stellar record of 39-13 overall and a 16-4 record in conference play. Their outstanding regular season gave them a bid in the NCAA Softball Tournament, in which the Marlins would go on to capture the regional title against The College of New Jersey, to advance to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament for the third year in a row. |
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Geni Roberts '23 returned to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and earned his eighth All-American honor by finishing third in the men’s triple jump. He completes his Marlin career with the highest number of All-American honors in Virginia Wesleyan history.
We are so proud of our Marlin student-athletes and how they represent Virginia Wesleyan on and off their fields of competition. Kudos to coaches Brandon Elliott '03 (softball) and Cameia Alexander (track and field) for their exceptional leadership. |
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With pride, I share the spring 2023 President's List and the spring 2023 Dean’s List. Congratulations to the 119 students on the President’s List who achieved a 4.0 grade point average and to the 234 students on the Dean’s List who achieved a 3.5-3.99 grade point average for the spring semester. To qualify for these honors, students must have full-time status and have taken at least nine semester hours of traditionally-graded courses. These individuals demonstrate a remarkable level of dedication to their academic pursuits. Well done! |
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Dr. Matt Shank, former President of Marymount University, serves as president of VFIC. Nancy Howell Agee, President and CEO of Carilion Clinic, serves as chair of the Board. I served as the chair of the VFIC Council of Presidents in 2020-21, and currently serve on the Board Investment Committee. Larry Stimpert, President of Hampden-Sydney College, currently chairs the COP and will be succeeded this year by Will Dudley, President of Washington & Lee University.
Founded in 1952, VFIC’s mission is to advance the distinctive values and strengths of the 16 more selective independent Virginia member colleges and universities. Dr. Shank says: “We do this by securing financial support, increasing visibility, facilitating innovative and collaborative programs, and supporting initiatives which ensure that this personalized educational experience remains an affordable choice for tomorrow’s citizen-leaders.”
VFIC has a $40 million endowment and additional annual giving that supports VWU and the other 16 member institutions in a wide range of ways including scholarships and programming. |
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Pictured above: (far left) Matt Shank, President of VFIC; Bernie Niemeier, President/Publisher of Virginia Business; and Tracy Fitzsimmons, President of Shenandoah University; (center left) George Birdsong, CEO of Birdsong Peanuts and VWU Trustee Emeritus; (center right) Thomas Ransom, Virginia President of Truist; (far right) Alison Morrison-Shetlar, President of the University of Lynchburg, and her husband, Bob. |
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AROUND TOWN AND ACROSS CAMPUS |
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June is Pride Month We wish all our LGBTQ+ students, alumni, parents, friends and allies a happy Pride Month. As is our tradition, we are proudly flying a pride flag on our campus, adjacent to the American flag and Virginia state flag at Heritage Plaza in front of Godwin Hall.
Celebrating Juneteenth with our Community The Virginia Beach Cultural Affairs Department is excited to announce a week of free arts and cultural events honoring Juneteenth. Events take place from June 13 to 18 throughout the city in a variety of forms and are free and open to the public. Learn more.
As a reminder, in-person classes are canceled and many University offices are closed in observance of Juneteenth on Monday, June 19. |
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VWU Summer Sports Lunchtime League is Back The Summer Sports Lunchtime League has returned for another season with 31 athletes representing departments across campus including Academic Affairs, Advancement, Athletics, Campus Life, Dining Services, Enrollment, Finance, The Lighthouse, Marketing & Communications, Residence Life, and Student Activities. The League is divided into two teams and meets almost every Tuesday and Thursday between 12 and 1 pm. They rotate playing kickball, wiffleball, sand volleyball, soccer, dodgeball, pickleball, and cornhole! There's still time to join the Lunchtime League; sign up here.
Alum to Speak at Summer757 Intern Brunch Tiffany Warren '22 will be a featured panelist Saturday, June 10, at Campus757’s Summer757 Intern Brunch. Tiffany will speak about her internship experience at Dominion Energy and how she was able to turn that into a full-time job upon graduating from VWU. Well done! |
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Meeting with City Council Members Jennifer Rouse '08 and Chris Taylor '06 We proudly welcomed back to campus VWU graduates and Virginia Beach City Council members Jennifer Rouse ’08 (right) and Chris Taylor ’06 (second from right). We showed off our new talent-development facilities and updated Jennifer and Chris on recent progress and plans for the future.
Jennifer and Chris represent the best of Virginia Wesleyan in their leadership and civic engagement right here at home. Joining us for lunch at DeFord Manor were Keith Moore (Senior Vice President) and Jason Seward ‘05 (Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Operational Management). |
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VWU’s Sustainable Practices Reach Beyond Campus VWU’s efforts to reduce food waste were featured in Food Management as a part of Sodexo’s sustainable campus dining programs. The food-scraps program for the campus worm farm has been in place for 10 years behind the scenes at Boyd Dining Center; but the student involvement portion of the program is new, thanks to the work of Abigail Mahoney ‘23 and her capstone project for the Batten Honors College Louis and Prudence Ryan Environmental Research Symposium.
Additionally, during the Finals Week Food Drive, the Student Government Association — led by President Eddie McDonald — collected 235 pounds of non-perishable food for the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and Eastern Shore, equating to 196 meals for our local community (pictured). This is another great example of how Marlins are making a difference by reducing food waste and helping our community. |
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A Campus Tour with Truist We were pleased to welcome Dan Peterson, Market President (pictured center), and Mark Johnson, Senior Vice President & Community Development Manager (right), from Truist Bank to campus last week. We toured three instructional facilities made possible by the Truist Foundation and enjoyed lunch at DeFord Manor. |
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VWU’s New General Counsel With the retirement of Bob Barry (pictured left), VWU welcomes Dustin DeVore (center) as its new General Counsel. Dustin is a partner at Kaufman & Canoles, our long-term legal services provider. |
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A Visit with Hourigan We had an enjoyable lunch with Bart Dexter, Vice President-Hampton Roads, of Hourigan. Hourigan and VWU have been partners on over 20 construction projects over the last eight years, and they have been generous supporters of student scholarships. |
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Girls on the Run’s Record-Breaking Spring Congratulations to our campus partner Girls on the Run-Hampton Roads on their record-breaking spring participation. GOTR-HR had a record-breaking number of program sites (78), enrolled girls (1,125), and family Running Buddies (1,085) for their spring 5K held at VWU a few weeks ago. This brings their total number of girls served since inception to 20,739. Way to go! |
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Goodbye to Michael Desplaines, NBG We wish a fond farewell to Michael Desplaines, departing President and CEO of Norfolk Botanical Garden. Michael and the NBG have been terrific partners of VWU through our shared interest in the Greer Environmental Sciences Center and the surrounding 25,000 native species that creates the living laboratory of this incredible facility. We wish Michael the best as he heads west and look forward to our continued work with the NBG. |
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The Hive Newsletter: June 2023 Our friends at The Hive in Virginia Beach Town Center deliver updates and news for our region’s businesses. VWU and Tidewater Community College Virginia Beach are the educational partners at The Hive. |
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Have a great week, Marlins!
Sincerely, |
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-- Scott D. Miller, Ph.D. President Virginia Wesleyan University 5817 Wesleyan Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23455 Phone: 757.455.3215 |
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