Nov 5th, 2020

ELECTION ISSUE Elections amid COVID-19 Page 1

Virginia Elections coverage Page 2

General Election coverage Page 3

The Marlin Chronicle THURSDAY 11.5.20 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWU.EDU

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

COVID-19 factors reshape election norms Spring semester plans announced

Election Day 2020 has officially wrapped up, and while the winners of various races are still uncertain, one thing that is clear is just how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way elections were conducted.

In a number of ways, COVID-19 has made this one of the most unusual years in American history with many changes to typical election practices.

For example, a record breaking amount of voters voted early either in-person or mail. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, 2,758,957 Virginians voted early in 2020 while only 574,872 voted early in 2016. In Virginia Beach, 125,711 voted early this year compared to 30,949 who did the same in 2016.

In addition to the mail-in voting and curbside voting services offered, voting inside the precincts themselves took on a different look. For many of those registered to vote at Virginia Wesleyan, this could be seen at their polling precinct was Ebenezer Baptist Church, located right across Wesleyan Drive from campus.

Everyone practiced social distancing at Ebenezer, with spaced out voting booths and tape markings on the floor to guide this process. There, workers operated with gloves and hand sanitizer dispensers. Bins designated new and user materials like pens or manila privacy folders. Finally, no voter was accepted into the precinct until they displayed proper use of a face mask.

Ensuring all of this was in operation was a COVID-19 procedure observer. At Ebenezer, this was a representative of the Virginia Beach Medical Reserve Corps.

Much like these volunteers and observers, students on-campus did their part to aid voting turnout and ease during these times. Marlins Vote was active in ensuring voters were registered to vote and informed on their options for casting their vote.

BY CONNOR MERK ccmerk@vwu.edu

BY CONNOR MERK ccmerk@vwu.edu

Alex Powers|Marlin Chronicle Voters mark their ballots in socially-distanced voting booths at Ebenezer Baptish Church.

Throughout the semester, Wesleyan Engaged sent out emails to the campus community regarding important deadlines and other significant information. Before Election Day, they reminded students when the polls opened and closed as well as information about their shuttle service. They also ran a shuttle between campus and Ebenezer Baptist Church beginning at 8:30 a.m.

This culminated in a smooth process in spite of the obstacles set forth by COVID-19 factors. A fair amount of success can be attributed to the significant portion of voters in Virginia who voted early. Still, the success of Ebenezer as a voting precinct was shared not only by the precinct’s Chief of Elections, Valerie Beard, but partisan and nonpartisan election observers and voters themselves.

Junior Damien Kelly was surprised how quickly he was able to vote. “Overall, I had a great voting experience for the first time voting for a presidential candidate,” Kelly said.

Nicholas Mundy|Marlin Chronicle

Women’s Soccer is one of many sports to find success in recruiting during the pandemic.

Athletic recruitment proves resilient

The changes to the Spring 2021 semester schedule were announced in President Miller’s Nota Bene on Oct. 26. The noteworthy alteration was the removal of spring break. Miller stated that the Emergency Response Team and President’s Cabinet collaborated on the plan and the Board of Trustees was supportive of the proposal.

The semester will begin on Jan. 25 with the last day of classes being April 27. Reading Day will occur on April 28 followed by final exams from April 29 through May 4. According to this plan, Commencement will happen on May 8 and the VWU Global Campus Commencement will be May 16. The formats of these ceremonies depend on the status of COVID-19 in the spring.

Additionally, Miller stated that PORT Day, a day dedicated for students to present their internship, research, and study abroad experiences, will be held virtually over the course of a week.

Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Maynard Schaus shared insight into the decision making process.

“I reached out to a faculty task group, the same group that met during the summer to make recommendations for the fall semester, as well as the deans and the registrar. We looked at what other schools were doing, and nearly every other university’s plan eliminated spring break,” Schaus said.

Schaus continued by stating that this plan was shared with the President’s Cabinet and was approved.

Acknowledging the downsides with this plan from students and faculty, Schaus noted, “I understand this is somewhat of an inconvenience to faculty and students, but ultimately we need to prioritize the health and safety of the campus community.” According to Schaus, the main reason for eliminating spring break was to remove the opportunity where people could potentially bring COVID-19 back to campus after traveling.

Sophomore Brooke Morris was not surprised by this announcement. “I honestly expected it. My biggest concern is the lack of break in spring semester, a break a lot of students need for their sanity’s sake,” Morris said.

“Especially for those taking a January-term course, the constant bombardment of course work with no reprieve is going to be a challenge.”

For the spring semester, professors have the option of offering their courses face-to-face, a hybrid format, or remotely. “If professors need to have their courses fully remote, it must be documented and approved by human resources, for reasons such as a health concern or protecting the health of a family member who is at risk,” Schaus said. “This is the same for students who plan to be remote and must provide documentation for approval.”

Additionally, 65% of the course sections in the spring will be offered fully face-to-face, 15% are in some form of hybrid format, and 20% will be offered remotely.

Marlins find innovative ways to bring in athletic talent despite COVID-19 obstacles

Sports have been affected mightily during the pandemic and coaches and players have had to adjust during these changing times. Regulations and guidelines have eliminated numerous ways of recruiting. COVID-19 has forced many coaches to become more creative in acquiring new players.

Prior to the pandemic, new recruits were able to stay on-campus and be hosted by a current player of such team.

They were able to really get a feel for how the life on campus is in regards to being a student athlete.

It has always been a unique experience for incoming recruits. Unfortunately, there is no such opportunity this fall. These visits allowed for them to get a real feel for the community that being a student athlete offers at Virginia Wesleyan.

Each coach has gotten very creative in ways of connecting with their prospective players. Jeff Bowers, women’s soccer head coach mentions the challenges that are faced with recruiting during COVID-19.

“So, I think there is multiple challenges that we have faced. First, is obviously the ability to be able to see

Marlin’s Day recap

Grad life in COVID-19

BY NICHOLAS MUNDY namundy@vwu.edu

COMMUNITY Page 4

See RECRUITING Page 7

OPINIONS Page 6

BE CONNECTED! 1Front_11_03_2020_USE.indd 1

Alex Powers|Marlin Chronicle A view of the lawn in front of Greer Environmental Sciences Center showcases campus during springtime.

Athletics take to Instagram SPORTS Page 7

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Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

News

Warner, Luria win down-ballot Virginia elections U.S. Senate

MARK WARNER (D)

Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District

DANIEL GADE (R)

ELAINE LURIA (D)

SCOTT TAYLOR (R) Emily Uzzle|Marlin Chronicle

BY CONNOR MERK ccmerk@vwu.edu

BY BRIANNA SANDY bnsandy@vwu.edu

As of 10 a.m., Nov. 4, Mark Warner (D) has been declared the winner of the U.S. Senate election in Virginia.

This will be Warner’s third term in the U.S. Senate. He won with 55.63% of the vote compared to Republican Daniel Gade who received 44.28% of the vote. Warner received 2,332,363 votes compared to Gade who received 1,856,394 votes.

Junior Hunter Nordberg was a fellow with the Virginia Coordinated Campbell Campaign and worked on several Democratic campaigns in Virginia. “I was responsible for helping get out the vote through texting, calling, doorto-door literature drops and attending events,” Nordberg said. He was also a data reporting captain in Hampton for the get out the vote efforts.

Nordberg’s main reason for supporting Warner was his endorsement of Amendment 1. “Amendment 1 is a proposed amendment to change how redistricting is done in Virginia. It gives the power of redistricting to a bipartisan commission instead of the state legislature which should prevent partisan gerrymandering in the future,” Nordberg said.

Commenting on Warner’s chances of winning, he stated, “I was never worried about his re-election chances as he was a clear favorite from start to finish, and his race was

one of the first senate races to be called in the country.”

Senior Zoe Cruz campaigned for Gade and was excited about having the opportunity to get involved in the community. “I was able to reach out to people and hear their voices and stories and connect with them on a personal level. I am extremely proud to have the opportunity to represent a candidate who is for the people,” Cruz said.

“Even after walking over 4 miles a day, I wanted to go back out and spread the word about Gade.”

Additionally, Elaine Luria (D) has been declared the winner of Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. Luria was favored to win in this district by several political prediction organizations such as the Cook Political Report and FiveThirtyEight. As of 10 a.m. on Nov. 4, Luria won with 50.94% of the vote and 174,873 votes compared to her challenger, Republican Scott Taylor who received 46.49% of the vote and 159,568 votes.

Junior Anitra Howard was excited about this result.

“I don’t really agree with all her policies, but her policies are a lot more liberal than Scott’s are and so I’m happy,” Howard said.

“I like that she takes a more bipartisan approach. She’s actively working toward that rather than being separatist and rather than only focusing on her party,” Howard said. “When you’re chosen to represent a district, you’re representing everyone, not just the people in your party, and so I kind of like that.”

Howard reflected on Luria’s campus visit on Oct. 6 by stating “One thing that she said that seemed a little sketchy to me was her position on the International Criminal Court

(ICC). She was saying that America shouldn’t be held accountable for our actions from the ICC because it’s there to help countries who can’t necessarily bring justice for themselves. She was saying that America shouldn’t be held accountable by the ICC and I disagree with that since that’s the reason that’s there.”

For local races, the winners include Bobby Dyer for Mayor, Rosemary Wilson for City Council Member atlarge, Beverly Anderson for School Board Member atlarge, City Council candidates Sabrina Wooten, Jessica Abbott and Michael Berlucchi and School Board members Trenance Riggs, Jennifer Franklin and Jessica Owens.

Also, the constitutional amendments on the ballot both passed in Virginia. Amendment 1, which will hand over Virginia’s redistricting process to bipartisan, independent commission rather than be drawn by the majority party in the state legislature, was passed by voters with 65.76% of the vote. Amendment 2, which suggests the tax exemption of one vehicle of military veterans who are 100% permanently disabled due to an injury obtained while serving was passed by voters with 85.97% of the vote.

Senior Aleigha Johnson was satisfied with the results for Amendment 1. “Well gerrymandering is a huge issue in American politics that to my understanding disproportionately affects communities of color. Racism is rampant in our country because of structural policies like these and it is so important that we’re remedying them,” Johnson said. “But also in a general sense if we aren’t accurately representing our democracy then we’re doing a disservice to every single one of our citizens.”

VWU reports one COVID-19 case in past two weeks

BY TIFFANY WARREN tawarren@vwu.edu During the week of Oct. 14 to Oct. 20, one case was confirmed on the weekly COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Oct. 21, and none from Oct. 21 to Oct. 28.

Since the beginning of the semester, there have been 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Despite in-person classes ending this fall semester on Nov. 20, the administration reminds students, faculty and staff to remain cautious in reducing the spread of the virus while the term is still in session.

With Halloween weekend approaching, President Miller shared a COVID-19 update message on Oct. 29, “We caution you to follow best safety practices by avoiding crowds, maintaining social distancing, wearing facial coverings, and washing your hands frequently,” Miller said.

He also advised the campus community that their actions this weekend could have far-reaching implications in the weeks to come. “No student wants to finish the in-person portion of the semester sick or in quarantine. Remember that there will be opportunities in the future to have the Halloween fun you’re used to, but this weekend in this environment is not the time.”

Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Operational Management, Jason Seward added, “The administration has continued to make necessary decisions with the community’s safety and wellbeing as the top priority. All policies and safety restrictions remain in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We will continue to follow recommendations and guidelines from national and state officials.”

Heaven Johnson, a sophomore majoring in biology, commented, “I am very surprised that in-person classes have lasted this long for the fall semester. I honestly thought students would’ve been sent home around week three. I feel that the virus has made my college experience surreal. It’s like a fever dream. Everyone is wearing masks and far away.”

The reported cases of COVID-19 are based on students self-reporting using the LiveSafe app to complete a questionnaire of possible signs of symptoms, but this can raise skepticism of how many people answer it on a daily basis.

Niya Crocker, a transfer student in her junior majoring in biology, said, “My concern was filling out the LifeSafe app and how cases are calculated on the number of students who actually complete it. I live on campus and at first, the janitors weren’t doing deep cleaning, but it has gotten better. I also think there should be more cleaning stations in classrooms.”

“I’m shocked the fall semester lasted this long because everyone still does their own thing with work, visiting family, and trying to hang out with friends,” Crocker said.

Professor Rebecca John, assistant professor of education, said, “I prefer face-to-face instruction, but I had

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Connor Merk|Marlin Chronicle to keep in mind the 6 feet apart social distancing and health guidelines. My classes are flexible with one day virtually and another day for an in-person class. I realized that I can provide interactive activities and lessons by adapting to a virtual setting on Zoom.”

Additionally, spring semester registration is underway starting on Nov. 2 through Nov. 13 and changes have been made to the academic calendar due to the pandemic by eliminating spring break. In the Nota Bene Weekly Update delivered by President Miller via email on Oct. 29, he announced the academic calendar for the spring 2021 semester. “To mitigate the spread of COVID on campus, there will be no spring break. It’s going to be a busy spring with the condensed academic schedule and with fall, winter and spring athletics all in competition,” Miller said.

Miller expresses his gratitude to all members of the marlin community for the progress made through the fall semester. “I thank our students, faculty and staff for their resilience and understanding and trust that they will continue their commitment to the safety and health of this campus during the spring semester,” Miller said.

Professor John added, “Knowing that students and faculty aren’t having a spring break, I will have to consider

how to promote healthy school life and work-life balance for my students and my own personal life. I would possibly include mental awareness and mindfulness practices to help students handle the stress of the upcoming spring semester. We will need to be mindful of how students are going to manage stress without a spring break,” Johnson said.

Colleges and universities in Hampton Roads have also reported cases in the past few weeks. During the week of Oct. 18 to 24, eleven cases were reported at Old Dominion University (ODU). The cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 at ODU that have been reported since July 21. are 153 positive tests. At Christopher Newport University, 21 active cases were reported as of Oct. 28 and updated daily. CNU has recorded 23 total cases since August and updates the cumulative number of positive tests monthly. Norfolk State University reported 22 cases from 21 students and one faculty member. William & Mary recorded fewer than 60 total cases since August.

11/4/2020 11:09:37 AM

News

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Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

General Election race tightens as ballot count continues

BY CONNOR MERK ccmerk@vwu.edu

& ALEX POWERS ampowers@vwu.edu

As of 10 a.m., Nov. 4, it still has yet to be determined who will next hold the Office of United States President.

Election Night saw election results pour in from all over the country as polls closed. Yet, with the unconventional election cycle and a tight race, it remains unclear who will cross the threshold and win the presidency.

Most of the race’s election results had been decided by this time, per the New York Times. The popular vote indicated a voter turnout of over 135 million, tilting in Biden’s favor (50.1% - 48.2%), separated by over approximately 2.6 million votes. Overall, the called states have Biden sitting at 227 electoral votes versus Trump’s 213 electoral votes. It takes 270 such votes to win the presidency under the Electoral College.

Many key states have yet to be called, and with many late poll closings and mail-in ballot counts reporting, these state races give the country no choice but to wait to decide who is to lead the country for the next four years.

At the close of Election night, the race looked to be Trump’s to win. His remarks called for an end to ballot-counting, celebrating his campaign’s efforts while condemning the drawn-out election process. “This is a very big moment. This is a major fraud on our nation.

We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at four

o’clock in the morning and add them to the list. It’s a very sad moment,” Trump continued.

In Trump’s favor, sit four states. Early in its reporting, Alaska (3 electoral votes) swings towards Trump by a very comfortable 25+ point margin. With 76% reporting, the key battleground state of Pennsylvania and its critical 20 electoral votes also lean red, by a 54.8% - 43.9% lead.

Finally, two sun belt states prove to be in tight contests.

92% of Georgia (16 electoral votes) is in favor of Trump, and 95% of North Carolina (15 electoral votes) is in favor of Trump. Both of these states tilt to the right by fewer than two points.

Meanwhile, four states also lean in Biden’s favor.

Michigan (16 electoral votes), Wisconsin (10 electoral votes), and Nevada (6 electoral votes) tilt toward Biden by less than one point in each of these races, all of which where more than 85% of results have been reported.

Biden’s lead is a bit larger in Arizona (11 electoral votes) by just over 3 points, though recent reports have that shifting closer to Trump.

Biden offered a more cautious tone in his Election Night speech regarding the remaining votes to be counted and was confident that the counting process will be fair. “We feel good about where we are. We really do. I’m here to tell you tonight, we believe we’re on track to win this election,” Biden stated.

He also commented about the need for being patient, “We knew, because of the unprecedented early vote and

270 to Win|Courtesy the mail-in vote, it was gonna take a while. We’re going to have to be patient until... the hard work of tallying votes is finished, and it ain’t over until every vote is counted, everybody ballot is counted,” Biden said.

Voting results have been under immense scrutiny, with pre-election concerns about mail-in ballots and vote tabulation skewing or pushing back the results. With closely-contested races, many states had their results flipped or otherwise delayed.

As of 10 a.m. on Nov 4, all Election Day votes had been tabulated, reports FOX News. Now, as mail-in ballots continue to be counted, Biden appears to be making up lost ground in these races.

Dominion Energy hosts virtual diversity event “diversity and inclusion is one of Dominion Energy’s biggest values.” They take great efforts to promote and embody this value of acceptance, and a huge part of Warren’s attraction to the company was this explicit exemplification of diversity and inclusion.

Each of the panelists were a member of a different Employee Resource Group. These ERG’s are a major

Dominion Energy|Courtesy way through which the company promotes diversity. By

having such a variety of groups for employees to choose to

join, the company is able to better celebrate and embrace Due to the challenges that

BY PHOEBE COX their collective differences. pecox@vwu.edu the COVID-19 pandemic has Edgardo Corporan, one of the panelists and a member presented in regards to social of the Hispanic and Latin American Resource Group, gatherings, the number of overall events on campus have expressed that these Employee Resource Groups create “a decreased dramatically. Our Marlin community has made culture of diversity” within the company. By offering these the best of the situation though, and a variety of virtual groups as a resource for employees to use and as a haven options have been experimented with. for people of differing backgrounds and upbringings, the An example of such an event occurred on October 22, company is able to better embrace diversity and promote a virtual Dominion Energy Diversity and Inclusion in the inclusivity.

Workplace Panel Discussion, from 1-2 pm. This event Over the duration of the event, Warren asked the various was put together by one of Wesleyan’s own students, panelists questions related to their Resource Groups and freshman Tiffany Warren. about how the company embodies diversity and inclusion.

Warren is a Dominion Energy student ambassador, The panelists represented included the previously meaning that she has an internship with the company mentioned Edgardo Corporan of the Hispanic and Latin where it entails promoting it here on campus.

American Resource Group, Brandon Smith from the Students were able to sign up for the panel by filling African American Resource Group, Mary Tschirhart from out an online form. The form included a section that the Pride LGBTQ Resource Group, Yasin Vohra from the students could type in any questions that they wanted to Asian and Pacific Islander Resource Group, and Venessa be answered on the panel. After being accepted, students Woodson from the Youth Professionals Resource Group. received an email with the WebEx link and code to access One of the main points emphasized throughout the the session. panel discussion was that the promotion of diversity and The idea for the panel came from Warren’s deep inclusion originates and stems from the leadership within connection with the company’s principles. She said that a group. Dominion Energy would not be the accepting

place it is without the guidance and direction of leaders on all types of levels that speak and live by these values.

Smith talked about how the specific leaders in the Employee Resource Groups are constantly taking advantage of and maximizing the opportunities they have to educate people on these topics. He says, “it all comes down to education.” Without leaders who are repetitively nurturing and encouraging the cognition and understanding of diversity and inclusion, Dominion Energy would not be the company that it is today.

Moreover, Nailah Alston-Iszard, a current student here at Virginia Wesleyan and an attendee at the panel discussion, said that this partnership helps set a good example for the school on “what it means to produce a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive atmosphere.”

Sasha Bolden, another attendee at the panel discussion, holds the same point of view. “This panel represents a spectrum of people on our campus such as different cultural backgrounds, races and they are even representative of those in the LGBTQ+ community,” Bolden said. By having such a diverse panel welcomed onto campus, it has the ability to “impact and inspire the voices of the students who may have felt that because they are a minority or underrepresented that their opinion does not matter.”

Even with the virtual format that COVID-19 has required, benefits have included several opportunities that may not have occurred during normal times. Additionally, as Alston-Iszard put it, “if we host more and more events like this, I think it will attract the attention of many media outlets, and give the ethnic organizations on campus a chance to host more events that promote diversity and inclusivity.”

VWU scores Princeton Review environmental recognition

BY BRIANNA SANDY bnsandy@vwu.edu

Virginia Wesleyan has been designated for the 9th consecutive year by the Princeton Review as one of the nation’s ‘greenest’ colleges. Their annual publication of the Guide to Green Colleges has been ongoing since 2010, and Virginia Wesleyan has been featured on its list since the second edition came out in 2011.

Schools are selected based on a survey of administrators, who respond to questions based around three main subjects: how environmentally responsible the school’s policies are, whether students are living both healthily and sustainably, and whether students are being prepared for the economic and ecological changes that will be a fixture of the 21st century. Nearly all 4-year colleges and universities are asked to participate in this survey; this year, 695 schools responded and 416 made it onto the list.

Concern for sustainability is fostered on campus through our infrastructure, scholastic programs, and student activities. Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm is one of the faculty members leading the charge. Malcolm is a professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department, where she currently serves as Chair. Malcolm is also the Director of Campus Sustainability, and the faculty advisor for Marlins Go Green.

She pointed to the Greer Environmental Sciences Center as one of the accomplishments she’s most proud of the school for. The building is LEED certified, and serves as both a class building and a ‘living laboratory’ in itself.

“Students can actually learn about the building in their classes, or their research can relate to the building,” and grounds surrounding the Center, Malcolm explained.

Another point of pride is the school’s progress toward greenhouse gas neutrality. Under President Greer, VWU committed to becoming neutral by 2050; President Miller reaffirmed that commitment, and recently moved the target date up ten years to 2040.

Students are also taking the lead on promoting environmentalism on campus. Senior Skyler Lattuca is the President of Marlins Go Green, of which he has been a member since his sophomore year. Lattuca is double majoring in Earth and Environmental Science and Sustainability Management and has found many opportunities to do work on both topics while at VWU. Lattuca says he’s pleased with new developments,

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Dorothy Yanku-Palmer|Marlin Chronicle including more funding and flexibility for students who want to make a difference. Last year, the school approved an endowed fund that offers grant money to student projects in the environmental sciences field. Students must be EES or ENVS majors in order to qualify. This year’s round of grants for sustainability projects will have open applications until November 9th.

Marlins Go Green applied for and received one of last year’s grants, and used it to construct the new garden in front of the Greer Environmental Sciences Center. “They want to see what students are capable of at this point. Let’s run with this,” Lattuca said, adding that, “Even though it’s coming to the end of my college career, I can’t wait to see what the future students are going to be able to propose and make campus into.”

Kayleen Meinen, a senior Earth and Environmental

Science major, has gotten involved through participation in Marlins Go Green, as well as volunteering to maintain the Greer Center and grounds alongside Marisa Cousin, the school’s horticulturalist from the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. If you want to get more involved, Meinen said, “I’d definitely recommend coming to some of the Marlins Go Green club meetings to get to know more about projects going on on campus and get involved with some like-minded people!”

Asked if he had anything to share with the campus community, Lattuca said, “If students are out there and they have cool ideas, feel free to share them with us. We want to make sure your voice is heard, and we want to make these projects become a reality.”

11/4/2020 11:14:38 AM

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Community

Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

The

MARLIN CHRONICLE Editor-in-Chief Alex Powers ampowers@vwu.edu Managing Editor Nicholas Mundy namundy@vwu.edu News Editor Connor Merk ccmerk@vwu.edu Community Editor Lauren Faulkner lafaulkner@vwu.edu Opinions Editor Dalton Powers dmpowers@vwu.edu Sports Editor Nicholas Mundy namundy@vwu.edu Weekender Editor Faith Macwana fpmacwana@vwu.edu Photo Editor Erin Highsmith eehighsmith@vwu.edu Illustrations Editor Emily Uzzle ebuzzle@vwu.edu Online Editor Ash Dobrenen akdobrenen@vwu.edu Copy Editor Tara Truax tmtruax@vwu.edu

Virtual Marlin’s Day event allows tradition to continue for incoming Marlins

BY JACK PALMER jrpalmer@vwu.edu Much has changed since the last school year, including the beloved Marlin’s Day. This event has traditionally been an opportunity for students and parents to visit the campus and get their first real interactions with current students and faculty members. COVID-19 has since changed the landscape of the open house-style event.

The Virtual Marlin’s Day event occurred on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. via Zoom.

Incoming students and their families who registered for the event could access the meetings via the Zoom link they received.

According to Brooke Novkovic, Director of Enrollment for the Batten Honors College, the adjustment of shifting events from an in-person setting to virtual has been successful thus far.

The typical events of a faculty and student Q&A panel, meetings with enrollment counselors, welcome events, students sharing their “why” of becoming marlins, academic fair, tours of campus, and luncheon have been altered slightly. They were held completely over Zoom, with the exception of the luncheon and inperson tours.

Novkovic expressed that even though the normal events could not be held in-person this year, they did their best to make students feel involved and give them as individualized of an experience as possible, given the circumstances.

Part of this mission to get students involved included current

Marlins creating videos of “telling their story” to be sent out to prospective VWU students. In addition, she expressed how useful the breakout rooms through Zoom were throughout the Marlin’s Day process.

The breakout room feature was utilized to create small virtual sessions, to imitate the one-onone experience that the academic fair provided, that represented VWU’s various undergraduate schools and programs, financial aid, sports teams, and student organizations.

Novkovic expressed her excitement about how smoothly this virtual Marlin’s Day went. Over 200 students were in attendance on Oct. 24, 2020.

Additionally, she was excited for the new opportunities that a virtual event could offer. One of them is allowing VWU Global Campus students the first opportunity to be a part of Marlin’s Day. She cited students from Japan that would not have been able to participate at the traditional event.

In addition to the normal virtual Marlin’s Day activities, the Office of Enrollment is holding virtual Batten Honors College information sessions, a transfer student session, informational sessions with a student’s assigned enrollment counselor and adding additional options for students that cannot travel as easily, adding a new layer of accessibility.

Students were pre-assigned sessions that they expressed interest in, Novkovic noted

Kathleen Vanden Berg|Marlin Chronicle

how the virtual experience makes things overall more personal.

Some changes that were made because of COVID-19 restrictions include, conducting smaller tour groups, a stringent mask requirement for all prospective students and all in-person events had an accompanying virtual option.

Novkovic explained that despite the change, current VWU students still have many opportunities to get involved with Marlin’s Days and other events hosted by the Office of Enrollment. She explained that students can still be Student Ambassadors and host prospective student tours. Interested Student Ambassadors can also participate in virtual high school visits. This gives the opportunity of having a more personalized explanation of the school from a current student.

She stated, “[Students] are just as

involved as they were before. It’s just a different landscape.”

Alex Leonard, Student Ambassador, stated that prospective students are not able to interact with campus life and happenings at school because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

He explained that campus is not as involved in the virtual Marlin’s Day experience, just the “necessities” present information.

Leonard stated the school is trying their best to provide students with the best possible experience. He stated all parties involved are attempting to recreate the genuine experience that would be had if the event were still inperson. He also noted that the Student Ambassadors are still fully operational and providing tours, just to much smaller groups.

Advertising Manager Alyssa Lane amlane@vwu.edu Adviser Dr. Lisa Lyon Payne lpayne@vwu.edu

The Marlin Chronicle is the official student newspaper of Virginia Wesleyan University.

Staff meetings are held every Tuesday at 5:40 p.m. in Batten 217. Signed submissions are welcome, but subject to the discretion of the editor. Letters are not edited for content, but may be edited for length and mechanics. The views and opinions expressed in this newspaper may not necessarily reflect the views of the entire staff of The Marlin Chronicle or Virginia Wesleyan University.

Trivia Nights bring entertainment to campus

BY AJ ADAN ajadan@vwu.edu Despite the restrictions on student activities on campus, there are still many opportunities for students to connect with others.

Among these opportunities sponsored by VWU’s campus programming board, Off the Hook, are two virtual trivia nights every week where students can win themed prizes.

Past trivia themes have included sports, pop culture, Star Wars, rap and shows like The Office and The Bachelor. “Our themes are just something that is interesting to the event supervisor who’s hosting it but other times it might be based on what is popular or what’s going on at the time,” said Director of Student Activities Sarah Guzzo.

Prizes for the events tend to be related to the theme of the overall event. Prizes for trivia events can vary in range, and are picked up in the Student Activities office located in downstairs Batten.

“For my Star Wars event we did a Star Wars LED lamp and Star Wars themed face masks,” said freshman Event Supervisor Melina Cabral. The winner of The Office trivia took home a “World’s Best Boss” mug and the rap trivia winner was given The Rap

Cookbook which contains favorite recipes of famous rappers. The winner of the Marvel cinematic universe trivia will win a full DVD set of Marvel movies.

Students can join trivia via a Google Meet link and by entering the Kahoot game code. A typical trivia night has six to twelve participants. This allows for those who are remote to participate in these events from home as well.

“With a smaller audience that’s kind of better for us, virtually, because people can actually see each other and it’s easier for them to interact without too many people kind of bogging down the cameras or talking over each other. They can also see the common interests with other students on campus and make those connections,” Guzzo said. This gives students a conversation topic and a way to meet new people virtually.

“I think the Star Wars trivia event went really well. It ran very smoothly via Google Meet and I didn’t run into any complications or technical difficulties when hosting the event,” Cabral said.

“I had a sports trivia night previously and it had a pretty good turnout. I think not much needs

to be changed and I think it went great. Us marlins love competition and that’s what the students and faculty brought,” said sophomore Event Supervisor, Gabe Jessup.

“I would do a ton of trivia nights and I hope to have a ton more recommendations from others”.

Off the Hook works with community members to find trivia topics that interest them.

“We’re not necessarily looking for increased participation or a lot of numbers. We’re just happy with quality events and not necessarily the quantity now. Our whole goal this semester is just to make sure that people are staying connected because there aren’t too many opportunities for connection and if there is connection it is more possible via the virtual event,” Guzzo said.

“It was a group idea to do trivia nights by Marlins Off the Hook.

We all come up with themes for trivia nights separately and get them approved by Sarah Guzzo and Student Programming Coordinator Audwin Harris,” Cabral said. Off the Hook found that there was a decrease in student organization activities and wanted to find a way to increase

offerings while working through extra planning stages.

With COVID-19 restrictions there is more planning that goes into student activities than usual.

Off the Hook has had to lengthen their planning process while maintaining the essence of the events and have been creative in finding ways to hold traditions.

Students can find more information and updates on future activities through Off the Hook’s Instagram page, which is quite active. Off the Hook posts the days leading up to and on the day of the event.

For those not on Instagram, students can look at the campus events calendar or check out the email sent out by Student Activities containing weekly events. There are sometimes chalk advertisements on the pavement outside of Boyd Dining Center as well as stairwell banners and flyers in the Batten Student Center.

Future trivia nights will include Disney trivia with Melina on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m, history with Gabe on Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. and Marvel cinematic universe with Hannah on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

The Marlin Chronicle Virginia Wesleyan University 5817 Wesleyan Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23455 757.455.3311

“As a former collegiate student newspaper editor, professional journalist and long-time advisor for the Society of Collegiate Journalists, I understand the role and value of student media at a liberal arts institution.

Virginia Wesleyan University proudly supports the editorial independence and press freedom of student-edited publications. We believe that student editors have the authority to make all content decisions and consequently, assume full responsibility for decisions they make.”

--Scott D. Miller, Ph.D President

4Community_11_03_2020__USE THIS ONEEEEE.indd 1

Lauren Faulkner|Marlin Chronicle

11/4/2020 11:15:56 AM

The Marlin Chronicle | marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

Thursday, November 5, 2020

5

Out of Control: Gaming Tournaments bring gamers together on campus

BY LAUREN FAULKNER lafaulkner@vwu.edu COVID-19 has introduced many challenges to the Virginia Wesleyan campus this semester, including the challenge of creating engaging yet safe events for the students to participate in. Some of those latest events were gaming tournaments, hosted by Off the Hook, on Oct. 22, 23, and 24.

The gaming tournaments event, called Out of Control, featured three nights where students could join the tournament and play against each other. The games featured were “NBA 2K20”, “FIFA 20” and “Madden 20”.

To participate in the event, students could register online before the event, or just show up to the CMAC at 7 p.m. on the day the event was hosted.

According to Audwin Harris, Programming Coordinator for Student Activities, “A lot of students are in their rooms...they come together to play a game in their room. With everything going on with COVID-19, and not having people in their rooms, why not have an event where I can have a tournament in the CMAC...students can come watch, and socialize but at a distance. That way students can get out of their room.”

Each night of the gaming tournament saw close to 10 or more people, depending on the certain game. According

players, however they could leave after losing. After the tournament, students were encouraged to hang around for a free play session.

Winners of each tournament received the latest version of the game that was played for a console of the winner’s choice.

Future gaming tournaments are in the works with Off the Hook. According to Harris, more tournaments, like this past event, will feature other popular games in the upcoming semester.

Like-minded events already being hosted include “Among Us” game nights, that were hosted on Oct. 27 and Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Blocker Auditorium, and the Trivia nights that are hosted online on various dates.

To hear more about Off the Hook events, students should check their Student Activities: This Week emails, follow Off the Hook on instagram @marlinsoffthehook, Erin Highsmith|Marlin Chronicle or check out posters around campus.

Students playing in the Out of Control Gaming Tournament Off the Hook has worked to create events that keep students involved in campus life while still remaining to Harris, the “Madden 20” event had the biggest turnout.

COVID-19 considerate.

As soon as students signed up, they were allowed to “We are trying to spread the love with people coming play until they lost in the tournament. Students could together.” said Harris. remain in the CMAC to socialize at a distance with other

Club Features: Spectrum and Movie Crew Spectrum

BY JACK PALMER jrpalmer@vwu.edu

Spectrum, Virginia Wesleyan’s LGBTQ+ inclusive group, was founded to give LGBTQ+ students a space to hangout and feel included on campus. Many students identifying as LGBTQ+ feel isolated at times and as if there is no one else like them around. With this being known, Spectrum was born.

Dr. Kathleen Casey, Associate Professor of History, and students had the idea to create this all-inclusive club.

It is important to note that Spectrum was created before the split within the United Methodist Church, which split recently over views on gay marriage. Many community members did not know where VWU stood on this matter prior to President Miller’s formal statement last year after the split was announced.

The club’s primary mission is to help students get connected with LGBTQ+ resources within the Hampton Roads community and allow them to locate options when they return home from campus. In addition, the club regularly hosts information sessions about “each other” that are involved within the club.

The sessions can include the meaning/appearance of

various pride flags, non-binary guidelines, and ways to be more inclusive. The club is open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community in addition to anyone who is interested in learning about or supporting the mission.

In the past, the club has been involved with school administration helping to form gender-inclusive housing and improving the school’s non-discrimination policies to include protections for transgender and non-binary students.

The club’s executive board consists of India Khanna (President), Colin Wolf (Vice-President), Ashanti Parker (Treasurer), Carter Bernquez (Treasurer), Anitra Howard (Secretary), Jacob Wilson (Public Relations), Sam Gazala (Public Relations) and Jordan Gilliam (President’s Successor).

As stated by Spectrum’s President, India Khanna, the club’s meetings are conducted in an informal, discussionlike manner, whereby any one can bring up a topic or suggestion for the next meeting. They stated that many of the recent meetings have consisted of “just getting together to talk to each other and check-in with one another.”

Khanna stated that Spectrum has met exclusively via Google Meet this school year with no in-person events.

The club recently hosted an “Among Us!” hangout on Sunday, Oct. 25 2020. They stated that the traditional National Coming Out Day rainbow door activity and Transgender Day of Remembrance transgender flag out of handprints would not be taking place this year.

Khanna stated Spectrum has plans to host a student-led Safe Space training sometime in the future. They noted that it was planned for the past Spring semester, but was canceled due to being sent home. The training will include topics relating to “dead” names, terminology, information on how to respect gender identities and pronoun preferences. The event will allow for more comfort by allowing students to ask other students questions regarding these topics.

Khanna would like to extend an invitation to all students to attend a meeting, and to message the Instagram account (@_we_are_spectrum) with any questions. They also ask students to remember that Spectrum is open to all who would like to participate.

Movie Crew

BY LAUREN FAULKNER lafaulkner@vwu.edu

Movie Crew is a Virginia Wesleyan social club where students can get together with friends to watch different movies.

“Movie Crew was created as an open, judge-free group for Marlins to be able to make new friends, relax from the stresses of college life, and have fun through a shared common interest of watching movies,” Leilanie Sheppard, Movie Crew’s President and Founder, said.

A typical meeting for the club will include a movie showing that was voted on previously by the club members, shared snacks provided by the club including popcorn and drinks and the ability to hang out with friends during the film.

Because of COVID-19, Movie Crew has had to meet exclusively online, preventing the club from meeting in person. However, Movie Crew is still meeting with

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streams of movies on streaming services, such as Netflix.

“My goals for the club are to be able to help Marlins feel more connected to the campus by showing them that they are not alone, help students enjoy their college experience, and overall just provide a fun and safe environment for students to be who they truly are without worries” Sheppard said.

Movie Crew’s executive board, aside from Sheppard as the President, includes Meaghan Kern (Vice President), Jacob Wilson (Secretary), Aniyah McNeil (Treasurer) and Mrs. Takacs (Faculty Advisor).

Aside for their typical meetings, Movie Crew also helps host events on campus, and even joins other clubs on campus to host events. Events that have been held in the past include the Dive-In Movie showing of “Jaws” at the university’s pool and the Candy Gram fundraiser for

Valentine’s Day last year.

Upcoming events for the club includes some collaborations with the Latino Student Alliance to celebrate Dia de Los Muertos. The two organizations will unite to host a showing of “The Book of Life” via Metastream on Friday, Nov. 6th at 8 p.m. Later this year, Movie Crew hopes to have a virtual Christmas showing to get everyone in the spirit while they are away and perhaps some other events in the spring.

To learn more about Movie Crew and their upcoming events, students can follow the club’s instagram page @_ movie_crew. The club is always welcoming new members and can express interest through their interest form, which is listed in their instagram bio.

11/4/2020 11:17:35 AM

Opinions

6

Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

Dining services loses their edge

Graduating in hard times

Chris Fegan|Courtesy Alumnus Chris Fegan reflects on his experience graduating in Spring of 2020.

BY CHRIS FEGAN cfegan@vwu.edu

Jamie McKinney|Courtesy Senior Jamie McKinney gives her opinion on the value of dining services.

BY JAMIE MCKINNEY jnmckinney@vwu.edu

The caf serves a lot of people during the day, especially since they cater to students and faculty for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They provide students with jobs so that they are able to pay for college through their work experience.

Hours for the cafe accommodate varying students’ schedules. I was grateful to be able to sit down at a table for lunch, providing me with the opportunity to see my friends.

We are able to talk about how our day is going and we make plans to meet back up at a certain time when everyone is free to have dinner together.

We have made a lot of memories that revolve around the caf.

Sharing those moments with my friends are things that I will cherish now and even after I leave Virginia Wesleyan University. When the caf catered or held events, the provided food would be okay, but over the years, the caf had their days when the food was on game.

Having baked potato and mac and cheese bars where you got to choose

greatest events that the caf held.

They brought out great breakfast food which includes pancakes, bacon, eggs, and some different kinds of fruit. Music played and a dance floor was ready for when that song we all love came on. It was a great way to kick back and enjoy a night before we hit the books for finals.

Unfortunately, we do not get to experience these types of events due to COVID-19, but even still, the cafe has not been earning its money’s worth this semester.

The school knew that new regulations needed to be implemented because of the coronavirus but did not cut any of the costs for food. We are currently paying the same amount of money as we did in the past for caf services, though they have cancelled the type of events that I’ve mentioned above and have limited the number of stations that are serving food during regular caf hours.

They closed two of the main stations during lunch and dinner. Though the

I’ll start off by saying that I never anticipated for the last semester of my undergrad career to be quite the way it ended up being. I don’t think anyone in my position could have possibly been able to predict it, though. How could we, after all? It’s difficult to just imagine the world shutting down, let alone having it actually happen.

I digress, though. I’d like to take a moment to discuss my thoughts on how I feel my last semester at VWU went.

First off, I think it’s important to mention that I majored in chemistry.

Being a science major, I think it’s fair to say that we were especially hit hard when the campus had to go entirely online. Many of the later classes for the chemistry degree have lab sections, and you really just can’t simulate them using an online format. Instrumental Methods of Analysis is probably the most ironic example, though most of the course after Spring Break was dedicated to completing independent research projects, all of which ultimately could not be done since we weren’t allowed to come to campus Having said that, I still think VWU, especially the professors, did the best they could with regards to keeping

us safe while still making sure we could get our classes done. Like I said, I can’t imagine most people in our positions could have predicted the world to shut down like it did, and no matter what happened, everyone was going to have their education affected.

I still feel like I got a lot out of my classes in the end.

Plus, if I’m being honest, there’s actually sort of a silver lining to it all for me. Since I didn’t walk in May, I’ll be walking in December with all of the friends that took Instrumental with me this past Spring semester. Had COVID-19 not happened, I think I’d have been the only one graduating in May. I can’t remember the specifics about if that’s true or not, but the fact that I don’t have to worry about it now is nice.

At the end of it all, it’s definitely been a really interesting journey. With my next career goal being to become a PA, I can say that COVID-19 has definitely solidified my choice of career. I’m excited for December 6th to roll around where we’ll actually be able to do that. It can’t come fast enough.

Athletes in time out

“To get our money’s worth for the food part of our tuition, I’d recommend opening all the lines and not be limited as to what is being served.” what you wanted in your dish and chicken nugget day – the day when everyone went to the caf and when it was the hardest to find a table, were some of my favorite days to swing by the caf; but what would really take the cake were those special days when other schools came in and they would make a dish at each station; we, the students, were then given the opportunity to vote for whose food was the best. I can say, with utmost honesty, that I went back to my dorm in a food coma.

The caf always came through for us during holidays as well. I enjoyed having a Thanksgiving dinner before we went on break. It was nice to spend it with my friends and I am sure it was nice to have an early Thanksgiving for the students that had to stay at school during our short break. Now, midnight breakfast, in my opinion, is one of the

sandwich stand appears to be open, sometimes customers aren’t able to make a custom sandwich. The food is also not as good as it was last year. To get our money’s worth for the food part of our tuition, I’d recommend opening all the lines and not be limited as to what is being served.

Also, bringing back popular food items would make us less likely to go off campus to find food elsewhere.

Additionally, the caf could still provide the different food options, like those offered in the past, but could make the food available in the current format.

For example, for midnight breakfast, the caf could serve breakfast food for students and it be available to-go.

Therefore, the caf is still following guidelines while letting students be able to enjoy going to the caf again.

Erin Highsmith|Marlin Chronicle Dining services have had several stations closed at different times limiting options.

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Duncan Newman|Courtesy Duncan Newman reflects on the university response to rising COVID cases.

BY DUNCAN NEWMAN djnewman@vwu.edu

The coronavirus has proven itself to be formidable on this campus.

It has changed the way the entire campus operates, from not having any usable water fountains other than a select few, to wearing face masks around campus and limiting the possibilities for athletes to train and compete on campus.

With this pandemic, the school has kept a close eye on the amount of cases, which I think is smart, but in turn has limited the possibilities of things that make this college a legitimate college.

So, when a few people end up testing positive for the coronavirus and they are related to athletes, the school shut down all athletic practices and operations for an entire week.

I do not think that the school should have shut down every sport, but the ones that were directly related to the cases. In turn, the whole week of no operations more or less felt like a “time out” to a small child rather than a safety protocol for college students.

In the week that all athletic activities had been suspended, there were a total of 20 cases, 7 of which were active, and 10 that were new cases. In the next week, the amount of cases was zero and then the week after that amount of new

cases was also zero.

This would actually tell us that suspending sports really didn’t do anything other than give athletes who may have injured themselves a week to recover and pushed every sports training a week later into the semester.

In addition, the president has said in his most recent video update on COVID-19 that, “I could not be more proud of each and every one of you we have asked a lot of you this semester”.

In my opinion, with all of the constraints and regulations that are set up on this campus, it sounds like he is saying that he asked us to follow all of the guidelines versus saying if you don’t follow these guidelines, you will be kicked off campus and essentially lose a lot of money because you are losing in-person classes, dorms and meal plans.

With how this semester is shaping up, the restrictions on athletes for a week really had no impact on the total number of coronavirus cases on this campus, as well as demonstrates that the athletic portion of this campus is not responsible for the spread of the coronavirus.

11/4/2020 11:20:00 AM

7

Sports

Thursday November 3, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

RECRUITING

players play. We have players from all over the country on our team. So, you know obviously it’s been tough for us to get out west. I think CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 we have had to rely a little bit more on video more so than we have ever done before,” said Bowers. These challenges have offered many different methods of recruiting.

“I think the other challenge for me is avoiding overnight trips right now,” softball coach Brandon Elliott said.

With this new atmosphere all around the world. Everyone has been getting creative in connecting with each other. Bowers explained, “One of the advantages obviously is that zoom has become so popular. We been able to Zoom with families. More face-to-face then just over the phone. I think that has been one aspect of COVID that’s been a really positive experience. We zoom more with families,” Bowers said. This connection with families is playing a much more of an impact with Zoom taking over.

There is a larger impact than just not being able to see a community that a team offers

at the Division III level. With many athletes not experiencing a traditional senior season, how are they going to be affected in the following season.

“We are trying to take the positive outlook on this. I think once our season in the fall got cancelled, I think the motivation level for them to be as fit as we would like them to be was probably not as urgent. So, we have really used this time to help our players recognize how important their fitness base is,” Bowers said.

Elliott talks about some positives of this off-time for his team. “As much as we didn’t want to take the time off, I think about our girls are used to play so many games, practicing so much since they were eight years old. For six months they weren’t able to do anything, and their bodies have recovered.”

Freshman volleyball player Cara Caruso said, “During the summer, it was definitely really hard to train just because everything was closed and there was no gyms open or anything.”

COVID-19 has presented many challenges to athletics in the recruiting aspect, but coaches and athletes have been persevering through these adversities.

Marlins take over Instagram

BY STEVEN SERRAN0- CRUZ

Student athletes from VWU were the protagonists of the Instagram takeovers on the official Marlins profile.

Through Instagram stories, they previewed the daily life of a student athlete.The first student athlete who took control of the Instagram account was junior Kathryn Yeager from the volleyball team.

“I was a little bit uncomfortable at first because I was the first person to do the Instagram takeover. Once I got used to it, it wasn’t bad at all,” Yeager said.

The students who were involved in the Instagram takeovers used the “Ask me a question” filter to engage students and faculty.

“I expected for incoming students to have a lot of questions,” Yeager said. She added, “It has been awesome to see all the teams do their own spin on their takeovers the past few weeks.”

Junior Christopher Morris from the VWU Baseball team, also was one of the participants of the Instagram takeover. “There was a big expectation,” Morris said.

Morris was representing the first men’s team to do the takeover.

The VWU Marlins page has more than 2,000 followers. “At first it was very nerve-racking. Posting the first video on the Instagram story to where all of the 2,000+ followers would see was a bit scary,” Morris said. However, as the day went on he expressed that it became much easier to answer the questions and post other videos. “By the end of the day I was posting more content from practices and workouts so there was no nerve to that at all,” Morris said. sdserranocruz@vwu.edu

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Morris expressed that overall, this takeover was a success. He said that the videos that he posted gave a good perception and produced a lot of questions on what the baseball practices look like. “The baseball takeover saw a good student participation when it came to asking questions. There were multiple students that

Emily Uzzle|Marlin Chronicle asked legitimate, well thought out questions and it kind of surprised me,” Morris said. Morris affirmed that these takeovers were a good visual for other students to see what is to be a student athlete on campus.

The idea of the Instagram takeovers was by Sports Information Intern Liza Bolen. Bolen has already done this in other schools within the ODAC and thought that these takeovers would be a fun way to show the new normal that student athletes have now because of COVID-19. One of the expectations of these takeovers was also to raise awareness to VWU athletics as a whole.

“At VWU we try to lead by example and we hope that this encourages other schools to do the same with their student athletes,” Sports Information Director Alysse Scripter said.

The Sports Information office and student athletes went over a set of guidelines that each team was to follow.

One of the guidelines was that students participating on these takeovers had to wear the mask at all times, no exceptions. No nudity, alcohol, slander or curse words was allowed in these takeovers. Student athletes had the responsibility of representing VWU in a positive, exciting and fun way.

The availability of student athletes participating in these takeovers were because of the downtime that they have right now compared to a traditional season. “We more than likely will not carry this over into the spring,” Scripter said. Student athletes expressed that Instagram takeovers on game day is a good idea for other students to see their daily routine before game time, but they also think that this can bring distraction from the main focus: to win. Morris pointed out that doing the takeover was a great experience, but it was a large responsibility. “I think having that on game day would take away from the important responsibility of bringing home a win for the Marlins,” Morris said.

11/4/2020 11:22:03 AM

Sports

The Marlin Chronicle | marlinchronicle.vwu.edu November 5, 2020

Sutton reflects on freshman season

8

Closer

the

BY ROBERT SOLOMON rlsolomon@vwu.edu

Sports Information|Courtesy

Layne Nooner|Marlin Chronicle Sutton sets the ball in freshman year.

She may only be a sophomore, but Haley Sutton dominated in her freshman season with a total of six hundred and sixty-two total assists which helped lead the Virginia Wesleyan University volleyball team to an ODAC Championship. When asked about her total dominance on the court, Sutton was modest and humble about how the team really was the dominating force behind her.

She said that she was, “thankful because not many get to play as a freshman.”

She even noted that it was one of her determining factors when she was looking at colleges her senior year of high school.

Sutton mentioned that she wanted a school where she could stand out as an athlete but fit right in as a teammate and student, which is why she chose VWU. Describing everyone on the team as, “each other’s biggest fans”, Sutton was adamant that if it was not for the team around her she would not have been as amazing of a freshman player.

Sutton even added that if it was not for the help of alum Megan Wood’s coaching for what each player needed, she would not have acclimated as smoothly to the new team and teammates. The coaching she received from Wood was specific to each player due to the main fact that setting for each player is different and can be crucial in a game situation. From an excelling career in high school and club volleyball to her new VWU team, Sutton met the challenge with the same energy and dominance that everyone hopes to continue seeing.

There is another side to Haley and her

dominating on the court that is unknown to most people, and those are her superstitions. She is adamant that they all helped her to play better to win. To begin with, it may seem gross but she has yet to wash her knee pads that she used for the past 18 months. Through the entire season with games, skrimages, and practices she still made sure to avoid washing them in fear that it would wash off the luck causing the team to lose.

The rest of the team however hoped she would wash them eventually with one of her teammates, Gianna Krinock, adding “The whole locker room could and hated the smell.” There was still nothing, but love for Haley from the team despite their feelings for the smell.

On top of a rather gross superstition she also has a few others that are less gross, such as wearing the same hair tie and hair style, putting her footwear on right foot then left foot, listening to the same song before huddle (Enter Sandman), and cracking her knuckles at certain points during warm ups and the game. All of Sutton’s superstitions are accompanied by a team that has a number of them also, with having to touch every door frome on the way from the locker room to the court, standing next to the same people in huddles and having a team prayer/chant that they repeat before every game.

Sutton is looking forward, “to strive and break records,” and to continue her ambitious career here at Virginia Wesleyan.

Modified intramurals for spring

Outdoor volleyball court on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University.

Erin Highsmith|Marlin Chronicle

BY HENRY WEST hewest@vwu.edu

Virginia Wesleyan’s Recreation and Wellness department aims to restart intramural sports in the Spring of 2021. Due to the coronavirus restrictions and social distancing guidelines, all intramural sports were cancelled for the fall 2020. However, as the university enters the final weeks of the semester the department of Recreation and Wellness are hopeful to recommence all the programs next year.

As with everything during this COVID-19 period, there is a large disparity of what people want to happen and what people know is going to happen. Willie Harrell, Director of Recreation and Wellness and head of all intramural sports on campus,stated, “I really don’t know what is going to happen in the spring.”

“I would love to be able to see that intramural flag football with 100 people out there. What I hope will be able to happen will be more activities similar to that, but I think the structure of those activities are going to change.”

“My goal is for that to happen this spring depending on what we can and cannot do according to our government and administration. It will depend but I think we can make it happen so that we can do some of those activities. We just have to be safe, we have to keep everybody healthy.” Harrell emphasizes the main priority of maintaining a ‘COVID free’ campus which is Virginia Wesleyan’s main concern at this time and going forward.

Along with all of Virginia Wesleyan’s Division III teams, intramural sports came to an early conclusion at the end of spring 2020. The school also canceled all events for the fall. This meant the university was unfortunately unable to put on their annual events of 3v3 basketball, ultimate frisbee and the most popular event: flag football.

The attention then had to turn to the future. Harrell said, “I started looking at different approaches that other schools were taking and there was a lot of collaboration. Different schools were putting ideas out there and kind of taking it from things and seeing what would work.”

This led to the creation of a new, innovative recreational activity called the “Daily Workout October Wellness challenge.” This event was where students did workouts individually to maintain physical and mental health. This enabled the students to still have the social

8Sports_11_03_2020.indd USEEEEE.indd 1

dynamic but in a different format.

“You’re not running an intramural Flag Football League at 9:00 p.m. at night where we have 50 people in one setting. Instead you still might have 50 people that are all contributing and doing their own thing, saying, ‘Hey did you do your 25 push ups today?’ so they will be still getting social interaction but in a different way.” These types of new challenges will continue to take place while intramural sports, as students have come to know them, are on a hiatus.

Ethan Labelle, a sophomore who participated in Flag Football last year, said “It’s a lot different. I understand why it can’t happen but it’s still frustrating because I know that everybody was looking forward to getting back out there and playing some more.”

Labelle also discussed the importance of intramural sports to a nonathlete. “It’s a nice way to stay active and keep playing sports,” he said. “Even though I’m not playing the sport here at the college it’s a fun environment that’s still competitive but not overly competitive.”

Both Labelle and Harrell believe that intramural sports play a major role in a student’s psychological health as well as physical.

Harrell stated, “I want students to be happy, there’s an emotional side of that [playing intramural sports]. Being able to interact with folks and winning and losing, those emotional things are a huge part of an overall wellness for our community and I want to see that again.”

Labelle echoed these ideas from the student perspective. “Regardless of what happens, we come home happy. Everybody just likes to get out there and play; it’s a great way to all hang out together.”

Regardless of whether the campus will see the return of intramural sports in the upcoming spring, the program offers an unique opportunity to socialize with members of the Virginia Wesleyan community while partaking in physical activity. The environment that these events create allows student’s physical and emotional wellbeing to thrive. Once the coronavirus abates, Virginia Wesleyan hopes to see the return of the esteemed intramural sports program as the community once knew it.

BY NICHOLAS MUNDY namundy@vwu.edu

BY NICHOLAS MUNDY namundy@vwu.edu

My favorite sport has always been the national pastime. Baseball has had a special place in my heart since my first ever game in the nation’s capital. I watched my favorite player at the time, Chipper Jones, jog out onto the field as he neared the end of his historic career.

Baseball historians and analysts have always argued against changes that challenged the great game. As the whirlwind of 2020 swept across the country, sports were changed throughout.

These changes seemed obvious from there being little to no fans in the seats to other COVID-19 protocols wreaking havoc all around the league. Rob Manfred and MLB experimented with many other changes in hopes of making the game quicker and more exciting. Let’s go over some of these changes that impacted the game dearly.

The National League has allowed the pitcher to hit in games, while the American League adopted the designated hitter, which allowed a non-pitcher to hit. The argument of the universal DH has been an ongoing debate for many years. People in favor of the DH argue that it provides more scoring which equals more excitement.

Myself and others argue that adding the DH to the National League eliminates the strategy of the game. Many were skeptical of this change to say the least.

Yet, MLB decided to try out the universal DH for the 2020 season. The rule is not in place for the 2021 season, but with a new bargaining-agreement being set following next season, it could be back on. I was in favor of experimenting with almost all of these changes for the 2020 season, but I am looking forward to the strategy of the game coming back in 2021.

Minor league baseball was the first to adopt the new rule in extra innings in hopes of picking up the pace of play. The rule is that each extra inning played would begin with a runner on second base. The runner would be the last batted out in the previous inning. MLB added this rule for the 2020 season in hopes of keeping the games shorter than usual. Although I enjoyed watching this rule for the 2020 season, I think it took away a little bit of the integrity of the game. Hitters were granted an almost free run batted in if they could execute with the runner on second base. It did add to the strategy of the game which was lacking with the pitcher no hitting in either league.

This is another rule that I hope remains gone for the 2021 season.

The one rule that I was really in favor of was the three batter-minimum rule for pitchers. Previous seasons allowed for a pitcher to come into the game, face one batter and then leave the game. Not in 2020. The rule stated that unless it was the end of the inning or an injury had occurred that the pitcher must face three batters. This really increased the strategy of the game.

The managers had to think about what pitcher in their bullpen could be trusted enough to face the next three hitters.

Another few minor changes included the expansion of rosters to 28 players.

Hopefully, most of these rule changes, though fun to watch in a shortened season, will be gone in the near future for MLB.

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11/4/2020 12:01:09 PM

Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

THEWEEKENDER

Halloween Festivities

PAGE 9

on

Campus

The week of oct. 26 - oct. 31, campus was bustling with halloween themed events from scary movie on the lawn to a candy cornhole tourney

BY LAUREN FAULKNER lafaulkner@vwu.edu and JEAN MAHONE jmmahone@vwu.edu

With current restrictions on social gathering and the current ban on the guest policy, many students were expecting a very uneventful Halloween celebration.

However, the Student Activities office and Off the Hook team was able to create an entire week of COVID-19 considerate Halloween events for students to enjoy.

Some of the student’s favorite activities of the past week consisted of a pumpkin carving contest, as well as Grocery Bingo on Monday. The winner of the pumpkin carving contest received headphones as a prize.

Tuesday continued the festivities with a Bachelor Nation trivia night and an “Among Us” game night, which was described by Virginia Wesleyan’s programming coordinator, Audwin Harris as his “favorite event this week because he likes to hear people argue.” He explained that the healthy competition of the game created the “most interactive energy” he has seen on campus.

Other events hosted during the week included the Movie on the Lawn event on Wednesday night. The

showing was “Scary Stories to tell in the Dark” which was quite appropriate for the setting. With a full moon and a cold chill, students spread out on Rose Lawn with their blankets to watch the film on the big screen. Hot chocolate and movie snacks were provided.

Thursday also had a similar event called Movie Night with a Twist. The movie “Beetlejuice” was shown at the pool and had an unexpectedly large turn out. With a limited amount of tubes to be given out, the event was on a first come first serve basis.

On Friday, events continued with a corn hole tourunament, which concluded with Andrew Taylor winning first place and Tucker Barco in second. Friday night was successfully finished off with a Spookie movie trivia night via Google Meets. Friday evening also had a spooky scavenger hunt event in front of the John Wesley statue, and few students even arrived in costume.

The day of Halloween, with most students returning home for the weekend, not many students were able to

witness the pumpkin head found on John Wesley’s statue outside of the dining hall. This practical joke was just the necessary amount of comic relief that this campus needed.

Saturday’s events finished off the week with a Costume Catwalk Contest in Brock Village. The event included a bonfire, DJ, candy and other snacks. Students were encouraged to dress up and sign up to be a part of the event. The winner of the catwalk contest won a Nintendo Switch Lite.

All in all, Halloween week was a great success for students, and gave them the opportunity to enjoy the holiday while remaining safe.

Sarah Guzzo, Director of Student Activities explained that the easiest way to stay informed about campus activities is to follow the Off the Hook Instagram page and pay attention to the updates in weekly emails. Students can also check out details for events on posters around campus or even on the sidewalks where chalk memos will be posted.

Leilanie Sheppard | Courtesy Junior Leilanie Sheppard wins the Costume Catwalk Contest

Sarah Guzzo | Courtesy Giant screen set up on Rose Lawn for scary movie night

Sarah Guzzo | Courtesy SGA members at the Costume Catwalk Contest

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Thursday November 5, 2020 The Marlin Chronicle marlinchronicle.vwu.edu

THEWEEKENDER

PAGE 10

Down

to read?

whether you are new to lesuire reading or consider yourself a hard core bookworm, check out these recommendations

BY FAITH MACWANA fpmacwana@vwu.edu

The Song of Achilles

“The Song of Achilles”, by Madeline Miller, is a classical retelling of the epic of The Trojan War. It is told from Patroclus’ point of view. Patroclus is an awkward, shy exiled prince who falls into kahoots with the legendary hero Achilles. The story begins with Patroclus’ upbringing in a household in which he tries his hardest to gain his father’s approval. Patroclus is described as weak and smaller than most of the other royal boys in the court. Before Patroclus realizes what is happening, blood is spilled and he is sent on his way to another kingdom.

There he meets King Peleus of Phthia and his son Achilles.

Soon Patroclus and Achilles are inseparable and together they train with Chiron, a centaur that shows them the art of war and medicine. The tale continues as they both venture to Troy to get the lovely Helen of Sparta back.

Miller’s linguistic style shines through this debut novel.

She manages to weave and blend together her characters emotions and thoughts in such a way that it makes the reader want to devour the book in one sitting. Achilles is portrayed in a more innocent light, a Greek Golden Boy who just wants to have fun. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is one that is relatable to anyone who read this book. It goes more than just a friendship, those small intimate moments between the two characters really makes the reader feel as if they are understanding these figures better. In a way, this book humanizes the great Greek hero and his faithful companion. One this book was picked up, it was very difficult to put down. If you are a person who enjoys Greek mythology and reading, this novel is a perfect choice for you.

In their March 2012 issue, Vogue.com stated that “the

The Hate U Give

Kathleen Vanden Berg | Marlin Chronicle resulting novel is cinematic—one might say epic—in scope, but refreshingly, compellingly human in detail.”

“The Song of Achilles” has won numerous awards and honors. These include being a New York Times Bestseller, Stonewall Honor Book (American Library Association), and Winner of the 2021 Orange Prize (now known as The Women’s Prize for Fiction.)

“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, follows the tale of a 16-year old African-American female named Starr Carter. Starr attends a predominantly white preparatory school and feels as if she is caught in the middle of two different worlds. One night, she is at a party happening in her neighborhood, Garden Heights, and bumps into an old childhood friend, Khalil. Gunshots from a rival gang break the party up and Khalil offers to drive her home. On the way back, Khalil gets pulled over by a white police officer with the badge number One-Fifteen. One-Fifteen starts questioning Khalil and orders him to get out of the car to search him. Once the officer is done searching him, he orders Khalil to stay put and not move as the officer returns to his car. However, Khalil opens his car door to check on Starr and is fatally shot by One-Fifteen. The rest of the novel follows Starr’s journey as this shooting goes to trial. Themes of grief, racial injustice, trauma and hope are expressed throughout.

Given all that has happened over the past summer due to the Black Lives Matter movement, this novel is just one example of the racial injustice that is present in America. Some critics have gone to say that this novel reads like a present day biography. It’s an eye-opening book that depicts the struggles of being a minority in America. Everyone who gets the chance should read this.

Furthermore, “The Hate U Give” has been adapted into a movie starring Amandla Stenberg, Algee Smith and Regina Hall.

Who You Gonna Call? Ghostbusters!

BY CODY SCHNEIDER cjschneider@vwu.edu

One of my favorite Halloween themed movies has got to be the original 1984 “Ghostbusters”. Since I’m personally not the biggest fan of horror or scary movies, I think this comedy is the perfect Halloween time movie. The original “Ghostbusters” is a 1984 American supernatural comedy directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.

“Ghostbusters” was released on June 8, 1984 and became a cultural phenomenon. It is well known for its blend of comedy, action and horror, and Bill Murray’s performance. In the movie, Peter Venkman, Raymond “Ray” Stantz and Egon Spengler are scientists at Columbia University investigating the paranormal. Following their first encounter with a ghost at the New York public library, the dean fires them and dismisses the credibility of their research. In response, they create “Ghostbusters”, a paranormal investigation service. They convert a disused firehouse and develop high-tech equipment to capture and contain ghosts, and transform a car into the “Ectomobile”

to support their business.

Seeing their television ad, skeptical cellist Dana Barrett calls them after a paranormal encounter in her kitchen. Recounting the event, she describes opening her refrigerator and seeing a creature that utters a single word: “Zuul.” Venkman reassures her and becomes romantically interested, while Ray and Egon research her claims.

Business is slow until they are hired to remove a ghost from the Sedgewick Hotel.

There, Egon warns the group never to cross the energy streams of their proton pack weapons as that could cause an explosion. They capture their first ghost and deposit it in a special containment unit in the firehouse.Soon their business booms as paranormal activity increases across New York City. To cope with demand, they hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore.

The original film earned $282.2 million during its initial run, making it the second-highest-grossing film of that year, and the highest-grossing comedy of all time at that

point. It was the number-one film in theaters for seven consecutive weeks and was one of only four films to gross more than $100 million that year.

With its effect on popular culture, and a dedicated fan following, the success of “Ghostbusters” launched a multi-billion dollar multimedia franchise. This includes the popular animated television series, “The Real Ghostbuster” (which itself spawned a media franchise), its sequel series “Extreme Ghostbusters”, video games, board games, comic books, clothing, music, books, food, toys, collectibles, and even haunted attractions. “Ghostbusters” was followed in 1989 by a sequel, “Ghostbusters II” which fared less well financially and critically. Repeated attempts to develop a further sequel had ended following Ramis’s death in 2014. A 2016 reboot, also called “Ghostbusters” was released. A second direct sequel, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, is scheduled for release in 2021.

The marlin undertow / by faith macwana Place of Interest:

Watch This:

Listen Now:

Holidays at Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Rebecca

Ariana Grande’s “Positions”

Looking for a safe and cozy way to view the spectacular holiday lights this season? Look no further. Dominion Energy partners with Norfolk Botanical Garden for their Garden of Lights drive thru. Every night between the hours of 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. from November 13 to January 2, the public can gain access to approximately more than a mile of dazzling lights from the comfort of their vehicles.

Tickets are currently available and are online only. Sunday - Thursday, visitors can pay a fee of $25 for members and $35 for non-members to enjoy the show. Friday and Saturday, it’s $30 per car for members and $40 for non members. NBG also offers a $5 discount for military members, Dominion Energy employees and City of Norfolk employees Sunday - Thursday. Be sure to purchase your tickets in advance, crank up those Christmas tunes, and get yourself into the holiday spirit!

Rebecca is a Netflix Original movie that stars Lily James, Armie Hammer and Kristin Scott Thomas.

The film is based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It’s the story of a young woman who falls in love with the owner of England’s most famous house and she is haunted by the shadow of his first wife, Rebecca. While it may seem like a romance movie, it is everything but. There are twists and turns throughout the whole film that will leave you shocked at the end.

Murder, scandals and coverups, this is the perfect movie to watch on a night in. Without revealing too much of the plot, Rebecca is dark, haunting and thrilling.

On October 30, 2020, Ariana Grande released her sixth album entitled “Positions.” The singer worked with a variety of producers on the album, including Tommy Brown, London on da Track, Murda Beatz, The Rascals, Scott Storch and Charles Anderson.

The singer broke away from her signature style to create an album filled with a bunch of different melodies and harmonies. The sense of intimacy is evident throughout the whole storyline, each song adding a different layer. A New York Times review stated that Grande was able to “turn her music into an atmosphere as intimate as her bedroom, a place where she’s sometimes entertaining a lover but just as often cracking goofy jokes with her closest friends.”

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