The Virginia Statesman

Black 82 kicks off with opening performance

Anjel-Ali Ormond & Terry Jackson, PhD Executive Editor & Staff Writer

On Feb. 2, Black 82, a committee that organizes and annually holds events for Virginia State students throughout Feb. for Black History Month, kicked off the events with an opening show. The show consisted of talent show-style performances featuring different student organizations, performers, and artists.

This year marks the 7th year Black 82 events were held on campus. Many students look forward to the events, like the opening, each year because it gives them the opportunity to be in the spotlight.

“I came to an HBCU for things like this,” said Sydney Francis of Urban Couture. “I finally get to perform & show myself. Black 82 allowed that platform.”

During the opening, there were dance performances from the African Students Association, the Caribbean Students Association, Urban Couture, and more. There was also spoken word, a hip-hop cipher, dance battles, and a performance of black-TV theme songs by the Gospel

Chorale.

“For this to be my first performance, I feel very welcomed & ready for the future,” said freshman Taylor Francis, a VSU Gospel Chorale singer, and performer. “Black 82 is a good thing to involve everybody; our performance is upbeat with crowd participation. It’s definitely something special, especially to pay tribute to our ancestors and bring old to the new.”

John Poitier, a freshman Biology major, won the Black 82 poetry contest, which the Black 82 committee announced at the opening. Students and faculty also received NAACP awards.

Black 82 events go on throughout Feb. To see the rest of the events for Feb., students can view @vsu student activities on Instagram or the event calendars posted throughout campus.

“This is a place where we can express who we are, especially for Black History Month,” Criminal Justice major Ditu Kasuyi II said. “With the month being so small, I feel like we should make use of each day that is composed of Black History. Everything is done to make sure this program succeeds.”

News Briefs

University Now Accepting Applications for Free Tuition for Local Students for 2023-2024

Local students who are Pell grant eligible, meet the University admission requirements, and live within a 25-mile radius of the University may apply to VSU for free tuition. The initiative provides qualified students, who have limited financial resources, the option to attend a fouryear university directly out of high school. For more info: www.vsu.edu/admissions/vcan/

Free Tax Service Provided to Local Residents

Virginia State University Accounting students have partnered with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide tax assistance to local residents. As part of the Special Topics ServiceLearning course in the VSU Reginald F. Lewis College of Business (RFLCB), students will provide tax preparation & filing assistance to Tri-Cities residents.

Midterm Exams to Begin in Two Weeks

Starting on Monday, Mar. 6 all spring midterm exams will begin and continue until Saturday, Mar. 11. Students will begin spring break following exams. Spring break will last from Sunday, Mar. 12 to Sunday, Mar. 19.

(Above) Junior Shaikiman Sankoh takes the spotlight over at the Black 82 Opening with the African Student Association. (Left) Sophomore Delvin Cole also dances with the ASA in traditional attire. (Below) Mister VSU Mehki McKinney performs a spoken word piece at the beginning of the Black 82 Opening in Anderson Auditorium. Photos by Anjel-Ali Ormond.

Executive Director Lyons connects students to careers

The average Virginia State University student is much like any other college student. They enter as a freshman unable to think four years into the future and beyond. Therefore, it’s difficult to envision a future in the actual workforce, engaging in a career, and being a professional. But that is where Joseph Lyons comes in.

Lyons is the Executive Director of Student Engagement and Career Services at Virginia State University. It goes without saying that Lyons has a visible presence at the university and his reputation proceeds him.

As such, Lyons seeks every opportunity to interact with students and make them aware that his office is a vital resource.

“I have been in the career services field for 35 years, so I’ve had the opportunity to see employers, students, parents and their perspective of career readiness change,” Lyons said. “Initially when I came into the field it was just career planning

and placement. But now parents are looking for more return on their investment. They are looking for students to translate their education, their interests, their values, and their educational experience into a career goal.”

“I think students come to college and concentrate those four, maybe five plus years and get their degree and then they begin to think about, ‘Ok, what am I going to do about a job?” Lyons said. “We are saying, what most institutions now are doing is developing a four-year strategic plan from their freshman year to their senior year and those activities, once they graduate, enable them to translate into a career field.”

Lyons went on to explain the fouryear career development strategic plan. Students enter as freshmen, a time Lyons labeled the “discovery” period. It is an opportunity for new students to pay close attention to themselves and learn who they are as they get comfortable on campus. They get to speak with professors about classes and a potential major and the careers related to it. Lastly, they also partake in the host of organizations and social circles present at VSU.

The next step is moving beyond classroom work into real world situations. It is the “experience” phase of career development. Students need to actually have a practical journey in their discipline of choice. This can begin during the sophomore year and continue through senior year.

Often students think they will enjoy a profession and learn that there are little things about the job that they do not like. This is not to be mistaken for short term, temporary tasks that a person must face to ‘pay their dues’ on their way to their ultimate goal. There could be something fundamental about the end goal that ends up unappealing.

Internships or shadowing professionals in the field is critical to the identification of the career that best suits each student. Students need to build their contacts beyond the college campus & get a foothold out in the real world.

Creating a resume and social media profile on professional sites such as LinkedIn have become standard practices. Employers are using these sites to evaluate potential employees in the increasingly competitive job market. Students can also use sites

like these to connect with professionals who are currently practicing the careers that interest them.

The Office of Student Engagement and Career Services is where VSU students can go to get the assistance they need to do all of these things and more. Lyons and his staff will set up a time to meet with any student to help develop a resume. Then the student can upload their resume to Handshake, an employer database on campus, and create a profile. Once registered into Handshake, employers will contact students to apply for specific jobs, & join webinars or information sessions.

“Students need to be well-rounded.” Lyons said. “We know that students who participate in internships, even from their junior year, come into their senior year, for the most part, and they are being offered full time jobs. So they come to their senior year already with an offer.”

Terry Jackson, Ph.D Staff Writer

Javay Simms interviews Executive Director of Student Engagement and Career Services Joseph Lyons during the “I Have A Dream” Career Expo. Contributed photo.

MORE BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS

WEDNESDAY FEB. 22

ONE VOICE CHORUS ENSEMBLE IN CONCERT

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

AT CHESTERFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH

FRIDAY, FEB. 24

BLACK EXCELLENCE OPEN MIC NIGHT POETS, SINGERS,AND MUSICIANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHOWCASE A PERFORMANCE

6:30 PM -8:30 PM

MAYES-COLBERT ETTRICK RECREATION CENTER

MONDAY,

FEB.

27

GREAT FIGURES OF AMERICAN HISTORY: ROSA PARKS

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

BENSLEY RECREATION CENTER

TUESDAY, FEB. 28

VIRGINIA DURING THE MASSIVE RESISTANCEJOIN JOSEPH ROGERS FROM THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF HISTORY & CULTURE

6:30 PM -7:30 PM

CHESTERFIELD CENTRAL LIBRARY

SCAN QR CODE FOR COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Coach Church to take men’s lacrosse by storm

Anjel-Ali Ormond Executive Editor

In April 2022, Virginia State University announced four new, never-before-seen athletic programs to the Virginia State campus: women’s soccer, men’s soccer, men’s lacrosse, and women’s lacrosse. Months after, new coaches came to Virginia State’s campus to build up respective teams - one coach being Coach Shaun Church, head men’s lacrosse coach at Virginia State.

For men’s lacrosse, the Trojans are the first in the CIAA to add the sport, the first in the NCAA Division II institutions, second among the NCAA Division II HBCUs, and third amongst all HBCUs, according to VSU’s press release from April 2022.

Church’s lacrosse background starts in Long Island, NY, in Uniondale, where he lived in middle school. He is originally from Queens, NY, but his family relocated to the Long Island area when he was in middle school.

“I picked up lacrosse in middle school,” Church said. “Around my junior year of high school, I was great, and I started to get recruited. At that point, I transitioned to Hicksville High School for my junior and senior years to prepare myself for college.”

After high school, Church attended Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY, which he states was “one of the best junior colleges for lacrosse.” After his 2-year stay at Onondaga, he went to New York Tech for a year, then Salisbury University. He graduated from Salisbury with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Coaching. His lacrosse team won the National Championship in 2011-2012, along with several members of his team receiving All-American honors.

“We took every position player of the year title,” Church said. “It was a magical time, those two years.

After college, Church started his coaching career as a grad student at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, then became a lacrosse Offense Coordinator at King’s College. After that, he got his first head coaching break at ASA Community College in NY, where he coached men’s lacrosse for three years. After leaving ASA CC, Church returned to his alma mater, Onondaga as a coach.

“I was able to coach there and learn for a year and get under the coaches

that coached me when I played there,” Church said. “There, I was able to win my first championship as a coach. Sometimes you have to do a year where the program is much more established with what you’re trying to build. For me, that was Onondaga.”

At Onondaga, Church’s men’s lacrosse program won a championship. After leaving, Church coached at Monroe Community College in NY.

“I was there for five years. I had a top ten team every year and sent a couple of guys off each year to different institutions around the U.S.,” Church said. “COVID put a big damper on my plans there. We had a really good team, but we could only play two games [because of the start of the pandemic]. We were able to knock off our rival Genesee, which we couldn’t do for 15+ years. I had an excellent team at Monroe.”

After leaving Monroe, Church arrived at Virginia State in Sept. 2022. He immediately hit the ground running to

recruit lacrosse players for the upcoming college team.

“A lot of my recruiting had to happen at lacrosse events I could go to in the fall if the kids hadn’t already committed [to college programs] and through different recruiting websites online,” Church said. “I also worked with SweetLax. That allowed me to get to some of the best tournaments throughout the summer even though I wasn’t coaching college lacrosse.”

Church credits a lot of his coaching success to SweetLax, an elite lacrosse program that, according to their website, “focuses on developing player skills and teamwork while stressing the importance of academic performance to reach the Collegiate level.”

“They gave me a lot of opportunities to coach and get around kids and train them,” Church said.” And in a business mindset, they taught me how to structure my own team. That’s something that I’m hoping to do out here in the Pe-

tersburg area. I want to give back to the youth and get lacrosse really picking up around here.”

Church plans to bring his unique mindset to men’s lacrosse at Virginia State.

“I’ve been around a lot of winning and tradition, and that’s what I am hoping all of it is for, so I can be able to set the tone on what it is we need to be doing to be, as we say, Greater, here,” Church said. “I’m prepared to push what is expected here, which is us being greater every day. That’s my mantra already going into next year.”

Coach says his lacrosse background as both a player and a coach gives him a “whole different angle” regarding the sport. His years as a player gives him experience and a unique athletic viewpoint. He looks to bring success to the university through “discipline and fundamentals.”

“We are disciplined and fundamental in doing what we need to be doing at Virginia State to make sure that these students are successful on and off the field here,” Church said.” Whether that’s an ACE student study hall or students holding a 2.3 GPA to play, there’s no room for them to fail and lose financial aid.”

While the lacrosse season will not start until Spring 2024, Church has already begun working with the players on campus and preparing for the Spring season (which, according to Virginia State’s April 2022 press release, should be held from February to May.) The seven student-athletes on campus are going to weight training sessions and doing position, offense, and feet work out on the football turf and the green.

“We already have a couple of scrimmages planned for the fall, “ Church said. “The fall schedule is already mapped out on where we want to go [When the season comes] we’ll be here, ready to go full-tilt,” Church said. “We’re going to make a statement that we are here and ready to put our part in the greater.”

Coach Church is looking forward to next year when the Trojan community can see lacrosse debut for the first time.

“I hope next year everyone comes out and supports whether it’s a scrimmage or a home game,” Church said. “We are looking forward to showing everybody the program. We want the community to come out and learn. We want to bring more back to the community. I’ve been telling everybody to get ready to be greater.”

Coach Shaun Church returned to his alma mater, Onondaga Community College, to help coach them to the 2017 National Championship. Church is the first men’s lacrosse coach at Virginia State University. Contributed photo.

Students find communication to be key to survival

Staff Writers

We spoke to five students about a subject that has been on the minds of many this school year: electronic communication or more precisely email correspondence.

Ever since students have been given an email address, the idea of communicating with professors has been a topic of discussion. Emails can involve reminders for class, updates on assignments, and even additional questions on lectures and readings.

Of the five students we spoke with, three stated they had an issue contacting who they needed at least once in their college career.

Some students, like Hospitality major junior Kayla Smith, said that registering for classes and time slots that work best for her can become difficult, and this is often when Smith needs to reach out for help.

Contacting professors faceto-face during office hours can prove especially difficult for those who don’t live on campus grounds. Commuting Mass Communications major junior Benjamin Williams explained that he started this semester not being able to register for the classes he wanted.

“The lack of communication made me miss the first couple of weeks of classes. It both frustrated and saddened me because I was missing classes,” Williams said. Williams’ scheduling issues have since been resolved and is now attending his classes without any conflict.

Jermaine Dukes, a sophomore History major who relied on commuting in the past, recounts the trouble he went through getting his schedule in order last

school year.

Dukes eventually spoke with who he needed through early morning meetings.

So what can be done?

The key is to be sure you know who you need to speak to and what the next step might be in case you don’t hear back.

The first thing is to be aware of who your advisor is and continue to check in with that person. You should know what their email is, campus phone number and location of his/ her office. If you know this information, then you have three ways to contact your advisor.

The second thing is to plan for the worst situation. Find out who you should contact if you have reached out to your adviser multiple times with no response. That person could be someone else in the department or the chair of the department.

The third and last thing is to make sure you don’t wait until the

last second to speak with someone about your concern. If you are having trouble registering for classes be sure that you have not only reached out to your advisor long before classes begin, but that you have also developed a backup plan. Keep your eye on the university calendar and make note of your deadlines.

Just remember there are many reasons why email isn’t working as far as a means of communication. Your email could be going to a junk folder as spam. Your professor may be having computer issues. Or your email is just arriving at a time in the semester when it is just really busy and emails can get lost.

Email and other ways of communication are just one way to connect with people who can help. The more you stay in contact, the easier it will be to find solutions to your academic concerns.

PORTER PHOTO EDITOR

STAFF WRITERS

HELAINA BALLOU

MALIQ JOHNSON-WILLIAMS

KAMEKO COLEMAN

TERRY JACKSON

ISSAMAR KIRBY

NAKHII YOUNG

DEVAN DION HAWES

TAYLOR MCCOY

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

CHARNESE SMALL GIBRAN GODFREY

ADVISER

CHRIS

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Devan Dion Hawes & Taylor McCoy

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