VSU announced a plan to drastically alter its advising operation, a move which will shift advising responsibilities from professional advisers to faculty advisers after freshman year. VSU administration announced the reorganization that will eventually reduce the number of employee positions significantly on March 1. President Richard Carvajal opened the Budget Advisory Council meeting on March 7 by explaining the purpose ...
Read More »New art history minor for fall 2023
Starting in the fall, VSU students will have another option in their palate – a newly approved minor in art history. The new minor was given the green light during the Faculty Senate’s Academic Committee February meeting. The minor was proposed by Dr. Glenda Swan in the Department of Art and Design. “Offering a minor in art history shows how ...
Read More »Editorial: Our unfiltered, uncensored voice
While tough and controversial topics may arise on VSU campus, The Spectator editors and reporters strive to be bold journalists and bravely advocate for our rights to ensure our campus is informed. This year, Feb. 23 is Student Freedom Press Day, a national day that raises awareness of student journalists’ work, highlights the censorship that students face and empowers those ...
Read More »South Georgia Film Festival back in March
The seventh annual South Georgia Film Festival returns this year to VSU. The festival celebrates the art and the industry of filmmaking and will be held on March 3, 4 and 5. The SGFF brings the film and movie industry to Valdosta and shines a spotlight on local talent. “My goal was to create an event that would draw creative ...
Read More »VSU desegregation history started in 1960s
February is Black History Month, and VSU is acknowledging the celebration with multiple events. VSU’s own integration history dates to the early 1960s. On Sept. 8, 1963, Valdosta State College, as it was called at the time, admitted its first two Black students. Drewnell Thomas, 17, and Robert Pierce, 18, were Valdosta residents, who had previously attended segregated schools and ...
Read More »Future of public relations program unclear
Despite rampant speculation, no decision has been made on the future of the public relations program, according to the interim dean of the College of the Arts. During the first week of the spring semester, communication majors with an emphasis in public relations received some unexpected news about upcoming changes in the PR program. Public relations students were told that ...
Read More »ACTION president arrested
The president of VSU club A Chance To Initiate Opportunities Now was arrested Jan. 28 for battery involving family violence and taken to Lowndes County Jail. In addition to being the president of ACTION, David Jonathan “DJ” Davis is a sociology graduate student and event coordinator for Deep Release Poetry Society. According to Lowndes County Jail records, Davis was released ...
Read More »VSU mourns the loss of a student
Jackson Charles Bebiak, a VSU student and Phi Sigma Kappa brother, died on Feb. 12. President Richard Carvajal released a statement the morning of Feb. 13, informing students of the loss. “Jackson was a first-year management major from Marietta, Florida,” according to the statement. “VSU quickly became his home away from home, and he truly loved his time here. He ...
Read More »Suspects arrested after armed robbery near campus
The Valdosta Police Department has made two arrests following an investigation into an armed robbery that took place near campus on Jan. 12. Police issued arrest warrants for Marquavious Simpson, 23, for armed robbery and possession of a firearm in response to the incident. Simpson was found at his residence and taken into custody on Jan. 19. Warrants were also ...
Read More »Biology professor stands firm with lectures
Dr. Leslie Jones is teaching Evolution and the Diversity of Life again this spring after she was given an ultimatum in the fall by a dean that the content of her course needed to be altered. She is teaching section A of the course, which has 130 students. This class is an introductory biology course for non-majors. Although there were ...
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