October 5, 2017

Page 1

The Marlin Chronicle VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

THURSDAY 10.5.17 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWU.EDU ||

How do we stack up?

Plans for a new Fine Arts building have finally been released. COMMUNITY Page 3 The DIII women’s basketball coach has “stepped away” from Wesleyan. SPORTS Page 7

‘Hispanic Panic’ sign at Robertsdale High shows cultural insensitivity. OPINIONS Page 6 New, smaller libraries have been popping up around town. WEEKENDER Page 9

Statues cause controversy

BY AMANDA ARCHER acarcher@vwu.edu

On Sept. 20, 2017, VWU President Scott Miller released his daily nota bene, which presented the student body and staff with an annual employment diversity report. Listed in the report were two separate representations of the ethnicities for full and part-time employees along with the ethnicities for student employees and work-study employees on campus. However, no report was released that showed the ethnicity breakdown of just professors. In a meeting with the enrollment office, President Miller released information that 6% of VWU professors are African-American, while 11% in general are non-white. In the fall of 2016, the percentage of minority full-time faculty on campus was also 11%, according to a report released by the Office of Research and Policy Analysis. The percentage of minority professors has not increased or decreased from last year to the present. Students on campus have definitely noticed the diversity among professors. “I think our professors are not as diverse as they should be in my opinion, and that there could be a number of relevant factors for why it is low,” said Brandon Foster, a junior heavily involved in campus life. “I believe that with such a high diversity amongst our students, we should parallel that with a more diverse faculty

Google Images|Courtesy Statues in Charlottesville, like the one depicted above, intially sparked the debate surrounding Confederate monuments. BY JOSHUA DAVIS jwdavis@vwu.edu

Mickella Rast|Canva Source: Office of Resarch and Policy Analysis Fall 2016 Report.

through which different lenses, no matter what discipline they teach in, may be conversed and understood having a varying faculty opinion that is unique to our institution,” Foster said. “I initially noticed the lack of diversity among faculty (professor and academic authorities on campus) myself when I was a freshman,” said Shyail Owens, a junior who is a student ambassador and the Vice President of multiple clubs on campus. “I get reminded of the racial demographics of our faculty more often than a normal student because I am an employee of the institution and students (even parents) of various minorities have come up to me on campus and occasionally when I am off campus wearing a school t-shirt more than

once asking questions,” Owens said. The most common questions: What is like to be a minority at VWU? Does she feel safe as a black woman? Is she comfortable on campus? For some students, these are important facts about the school they chose to further their education. “It is vital for students to know the truth and trust the institution that they attend. I feel that the student opinion on this campus is not a “trusting” one concerning the higher influences. This is a vital time in our students’ lives because we are encouraged to stand up and fight for what we believe in,” Foster said.

Confederate monuments are plentiful in Virginia. In fact, Virginia has more than any other state. The Hampton Roads holds several of Virginia’s 223 Confederate statues in cities like Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach. At Virginia Wesleyan, statues and public sculpture are important to students in many ways. They range from the large adirondack chair outside of the Batten Student Center, to the statue of John Wesley outside of the Boyd Dining Center. These statues are a large part of the daily lives of students, and help them better understand and interact with the University as a whole. In Virginia Beach, the city council recently decided to keep a Confederate statue standing. The Virginian-Pilot reported that “City Attorney Mark Stiles issued an opinion that the Confederate monument built more than a century ago outside of the former Princess Anne County Courthouse can’t be moved. He relied on a 1904 law that says war memorials in counties can’t be disturbed or interfered with.” The student opinions on the

SEE DIVERSITY Pg. 2

The Newseum turns a new page in Washington D.C.

Google Images|Courtesy The Newseum shows front pages from newspapers around the world.

statues in the Hampton Roads area seem split. “I think they should stay. It’s still a part of our history. Why can’t there be heroes on both sides?” sophomore Cory Austin said. “Because of racism. Hitler is a hero to the Nazis, but there’s no statue of him.” “Some of these views are outdated. It doesn’t have to mean they’re wrong. They’re just irrelevant to our society today and where it’s going,” junior Kyle Leeming added. Sophomore Adonis Powell had an interesting insight on the monuments. “They are a part of history, and that’s why they should be placed in museums and cemeteries. I don’t think they should be out in public areas,” he said. “They put up statues, because they want to glorify things and people. Why would we want to glorify that? I don’t feel like public places are where they should stand.” Other students cite the importance of understanding history, and even the atrocities of it, as reason for the monuments to stay standing.

SEE STATUES Pg. 2

BY MICKELLA RAST mjrast@vwu.edu

Recently, Newseum CEO Jeffrey Herbst stepped down and revealed that the long-time resident of Washington, D.C. may be closing its doors, selling the business altogether or moving to a new location. The Newseum is a monument in and of itself that chronicles the history of news and journalism, proclaiming its contents even on the outside of the building where the First Amendment is carved into a marble slab: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” That powerful phrase has greeted students from Virginia Wesleyan since 2013, when Professor Lisa Payne began taking her journalism class to visit the news monument.

“It breaks my heart to think of this wonderful opportunity for students vanishing. Student come back so inspired,” she said. “It’s the kind of place where you can spend an entire day there and only scratch the surface. We see something special every time we visit. It will be missed.” Cynthia Griffin, a junior who went on one of Payne’s trips to D.C. her sophomore year, thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Newseum and would return. “As a journalism student, it’s disheartening to me because I never knew of a museum that was specifically for journalism,” she said. “The fact that it’s closing makes me sad to think that a piece of journalism history isn’t going to here anymore.” Wesleyan students may be among the last visitors to read that inscription and visit the gallery of

SEE NEWSEUM Pg. 2

Current events roundup BY AMANDA ARCHER acarcher@vwu.edu

Las Vegas shooting Over 59 people were killed and 527 injured in Las Vegas Sunday evening when a gunman, Stephen Paddock, opened fire during country music star, Jason Aldean’s, concert. The incident was recorded as the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history. Trump visits Puerto Rico President Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, October 3 two weeks after Hurricane Maria destroyed many homes and left more than 1 million people without power. Deaths of Hugh Hefner and Tom Petty Playboy founder Hugh Hefner passed away on September 27 at age 91. Tom Petty, rock icon, passed away on October 3 at 66. Both deaths were said to be caused by cardiac arrest. Yahoo accounts hacked All of Yahoo’s 3 billion users accounts that it had in 2013 were affected by a security breach. The hacked user information included phone numbers, birth dates, security questions and answers but did not include any bank account information. 1Front.indd 1

10/4/2017 1:48:40 PM


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.