Housing and Residence Life Partner with Wellness to Teach Self Defense
A self defense course opened up for faculty, students and staff last Wednesday, led by Ricky Reiss and Jamie Smith. This course was started in response to some of the recent security concerns both on and off campus.
The course was designed to educate participants on how to defend themselves from oncoming attacks,provide information on relevant issues like how to tell a bartender that you need help or how to seek assistance from Campus Security.
Miriam’s House is an organization that helps to house homeless women and their children in an effort to eradicate homelessness in the Greater Lynchburg area and beyond.
The Coldest Night of the Year is an annual 2K walk event up and down Rivermont Avenue.
The Bonner Leader Program volunteered at the event as cheerleaders for the walkers, holding up signs of encouragement, blowing bubbles and giving out high fives.
A discussion prior to the Hornet’s first-round game in the ODAC tournament. Photo courtesy of Lynchburg Sports
University of Lynchburg’s Women’s basketball team finished their season last Monday as they fell in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament to Ferrum College. The Hornets finished the season with a final record of 7-19.
Although the 2022-2023 season did not lead to a favorable record for the Hornets, the development of the young talent on the squad took precedence.
According to the Lynchburg athletics website, the Hornets had 11 first-year students on their team, accounting for the most in a single class since the records accounted for rosters, dating back to the 2010-2011 season.
Second-year Head Coach Allison Nichols talked about how important development is. She stated, “The team that we were in November and early December is completely different than the team we are now, and that was our goal.”
The Hornets were led by first-year Maddie Nimmo, who averaged 12.5 points per game. This earned the guard Third Team All ODAC Honors in her debut season with the Hornets.
Photo of Sydney Lawrence ‘24 after getting ‘ashed’.
The University of Lynchburg celebrated Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season celebrated by many christian religions, with an ‘Ashes on the Go’ service.
The receiving of ashes kicks off Lent, the season leading up to Easter, and symbolizes becoming anew, signaling the hope that is about to come. Ash Wednesday is commemorated through a church service, which can sometimes be hard for people to attend.
This includes students and staff who tend to be busy this time of year, making the receiving of ashes more difficult.
‘Ashes on the Go’, created about two years ago, to allow the campus community an opportunity to commune.
The Hornets improved to 4-0 on the season following the sweep of Mary Baldwin. Lynchburg took game one of the doubleheader by a score of 9-1 and won the second game with a final score of 14-6.
Game one was highlighted by a pair of home runs courtesy of first-year utility player, Sarah Watts. Watts went four for five on the day and added five runs batted in for the Hornets.
Kailey Dorcsis was the starting pitcher for game one and picked up her second win of the season.
On Feb. 11, the Lynchburg men’s swim team wrapped up their 2022-23 season by earning a runner-up trophy in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship.
For the first time in Lynchburg Swim Team history, graduate student Colton Schnars was awarded the ODAC Swimmer of the Meet Award.
Additionally, senior Matt Fields was awarded the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award alongside his female teammate, Lindsey Hair.
Records were also broken in this final meet as junior Will Kasemeyer broke the program record in the 100 freestyle race, and graduate student Chris Jennings shattered the 200 breaststroke program record.
I am lucky enough to attend the Central Virginia Governor’s School, and one of their primary pulls for incoming juniors is the fact that each person will complete a 10-week internship in the spring semester.
While most of my classmates decided to work at places like Centra Health or Framatome, I was sure that I wanted to work with journalists somewhere.
Coming into this experience, I was unsure of what to expect.
All of the reporting I have ever done has come from working for a high school magazine, interviewing my friends and peers who I have known since I was a kid.
However, despite only spending one day on campus, I already feel so immersed in student life here at the University of Lynchburg.
Photo of mold growing in Fraley’s residence. Taken by Lilly Fraley.
Mold has been an issue amongst residential students at the University of Lynchburg for some time, causing health concerns for some students.
While Maintenance and the Housing and Residence Life Department are fighting to get this taken care of, the mold’s existence is still there.
Courtney Kelsey, Director of Housing and Residence Life says there have been eight work orders filed this school year, some of which were actually dust mistaken as mold.
“At this time, all rooms and residences that have been brought to the attention of our office have been addressed,” Kelsey said. Even though they are categorized as already being dealt with, this is not necessarily the case for many of the houses and apartments here on campus.
Junior, Lilly Fraley is one of those that has mold concerns within her residence. “It’s been such an issue for our house. We put in a work order and for the past two and a half weeks nothing has been done,” said Fraley.
Although the University of Lynchburg recently announced a steep deficit, the President of the institution is not worried about a decline in the student experience, having faith in the faculty and staff of the University to contribute to this effort.
Universities nationwide are suffering from deficits due to COVID-19 in addition to general enrollment decline and funding issues, so the University of Lynchburg is not the only institution experiencing financial difficulties.
“I would like to say that we are in a much better place than so many other institutions, and we’ve got a great strategy in place,” says Morrison-Shetlar. “It will not impact the student experience negatively, in fact we’re looking to enhance the student experience.”
Dean of the Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Sabita Manian. Photo by John McCormick
The position for the Dean of the Lynchburg College of Arts and Sciences has been vacant for nearly three years, requiring big shoes to fill as the University of Lynchburg’s largest college.
Dr. Sabita Manian, the current associate dean of social sciences, has recently been chosen to lead the college’s 750 majors and faculty.
As the University grapples with its recently announced deficit, the institution has to implement consolidation efforts and changes across all departments, including among its leadership.
Heritage High School is performing Cabaret, a musical filled with love, dancing, and nightlife. Set in Berlin during the Roaring Twenties, Cabaret focuses on the relationship between an American writer and an English showgirl.
It has historical influences during World War II, big musical numbers, and even more drama. Heritage High School will have performances starting on Feb. 17 and will have performances continuing till Feb. 25. Tickets are $12.00, and an ASL-interpreted performance will be held on opening night, Feb. 17. Tickets can be purchased here.
In recent weeks, the University of Lynchburg has reported several trespassing violations including a stolen car and a reportedly “suspicious” person in the Knight-Capron library.
The institution is surrounded by local neighborhoods and has an open campus this is accessible to the wider Lynchburg community.
Potential trespassers are deemed “suspicious” by the person reporting an incident, and Campus Safety and Security does not have criteria for what makes a person suspicious or not.
Esteban Soto, chief of Safety and Security says, “There are no characteristics that a person must meet to be suspicious. We respond to all calls, assess the situation and then take whatever action necessary.”
All visitors are first given a warning to leave if they are causing a distraction, and if this order is not followed, the visitor is arrested.
Going 8 -11 was not a part of the plan for the Hornets in 2022. After learning from the hardships of last season, the women’s lacrosse team is set to make a name for themselves.
Jayde Mayer, a junior defender said, “Our motto for this year is to ‘find a way’ which really represents our goals; such as winning the ODAC and having a winning record. I think another big goal is to change our reputation and show everyone that we are a serious team who is capable of winning.”
Before winning a championship however, the Hornets must be focused on winning their season opener against the competitive Mary Washington University team.
On the edge of campus, near the wooded areas and hiking trails sit the tennis courts, in major disrepair.
The courts, which are used for men’s and women’s practices and home games, are getting increasingly more dangerous to play on with cracks spanning two to three inches in areas across the courts.
Senior and men’s tennis player Levi Vigdorchik said, “I think it is very dangerous to play on the courts because the cracks are really big; plus the surface is uneven.” According to Vigdorchik, some players have even injured themselves on the court.
Photo of Jackson Harding via @lynchburgsports on Instagram
by Reagan Bednar ~ Guest Writer
The nationally ranked University of Lynchburg baseball team is set to begin their 2023 campaign in Demorest, Ga.. They have been preparing all fall and winter championship goals in mind.
After ending their season last year in the first round of the NCAA Regionals, followed by a loss in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference finals, this year’s team is hungrier than ever for a championship this upcoming season.
Graduate outfielder, Jackson Harding, said, “The team’s goals this year are very simple; to win a conference championship first and to win a NCAA regional. We had a good season last year, but were not able to accomplish either of these things, allowing us to readjust our sights on our goals for this year.”
