Valdosta State News

10/15/2024

As Hurricane Helene recovery efforts continue at Valdosta State University, Blazer Nation comes together this week for Homecoming 2024: Blazer Hoedown Throwdown. Visit https://bit.ly/406sLAK for a list of events. 🔥

10/02/2024

A trio of volunteers from Southern Regional Technical College joined Hurricane Helene recovery efforts at Valdosta State University today. We are incredibly grateful for everyone helping us remove debris, cut down trees, repair roofs, and clean. 🔥 💪

10/01/2024

As power is restored across the Valdosta-Lowndes County area, Valdosta State University essential personnel continue to evaluate Hurricane Helene’s impact on academic, athletic, housing, and other facilities. All campuses remain closed to students, faculty, staff, and guests due to the risks associated with fallen trees and branches, as well as the potential for electrical shock from the extensive damage to outdoor lighting equipment.

Officials on the ground at VSU were able to provide the following Hurricane Helene impact data earlier today:

• VSU has hundreds of fallen trees on rooftops, sidewalks, roadways, the softball field, and other outdoor gathering places. The exact number is unknown at this time as Landscape and Grounds crew personnel continue their counts.

• Several buildings experienced roof damage from high winds and fallen trees, with the most significant damage at Powell Hall, Farbar Hall, the Fine Arts Building, Patterson Hall, and the University Center.

• All outdoor lighting sustained extensive damage. As power is restored across VSU facilities and grounds, this could create electrical hazards for anyone on university property.

Additional updates are forthcoming as essential personnel are able to safely access and assess buildings and grounds.

Classes and normal business operations are scheduled to resume on Monday, Oct. 7.

09/24/2024

Ramiro Santillan, a Valdosta State University alumnus, was recently featured in an Instructor Spotlight series at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, where he teaches five beginner friendly pottery classes each week. He began teaching at the Valdosta-based center two years ago and considers himself a student, an artist, and a teacher. He strives to offers his students the space to create things, explore ideas, take risks, and cultivate community.

Santillan earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art in 2022 at VSU. 🔥
https://bit.ly/3ZxRde7

09/24/2024

Erin Grabarczyk, an assistant professor in Valdosta State University’s Department of Biology, is a member of the University of Georgia’s growing, multidisciplinary Joro Watch team.

The Joro spider is a non-native species first found in North Georgia in 2014. It is a cousin to the banana spider or golden silk spider that has been in the Southeast for quite some time.

The Joro Watch team is pursuing a number of approaches to Joro spider research, including asking citizen-scientists to help gather critical research data and photos by monitoring spider populations in the environment. This data will support awareness, education, and a better understanding of the current spread and distribution of the arachnid.

Joro Watch team experts say that the Joro spider offers an opportunity to overcome arachnophobia due to its timid nature and tendency to stay in one place over long periods. It is reportedly only dangerous to the small insects it consumes.

Scientists ask that people avoid removing or killing spiders because such actions often result in the loss of native species, which disrupts the biodiversity of an area. 🔥 🕸️

These venomous spiders can grow up to eight inches long, and have been spreading north since being first spotted in Georgia back in 2014.

09/24/2024

The Valdosta State University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of David Springfield, will perform the music of Henry Mancini — Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, Moon River, Two for the Road, and more — at 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT in Whitehead Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.

The concert will also be livestreamed at https://youtube.com/live/qID2bzcJxSw.

For more information about jazz at VSU, visit https://www.valdosta.edu/jazz.

Whitehead Auditorium is located in the Fine Arts Building at the corner of Oak Street and Brookwood Drive on VSU's Main Campus. 🔥

09/23/2024

Allyson J. King, a Valdosta State University alumna, has joined South Georgia Technical College as its new librarian. Housed on the Americus campus, she will work to ensure students, faculty, and staff have access to a high quality collection of resources for education, information, and recreation.

King earned a Master of Library and Information Science in 2022 at VSU.
https://bit.ly/3MTaO0I 🔥

09/23/2024

While many institutions of higher education are scrambling to hire faculties with expertise in AI technology, Valdosta State University is working to invest in current faculty members who want to learn how to incorporate this transformative technology into the teaching and learning process.

VSU believes that current faculty are best suited to guide the development of AI policies due to their personal connection to the university’s mission, values, and traditions of academic, creative, and research excellence. When used as a tool, AI has the potential to enhance education, but proper training about its potential — and potential pitfalls — is key.

Brittanye Blake with WALB has more on this story: https://bit.ly/47tBr65 🔥

09/23/2024

Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections presents "Retrospection," a collection of photographs by Paul Leavy, university photographer. The exhibit also features work by one of Leavy's former student assistants, Ethan Lowe, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Mass Media in 2023.

Leavy joined the VSU staff in 2012 after a 25-year career in the news media. He has won numerous state and national awards for his work as a photojournalist, and we are proud to have him as a member of our award-winning University Marketing and Communications team.

"Retrospection" is open to the public inside Odum Library on VSU's Main Campus. 🔥 📸

09/19/2024

Cadets from Valdosta State University's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 172 were among the many volunteers who signed up to read the Constitution of the United States during Constitution Day Tuesday. This event was hosted by Odum Library.

The Constitution of the United States established America's national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It was ratified by the necessary nine states the following year.

09/19/2024

Valdosta State University is proud to celebrate the 550-plus students who earned their degrees during Summer 2024.

Today we once again celebrate this powerful and positive community of Blazers and wish them all the best as they find genuine happiness and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives and use it to empower the people and places closest to them. See the full list, excluding those students who opted out of public recognition, at https://valdosta.meritpages.com/. 🔥

09/18/2024

The College of the Arts at Valdosta State University invites students to make their mark in the Martha G. Smart Student Gallery (Fine Arts Building) between now and Sept. 27. This exhibit is a celebration of International Dot Day, a global celebration of creativity, courage, and collaboration.

International Dot Day was inspired by "The Dot," a book by Peter H. Reynolds. It is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark.” What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing. 🔥