Dear Blazer Nation,

Spring semester is just about over, and finals week is here, again. This semester flew by, and so much has been happening on campus. I have some updates to share with you, so I encourage you to read on.

I look forward to celebrating our graduates during Spring Commencement this weekend! The Graduate School celebration is Friday evening, and the Undergraduate Ceremony is Saturday night. That celebration will feature some very strong and determined seniors. How do I know that? Many of them were freshmen when we had to close the campus back in Spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had to finish their first year of class online. Then the following academic year, they had to deal with social distancing, quarantines, and isolation. I know it was tough for many of them, but they persevered and will be proudly crossing the stage Saturday night. I truly look forward to shaking the hands of each and every one of our graduates and welcoming their friends and families to our beautiful campus.

Some of VSU’s student leaders recently got the chance to show off our beautiful campus to representatives from the other 25 University System of Georgia institutions. The USG Student Advisory Council, which includes the Student Government Association presidents from all our sister institutions, came to VSU for their annual spring meeting. It was an honor to host these student leaders, and I want to thank our SGA President, Jalen Smith, and his entire leadership team for all their hard work and planning for this great event.

The end of the spring semester means that I get to recognize our outstanding students and employees. Congratulations to the President’s Award winners of our six colleges here at VSU. They will be recognized at Commencement on Saturday and will get the honor of carrying the banner for their college, except one, who will be playing Blazer softball and was recognized at our Athletic Commencement over the past weekend. I also want to congratulate the VSU faculty members who were awarded tenure and promotion. We are so fortunate to have top-notch faculty who are leaders in their field and work hard to ensure the success of our students. Many awards have been handed out these past couple weeks, and I hope you will keep reading this newsletter to learn about all the worthy recipients. I’m sure you will be as impressed as I am!