The VSU and Wild Adventures co-branding has gone so well that the park decided to introduce a VSU-themed ride among its other attractions. Wild Adventures welcomed students and guests to the ride’s ribbon-burning ceremony on April 26. Previously known as “The Firecracker,” the double-action space tower ride has been renamed the “Blazer Blast Off” in homage to VSU’s football team. ...

The Lady Blazers rebound nicely. VSU Athletic Director Herb Reinhard announced May 4 of the hiring of Deandra Schirmer as the next women’s basketball coach at VSU. Schirmer replaces former head coach Carley Kuhns, who recently took the vacant head coaching position at Division I Samford University. For the last five years, Schirmer has been an assistant coach at Eckerd ...

Everyone talked but who listened. Students, community members, faculty and alumni talked. Dr. Carvajal, Dr. Miller and other administrators talked. But who was listening? On Monday, the office of Diversity and Inclusion and Student Government Association teamed to put together a forum for people to voice their opinions about the undergraduate commencement speaker, Gov. Brian Kemp. The forum felt more ...

President Richard Carvajal addressed over 400 students, faculty and staff in the Student Union ballrooms, and, standing doggedly, he said Gov. Brian Kemp is here to stay as this semester’s commencement speaker. With almost two dozen students speaking, their points were made; but then again so was the president’s. “At the end of the day, I made this decision, because ...

On Monday, April 30,  in the Student Union ballroom, President Richard Carvajal hosted a Town Hall-style meeting on the subject that’s created an undercurrent of tension across VSU’s sunbaked campus – the impending commencement speech to be delivered by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. An estimated 200-plus students filled the ballroom. A prayer was held among a few dozen students as ...

The usual narrative of college places students in a “choose-your-own adventure” pathway, making them the writers of their stories, but last fall that changed. Now, VSU is taking the reins of students’ stories. In Dr. Ted Geltner’s Reporting class (JOUR 4550) Dr. Richard Carvajal, VSU president, gave a short form “state of the university address” to the class’ student journalists. ...

Senior night is one that is always remembered. VSU baseball capped off the festivities with a win against University of West Georgia 14-8. Now, the Blazers will look to shock the world in the Gulf South Conference tournament. The offense was on fire, as they amassed 18 hits on the day and an eight run fourth inning propelled the Blazers ...

The coaches representing the Gulf South Conference casted their votes, and on Monday, the results were released. Now, I join in to present my own opinions on “Coach of the Year,” “Player of the Year,” and “Freshman of the Year”as well as my choices for an all-conference team. So without further ado… Player of the Year For the Blazers, the ...

The NFL Draft is where dreams begin, and that is no different for three former Blazers. Selected with the no. 238 pick in the seventh and final round of the draft, corner back Stephen Denmark begins what — he hopes — will be a long career with the Chicago Bears. He becomes the first Blazer drafted since 2013 when Edmund ...

On any given weekend, you can find VSU students enjoying nightlife in various locations in and around campus. One of those locations isn’t normally Downtown Valdosta. The City of Valdosta is looking for ways to change that and drive more traffic to the downtown area, including VSU students. Currently, Valdosta has an ordinance in place which requires businesses that sell ...