The Marlin Chronicle THURSDAY 12.12.24 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWU.EDU
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
‘There’s no one better:’ VWU’s Coach Macedo FEATURE BY ELI CASEY
emcasey@vwu.edu
Tucked in an office on the second floor of the Batten Student Center, flanked by news articles extolling the glories of sports teams past, surrounded by pieces of athletic history, jerseys from former players, plaques and trophies, sits a man by the name of David Macedo. Upon first interaction, Macedo’s greeting holds a gruff Boston accent. He gestures to take a seat in his office and immediately the accolades and history in the form of newspaper snippets lining the walls make their presence known. Self described as “boring,” Macedo is far from it. Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Macedo was surrounded by sports growing up. He played multiple sports throughout high school, but basketball was his calling. After high school, Macedo played for four years at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. There he gained his first taste of Division III basketball under coach Jerry Rickrode, an experience that would shape the rest of his life. At Wilkes University, coaching caught Macedo’s interest through coach Rickrode. “He was an outstanding, you know, coach and mentor to me, and sparked my interest in the coaching profession,” Macedo said. After Wilkes University, Macedo eventually joined Virginia Wesleyan as an assistant coach, where only two years into the job, he would become the head coach. “I went from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania to Virginia Beach, and never looked back,” Macedo said. “When I took the job here, I was probably a little bit of a young know-it-all, and I got humbled real quick,” Macedo said. “We probably had the youngest staff in America at the time,” he said. “We started to grow the program, build the consistency and realize what it was like playing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference … the best conference, in my opinion, in the country.”
See MACEDO Page 8
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle The annual 12 Days of Christmas competition carries no prize, but is one of the most competitive events all semester.
A partridge in a pear tree BY CLAY YOKOM
kayokom@vwu.edu
You could hear them from the Lighthouse. Shouts and Christmas music marking a spirited competition and the end of the semester. There were many winter festivities on the Virginia Wesleyan campus the week before finals, including back to back winter themed events on campus: the annual tree lighting on Dec. 5 and Finter Wonderland, run by Off The Hook, on Dec. 6. The tree lighting was held in the open area next to the chapel with a pine tree that was covered in lights. Hot cocoa and cookies were provided, ornaments were set out to be decorated and holiday themed glasses and hats were available to take. Students were invited to enjoy the amenities before the excitement started. Actors were available to take photos with: Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and the Grinch. The Grinch was a new addition this
semester, and the actor sometimes posed with dogs, or photobombed some pictures taken with the Clauses. There were two dogs present for the entire event, Luna and Maverick. “This is a special part of the Christmas season at Virginia Wesleyan,” President Scott Miller said when interviewed before his speech. The event officially started off with a speech from Miller and a holiday prayer by a member of campus ministries. After the group song, Jason Seward, Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Operational Management, recited a modified version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” that was instead called “Twas the Night Before Finals.” This variation keeps the pace of the original while retelling common end of semester experiences. “Happy finals to all, and to all a good test,” Seward said at the closing of the
poem. The 12 Days of Christmas competition between student organizations, unlike the wind, was heated. This competition has each of the 12 Days of Christmas represented by a student organization, and the organizations compete to be the loudest, most enthusiastic and most spirited when singing their part of the song. There are some good natured rivalries between the different organizations, with some sports combining the women’s and men’s teams to attempt to overturn the softball team, who had won the previous year’s competition. “I have a good feeling this year,” Salena Jones, a Biology major on the Women’s Volleyball team, said before the competition. The final winner was determined by Off the Hook, and while there isn’t a tangible
See CHRISTMAS Page 4
Youngkin aims for only ‘no-kill’ shelters in Virginia The term designates a shelter with a greater than 90% save rate, but some animal activists don’t like the term.
BY ISAAC FICK ihfick@vwu.edu
While declaring November as Virginia Loves Shelter Animals Month, Governor Glenn Youngkin encouraged all Virginians to achieve no-kill in 2025. According to the certificate of recognition, no-kill is a “commitment to saving every healthy or treatable dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved and striving for at least 90% of the companion animals that enter its facilities to leave alive.” If 0.1% more Virginians adopt
Inside Look: Virginia Housing funds 3D printed houses -- Page 2
rather than purchase animals, the no-kill standard for Virginia animal shelters would be met, “which would make Virginia the largest no kill state to date,” according to the recognition. In the recognition, it is said that “Virginians should work together to achieve ‘No-Kill’ in the Commonwealth in 2025, and animal shelters can do this by employing lifesaving programs such as foster care networks; adoption programs; medical and behavioral programs; public education
and awareness programs; and animal socialization programs to Sarah Richards|Marlin Chronicle prioritize lifesaving.” President-elect Trump has made claims that he will end the DE. Best Friends Animal Society, a nonprofit organization that aims to save animals and provide them with homes, has a statement on the no-kill goal. in the United States. As stated in the Best Friends BY ISAAC FICK He said, “one [...] thing I website, “No-kill is a benchmark ihfick@vwu.edu will be doing very early in the President-elect Donald Trump Best Friends has established to administration is closing up the help guide where we focus our said he plans to remove the Department of Education in efforts to save the lives of the pets Department of Education (DE) Washington D.C. and sending all from D.C. In a video posted on most at risk in shelters.” education and education work and “In 2023, 415,000 dogs and YouTube by Forbes Breaking News on Sep. 13, 2023, Trump See SHELTERS Page 3 explained his plan for education See EDUCATION Page 2
Trump plans to eliminate the Department of Education
Cross Country enters a new era -- Page 8
In defense of ‘kill’ shelters -- Page 6
“The team morale and community has been very strong and positive this season” - Abby Peck
“Achieving a save rate of 90% across all shelters would be amazing, but as of now it is not generally feasible” - Victoria Haneline
OPINION
Snow Globe inspire Students showcase artistic ability -- Page 5 Christmas spirit --
“I think it’s in my blood; “With this, we can create grandparents were a mobile manufacturing musicians, parents printing plant” - Dr. Andrew McCoy, professor of Building were musicians, I’m a musician” - Cory Franklin, Construction at VT director
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“Each snow globe tells a different kind of story” Haley Wise