The Marlin Chronicle THURSDAY 3.12.26|| MARLINCHRONICLE.VWU.EDU
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Read on Page 7
Emilie Dajc|Marlin Chronicle
Check out the sports section to learn more about how Marlin’s baseball is off to their best start since 2009, with a 10-4 record.
Students recognize ‘A Dream Deferred’ alongside national talent With spoken word, visual art and music, the community gathered to reflect on the struggle for freedom in the U.S.
Inside Look: Firearm legislation aims to reduce violent crime
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Mending the broken, torn at Eleanor’s
VWU|Courtesy [LEFT] Junior Malik Williams, Black Student Union president, presents spoken word. [TOP] Award-winning poet Nathan Richardson performs a Frederick Douglass reenactment and recites poetry with an audience volunteer, junior Nate Bryant. [BOTTOM] Internationally-acclaimed musician BJ Griffin performs vocals with an electric cello. BY GABRIEL BAULBLITZ gabaulblitz@vwu.edu
“What happens to a dream deferred?” VWU faculty, staff, students and members of the Hampton Roads community have attempted to answer the question originally posed by American poet and activist Langston Hughes with their program for Black History Month,
hosted at the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center, “A Dream Deferred: Black Excellence, Voice, and Resistance,” on Feb. 19. Rebecca Hooker, an associate professor of English affiliated with the Africana Studies program, co-hosted the program. “We have wanted to do some activities here that allow us to share our
expertise and also allow some of our students to be able to express themselves, to feel seen, to feel like they are able to show that they’re here on campus and express their feelings about what it’s like to be an African American,” Hooker said. The program brought big names to campus, such as BJ Griffin, a musician from Virginia Beach who
appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2023, and Nathan Richardson, an author and poet from Suffolk. “We were really thrilled that they were going to be there. But for us, the students were the highlights. They were the ones we really wanted to let you all see,” Hooker said.
ihfick@vwu.edu
The Virginia legislature plans to legalize a marijuana retail market, with differences proposed by the House of Representatives and Senate. Both bills were in conference in opposite chambers on March 4.
Marijuana is not permitted on campus because the university must abide by federal law due to students receiving federal financial-aid funding. Senior Vice President Keith Moore said he thinks a legal market will impact its presence on campus. “Right now, access is something that
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Students launch clubs for faith, political expression -- Page 5
See DREAM Page 4
Marijuana legal market expected to increase safety and presence BY ISAAC FICK
At Eleanor’s Bookstore in Norfolk, patrons learn hand sewing to repair torn clothing and mending culture.
limits people’s ability if they do want to use that. So I do think if someone can get it more readily, then there will be an update,” Moore said. Moore said the bills proposed will not impact campus policy.
See MARIJUANA Page 2
Laila Jones|Marlin Chronicle
Ask a Marlin
The Chronicle introduces a new advice column: now open for submissions! -- Page 6