The Spectator (VSU)

By: Armone’ Gates, Chief and Editor VALDOSTA- VSU enters a new chapter as Donald J. Green has been named the new president of the university, with his term starting in Aug 1st of 2026. He has been a vet administrator with the University Systems of Georgia for some time, with a plethora of leadership experience within his portfolio.

Aiyana Hunter Staff Writer A VSU student who is listed as secretary of the Georgia College Republicans and has connections to other collegiate Republican organizations in the state says that racially charged messages that appeared under his name on a local Facebook group were not written by him. In late March, The Facebook group Lowndes County Word of Mouth investigated some anonymous posts from a user called CleverLynx7233 that were degrading toward several ethnic groups.

Aiyana Hunter Staff Writer You are not as good at rhythm games as you think you are. Welcome to another entry in Games for the Broke College Student. This time we’re looking at Hi-Fi RUSH, a game where a nerd tries to live out his dreams of becoming a rock star and stumbles his way through the big boss that is capitalism.

By: Aiyana Hunter Staff Writer On the afternoon of Feb. 26, a group of students gathered in front of the dining hall with signs in hand and a speaker at the ready. They all shared the mindset that negativity had been given too much of a pedestal in the country recently and wanted to counterbalance it with peace and acceptance.

By: Armone’ Gates, Copy Editor & Megan Callahan News Editor VALDOSTA, Ga. – It’s time to turn over a new leaf, as VSU’s communication program will be leaving the College of the Arts starting in the fall of 2026 to join the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The program will be joining the Department of English for the creation of the new department called Communication and English.

By: Marese Hudson, Assistant Sports Editor The NBA tried its hardest to preserve the value of major awards by adding a new rule: the 65-game rule. Instead, it created new inequities across the league. This season, the players who clearly delivered great All-NBA level production found themselves on the outside looking in and not because of performance, but because of a rigid cutoff that doesn’t account for context.

By: Aiyana Hunter, staff writer Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream released its demo maybe a few weeks before it released the actual game, and fortunately for me, I didn’t have to shell out on a Switch 2 to play it. Welcome back to another entry in Games for the Broke College Student, where I’m looking at something different.

By Madeline Higdon, Staff writer VALDOSTA, Ga. – Wild Adventures theme park brought back its “VSU Day” on April 25, 2026 after a two-year hiatus. On these days, students can use their One Cards to get free admission and 30% off of all park dining. The park saw about 900 students. As a Florida resident, I’m spoiled by the endless thrills offered to me by Universal Studios and Disney World. A small-town theme park was not filling me with anticipatory excitement.

By: Rut Labrada, Staff writer On April 14 and 15, the VSU Debate Team competed in the Regents Cup Tournament in Columbus, Georgia, winning first place in individual debate. VSU received three awards in the competition. The school tied for second place in the overall competition; Cassandra Ayers, a sophomore communications major, won first place as Individual Debate Champion; and Ava Peeples won second place for Individual Novice Debater.

By: Nathalie Monero, Staff writer On April 17, the J. Donald Lee Center for Entrepreneurship hosted their annual Business Plan Competition Final Pitch at Pound Hall Auditorium, where student finalists presented their final pitch to the judges. Students were to be registered for this competition back in February, when they submitted their executive summaries and registered to participate.