Following a national trend, Virginia Wesleyan has more female students than male students. Six out of the eight dorms in Village I are all female, and the school is currently 67% female. "It’s a situation all schools in the country are dealing with," said Rick Hinshaw, dean of admissions. "All schools have to convert." The school is not making a conscious effort to recruit more men but is interested in having a balanced student body. This includes SAT scores, GPA, race, gender and other factors, according to Hinshaw. Even though private schools’ survival is enrollment, the fact that the college has more women than men is not an admissions concern. According to Hinshaw, being a private school, the college is not restricted by regulations and can turn male dorms into female dorms and vice versa.

"Rose Hall and Eggleston Hall were chosen to be all female because no one had to be relocated," said Keith Moore, director of residence life. "No one was returning on first floor Rose Hall, and Eggleston Hall was an all girls’ dorm last year. The layout also works well-the two all girl dorms are on opposite sides of Village I. The balance works well rather than two female halls next to each other." However, current students can help recruit new students to ensure a well-balanced school. "A key thing for students to realize is that they are key as to who attends here," said Hinshaw. "The Wesleyan Ambassadors program affects who goes here. We need a cross section of people and to ensure that, we need a cross section of ambassadors." Wesleyan Ambassadors requires its participants to give one tour a week or work one hour a week in the admissions office. They also must work two or three Saturdays, including the three VWC Days. If Wesleyan Ambassadors are unable to give a tour, they can write letters to potential students. The program currently has 41 members, including 10 males.

Sitting down to tables scattered with noisemakers, candy and balloons made the students question exactly what type of motivational speech this would be. Tony L. Williams walked in front of the students, and the first question he asked them was "Why did you choose to come to Virginia Wesleyan College?" A freshman soccer player, Kelvin Murray, responded, "to play soccer . . . and because the girls look good." The entire room laughed at his reasoning as the rest of his team gave him high fives. Williams, a probation officer and senior substance abuse specialist, came to speak to the students, mostly composed of athletes, about leadership and where life’s decisions will eventually take them. The program was titled "Personal Leadership: Getting From A to Z."

To get the crowd involved, he told them to use the noisemakers for applause while he asked students to participate in his slide show. They were first asked who their leaders in life were. Williams explained exactly what a leader was, how good it was to be considered a leader, and the importance of having a role model in your life. Students responded with leaders such as parents, professors and celebrities. One student, freshman Jessica Abbitt, chose her father as her leader. "He started off with nothing in his life, and came out with everything that he could ask for." Abbitt then described her father: "He worked really hard and earned his happiness." To prove how there is a lack of leadership, Williams pointed out the timidness and lack of volunteers during his presentation. "People fear public speaking more than death," Williams said. Two groups of students were chosen to "race against each other" using an egg. They had to develop a strategy to make the egg stand on it’s own, not using any other structures to hold it up.

Finally, a group raised its hand and the egg was in fact standing on it’s end. The solution? They cracked the bottom just enough to where it was somewhat flat and it sat straight up. Williams then pointed out, "nobody gives you rules in life; you give yourself rules and reasons not to achieve things or limitations." The group was able to show its creativity and move beyond those limitations. "Whether we choose our destinations or not, we are all going somewhere," Williams explained. "How would you want to be remembered by others? Would you want to be remembered as a substance abuser or drug abuser by people?" he asked. To conclude the presentation, student were given a blue and white balloon. On the blue balloon they wrote two goals for their life, or two things which they would like to be remembered by. On the white balloon they wrote two barriers that would interfere with those goals. Williams then instructed the crowd to sit on the white balloon and pop it, symbolizing the removal of those obstacles in their lives. Balloons and noisemakers could be heard throughout the remainder of the presentation, and due to lack of audience participation and attention, the assembly was requested to close early.

Aggravated by the request to end early, Williams opened the floor to questions. When asked why he chose to speak to students about leadership and decision making, Williams responded, "because many people get lost and swept away by peer pressure. They sometimes cannot speak their mind and pass on what they believe in because they don’t have that leader in their life. I want to be that leader and role model in their life to help them make those decisions and hopefully give them enough confidence to become leaders for others." Coach Michelle Burt responded to the speaker by saying, "I think Williams meant well, but it was not delivered and received the way he intended it to be." William’s goal through the two-hour presentation was to have students take in his words and reflect on them in hopes of changing someone’s life.

Have you ever thought about all the different cultures and backgrounds that exist at Virginia Wesleyan? Here at VWC there are is variety of students that come from all over the world for many different reasons. One student in particular is from Istanbul, Turkey. Murat Hasan Karamehmet, 19, began school in the United States about two years ago. He attended Cheshire Academy located in Cheshire, Connecticut. When asked how he found out about Virginia Wesleyan he grinned and said, "College night, I picked up the information packet and liked what I saw." He learned to speak English in fifth grade after his mother hired a tutor. Murat admitted that at first English was very hard for him, but he now enjoys it very much. "I really like to eat donuts. We even have a Dunkin Donuts back in Turkey," he smiled, as he handed me a chocolate glazed donut from his refrigerator. He admits that he likes to eat. If you have seen Murat around campus, his height of 6’6" explains that one!

Besides eating, Murat enjoys playing football, listening to music, playing video games and playing on the computer. While looking through his wide selection of DVDs, "Dude Where’s My Car" and "Road Trip" seemed to be on his list of favorites. Wanting to be involved in as many extra curricular activities as possible, Murat says school comes first. He plans to be on the basketball team this fall. In his words, "It would be nice." One question that many students have on their minds here at VWC is whether or not there really is a prince from Turkey living in Johnston Hall. Murat chuckled and replied, "I’m not a prince. Who said that?"