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News & Notes
&News Notes FALL 2022
CAL welcomes Latinx studies faculty cohort
FFollowing the success of the first College of Arts and Letters cohort hire in 2021, CAL pursued another cohort focusing on Latinx studies in various fields. The growing, interdisciplinary area cuts across traditional fields of inquiry and supports JMU’s commitment to community engagement. As the demography of the student body changes and the Latinx population grows in
Virginia and the nation, faculty expertise in this broadly defined field will become more important.
“The College of Arts and Letters is fortunate to have faculty who have worked in this area for years and forged strong bonds with our local and statewide Hispanic community,” CAL Dean Robert Aguirre said. “With the successful completion of our cohort hire, these efforts will be multiplied, bringing Latinx perspectives to writing and media, racial and social justice, communication, politics, transnationalism, bilingualism, gender/sexuality and varieties of policy-inflected research.”
— Becca Evans (’18, ’20M)
T H E N E W C O H O R T M E M B E R S A R E :
Reslie Cortés, a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University, joins the School of Communication Studies as an assistant professor. A writer, director and performer, Cortés’ research areas include Puerto Rico and decolonialism, and cultural and racial performance. Jason Baltazar, a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas, joins the English department as an assistant professor. Baltazar’s research areas include fiction writing, hybrid forms, speculative fiction, multiethnic and diasporic American literatures.
Elim Hernandez
comes to JMU from the University of Oregon as an assistant professor in the School of Media Arts and Design. His research areas include bilingualism, code-switching, Spanglish, language intensification, advertising, copywriting and Hispanic American consumers.
Verónica Dávila
Ellis is an assistant professor in the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Their research areas include Latinx and Caribbean cultural studies, popular music, gender and queer theory, and sound and performance studies.
María José
Delgadillo, an assistant professor in the English department, comes to JMU from the University of Houston. Her research includes fantasy, wonder, gender and horror in female writers in Latin America; interdisciplinary collaboration between humanities and science; and bilingualism.
Eduardo Duran
comes to JMU from UCLA as an assistant professor in the Sociology department. His research interests include cultural sociology, medical sociology, phenomenological sociology and the sociology of the senses, with an emphasis on the experience of migrants from Latin America.
— KARINA KLINE-GABEL, assistant dean
Paralympians educate teachers on diversity, equity and inclusion
Paralympians and Team USA wheelchair basketball players Steve Serio and Trey Jenifer, retired Team USA sitting volleyball player Kari Miller Ortiz and three accomplished wheelchair basketball players came to JMU in February. They taught students about their respective sports and how to change the perception of disability through the Paralympic Skill Lab.
This was the sixth year JMU hosted the skill lab and the first in which a teachereducation workshop offered more than 65 pre-service and in-service teachers the opportunity to learn how to execute parasport activities in the K-12 physical education setting.
“PSL combines Paralympic ideals and values with educational activities to promote engagement and education related to parasport, inclusion and sociocultural norms,” said Cathy McKay, Kinesiology professor and event organizer.
Serio, Jenifer and Ortiz each bring something unique to their respective sports.
During surgery to remove a tumor, Serio’s spinal cord compressed, paralyzing him at 11 months old. Jenifer was born without legs, and Ortiz lost her legs in a car accident when she was in college. Each Paralympian diversifies the parasport field.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion are all important, because those are the things that make us better both in the workplace and at home,” Ortiz said. “We need to be able to add the different pieces together. If everyone was a Steve or if everyone was a Trey, then we’d be missing a bunch of pieces on our team.”
Competing in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, Serio and Jenifer brought home gold medals for Team USA. Retiring after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — where she led Team USA to its first gold medal in sitting volleyball — Ortiz was still involved in the next Paralympic games as part of NBC’s broadcasting team.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty surrounded the Tokyo Games. “As a performance athlete, you’re very wellequipped to deal with success and failure,” Serio said. “But you’re not well-equipped to deal with uncertainty, and that’s what the last two years have been for all of us. Winning makes it worth it, so [Tokyo] was a great experience, but it was hard for us athletes to stay on top of our game.”
Jenifer remembers having a close-contact scare where the team had to quarantine and was not allowed to leave their rooms. He said it was hard not to dwell on negative thoughts. He focuses on the positive and strives to change the narrative about disabilities.
“It’s hard, because when you’re trying to find yourself as a kid, it’s like, ‘Why am I different? Why is everyone looking at me?’” Jenifer said. “Then as an athlete, when you’re on the court and you mess up, you hold all of the negative thoughts within yourself. For me, I’ve been trying to focus on the positive. I’ve been trying to live in the moment and not let the negative thoughts weigh me down.”
Through his sport, Serio wants to create an environment where people with disabilities can thrive and not shy away from things they’re told they can’t do.
Ortiz said parathletes need to push through the hard moments. Self-belief is integral for any person with a disability who wants to pursue sports, according to Ortiz.
“You’re going to mess up; you’re going to have bad days, but you have to keep going and learning,” Ortiz said. “All of the awesome moments will outweigh the bad ones. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
While Jenifer has been part of the skill lab before, this was Serio’s first time at the university. He said it was a great experience to see the emphasis on inclusion and embracing differences. Serio and Jenifer enjoyed seeing the students engaged in different Paralympic sports, since many of the participants will have futures as teachers.
— KARI MILLER ORTIZ, USA sitting volleyball player
Pre-service and in-service physical education teachers learned how to incorporate sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
— Morgan Vuknic
Literary luminary retires from JMU
Joanne Gabbin launched Furious Flower Poetry Center, left indelible mark on Madison in 37-year career
On June 30, Furious Flower Poetry Center marked the retirement of Joanne V. Gabbin, its founding executive director. Gabbin started as a professor in the English department in 1985 and quickly rose to director of the Honors Program, a position she held until 2005. In 1994, Gabbin organized an event initially intended to honor Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks — but quickly became the first Furious Flower Poetry
Conference. After the second successful conference a decade later, JMU chartered the Furious Flower
Poetry Center to be led by Gabbin.
Following an immensely successful 37 years of service to JMU, Gabbin leaves the center in the capable hands of new Executive Director
Lauren K. Alleyne and Assistant Director
L. Renée. The retirement reception was a jubilant jamboree in Gabbin’s honor, replete with live music and special messages from
JMU President Jonathan R. Alger, Provost and
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Coltman and many others.
Thanks to the generosity of Gabbin’s friends and loved ones, an $80,000 donation was made to Furious Flower Poetry Center in her name. Gabbin was presented with a number of gifts, including a lovely metalwork piece created by Mark Rooker, professor of Art and head of the JMU metals and jewelry program. Furious Flower Poetry Center is grateful to everyone who joined in person and virtually for sending Gabbin off into her next chapter in style. The center extends a special thanks to Furious Flower’s Amisha Anderson, Megan Medeiros and Jessica Carter; the College of Arts and Letters’ Robert Aguirre, Siân White and Becca Evans; JMU Libraries’ Bethany Nowviskie, Kate Morris and Tiffany Cole; the Ian Buchanan Quartet; Rooker; Carter Douglas; the Furious Flower Advisory Board; Karen Risch Mott and Sybil Davis; and Jessea and Alexander Gabbin.
Joanne V. Gabbin served as a visionary leader, building key relationships with scholars, poets and partners, as well as conceiving, overseeing and fundraising special projects and events supporting the preservation and perpetuation of Black poetry at large.
— Megan N. Medeiros (’17, ’21M)
Fulbright and Gilman recipients announced
In the 2021-22 academic year, 10 JMU students and alumni received Fulbright U.S. Student Grants, and another two were alternates.
The recipients are Whitney Arietta, Matthew Boyd, Rebecca Sherman, Rachel Stegmeier, Kyle Chambers (’18, ’21M), Elise Wulchin, Lauren Evers (’22), Kelly King (’18), Ani Davis and Anne Griggs (‘21M). Alternates are Kendra LaFave (’22) and Cameron Wade (’21).
The Fulbright Program is “the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government, and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement.
In addition, seven JMU students were recognized as Gilman Scholarship recipients in Spring 2022 (joining two recipients in Fall 2021). The Gilman Scholarship encourages and supports study abroad across all disciplines.
The Gilman recipients who wished to be recognized are Kristen Waltman, Mary Tolentino Baez, Hanna Dunn (’22), Emilia Petty and Noelle Cooper in the spring, and Deaquan Nichols and Elizabeth Wyatt in the fall. — Khalil Garriott (’04)
FACULTY FOCUS
Sara Snyder
EDUCATION Snyder, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities, received $61,160 from George Mason University to develop and implement a statewide program to meet the initial and continuing education needs of teachers of students with severe disabilities.
Conley McMullen
BIOLOGY McMullen, professor of Biology, provided expert commentary in a WHSV-TV news report about the poisonous hemlock, which was identified in Strasburg, Virginia, along the Shenandoah River. McMullen, an expert in pollination biology and plant systematics, described the significant risk to animals if the plant is consumed. “It contains a little chemical called coniine, an alkaloid that is deadly to animals. So, it’s not really the sort of thing you need to worry about unless you thought that there were cattle around or individuals who might not know what it is,” he said. McMullen is the author of Flowering Plants of the Galápagos. He has visited the archipelago more than 30 times since 1983 to conduct fieldwork.
Paul Copley ACCOUNTING
Copley, professor of Accounting and RSM Faculty Scholar, received the Enduring Lifetime
Contribution Award for 202021 from the Government and
Nonprofit Section of the American Accounting Association, the organization of academic accountants. The award recognizes Copley’s exemplary service to accounting education and research over the course of his long career, and was recently presented at a luncheon in Washington, D.C. Spotlighting JMU professors through the lenses of scholarship, awards and service
Brent Finnegan
INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION
IN HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES
Finnegan, director of
JMU’s Health Education
Design Group, was awarded $217,800 from Early Impact
Virginia to complete full Spanish translation, design, narration and videography for Virtual Home Visiting modules, and to maintain the Rapid Response website and VHV modules at IIHHS.
Pam Drake
BUSINESS Drake, interim academic unit head and professor of Computer Information Systems and Business Analytics, published a new book, Introduction to Finance: Financial Management and Investment Management, with co-authors Frank J. Fabozzi of Johns Hopkins University and Francesco A. Fabozzi of the Stevens Institute of Technology. Drake and her co-authors dive into risk management, budgeting decisions, company analysis and investing in common stocks. This is Drake’s 13th book and her fifth for finance professionals.
Leaders tapped for key administrative roles
New DEI vice president, chief diversity officer New associate vice president for health and well-being New director of AAAD and professor of English
Malika Carter is JMU’s new vice president After a nationwide search, Student Affairs The African, African American, and Diaspora for diversity, equity and inclusion and chief promoted Kristina Blyer (’12M, ’16DNP) Studies Center hired Delores Phillips as its diversity officer. She was selected as a result to associate vice president for health and new director. Phillips also joins the Departof a highly competitive well-being. Blyer will develop and manage ment of English as an associate professor national search. a comprehensive, holistic approach with tenure. Carter comes from to health and well-being at JMU, and “It was the welcome I the State University of directly supervises the Counseling Center, received in my first AfriNew York’s College of University Health Center and University cana Studies Workshop Environmental Science Recreation Center. that cemented my comand Forestry. In 2017, Blyer received her mitment to AAAD,” she joined the SUNY ESF community as its Bachelor of Science in said Phillips, who joined first CDO. She has also served as CDO for Nursing from Eastern JMU from Old Dominion University. “Since SUNY Upstate Medical University and is the Mennonite University. then, I’ve learned of the wealth of AAAD’s chief executive officer of Passion4Pivot LLC, She began her JMU activities at and beyond JMU, and immedia social justice consulting firm. Before begin- career as a registered ately wanted to contribute to its wide-ranging ning her work at SUNY ESF, she was the inau- nurse, holding multiple roles as she completed network of courses, study-abroad opportunigural CDO for Worcester, Massachusetts. her degrees, and most recently serving as ties, conferences, workshops, sister univer-
Carter earned her doctorate in Philoso- director of the University Health Center and sities, and JMU faculty, staff, students and phy with a concentration in Institutional adjunct instructor in the School of Nursing. community members.” Analysis from North Dakota State Univer- “Dr. Kristina Blyer will continue to be an Phillips’ extensive research interests sity; a master’s degree in Higher Education incredible leader for the JMU community include postcolonial literature and theory and Student Affairs Administration from in her new role as associate vice president for with a focus on depictions of food, waste, the University of Vermont; a Bachelor of Sci- health and well-being,” said Tim Miller (’96, and everyday life in culinary writing and ence in Middle Childhood Education from ’00M), vice president for Student Affairs. postcolonial fiction. Her work has been pubCleveland State University; and an Associate “She has always impressed me with the care lished by Routledge, Women’s Press, Narraof Art degree with a concentration in Stenog- she shows her team, and the energy and tive Culture and The Projector: A Journal on raphy from Cuyahoga Community College. passion she brings to her role as a leader. I am Film, Media, and Culture, addressing every-
Among her numerous awards and accom- eager to see how she will bring her talents and thing from cookbooks to food on the big plishments, Carter was presented with the insights to the task of a more comprehensive, screen and beyond. Harriet Tubman Freedom Fund Award dur- holistic approach to the health and well-being “Dr. Phillips has been an active AAAD ing the Syracuse NAACP’s 42nd Annual of the JMU community in the years to come.” supporter and collaborator for the past couple Freedom Fund Virtual Dinner in 2021. The Blyer said, “JMU is a special place, and I of years, and we couldn’t be more delighted award, the organization’s highest honor, is am honored to advocate for the health and that she will be bringing her energy, expergiven annually to a person whose extraordi- well-being of our community. Students face tise and leadership here to JMU,” said Mollie nary leadership and efforts have contributed many challenges as they balance academics Godfrey, previous AAAD director. to eradicating racial injustice, promoting with their personal well-being. I look forward “The collective passion that nourishes social equity, and advancing and improving to walking with students through this AAAD is humbling and joyous to witness, the community at large. journey and to creating a campus culture that and I cannot wait to be part of it,” Phillips
“This appointment is a great honor. JMU allows students to thrive.” said. “It is my privilege to serve as a memis well positioned to become, in the field of — Student Affairs ber of AAAD’s leadership. I look forward to inclusion, a lead institution that building upon the center’s curhas already demonstrated drive rent excellence and discoverand talent for modeling inclu- ing exciting opportunities for sive practice and its consistent innovation in the field of Afriapplication,” Carter said. cana studies at JMU.”
— Mary-Hope Vass — DELORES PHILLIPS, AAAD director
— Becca Evans (’18, ’20M)
