25 minute read
Alumni for Life
Alumni forLife
On the road again
BY SHAYLA BROWN (’20), alumni relations graduate assistant
Bob Hume (’72) started his Madison career as a student and went on to work at the university as a driver. After making his mark in Harrisonburg, he’s heading back this spring for his 50th Bluestone Reunion.
As a student at Madison College,
Hume (’72) majored in political science and originally wanted to be a school principal in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
His first job out of college was with
JMU Buildings and Grounds. It was during this time that he was assigned as a driver for President G. Tyler Miller— before there was even an official transportation department at the college.
Since then, Hume has chauffeured four of JMU’s six presidents, including Jonathan R. Alger, whom
Hume admits was his favorite. “He always interacted with me more as a person than an object.”
Hume has stayed connected to the university throughout his life.
In 1980, he and his wife-to-be put together a few bus trips to make some extra money. They drove groups to Busch Gardens, King’s Dominion, churches and schools, and led bus tours all over the country. They eventually expanded their motorcoach business and opened Travel Mates of Virginia Inc. in 1980, which lasted 28 years.
Hume officially started driving for
JMU part-time in 2009 after men’s head basketball coach Charles G. “Lefty” Driesell convinced the school to buy buses for the athletics department. Travel
Mates was asked to provide most of the transportation for the university until it hired its own bus system.
Over his career, Hume has driven for every JMU sports team. His relationships with the student-athletes and the coaches are something he holds dear.
After his retirement from the motorcoach industry in 2008, Hume was hired at JMU as a part-time driver and then went full time in 2016. Hume chauffeured such big names as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, author John Grisham and musician Peter Yarrow from the airport to campus.
In 2017, JMU hired transportation supervisor George Yocum. Hume remembers working with Yocum on a daily basis. “George really got the department squared away and running smoothly. He valued my 28-year experience with buses. I trained many drivers and assisted with trip routing and time schedules. His support of the drivers really made the department what it is today.”
Hume mentored many fellow transportation employees, and his impact is still evident on campus today. “Bob is just one of those unique individuals who loves to talk to people, and they love to talk to him,” said Charlie King, senior vice president of administration and finance. “We need more ambassadors like Bob. I’m real proud I had a chance to work with him and that he remembered me.”
Hume has driven for countless JMU events. One year, while driving the Americans with Disabilities bus during
Bob Hume (’72) took the wheel for every JMU sports team. (Inset): Hume‘s 2018 lacrosse team championship ring.
— BOB HUME (’72)
CHOICES, Hume came across a mother and daughter who were torn between JMU and another university. “When people came to CHOICES and the open houses, if they were riding the accessible bus, I would always recommend that they eat at the East Campus dining hall.” Hume’s kindness helped sway them in JMU’s direction.
His recommendation was so appreciated that day that the parent wrote to President Alger about the experience. For his efforts, Hume was recognized with the Caught in the ACT award. ACT stands for faculty and staff accountability, customer service, and teamwork throughout JMU’s campus. He received this award twice.
Hume said his proudest moment at JMU was driving the bus for the lacrosse team when it won the 2018 national championship. Hume got to celebrate with the team, which showed its appreciation by granting him his very own championship team ring with his name on it.
“We would get requests in the transportation office from athletics teams that Bob would specifically be the one to drive the bus that takes the teams to different competitions,” King said.
Now retired and living in Georgia, Hume has a plethora of hobbies, including volunteering as a medic with the Louisa Rescue Squad and Towns County Fire Department, as well as amateur radio. “It doesn’t surprise me that Bob’s still doing lots of good things out there in his retirement,” King said.
They’ll soon be one of us
ost of the 2020-21 academic year was filled with uncertainty and learning the true meaning of the word pivot. It also inspired innovation, creativity and new levels of M involvement across the JMU Alumni Association.
As an alumni association, it’s often assumed that our sole focus is on the alumni experience. What I have found, however, is that the uniqueness of our Madison Experiences lies in being “Dukes from day one, alumni for life.” It won’t be long before they’re one of us.
One of the opportunities afforded to the alumni office by the COVID-19 pandemic was to build relationships with JMU students. We pushed our creative boundaries to host a number of studentfocused events outdoors on campus. The number of students who showed sincere gratitude and enthusiasm for the chance to experience a sliver of the true Madison Experience inspired us to continue finding ways to bolster our interaction with students.
I’m proud to say that we re-envisioned our student organization and launched the JMUAA Student Committee during Fall 2020. This student group works to represent JMU’s current student population within the JMUAA and lay the groundwork for lifelong commitment and engagement with JMU. Currently, we have more than 20 active members who participate and provide insight and feedback for major events like Homecoming, Giving Day and more.
As we look toward spring, I encourage you to take time to find a way to engage with fellow alumni or current students. I am proud of the ways we continue building on the vision of our founders. We have adjusted, re-imagined and created ways to support a truly hybrid and diverse engagement strategy that provides opportunities to connect—whether you make the trip back to Harrisonburg or Zoom in from the comfort of your couch and purple sweatpants. We hope to see you on campus or online soon. Go Dukes!
Carrie Combs (’07, ’09M),
JMU Alumni Association executive director
DUKE DOG COMIC STRIP IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES FROM JOHN ROSE (’86).
Welcome home
During the first week of November, JMU welcomed Dukes from around the globe, both virtually and in person, for Homecoming 2021. The week was filled with many traditional activities plus some newer events. (Counterclockwise from top): Dukes get JMU souvenirs and sample food during QuadFest; alumni tailgate before the football game; The Jangling Reinharts play for the crowd during the Bagels & Beer event; the JMU community displays creativity in the Duke Dog Alley yard sign contest; JMU Dukettes raise Madison spirit; and alumnae show their Purple Pride during the Duke Dog Dash.
HOMEcoming Poetry Contest
in collaboration with the Furious Flower Poetry Center
The word home can hold a multitude of meanings: Maybe you’ve moved around a lot and have lots of places that you could call home; or maybe, for you, home isn’t a house at all, but your favorite spot under that shady tree by the creek. Home is truly where the heart is, and poetry is the language of the heart. To celebrate Homecoming 2021, poets were invited to share a poem describing what the word home evoked in them. Included on this page are a few poems that were submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
To read all of the poem entries, visit https://j.mu/poetry.
Homecoming:
When he returns, the house itself is displaced, roots removed. Chairs kicked over. The olive table split. A spilt glass of dried wine. Unfamiliar footprints across the tile floor. The proud walls of the upper halls peel with pictures of some strange family. The unwelcoming made sharp, set like knives in a drawer thrust open, fallen off track. Nothing turns toward him, not the dust-covered blades of the fan, not the heads of ragged dolls, not the rusted knobs of cobwebbed cabinets, nor the ghost of a woman he believed would stay. The bedroom door a wooden hand pushing him in. The vanity stiff with years. The mattress cover tossed about like a map for exiles. Before he can close his eyes, the house itself falls asleep, shuts him in the eaves of an uninhabitable dream.
— MICHAEL TROCCHIA,
instructor of philosophy
What happens to your body when you’re not with the person you call “home”:
Where is the sunrise and kiss-filled bliss, The muscular tubes of our bodies pretzeled?
My fingertips buzz, unable to dance little flowers on your spine.
My skin has become a timeless tundra, As I long to feel warm breath circling on my neck.
My voice wavers, unsteady without your ears to travel through.
My legs ache with the want to walk to you and the corner of my lips point downwards as if
To apologize to my heart.
— ALLISON SELZNICK (’22)
Many a Home Inside My Head:
I have lived in a thousand homes. I revisit them often — and over again. Happy homes, comforting homes; both temporary and unabridged; I have many a home inside my head.
In a blink I can travel back to a home not measured in miles; smell the carpeted seats of my mother’s old car stitched with vanilla; stacked CDs in a visor — always having a hand to hold.
And tomorrow I’ll be visiting grandpa again; tar and nicotine lining the walls; the welcoming riverbed greets me like an old friend, and we can live forever in the piecemeal of moments I keep.
I can reminisce whenever I please. I could spend another night in my white, block-lined dorm, a passing conversation with a roommate; the laughter of people I used to know — I pull the sheets up over my ears and pretend that I’m still 18.
I open my eyes and see the home that surrounds me now; the four walls of my people, the place I lay my head, my body, the life I’ve built; it all reminds me: how lucky it is to be somewhere and everywhere all at once.
Alumni-owned businesses: Food edition
At JMU, we love holding the door open, throwing streamers at sporting events and enjoying good food! The AlumniOwned Business Directory was created for alumni who are business owners and want to support other alumni-owned businesses. Here are five such businesses in the food and beverage industry. From chefs who challenge cultural boundaries to internationally renowned beers, Dukes sure know how to please the palate!
For the love of chocolate/por amor al chocolate
A self-taught chocolatier, Matthew Sibley’s (’11) first passion was Spanish. He studied Latin culture at JMU and was introduced to freshly made hot cacao (the plant’s seeds are used to make chocolate) in Puebla, Mexico. In 2019, Sibley launched Apalache Chocolate.
What began as a hobby turned into a home business. As his business grows, Sibley strives for direct trade by forming personal relationships with farmers in Central and South America. Currently, Sibley buys from Terrasoul Wholesale, which sources its beans through cooperatives made up of small family farms in Tocache, Perú.
A customer can anticipate adventurous flavors from Sibley’s craft chocolate. “I enjoy developing fun flavor profiles, such as Ghost Pepper/Chile Fantasma and Toasted Rice and Matcha/Arroz Tostado y Matcha,” he said.
The Desserterie
In May 2019, Curtis Perry (’02) purchased a family-favorite restaurant, The Desserterie, in Richmond, Virginia. A few months later, he had to adjust the business for to-go orders in the COVID-19 pandemic. During those unpredictable times, Perry’s main focus was keeping the restaurant afloat for his employees and maintaining a space frequented by locals.
For Perry, his joy is sharing life with clients. He provides a space “to give some comfort during hard times or to celebrate together during good times.” The restaurant is currently becoming more winefocused with seasonal cocktails.
Mashita means ‘delicious’
Chef Mikey Reisenberg’s (’09) cuisine combines bold Korean-inspired flavors with refined French cooking techniques.
For Reisenberg, a native of South Korea who was adopted by a Harrisonburg family when he was 2 months old, it all started in 2013 when he opened the Mashita food truck in the Friendly City. “Korean street food became the focal point, as it was a way for me to explore my Korean identity,” Reisenberg said.
After six years in business, Mashita, which means “delicious,” opened as a full-service restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg in October 2019. The space includes additional seating, a large outdoor deck and full-size bar, and features seven free Multicade arcade machines!
African food is not a monolith
Manny Baiden (’17) grew up in Accra, Ghana, a vibrant West African nation known for its lush biodiversity and welcoming society. When he was 19, Baiden left home and arrived at JMU to pursue a hospitality degree. From a young age, he has been passionate about foods and cultures.
After a few years in the restaurant industry, Baiden moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 2019 and established Manny Eats, a private-chef service that delivers beautiful sensory-engaging food that pays homage to its cultures and origins. “What I want to do with Manny Eats is share with others that African and African American foods are not a monolith,” he said. “There is variety in the cooking.” He draws inspiration from many cultures and uses bold flavor profiles and ingredients. “Being a part of the international community at JMU, I learned how different foods were supposed to taste,” he said.
A toast to Port City Brewing Company
Bill Butcher (’88) and his wife, Karen, are trailblazers in the craft beer industry. In 2011, they opened Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, Virginia, which is now the longestoperating craft brewery in the Washington metropolitan area.
Port City offers an impressive lineup of awardwinning beers and seasonal specials. Butcher most cares about creating an enjoyable work environment and developing an eco-friendly business.
Recalling a conversation with President Jonathan R. Alger, he said his time at JMU encouraged him “to be an optimist and see what’s possible.” Being a Duke broadened his worldview and gave him the confidence and vision to pursue his passion.
Bleed purple, go gold
BY SHAYLA BROWN (’20), alumni relations graduate assistant
On Sept. 9, 2021, Wilson Hall was lit gold in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The event was hosted by Dukes Against Childhood Cancer, a student club formed in Spring 2020.
Headley runs the club with two other JMU students, juniors Caroline Laughorn and Hannah Moon.
Headley is no stranger to childhood cancer advocacy or building a new organization from the ground up. She has been an advocate for the pediatric cancer awareness movement since 2014 and is the founder of Our Amazing Fighters, a nonprofit that has lobbied on Capitol Hill for better policy and legislation on behalf of kids with cancer as well as family support programs.
“We deliver care packages nationwide to kids fighting cancer. We send bald American Girl dolls to girls who have lost their hair. We do miniwishes, gift cards and a little financial support,” she said.
Headley’s work with the nonprofit is what led her to meet Laughorn, who has been fighting cancer for more than 12 years.
Moon, a hospitality major, became passionate about the cause after rooming with Laughorn during their freshman year. “I’ve been closely involved because of them. They made me passionate about it because they were, and they kind of spread that passion to me.”
The students’ busy schedules didn’t get in the way of their goal of spreading awareness of childhood cancer. Laughorn, a health sciences major and four-time cancer survivor, has regular doctor appointments on top of her school and club responsibilities.
“Monday I had a doctor’s appointment in North Carolina, and I didn’t get back until Tuesday morning,” said Laughorn, who still suffers from the long-term effects of her diagnosis.
Her supporters in social media have adopted the phrase “Caroline Strong.” “It kept me going. People are watching me fight, and it makes me want to keep fighting,” Laughorn said. Like many other organizations, DACC was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic just as it was getting started. The club didn’t actually hold its first in-person meeting until September. “It was so fun to see people show up and want to be a part of it,” Headley said. “It shows that it’s not just the three of us who are passionate about the cause. There are other people who have direct connections to pediatric cancer or don’t but still want to be a part of it.” In spreading awareness of childhood cancer, DACC club members made and handed out almost 300 gold ribbons to students, each one with a fact attached about childhood cancer. They hope to take advantage of gold being one of JMU’s colors and eventually host a “Gold Out” sporting event. Headley, who hopes to become a child-life specialist to support families going through pediatric cancer, said she and her co-founders share a special bond. “It’s cool because we all have different perspectives and experiences of how we got involved and why we’re passionate about it. The passion has been there for a long time.” Laughorn wants to be a phyDukes Against Childhood Cancer was built from the ground sician’s assistant in pediatric up by Hannah Moon, LeAnna Headley and Caroline Laughorn. oncology. “I just want to help These women are doing what they can in the community to people like people have helped spread awareness of pediatric cancer. me,” she said. “I just feel like I can understand the children. I can understand the families. I want to help give back.” The women hope to eventually pair DACC with Our Amazing Fighters to continue building awareness and make the lighting of Wilson an annual event. They also hope to hold a similar event in February in honor of International Childhood Cancer Day after seeing the hope that it brought to the JMU community. “It was really cool to see JMU prioritize the cause,” Headley said. “Obviously, there’s still a lot more work to do, and a lot more fight to be had.”
Alumni board of directors welcomes 10 new members
(Front row): Paul Pohto (’14)*, Bill Luth (’89)*, Tripp Hughes (’09), Mary Trimmer Robinson (’76, ’79M)*, Christine Cruzvergara (’05), Kaitlin Holbrook (’13), Charles May (’83), Gina Friend (’92)*, Amy Barnett (’06), Carrie Combs (’07, ’09M), Allison Brown (’92)*, Mia Brabham (’16)*, Ellen Hineman (’89), Derek Steele (’84)*; (Back row): Steve Cornwell (’90)*, Dave Urso (’03, ’05M), Wei Huang (’05)*, Carrie Hawes (’04), Michelle Turenne (’90)*, Eric Bowlin (’02), Chris Ellis (’08), Zac Hittie (’06, ’10M). (Inset}: No JMU event is complete without a streamer toss, even for the JMU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
*INDICATES NEW DIRECTORS BEGINNING THEIR TERMS ON THE BOARD
The JMU Alumni Association hosts the annual Madison Alumni Conference Awards
Banquet to recognize outstanding alumni chapters in the JMU community. It is because of JMU’s dedicated and exceptional volunteers that the JMU Alumni Association is able to have a presence in more than 36 regional alumni chapters, located worldwide. Five alumni chapters were the recipients of $250 awards in 2021.
The winning chapters and chapter leaders were (LR): JMU Federal Dukes (Chapter/Regional Ambassador on the Rise award); the JMU Black Alumni Chapter (Affinity Chapter of the Year award); Marcus Seiler of the Phoenix Dukes chapter (Regional Ambassador of the Year); the MetroDukes Alumni Chapter (Shenandoah Chapter of the Year); and NC Triangle Dukes Alumni Chapter (Blue Ridge Chapter of the Year).
MixedMedia
BOOKS, MUSIC & FILM
Sleeping Around
BY MORGAN VEGA (’19M) Self-published ISBN-13: 978-1737059516
Hard-hitting yet humorous, this young-adult contemporary following a teen’s transition from foster care to college by debut author Morgan Vega is perfect for fans of What I Carry by Jennifer Longo and Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour. Exploring trauma and resilience in gritty, firstperson detail, Sleeping Around is a powerful reflection on stability, the concept of home and the heavy baggage we all must sometimes carry. This intimate coming-of-age tale highlights the impact the foster-care system can have on the mindset and psychological well-being of children and the adults they become. Driven by a complex narrator and woven together with unassuming and conversational prose, the target audience for this book is older teens moving into a new chapter of life, but the intense themes will resonate with older readers as well.
Watch Me Trick Ghosts
BY ROBERT KRUT (’95) Codhill Press ISBN-13: 978-1949933130
In Watch Me Trick Ghosts, award-winning poet Robert Krut reveals a city weaving between surreal consciousnesses and concrete imagination, where speakers are fully aware that “the scars of the world are turning neon” (“Accidental Light”). Among them, spirits hide and appear in tree lines, behind bookcases, even “etching a name into a street sign pole with a knife” (“You Are the Street, You Are the Sleep”). These poems skillfully veer between lyrical moments of intimacy and urgent messages seemingly sent from the negative space surrounding a dream. It might be the case that “fear is a blade held in a lung” (“The Anxious Lever of Lowering Sky”), but in the quietest hours of night, strangers can connect through striking images that cast a spell. Watch Me Trick Ghosts is Krut’s fourth poetry collection.
Designing Hope
BY JEREMY CHERRY (’11) Self-published http://hopeful.design
Designing Hope explores creating compassionate work for humans. It defines a design framework that creates hope by practicing in an ecosystem, honoring that community with its solutions and sharing in the responsibility of its outcomes. It’s equal parts manifesto and practical guide. It strives to rise above technical theory, seeking out practical compassion. In short, if a person creates things for others (who doesn’t?), this book is for them. The PhD Parenthood Trap: Caught Between Work and Family in Academia
BY KERRY CRAWFORD AND LEAH WINDSOR Georgetown University Press ISBN-13: 978-1647120665
In The PhD Parenthood Trap, Kerry Crawford, an associate professor of political science at JMU, and Leah Windsor offer a new examination of the challenges associated with academic parenthood based on original survey data and stories from academics across disciplines—and call on colleges and universities to implement systemic change. This book includes recommendations to help academia move beyond the starting point of existing policies, and gives advice to new and expectant scholar parents.
Get Untamed: The Journal (How to Quit Pleasing and Start Living)
BY GLENNON DOYLE (’99) Clarkson Potter ISBN-13: 978-0593235652
With Untamed, Glennon Doyle—writer, activist and “patron saint of female empowerment” (People)— ignited a movement. Doyle now offers a new way of journaling, one that reveals how we can stop striving to meet others’ expectations—because when we finally learn that satisfying the world is impossible, we quit pleasing and start living. Whether or not you have read Untamed, this journal leads you to rediscover and begin to trust your own inner voice. Full of thought-provoking exercises, beloved quotations from Untamed, compelling illustrations, playful and meditative coloring pages, and an original introduction, in Get Untamed: The Journal, Doyle guides us through the process of examining the aspects of our lives that can make us feel caged. This revolutionary method for uprooting culturally-constructed ideas shows us how to discover for ourselves what we want to keep and what we’ll let burn so that we can build lives by design instead of default. A one-of-a-kind journal experience, Get Untamed proves Doyle’s philosophy that “imagination is not where we go to escape reality, but where we go to remember it.”
Moshe’s Big Day: A Lesson in Trust
BY SYDNEY COFFEY (’07) Wide Island Publishing ISBN-13: 978-1737364108
It’s no secret that the world can be a big, scary place sometimes. But there’s someone you can trust when it feels a little too big and scary. Moshe’s Big Day follows Moshe the sheep as he ventures to new places, gets a little scared and remembers he knows someone who’s always there to help. Just as Moshe realizes he can trust his shepherd, children will learn that they can trust in Jesus when they feel afraid or overwhelmed. This Wide Island Publishing release includes a back section for parents that provides an opportunity to connect the story to Scripture and point children to Christ. Perfect for family devotions or for children struggling with feelings of fear, Moshe’s Big Day will build a foundation for trusting God no matter what comes a child’s way.
SHOW YOUR JMU PRIDE!
To show your Madison pride wherever you drive and support scholarships for Virginia students, visit www.dmvNOW.com to get your JMU license plate today.
Agility coach helps companies adapt to change
BY JIM HEFFERNAN (’96, ’17M)
Betsy Swaney Kauffman (’97) grew up in a military family. By the time she arrived at JMU in the fall of 1993, Kauffman had attended six schools in four U.S. states as well as
Japan. “My four years at JMU were the longest I spent in one place in my life at that point,” she said.
No surprise, then, that her career has taken a few twists and turns as well. After graduating with a degree in hospitality and tourism management, Kauffman went to work as a catering manager at George Mason University. During that time, she met her future husband, Jonathan Kauffman, who convinced her to move with him to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
There, Kauffman took a job with
Boy Scouts of America, helping lead a program to bring character education, leadership and career readiness into area high schools.
After getting married in 1999, the couple decided on a whim to move to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Once again, Kauffman needed a job, so she went and knocked on the door of the director of the Boy Scouts’ corporate supply division. The two ended up talking for an hour. “The next day, he called me and said, ‘You’re a smart young woman. I need somebody like you to come in and shake up our IT department.’”
Kauffman learned about hardware and software systems, and soon pivoted into project management, including a stint as a consultant. “I love project management,”
Kauffman said. “Projects are constantly coming and going. … Being able to change and rapidly iterate was appealing to me.”
In 2012, Kauffman began working with organizations that were looking to become more agile in how they delivered products and services. “Everybody was asking, ‘How do we actually change the way we operate?’” she said.
One day, while working as a coach at Bank of America’s corporate offices in Charlotte, Kauffman spoke at a local conference. “Afterward I had a line of people. The very last person that came to talk to me was a guy who was actually another coach at the bank. And he was like, ‘You need to quit your day job and take this on the road.’”
Kauffman did just that, launching her own firm in 2014 focused on agile training and coaching. A few years later, the company regrouped and relaunched under the name Cross Impact Coaching,
with an emphasis on organizational design. Organizational design involves looking at an organization as a system. “It’s not just moving pieces on an org chart,” Kauffman said. “It’s, ‘Do we have the right people in place? Do they have the right skill sets? Can they help take us to the next level? Are our systems slow? Are our processes optimized? Are our strategies aligned across the organization?’” Cross Impact Coaching helps organizations achieve what Kauffman calls “little-a agility”—being nimble, innovative and creative, and not being afraid to fail. “With that comes transparency and clarity, and being able to respond to customers and the changing dynamics of what’s happening out in the world,” Kauffman said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Cross Impact’s coaches would conduct in-person workBetsy Swaney Kauffman’s (’97) knack for agile training shops with companies, but these and coaching led her to launch her own company. days their work is mostly virtual. “It’s a little tougher environment to observe what’s really going on and the relationships,” Kauffman said, “but the dynamics are still there.” In January 2021, Kauffman hosted her first TED Talk, “4 Tips to Kickstart Honest Conversations at Work,” in which she discusses why we are often afraid to speak up in a group of our peers, especially when it involves conflict. What’s next for Kauffman? She’s exploring the idea of a digital publication, or perhaps a podcast, around organizational design. At the end of the day, her goal is to help create workplaces “where people wake up each morning feeling motivated and inspired by their work and end their days feeling fulfilled and valued.”
