The Breeze 11.10.22

The Breeze

From the ballot to city hall: Harrisonburg elects first majority Black, female city council

By KASEY TRAPUZZANO The Breeze

Harrisonburg elected its first majority Black and first majority female city council on Tuesday.

Democratic and Independent candidates swept the races, with current council member Christopher Jones (D), Dany Fleming (D) and Monica Robinson (D) winning the city council race and Emma Phillips and incumbents Andrew Kohen and Kristen Loflin winning the Harrisonburg City School Board. Provisional and some mail-in ballots have yet to be counted but aren’t expected to change these results.

Incumbent Ben Cline (R) defeated Jennifer Lewis (D) as the U.S. House Representative for the 6th congressional district. Cline received 171,381 votes, or 64.54%, while Lewis received 93,702 votes, or 35.29%, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. However, Lewis took Harrisonburg, receiving 6,220 votes, or 62.44%, while Cline received 3,718, or 37.33%.

Jones, unchallenged in the special election for the council term ending in 2024, received 6,389 votes, or 77.13%, and voters marked 1,894 write-in votes — 22.87%.

Fleming received 5,384 votes for city council, Robinson received 5,513, Marshall Orenic (I) received 3,148 and Rick Nagel (I) received 3,315, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

Phillips received 5,372 votes for school board, Kohen received 5,258 and Loflin received 5,281, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Incumbent Obie Hill and candidate Corin Jackson won’t head on to the school board, receiving 2,818 votes

and 3,690 votes, respectively.

With these results come the first majority Black and majority female city council in Harrisonburg. The council is completely made up of members who identify as Democrats.

Looking locally

Jones said he’s humbled and grateful that residents of Harrisonburg chose him to represent them in the special election, which

he ran for after narrowly losing the caucus for his current seat this summer. As a Black councilmember himself, Jones said having the first ever majority Black city council shows that Harrisonburg really is the welcoming place it says it is — the Friendly City, as it’s called.

“It’s a testament to the character of our residents,” Jones said. “That voters would choose to be led by folks that are not in the majority — folks that are culturally not in the majority based on race.”

Harrisonburg’s director of communications and spokesperson, Michael Parks, told The Breeze via email that while the current city council is majority non-white, there’s no known record of having a majority Black city council before, as records don’t indicate the race of each councilmember — “it is true to the best of our knowledge,” he said.

JMU volleyball readies for last-ever series in home venue

By SAVANNAH REGER The Breeze

The building sits quietly between Bridgeforth Stadium and the JMU bookstore. Inside are short bathroom stalls and much dimmer lighting compared to other places on campus.

On football gamedays, the buzzing light on the first floor of Godwin Hall guides people to the bathrooms and back out to tailgate again. Compared to the music, buses and students’ chatter, though, it’s silent.

But Godwin is more than a place to tailgate, study or take classes. Inside the building built in 1972 is Sinclair Gymnasium, home to JMU volleyball.

When the Dukes are in town, the typically quiet building wakes up.

“Godwin is one of the loudest rooms in the whole Mid-Atlantic,” JMU volleyball PA announcer James Hickey said. “It’s one of the biggest home court advantages.”

After 50 years, JMU is leaving Godwin and Sinclair Gymnasium behind. Next season, the Dukes will play in the Convocation Center — the long-time basketball arena that’s been under construction since March to better suit volleyball and six other sports — on the opposite side of Interstate-81.

This weekend, the Dukes host South Alabama for their final two games at their long-time home.

“I personally am going to be sad,” Hickey said. “If you want to see an old man cry, come Saturday.”

Sinclair Gymnasium on the second floor of Godwin holds 1,500 people, but the bleacher seating keeps them closely packed. JMU volleyball head coach Lauren Steinbrecher said it’s hard to find a seat.

The Dukes use that jam-packed environment to their advantage. Between the yelling, the wooden seats and nature of the gym, the Dukes nearly have an extra teammate when they play at home.

“Sometimes you go to other places, and it’s like ‘the black hole of death,’” Steinbrecher said. “But the fans are loud, the building’s loud … I mean, everything is first class. It’s a fun place to play.”

Hickey’s announced JMU volleyball for nine years. He got a call one day at Fort Defiance High School, a class three school about 13 miles from JMU, that the Dukes needed a public announcer for volleyball. He’d been announcing for the high school, he said, but he’d wanted to work with JMU his whole life.

In Tuesday’s midterm election, seats for Harrisonburg City Council, school board and U.S. House Representative for the 6th congressional district were on the ballot. From left to right: Monica Robinson (D) via campaign website, Laura Dent (D) via Facebook, Deanna Reed (D) via Facebook, Dany Fleming (D) via Facebook and Chris Jones (D) via Robinson’s campaign website.

JMU volleyball will play its final two games in Godwin Hall this Friday and Saturday. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

EXECUTIVE EDITOR SHIRIN ZIA FAQIRI breezepress@gmail.com SPORTS EDITORS MADISON HRICIK & GRANT JOHNSON breezesports@gmail.com AUDIENCE EDITOR ALI MCCALEB thebreezesocials@gmail.com

1598 S. Main St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801 PHONE: (540) 568-6127 FAX: (540) 568-7889

MISSION

The Breeze, the student-run newspaper of James Madison University, serves student, faculty and staff readership by reporting news involving the campus and local community. The Breeze strives to be impartial and fair in its reporting and firmly believes in First Amendment rights.

Published on Thursday mornings, The Breeze is distributed throughout James Madison University and the local Harrisonburg community. Single copies of The Breeze are distributed free of charge. Additional copies are available for 50 cents by contacting our business office. Comments and complaints should be addressed to Charlotte Matherly, editor.

Daria Ausen / The Breeze

Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Michael Russo

The Breeze

A new era

Harrisonburg midterm elections result in ‘Blue Wave’

from ELECTIONS, page 1

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Black and African American Population in Harrisonburg is 7.8% as of July 1, 2021.

Jones said while there are still barriers concerning racial equality and racial harmony, this is a “huge step in the right direction” for the city and that it’s clear that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are priorities for Harrisonburg residents.

“It’s good to know that African Americans can be comfortable stepping into leadership roles in Harrisonburg and be supported by a majority that’s not [the] African American population,” Jones said.

The milestone comes six years after Mayor Deanna Reed became the first Black woman elected to city council in 2016, as reported by The Daily News-Record.

While city council may now be majority Black, female and Democratic, Jones said the council will weigh all its options and listen to all voices and perspectives before making decisions that affect the city.

Mayor Deanna Reed (D) said she was pleased with the election results and the “Blue Wave.” Reed said having a majority Black and female city council is “historic” and

that the council is reflecting the city.

“Not only do we have two African American females, but now we have three women,” Reed said. “The women are more than the men and that’s never happened before either, so I’m excited about that.”

Reed said while the city council now has all Democratic members, each representative has their unique style and personal passions they’ll use to come together and continue serving the community.

Fleming said he’s appreciative of voters in Harrisonburg, who he thinks were “pretty clear in their choices” for city council and school board. Voters in Harrisonburg elected officials they felt had the experience and knowledge of the issues to represent them, which Fleming said resulted in the historic outcomes.

“We have a long history in this country, up to now, of barriers of restrictions that would’ve kept that from being possible,” Fleming said. “The more often we’re able to break down those barriers, the better off and healthier we’re going to be as a community.”

Current councilmember Laura Dent said she feels “fantastic” about both the new school board and city council elects. She said having a majority Black council is impressive

for a “previously disenfranchised community” to now have a majority of Black elected leadership. Additionally, Dent said she’s excited to now have two female colleagues.

“That’s inspiring for young women looking to seek leadership positions,” Dent said.

Additionally, Jones, Fleming and Dent all said they’re excited to work with new council members and tackle issues important to people in the community.

Jones said he’s looking forward to hearing ideas councilmembers-elect Fleming and Robinson bring to the table. Jones said in 2023, he hopes to work with the new city manager Ande Banks, the executive manager team and human resources to fill vacancies within the Harrisonburg Police Department (HPD) and other departments experiencing vacancies within the city.

“The No. 1 goal for me on city council is to make sure that the city delivers high quality services to all of its residents and business owners,” Jones said, “and we can do that best if we are fully staffed.”

Fleming said he’s excited to start problemsolving with the other councilmembers and wants to listen to Harrisonburg residents on the issues that are important to them, specifically regarding schools, housing,

transportation and childcare.

Dent said she’s excited to work with Fleming because he has a “deep knowledge” on the city as chair of Harrisonburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and he was a previous member of the school board. Dent hopes to work on environmental justice advocacy with Robinson.

After the unofficial results came in at the Democratic watch party at Clementine Cafe on Tuesday night, Robinson said she was anxious to get the final numbers but pleased with the results so far. She emphasized that Harrisonburg residents should “always come first” and that it’s important for her and other council members to listen to residents to make the community a better place.

Robinson said the issues of homelessness, affordable housing and economic development are all important, but said she believes clean energy should be the highest priority.

“If we don’t start thinking about the future and the future generations, all those other issues aren’t even going to be an issue,” Robinson said. “I think with each one of those, I’d like to piece in something that has to do with clean energy, sustainability and just start looking at things in the long term.”

Returning councilmember Christopher Jones said Tuesday’s election results make it clear that diversity, equity and inclusion are priorities for Harrisonburg residents. Abi Middleton / The Breeze

Student reactions

Junior Gia Yoder, president of the College Democrats at JMU, said she’s “extremely excited” about Tuesday’s election results.

“It’s been a very exciting last 24 hours,” Yoder said. Yoder is a former staff writer for The Breeze.

Having gone through the Harrisonburg City Public School (HCPS) system herself, Yoder said it’s important the city has elected school board officials who will tell transgender and LGBTQ students that they have a place and are welcome and supported within the school system.

Yoder highlighted how much Harrisonburg has changed within the last 14 years since former President Barack Obama (D) first flipped Harrisonburg to lean more Democratic in the 2008 presidential election. Obama received 8,444 votes in Harrisonburg over John McCain’s (R) 6,048 votes, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

“It’s been incredibly interesting to watch the city grow and become a more diverse community,” Yoder said. “It’s very exciting to see that more folks of different backgrounds, different experiences, are coming to our city council.”

Yoder said she hopes this diversity on city council paves the way for more people of different races and backgrounds to work within local politics and government.

At the Republican watch party at El Charro on Tuesday night, senior Juliana McGrath, a member of the College Republicans at JMU and Marshall Orenic’s campaign manager, said she believed having Independent, Republican-endorsed candidates would help unite city council and avoid the current one-party dominance by taking politics out of the council and focusing on Harrisonburg specifically, she said — but the results continue the Democratic trend.

Voter turnout consistent with slight midterm drop off

Kara Dillard, interim associate director of the Madison Center for Civic Engagement at JMU, said she believes JMU students were “very aware” that there was an election and took the idea of voting seriously.

In 2020, 266 students voted on campus in the presidential election at the Convocation Center, according to the Virginia Department of Elections (VDOE). In 2021, 276 students voted on campus for the Virginia gubernatorial election. This year, the new on-campus voting precinct at Godwin Hall saw about 250 students who voted, Dillard said.

“That’s a big win for JMU,” Dillard said.

The VDOE database logs 162 on-campus voters in Tuesday’s congressional election, not counting provisional ballots. The slight drop was suspected, she said, because voter turnout for midterm elections is generally lower across the board.

Dillard said after talking with poll workers, she learned that there was a large number of sameday registration and voting at the Stone Spring and Keister districts, which serve many students who live off campus. She said the new law allowing same-day registration in Virginia allowed more students to vote than they previously would have.

“The throughline really seems to have this kind of stability,” Dillard said. “JMU students understand their civic obligations, and take that seriously.”

Dillard said that in 2020, the student-age voter group was key in flipping several U.S. Senate races. While it’s harder for local candidates to forget about the college student voting bloc, national candidates forget about the strength that group has, she said.

Looking nationally

David Jones, a political science professor at JMU, oversees the department’s Washington semester and has done research in elections, media and U.S. politics. Nationally, Jones said the president’s party usually loses many seats, especially in the midterm elections of their first term, and that Republicans were forecasted to pick up anywhere from 30 to 50 seats on Tuesday.

According to the Associated Press, Republicans won Senate races in states including Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada, while Democrats won states including Pennsylvania, Arizona and New Hampshire.

Jones said even if Republicans win majority of the House and Senate, there wasn’t a Republican “Red Wave” that was expected in the national election and that Republicans could’ve done “a whole lot better.” A reason for this, Jones said, is because Republicans elected “bad” candidates who were either a poor fit for their state or congressional district, ineffective at running for office with little political experience or are close to former President Donald Trump (R), who he described as “completely toxic to a substantial portion of the electorate.”

Charlotte Matherly and Ashlyn Campbell contributed to this report.

CONTACT Kasey Trapuzzano at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Results are in

Election night watch parties react to wins and losses across the ’Burg

By MICHAEL RUSSO, KASEY TRAPUZZANO and AVERY GOODSTINE The Breeze

After polls closed at 7 p.m. and election results poured in, voters celebrated their candidates throughout the Friendly City.

Incumbent Ben Cline (R) defeated Jennifer Lewis (D) as the U.S. House Representative for the 6th congressional district. Cline received 171,381 total votes, or 64.54% of the votes, while Lewis received 93,702 total votes or 35.29% of the votes, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. However, Lewis won Harrisonburg with 6,220 or 62.44% of the votes, while Cline received 3,718 or 37.33% of the votes.

Jones, Fleming and Robinson were elected for Harrisonburg City Council and Phillips, Kohen and Loflin were elected for Harrisonburg City School Board.

Democratic-leaning candidates sweep city council, school board

A Democratic watch party was hosted at Clementine Cafe in downtown Harrisonburg in support of congressional candidate Lewis, Harrisonburg city council candidates Jones, Fleming and Robinson, and Harrisonburg City School Board candidate Phillips and incumbents Kohen and Loflin.

Jones, Fleming, Robinson and current city councilmember Laura Dent were in attendance, as well as Phillips, Kohen and Loflin.

More than 30 supporters gathered in the basement of Clementine Cafe to watch the results of the election races in hopes of seeing Democratic candidates come out on top. As results were announced throughout the night, the room erupted into cheers and congratulations to the winning candidates, who mingled with others around the room.

Phillips, Kohen and Loflin were announced as the unofficial winners of the three open school board seats, and Fleming and Robinson were elected to city council alongside returning councilmember Jones, who was the sole candidate in this year’s special election.

After the race was unofficially called, school board members-elect Kohen and Loflin each shared their reactions to their respective victories.

“We want to continue the policies that are enforced that respect and uphold the dignity of every student in the school division and give them the very best quality of education that we can get the city council to fund,” Kohen said.

Loflin said the city’s support was “invigorating” as results came in and ultimately led to her and her fellow Democratic candidates’ wins.

“I have so much pride for our city that we are still the kind, inclusive city that I knew that we were,” Loflin said. “We are going to keep on caring for kids and taking care of teachers, and I’m really proud of all the work that we did.”

Speaking on the city council race, Dent said she was “thrilled” to have Fleming, Robinson and Jones win their seats and begin work on initiatives to benefit the Harrisonburg community.

“[With] an all-Democratic council, there’s no limit to what we can do,” Dent said. “We’ve worked hard for this. We needed to move forward.”

Along with an all-Democratic council, this will be the first majority Black and female Harrisonburg City Council.

Councilmember-elect Fleming also expressed his excitement to get to work and put the people of Harrisonburg at the forefront of the council’s decision-making.

“I think we’ll work well together to tackle the big issues we’re facing,” Fleming said. “Continuing to listen to folks is still the job.”

Supporters gathered at Clementine Cafe for the Democratic watch party Tuesday night.

Councilmember Laura Dent said she’s excited to now have two female colleagues on city council in a majority female council. Photos by Abi Middleton / The Breeze

Republicans succeed in Congress, Independents fall short locally

Across town, a Republican watch party was hosted at El Charro on South Main Street in support of congressional candidate and incumbent Cline and Independent Harrisonburg city council candidate Orenic. Another Independent Harrisonburg city council candidate, Nagel, was also in attendance. Although Harrisonburg City School Board candidates Hill and Jackson ran as Independents, many Republican voters were in support of them

Many in attendance were wearing red shirts and sweaters with “I Voted” buttons and stickers. The crowd was fairly silent until around 8 p.m. when Cline jumped ahead in the polls against Jennifer Lewis. The room was suddenly filled with cheers and clapping, and a man holding a “Vote for Ben Cline” sign stood up, shouting, “Go Republicans!”

Members of the JMU and Bridgewater College Republicans organizations attended alongside Rockingham County School Board member Matthew Cross. More than 50 people were in attendance as of 8 p.m.

Though none of the independent candidates were elected to city council or the school board and Lewis received more votes in Harrisonburg, Cline won the overall district and will keep his seat in Congress.

“I was at four different polling precincts today, and there was a good response to a lot of people coming out and voting,” Cross said prior to the local races being called.

Juliana McGrath, a member of JMU College Republicans and Orenic’s campaign manager, also said turnout was high and that she saw positive

responses among voters at the polls, even though Orenic lost the race.

“We put in a ton of effort to reach voters and just really find out what was important to them and find out what kind of changes they want made,” McGrath said.

For Rockingham County resident David Briggman, the congressional race between Cline and Lewis was the only race on his ballot — an easy decision, he said.

“I’ve been friends with Ben Cline for a long time and … being a conservative, there’s no other choice except that,” Briggman said.

Though he lives in Rockingham County, Briggman expressed his concern over who would be elected for the Harrisonburg city council, saying city residents moving into the county could also bring voting patterns that leaned left.

After the city council race was called, Nagel said his opponents are “good people” who will do well in their positions but that he was disappointed in the result.

“I was in it to win it,” Nagel said. “I felt like I could bring a lot to city council and solve some of the problems [like] affordable housing, education, public safety, bringing higher-paying jobs to Harrisonburg … I ran a hard campaign, and I wanted to win, and we came up short. That’s the game.”

Though he lost out on city council Tuesday night, Nagel said public service has always been one of his priorities, and he will “keep the door open for everything” in the future and whatever it may hold.

CONTACT Kasey Trapuzzano at breezenews@ gmail.com and Michael Russo and Avery Goodstine at thebreezeculture@gmail.com.

For more JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow @BreezeNewsJMU on Twitter.

Supporters gathered at El Charro for the Republican watch party Tuesday night. Photos by Abi Middleton / The Breeze

Helping hands

JMU Police Department receives grant for mental health co-correspondent

By SARAH ECCLESTON The Breeze

The JMU Police Department (JMU PD) has received the Crisis Intervention Teams grant, a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to integrate a mental health professional into the police response to mental health-related calls. JMU Chief of Police Anthony Matos said the main goal of the grant program is to prevent the escalation of mental health crisis situations.

A study by the National Library of Medicine found that 71% of students reported the pandemic has affected their overall mental health. Matos said that with the rise of mental health problems on all college campuses, programs like this one are needed.

“This is a way for the police department to truly become a 21st century model in policing and to offer this type of care and service to our community,” Matos said.

Matos said JMU PD got this grant by writing the requirements, i.e. why JMU needs the funding. The Office of Sponsored Programs at JMU helped him with the “administrative legwork”.

Matos said JMU PD plans to start the program at the beginning of the coming spring 2023 semester and has funding up until August 2024. The program only has funding for 24 months and Matos said that it’s not known at this time whether or not the DOJ plans to extend or continue the program after the twenty four months are up.

Matos said nights and weekends are the busiest time for JMU PD because that is when they get the most calls. The mental health professionals would work those times, he said, so in person help will be available for students even when other services aren’t open.

State law enforcement agencies, federally recognized Indian tribes and their public agencies and territorial law enforcement agencies were eligible to apply. There was about $9.5 million of funding available from FY22 Community Policing Development (CPD) Implementing

Crisis Intervention Teams solicitation, according to their website.

Along with the JMU PD, many other police departments in Virginia received the grant including Richmond, Dayton, Danville and Bedford county to name a few, according to the DOJ.

Matos said there are already many other police departments who have included mental health professionals in their response teams, so JMU PD can look at what they have done as a “template.”

Other police departments in Virginia are creating their own plans to include mental health professionals as first responders. Fairfax County is providing Crisis Intervention Team Training that includes mental health professionals and other first responders to best address emergency situations, according to its website.

Cameron West, sophomore psychology major, said she believes having a mental health professional on staff will bring a sense of comfort and ease worries for people who are concerned about calling the police during a mental health crisis.

West said she appreciates the way JMU brings mental health into the conversation and tries to reduce the stigma around it. She was a First yeaR Orientation Guide (FROG) and during her training, she said they talked a lot about mental health.

She said counseling center staff came to speak with the FROGs and informed them on what resources they have and how they can be used. They also went through a powerpoint on the TimelyCare app and explained to them how it can be used for a student having a crisis.

“It’s a big step in the right direction,” West said.

Isabella Cerullo, junior communications major and co-president and communications director of Active Minds, a club on campus that aims to share information publicly about JMU’s mental health services, said she thinks the grant program is a great idea. She said she believes it’s a good way to deescalate the situation, and in case of escalation, the therapist can have the police as a backup.

“I think it’s a good tag team,” Cerullo said.

SANDWICH™ COMBO

Cerullo said Active Minds will be promoting the grant program once it starts by setting up a table at Warner Commons and posting on its social media so that students are aware of these services in case they end up needing them.

One concern that Cerullo brought up was students not knowing about the program, which Active Minds seeks to address. She said the more students know about the grant program, the more they’ll be able to get help in emergency situations.

“Knowledge is power,” Cerullo said.

CONTACT Sarah Eccleston at ecclessk@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

JMU Chief of Police Anthony Matos said the grant will prevent the escalation of mental health crisis situaions. Cathryn Tateosian / The Breeze

'Everybody struggles'

Former JMU administrator aims to help struggling college kids with new book

By ASHLEE THOMPSON The Breeze

On a mission to help college-aged students down a path of healing, Josh Bacon, former JMU dean of students of three years, released a book.

According to the Mayo Clinic Health System, up to 44% of American college students reported experiencing signs of depression and anxiety. The Haven at College, a mental health focussed site for college students, showed that academics, family issues, peer pressure and financial problems are among the most common stressors for college students.

“Everybody struggles and faces challenges in college,” Bacon said.

The book, “I Screwed Up! Now What? Seven Practices to Make Things Right and Conquer Adversity,” features themes of sharing, examining and making meaning of your struggles, as well as mentorship, motivation, self-care and receiving support during challenges. Bacon said after reading his book, readers will leave feeling “more confident” and will be able to take “bigger risks.” The book also includes a journal in which readers are able to write down their thoughts.

“When I retired from dean of students at JMU, [these themes] were the things I picked up that worked,” Bacon said. “These are all of the things I’ve used over the years that I’ve seen that work to help students.”

Amazon describes the book as featuring “remarkable stories of effectively applying Restorative Justice principles and practices to personal struggles—and growing from the experience.” Oxford dictionary defines restorative justice as rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community.

Taking about a year to write and publish, “I Screwed Up!” features real-life JMU student stories — with names that have been changed

— that Bacon heard while serving as dean of students. He said he thinks these anecdotes will “resonate with college students” because they’re authentic and relatable college stories.

While the book features college student stories, that’s not the only audience. Bacon said he believes parents will also benefit from this book, so they can figure out how to properly help their students.

Kevin Lanoue, former JMU chief of police and friend to Bacon, said that when dealing with struggling students, it’s best to be patient and listen. Lanoue said upon reading Bacon’s book, his biggest takeaway was that the human experience “is universal.”

“I realized we experience so many of the same things,” Lanoue said. Serving as dean of students for 21 years, Bacon said he understands the challenges and setbacks students often face. He said there are negative effects of social media on the current college generation because people today tend to only share their best selves online, leading others to question if they’re the only ones struggling since “everyone else seems to be having fun,” he said.

Bacon said people aren’t always great at sharing when they’re struggling. At JMU, Bacon would meet with students, typically those wanting to withdraw from JMU, who felt as if they didn’t belong. He encouraged sharing emotions with trusted people, which he explores in the first chapter in his book.

“Whenever [my parents] would ask me ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ the answer was always, ‘Fine,’” Bacon shared in a video on JMU’s Rebound program website. “I never shared anything.”

Matthew Hunsberger, coordinator of the dean of students office, said in an email to The Breeze that he appreciates how Bacon’s book includes many practices and behaviors that help students work through adversity, as well as the “prominence” of using restorative practices to face challenges.

“[Bacon] writes that, ‘restorative practices start with the nearly

lost art of storytelling,’” Hunsberger said. “That’s where we begin with Rebound at JMU.”

The Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices (OSARP) deals with problems in a similar manner, aiming to help students and staff at JMU prevent and manage conflict, uphold accountability and emphasize community well-being, according to its website.

Wendy Lushbaugh, the director of OSARP, worked with Bacon during his time as dean of students.

Lushbaugh said Bacon worked “diligently” in order to aid harmed students in finding a way forward as well as helping students that made mistakes find a path to overcome them.

“Helping students in this way was a passion for Josh,” Lushbaugh said. “It makes sense that Josh has written this book to reach out to as many students and others as possible to assist them during life’s struggles.”

Bacon said he wants JMU students to know that he’s always available to talk if needed.

“This book is when you take challenges and you face adversity. This is the process to help you become stronger and learn from those challenges,” Bacon said. “I really think every student should have it.”

CONTACT Ashlee Thomspon at thomp6ab@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Photo courtesy of Josh Bacon

Strangers to siblings

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg fosters lasting bonds

By HALEY THOMAS The Breeze

For more than a century, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) has supported one-to-one mentoring relationships with children across the nation. JMU students and residents in the community have come together to be a force of change for youth in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

BBBS’ mission is to “ignite the power and promise of youth,” according to its website. In 2021, 100% of youth in BBBS in Harrisonburg graduated from high school, 87% improved their grades, and 98% increased their disapproval of risky behaviors such as cigarette smoking, violence and substance use.

Lindsey Douglas, executive director of BBBS in Harrisonburg, said what sets this program apart from others is the bond formed between mentors and mentees — the Bigs and Littles.

Anyone over age 18 can apply to be a Big, but there’s a thorough selection process that includes interviews, background and driving record checks, references and a home visit. The Littles’ safety, Douglas said, is the No. 1 priority.

Bigs are also trained to handle situations like academic struggles, bullying, low self-esteem and, in certain situations, indicators of abuse.

While there are no specific criteria for a child to join BBBS, Douglas said the majority of Littles have an enhanced need for mentorship. In 2021, 75% of the youth BBBS served in Harrisonburg faced environmental risks, such as having an absent or incarcerated parent, living at or below the poverty level or having limited English proficiency. Guidance counselors and teachers have consistently been the largest referral source.

BBBS has been active in the community for 45 years, so most families are open and honest about their circumstances to ensure their child gets the most out of the program, Douglas

said. Matching Bigs and Littles is an extensive process, she said, but necessary to ensure a strong relationship.

BBBS in Harrisonburg has five match support specialists tasked with pairing Littles with Bigs and helping to advance that bond over time. Matches are made based primarily on personalities and common interests.

Not all Bigs can offer the same time commitment, so BBBS offers a variety of programs. The Sports Buddies program allows Bigs to watch their Littles play sports facilitated and run by BBBS staff twice a month. The schoolbased program requires Bigs to visit their Little’s school at least once a week during lunch or recess. Most time-intensive is the communitybased program, which requires Bigs to plan activities in the community with their Littles at least once a week.

Being a friend

Olivia Volman (’19) graduated from JMU’s nursing program and participated in BBBS from the moment she first learned about the program at her freshman year Student Org Night until she left to pursue a career as a travel nurse.

As a freshman without a car on campus, Volman decided to volunteer for the schoolbased program. She was matched with a Little Sister in first grade. Every week, she took the bus to her Little’s elementary school, bringing a coloring book and Uno along with her.

Volman said that at first, her Little was reluctant to open up to her. Their weekly hangouts consisted of Clue, Candyland and card games while Volman asked all the questions — her favorite color, favorite school subject, career aspirations — until her Little grew less shy.

“By the end,” Volman said, “she was telling me all the latest 4th-grade gossip.”

Between 3rd and 4th grade, her Little switched schools. Volman had transferred schools at around the same age and said she knew how

“overwhelming” of an experience it can be. With Volman’s support, her Little adapted quickly, and the two grew closer.

“We would call ourselves mentors, but I wasn’t just always giving advice,” Volman said. “It was more just being an extra friend.”

Outside of weekly meetings with her Little, Volman participated in countless fundraising events for BBBS in Harrisonburg. Her favorite, she said, was selling grilled cheeses at 1 a.m. to partygoers on Devon Lane.

Volman said she never knew her Little’s circumstances or why she was a part of BBBS, but she made it known that she would support her Little no matter what. Reflecting on her time as a Big, Volman said she would “do it all over again.”

“It was a responsibility, but it wasn’t work,” Volman said. “It just felt like I got to hang out with my little friend.”

Like a real sister

Kelsey Hartman (’19) attended JMU for graduate school in the adult education and human resource development program. She applied to volunteer for the BBBS communitybased program at the end of graduate school.

“I knew I wanted to give back to the community and meet a young person that I could positively influence,” Hartman said. “I had a lot of awesome mentors outside of my family when I was growing up, and I know not every kid has that.”

After a six-month-long application process, match support specialists sent Hartman three profiles of potential Littles. She said she felt an instant connection, and in July 2016, she was matched with a 3rd-grader named Paloma.

Hartman and Paloma’s weekly hangouts first consisted of picnics in the park, painting, ice skating, playing games and roller skating. Six years later, the two spend every free moment together — from running errands to sharing

Christmas traditions. Paloma was even in Hartman’s bridal party, Hartman said.

“She’s very much my real little sister in a lot of ways,” Hartman said, referencing the photo of Paloma on her desk.

Hartman said her favorite memory with Paloma was their summer routine of getting Slurpees and going to the park. One day, their usual 7-Eleven was out of Paloma’s favorite flavor: Pina Colada. They went to four 7-Eleven locations across town before finally finding the hidden gem.

“Paloma said she wanted a small, but I insisted she get a large at that point,” Hartman said, laughing at their excursion. “We just have fun in the adventure of whatever we’re doing.”

Hartman said she doesn’t know who she’d be without her Little.

“I think our relationship is a testament to the power of [BBBS],” Hartman said. “I think most people would say they’ve gotten as much, if not more, out of their friendship with their Little as the Little does.”

In 2022, BBBS in Harrisonburg will serve approximately 150 youth. However, Douglas said there are just as many Littles on a waiting list to be matched with a Big.

Prior to the pandemic, BBBS was serving approximately 400 youth each year. But for a year and a half, no new matches could be made. BBBS’ greatest need now, Douglas said, is volunteers.

“You don’t have to have a huge resume to be a Big,” Douglas said. “You just have to want to make a difference, want to have fun with [your Little] and be willing to make the commitment.”

CONTACT Haley Thomas at thoma3hn@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

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Paloma, Kelsey Hartman’s Little, went from getting Slurpees with Hartman to being part of her bridal party. Photo courtesy of Kelsey Hartman

Youth involved in BBBS of Harrisonburg have been positively impacted by being members of the program. According to the BBBS website, 100% of mentees graduated from high school, 87% showed grade improvements and 98% increased their disapproval of behaviors deemed risky. Additional information above is from the BBBS 2021 community impact sheet.

Infographic by Shirin Zia Faqiri

‘Take the leap’

JMU alum works to become flight instructor, shares passion for aviation

By MICHAEL RUSSO The Breeze

David Bowie’s “Heroes” plays miles high in the dark night sky as Daniel Gardner (’22) flies over the Shenandoah Valley illuminated by a “sea of lights” below, he said. The plane’s engine produced a steady hum.

While Gardner recalled this “pristine” evening, he said the line “I feel infinite” from the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” came to mind. Just as the movie’s characters feel the wind blowing across their faces to the tune of “Heroes,” Gardner experiences a similar sense of freedom and peace when he’s flying.

“It’s like a clear feeling,” Gardner said. “[There’s] a quietness up there. I really enjoy it.”

Gardner earned his private pilot’s license just over a year ago, but aviation runs in the family. He had his first flying lesson when he was 5 years old; his father, Joe, worked for many years at the flight school Daniel’s grandfather owned and operated until 2019.

Aviation “was my father’s love,” Joe said. “He loved the flying and just meeting the people.”

Joe went on to say how Daniel would often help plow snow at the flight school when he was young, then eventually learned how to

operate equipment, like fueling up planes, before the school closed.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, near the end of 2020, Daniel was at home much more with his family, which made him miss flying and the business that had been part of his family for so long, especially when he was looking for a new path to take in his life, he said. As Daniel rediscovered his love of aviation, he also switched from his initial career path in education and ultimately double majored in math and statistics for his remaining time at JMU. Since graduating in May 2022, Daniel’s been substitute teaching and working as a swim coach for children ages 6-12 in his hometown of Bristow, Virginia. Now, he’s following in the footsteps of his family as he works toward earning his commercial and flight instructor licenses.

At Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, Gardner took six months of flight lessons with Jake Shifflett, flight operations manager and chief flight instructor at Blue Ridge Aviation. In that time, Gardner’s lessons included tasks like flying only by looking at the instruments, landing during inclement weather and mastering maneuvers required for the initial licensure test, Shifflett explained.

Daniel said it can be overwhelming to learn the extensive rules and restrictions

that pilots must know, though his family’s background in aviation and experience as a student was beneficial during his training.

“I didn’t have a hard time with it because I was still studying, so I just built it into my class schedule,” Daniel said. “Sometimes classes got in the way [and] it took me time to learn it … If you’re not managing your time wisely, you can run into wasting time, which then turns into wasting money.”

Despite the potential for technical and financial challenges, Daniel said he enjoys flying every chance he gets, and he and his family are excited for his future in aviation.

“He’s sort of a natural at it,” Joe said. “I’m happy for him because we need instructors, and it’s a stepping stone, too, if you want to become an airline pilot or any other type of paid pilot … I think for any father, when your kid gets involved in something that you do, it’s just a plus all the way around.”

Joe said it was clear to him that Daniel would enjoy flying, especially performing aerobatic maneuvers through the sky, after his first lesson. Besides the pure thrill of it, Daniel said flying’s also a way for him to connect with his grandparents and bring back childhood memories.

“I just grew up around that, and then going to college, I decided I’m going to be a teacher,” Daniel said. “So, I hadn’t done

anything with flying or anything very much, and I actually really missed it.”

He’s met “some of the coolest people,” he said, and there’s “never really a dull moment” among aviators.

Despite not wanting to become a traditional teacher right now and for the past few years, Daniel said he enjoys education and would love to share his passion with others — a fun opportunity and the perfect combination of his two favorite things, he said.

Shifflett said a job as a flight instructor is valuable for progressing in a career in aviation and encouraged Daniel and other students to pursue that path for many reasons.

“I think that being a flight instructor is probably the most rewarding when you initially get into flying,” Shifflett said. “Not only does it allow you to be able to start finally getting paid to fly, but the learning experiences — even as an instructor — how much you learn from teaching it plays a huge factor … That, I think, is a great way to kind of really build your skills, your knowledge and your safety as a pilot.”

Daniel completed additional testing Oct. 31 for his commercial pilot’s license, which contained a written and multiplechoice portion, as well as a discussion of

Though he switched away from a career in education during his time at JMU, Daniel Gardner (’22) is combining his interests in aviation and teaching by becoming a flight instuctor. Photos by Michael Russo / The Breeze

a flight plan followed by the flight itself. Upon passing, Daniel’s now able to fly for hire and is switching gears toward earning his flight instructor license, which he said he hopes to obtain by the end of the year.

Joe said Daniel’s ambition as he pursues a career as a pilot has been admirable.

“It’s kind of rubbed off on me to really keep focused on pursuing things and helping other people and being a standup person, which [Daniel] is,” Joe said. “He’ll help anybody.”

As Daniel works to become an instructor, the main changes he has to focus on readjusting are readjusting his motor skills and muscle memory since he’ll be sitting on the other side of the plane as a teacher. Daniel will also be studying at home more and creating lesson plans for his students as opposed to building up hours, like he did to earn his commercial license. Daniel said these changes are “not really harder, just a difference you learn to work through.”

One thing Daniel’s looking forward to as an instructor is consistently flying as part of his routine.

“I really enjoy my flight training … so having the ability just to go to the airport and making it a part of my daily life is what I’m excited about,” Daniel said. “Being able

to share that excitement that I feel a lot about aviation … was one of the really cool experiences since I got my [first] license.”

Daniel said being up in the air “changes your perspective” and provides “a different way of looking at life” that he doesn’t get from anything else.

“If you think you would like to try something, go out and try it,” Daniel said. “Don’t be afraid to take the leap … If you do like it — as they call it, the flying bug — once it catches you, you have it forever.”

Looking back on the progress he’s made in the past two years, Daniel said he’s proud of his accomplishments and appreciates where he started, what he’s learned so far and what lies ahead.

“I really enjoyed flying [as a child], and I never realized how much I missed it until I didn’t actually have it for a while,” Gardner said. “After that … there hasn’t been a day that I couldn’t see myself doing this every day of my life.”

CONTACT Michael Russo at thebreezeculture@gmail.com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @ Breeze_Culture

Flying over JMU’s campus and the Shenandoah Valley, Gardner said his time in the air changes his perspective on life and the world.

Gardner earned his commercial pilot’s license Oct. 31 and hopes to become an official flight instructor by the end of the year.

‘It just made us hungry’

Adversity-filled season matures men’s hoops’ leaders

By GRANT JOHNSON The Breeze

One by one, redshirt senior guard Vado Morse talked Oct. 12 about each newcomer in a JMU uniform this year. He spoke about the 3-point range that redshirt junior transfer guard Noah Freidel brings to the team, then paused.

Morse covered all the new players. But another teammate was on his mind, too.

“Somebody else I want to talk about is Terrence.”

Redshirt sophomore guard Terrence Edwards, coming off a season in which he averaged 9.1 points per game and scored 27 in the regular season finale, surprised Morse with his growth as a player in the preseason. Morse was most taken aback by something that had nothing to do with on-court talent, though.

Morse complained about a missed foul call in an early October practice. It messed with him mentally, he said, and he let it show on back-to-back possessions by moving sluggishly going down the court.

Edwards had enough. He called out his roommate of three years — Morse is one of five players who’s played under head coach Mark Byington for three years, along with Edwards — someone who’s “so close” with Edwards off the court.

Edwards said he’s never going to let Morse come into practice and “float around.” He said he sees the potential in Morse, so on his watch, he won’t let him give half effort.

Morse, who said he’s trying to become an “everyday guy,” said he appreciated Edwards’ accountability, which came to the tune of, “C’mon, V! Step it up. We need you.”

“That’s just huge for the team, and that just shows he’s maturing,” Morse said of Edwards. “We’re a team. I’m gonna accept what he’s telling me. I’m not gonna argue back and forth … I live with him, like, I’ve been messing with him since I’ve been here. That’s my brother.”

The camaraderie and maturity is a new standard for JMU men’s hoops, built off a 15-14 (6-12 CAA) year where the whole kitchen sink got thrown at them — the second-longest COVID-19 pause in the country, multiple season-ending injuries and a postseason tournament ban before the season commenced.

Now, Edwards said, players are practicing with an intensity that hasn’t been there before. They no longer take days for granted after missing nearly one month of games last season due to the pandemic or after losing the last game of the season by 36 points, Edwards said, and having no chance to get the bad taste out of their mouths in the CAA tournament.

“We’re diving for loose balls in practice and stuff like that — like that matters,” Edwards said. “We wasn’t diving for loose balls in practice last year. I can’t say that. I don’t remember a time where I got on the floor in practice last year.”

Edwards is 6-foot-6 but handles the ball and can facilitate the offense akin to 6-foot Morse. He started at point guard in JMU’s opener Monday versus Valley Forge; Morse came off the bench, which didn’t happen once last year. Byington said he’s mixing and matching lineups early in the year, as some players have missed reps in practice due to the flu.

The two guards join redshirt junior forward Julien Wooden and redshirt sophomores forward Justin Amadi and guard Terell Strickland as the first thirdyear players Byington’s had since arriving at JMU before the 2020-21 season. Amadi and Wooden combined for 53 of 58 possible starts in 2021-22; Amadi started against Valley Forge on Monday and Wooden came off the bench. Strickland is out for a couple of weeks with a hand injury, Byington said after the Valley Forge game; he also missed the back half of last season with an injury but played 18.8 minutes per game prior to it.

“Just being out, just watching how the season last year finished, it just made me hungry. I know it made a lot of other guys on our team hungry to make an impact this year, especially during the new conference,” Strickland said. “We got to set it off from the jump.”

Over the summer, Byington said he noticed there’s more of a business approach and maturity on the roster. He said his team could make more adjustments in practice earlier in the season than usual, driven by the threeyear players and other veterans like graduate forward Alonzo Sule, who joined the Dukes last season.

Sule said the returning roster has been hardened by everything it took to get through last season — which, on top of the ban and pandemic’s turmoil, saw JMU play 17 games decided by 10 points or less. JMU started 6-1 in such games but ended 3-7.

“I definitely think that made us tougher, more resilient because we were hit with adversity,” Sule said. “So now, this group, we’ve had that fire in the offseason to really push, especially since we can compete in this tournament, so now we got a chance to compete. So now guys are more motivated, more hungry, like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s make sure, let them know that last year was a fluke and this year, you know, we’re here ready to go.’”

In the games JMU dropped last year, there are three that most players said stung the most: both UNCW games — JMU lost the first one at home on a buzzer-beater Jan. 20 and the second on the road again by one point in overtime Feb. 18 — and the Feb. 26 Towson game, which JMU lost 9559. Morse said he tries to keep the losses in the past and move on, but that the Towson loss especially was “embarrassing.”

For redshirt sophomore forward Julien Wooden, he said he tries to bottle up the losses and use them as motivation because they stick with him. Among the third-year Dukes, multiple players

pointed to Wooden as someone poised for a big step up this year — Sule said during one practice in the preseason, Byington told Wooden his “smartness is increasing.”

It comes with time — the JMU veterans have seen more basketball, the game is slowing down and rotations on defense feel more seamless over the years, Wooden said. But the biggest difference for the group in 2022-23, Edwards said, is there’s simply a different feeling this year.

He couldn’t put a pin on it exactly. Players are older, more connected and mature, but Edwards thinks much of the drive derives from how last season ended.

He dropped his career high in the Towson loss but he said it didn’t matter to him. Losing the game “hurt so bad” because JMU couldn’t avenge it in the postseason tournament.

“That loss still sticks with us, and that’s why we come in here every day and we work hard just because of that game,” Edwards said. “Like, we got blown out in front of our home crowd. We can’t wait for the season to start to show everybody we’ve been working. Like, y’all have to worry about nothing like that ever happening again.”

CONTACT Grant Johnson at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more men’s basketball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

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Madison Hricik & Grant Johnson

JMU redshirt sophomore guard Terrence Edwards said there’s a different feeling among the team this year. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

A new direction

JMU cross country and track & field director brings fresh perspective to the Dukes

By ZACH MENDENHALL The Breeze

Imagine waking up to the sunrise over the mountains every morning and taking walks on a track as the sun sets. For Delethea Quarles, this is one of the many things that’s made her time at JMU well worth it.

JMU announced Aug. 26 that Quarles, the former University of South Carolina cross country coach, would assume a new position at JMU’s director of track & field and cross country. Quarles replaces Ta’ Frias, who filled the position for seven years.

Quarles spent this season overseeing the entire program, training and administrative paperwork as well as coaching the high jump and all sprints and relays.

Quarles made her first move with the Dukes by hiring cross-country coach Rebekah Ricksecker in September, replacing former coach Dave Rinker. The position was vacant over the summer, and the team was in need of a coach.

“We’ve been really waiting for that, and so she was able to give us that, which was really a needed thing for the group of athletes,” senior runner Laura Webb said.

Quarles began her track & field career as a student-athlete at Liberty University in 1987.

“It was the best thing for me at that time in my life,” Quarles said. “The things that Liberty stands for are things that really modeled my life … the same kind of support system and beliefs that I grew up on.”

Quarles enters JMU after coaching for multiple decades. She began as an assistant head coach at Liberty in 1989. During her eight-year tenure, Quarles’ team earned three straight Big South Conference outdoor titles from 1994-96.

She moved to South Carolina the summer before its 1998 season as an assistant coach and helped lead the team to 55 top-25 team finishes in NCAA competitions. She was promoted to assistant head coach in 2005. Her role has also led the women’s track & field team to three SEC Outdoor Championships, each coming three years apart: 1999, 2002 and 2005.

“I feel like the sport is the same no matter where you go,” Quarles said. “Coming from

a Power 5, there’s a lot of intensity and fast pace … so here the fast pace is not necessarily the same, which is refreshing.”

Quarles’ have been just as successful for Team USA as at South Carolina. Serving as head coach of Team USA three times on an international stage and as a member of the team eight times, she helped the team earn countless medals, including a meet record of 48 medals during the Pan Am Juniors in 2007.

Throughout this season with JMU, Quarles primarily coached sprints and jumps while focusing on getting to know all athletes on the team, Webb said.

“I feel like she really wants to meet us where we’re at and help all of us individually achieve our goals,” Webb said, “which I think is really exciting, really important as a coach, too.”

Quarles wants to make “camaraderie” a valued concept among the team and ensure they’re aware they are their “sister’s keeper,” always having one another’s back.

“It’s great when everyone is focused enough to achieve something great,” Quarles said. “Some people say two is better than one, but having a team that’s on the same page, good relationships, and a healthy environment is best.”

This season, Quarles feels the team has accomplished its goal of operating as one unit, something the runners have embraced, she said. Senior runner Miranda Stanhope has placed in the top 10 in four meets this season, and the team has finished in the top 50% of the standings in four of five meets.

“My motto is, this is our team. And whatever we do, we do it together,” Quarles said.

This season, she’s shifted the focus of the team from wanting to win to putting their best into practice every day, Stanhope said.

“That’s how you become a champion,” Stanhope said. “It’s like we need to be good every day and we need to be doing our best every time we show up.”

Having a coach as experienced as Quarles is great for the program, Webb said. Having coached at much higher levels than JMU in the past will also start to lead the program in a direction it wants to go, she added.

Stanhope feels the mindset and skills

Coach Dee acquired from coaching in a higher conference can benefit the team.

“She just seems very knowledgeable,” Stanhope said. “I think she’s also a very determined coach. She does have big goals, and she always says she loves to win.”

The team has continued to stay focused on their goals and have “risen above” the change, Quarles said. She said the team stayed the course amid the change at the top.

Since day one, Quarles made it her goal to know every member of the team. That includes all 16 members of the cross country team and all 45 members of the track and field team.

On her first day, she had everyone on the team take turns saying their name, where they’re from and what their goals are, Webb said.

“She’s definitely made it clear that she cares about us as more than athletes but people,” Webb said. “She just cares about me as a whole person and not just, you know, the athletic side of me … She wants to get to know all of us and support us in all those ways.”

Throughout the season, Quarles has ensured each runner is carrying out their goals outside of running like academics, and finding the healthy balance that is necessary, Stanhope said. Quarles is “really individualized,” Stanhope said, and realizes each runner’s performance can also be impacted by other things going on in their lives.

While the runners’ names haven’t been announced by Quarles yet, JMU will compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 11.

The transition for Quarles has been helped by the diligence the team carries to the track every day, which, she said, is “all you can ask for from your team” as a coach. And moving into the future, she wants to build national prominence at JMU.

“I feel like we have the people here that are capable of doing that,” Quarles said, “so we just have to keep building on what we have.”

CONTACT Zach Mendenhall at mendenzl@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more cross country coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

November 11-17

Friday, November 11

11 a.m.

Cross country at NCAA Southeast Regional 6 p.m.

Volleyball vs. South Alabama

Saturday, November 12

1 p.m. Volleyball vs. South Alabama

1 p.m. Football at ODU 1 p.m. Men’s basketball at Buffalo

Sunday, November 13

TBD

Men’s soccer Sun Belt Championship 2 p.m.

Women’s basketball vs. Queens (N.C.)

tuesday, November 15 7 p.m.

Men’s basketball at Howard

Wednesday, November 16

TBD

Volleyball Sun Belt Championship

Thursday, November 17

TBD

Volleyball Sun Belt Championship

TBD

Swim & Dive at West Virginia Invitational 7 p.m.

Women’s basketball at Longwood

New director Delethea Quarles spent the past seven years at South Carolina before coming to Harrisonburg. Courtesy of USC Athletics

Goodbye, Godwin

JMU volleyball remembers 50 years at home court ahead of final series

from GODWIN HALL, page 1

Hickey’s first day in Godwin was a rough one — he didn’t really know anyone. But, after taking a breather, he walked into Sinclair Gymnasium and the crowd was jamming as the Dukes got ready for another set. It was the first of many moments that Hickey fell in love with Godwin over the years.

“If there's a word when someone says ‘Godwin,’ I say ‘home,’” Hickey said. If JMU ends up expanding Bridgeforth Stadium, he said, and even if Godwin gets torn down in the process, “it'll always be home” to him.

But Godwin wasn’t always a packed house. It developed throughout its 50 years. Today, it has a Ger-Flor Taraflex competition surface, one that’s ideal for rolling sports, which was installed in 2013.

When former JMU volleyball middle blocker Dana Carter (2000-03) played in Godwin, there was no competition surface — just a gym floor.

“We did not have air conditioning,” Carter said. “It was setting up four or five ginormous fans blowing hot air. We didn't have the nice padded floor like they have now. It was freshly redone and recoated so you stuck to it, you didn't nicely slide and glide over it when you're diving. So I still have scars on my hands and knees.”

Godwin wasn’t the prettiest for Carter, yet the former Duke, like Hickey, said when she thinks of Godwin, she thinks of home. As a kinesiology major, she not only played there but had most of her classes there.

And the kicker — Godwin is where she met her husband.

“I wouldn't have traded [Godwin] for the world,” Carter said. “It's just mixed emotions.”

Since graduation, Carter’s come back to Harrisonburg to watch the team. She said the atmosphere has changed — more people

know about volleyball now. JMU’s fanbase was newer back then, she said, but not any less passionate.

“We had a big student section,” Carter said. “We would always have other teams, if they didn't have a game, come, but it was mainly the men's [club] volleyball. They would [have] their shirts off, paint their chests, the Duke Dog would come and support.”

The building has seen players grow, develop and leave JMU. It’s grown used to people making noise on the bleachers and countless balls hitting the Sinclair Gymnasium ceiling.

The facility was ready for the 2017 Dukes.

JMU hosted the CAA championship in 2017. Hickey said that year felt full circle — he saw the freshmen players from his first season as announcer in 2014 grow into leaders who hosted the tournament.

Steinbrecher said the 2017 championship was one of her favorite moments in the building. Hickey agreed — seeing the team clinch an NCAA tournament ticket in a hall overflowing with history is a highlight.

“The place went absolutely berserk,” Hickey said. “Streamers came flying off the stands.”

Hickey said Godwin has the characteristics of a barn. The sound echoes off the walls and stays within the small space. This competitive advantage often affects away teams.

The Dukes hosted Missouri and Florida, among other top teams, during Hickey’s time in Godwin. JMU beat the Tigers in four sets at home in 2018, and while it dropped the game to the Gators, a top-10 team, Hickey said both teams were mesmerized by the sound and how Sinclair is hidden inside Godwin.

Hickey said some away coaches even got frustrated, and people who’d never played there before took time out of their warmups

to figure out how the walls worked — it wasn’t a typical basketball court like other schools play on.

“A couple of girls from Florida spent a nice piece of their warmup hitting balls up toward the roof, just to see what they [would do],” Hickey said. “The fact that they were spending a portion of their time just checking the room out was enough that it was in the back of their heads.”

In 2014, Villanova came to Harrisonburg, and Hickey said the volume threw the Wildcats off. He even said the head coach looked at him during a timeout as if to say, “‘OK, hell is going on here,’ just because it was loud and just the look on his face was like, ‘What do you have going on here?’”

Carter’s coming back to Harrisonburg this weekend to watch the Dukes in Godwin for

the last time.

When Hickey announces the Dukes and says “Godwin Hall, get on your feet” one last time, he predicts he’ll have tears in his eyes.

For 12-year head coach Steinbrecher, she doesn’t think it’ll sink in that it’s her last game there. She’s got a series with South Alabama to focus on.

But Steinbrecher described Godwin as a blue-collar building. It’s a little run-down and a bit outdated.

But it’s not blue, it’s purple-and-gold, signifying everyone who’s come before it and passed through.

CONTACT Savannah Reger at thebreezeweb@gmail.com. For more volleyball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

The Dukes will play next year at the Convocation Center, on the other side of Interstate-81, after calling Godwin Hall home since 1972. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

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Religious organizations promote outdated ideologies resulting in declined youth participation

ORIANA LUKAS opinions with oriana

Christianity has been a priority in Western society for years. It used to be very uncommon for someone to not identify with some form of Christianity, with 63.3% of the U.S. population attending church in the 1960s. Prior to this century, there were substantial repercussions for disobeying the Catholic Church that extended as far as execution.

In today’s society though, much of that has shifted due to the predominant factor of the growing liberal political climate. Christian churches often preach outdated principles that generally give a judgmental connotation. The associate pastor of Divine Unity Community Church, Marcus Anderson, said that because of this, it’s understandable why much of the youth have strayed away from churches.

“I would say overall, the local churches in America have not done as good of a job demonstrating the character of Jesus towards identity based issues, such as the LGBTQ and any form of gender conformity or nonconformity,” Anderson said. “We have told people more what we are against than what we are for. For the younger generation, who are very accepting, it’s almost revulsion because there’s this sense of unwelcomeness in the church.”

Today, one of the core beliefs in Christianity is the sole marriage between a man and a woman. The Bible states, “one man is united to one woman in matrimony and the two form one new family.”

A “democracy” pat to everyone who voted on Tuesday.

From someone who values their right to vote.

Many of the largest U.S. religious institutions still stand by this belief and refuse the marriage between the same sexes. With gay marriage being legal and the Democratic Party consistently fighting for LGBTQ rights, it follows that many youths would turn away from organized religion as the majority

of millennials and Gen Z fall on the left, according to the Pew Research Center.

Another largely argued topic within religious communities is reproductive rights. The church preaches it’s a sin under most circumstances to proceed with an abortion of any sort. Throughout the decades, they have prayed for this procedure to be deemed illegal and on June 24, their prayers came true with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. According to the New York Times, Archbishop William E. Lori preached to his congression, celebrating this day.

“It is a moment of gratitude to the Lord, and gratitude to so many people, in the church and beyond the church, who have worked and prayed so hard for this day to come,” Lori said.

This is a hard contrast to many young Americans who fight for womens’ reproductive rights. As the church celebrated, many young women were destroyed by this case as their constitutional rights were taken. The resentment for religion was only expected to grow after this case, especially since there’s the precedent that church and state are supposed to be separated. Pastor Anderson further elaborated on the contradictoriness of this standard belief.

“This doesn’t match up well when you say I am pro-whatever, but then there are policies that don’t demonstrate pro-life outside of the womb,” Anderson said. “Are we providing welfare and a social safety net for people to thrive in the world? Have we set up an environment for human flourishing?”

This decline in the Church is statistically represented by a Pew Research Center survey, showing 29% of U.S. adults have no religious affiliation, a 6% increase from 2016. This shift is concerning as for centuries it wasn't even a viable option to identify as agnostic and there were strict

rules forced on everyone. In the 12th century, there was a powerful office throughout Europe and the Americas known as the Inquisition, which enforced the rules of the Catholic Church. They were a dominant power for hundreds of years known primarily for their heinous tortures and persecutions of Jews and Muslims.

By the 1900s, this type of persecution in the U.S. had died down. Robert Ellwood, pastor of an Episcopal church, explained that with the pressures of WWII, focus on family and economics, religion was very prosperous throughout the mid 1900s and really expanded in the 1950s.

“It was a decade when the American family was embraced as an institution by men and women seeking normalcy after World War II,” Ellwood says. “The economy was booming and people bought nice cars and homes in the suburbs.”

The drastic change from the 1950s and 1960s is astounding. There are many changes that the church can make in order to make people feel welcome. Politics are a huge factor in dictating how churches continue to preach, and this is only creating a hostile environment and a strive for power. Pastor Anderson said it’s exponentially important to keep politics and faith separate.

“Let your faith inform your politics, don’t let your politics inform your faith,” Anderson said. “Because then, if your politics inform your faith then politics are your God. Politics is a horrible God. Don’t find your identity here and don’t place your soul, your hopes and your joy on your politcal party because it will let you down every time."

CONTACT Oriana Lukas at lukasok@dukes.jmu. edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @Breeze_Opinion.

A“give-me-space” dart to the guy who was breathing down my neck in The Den line.

From a claustrophobic Duke who doesn't need you to judge my burger choices.

Evan

to

someone or get something off your

Though

parking at JMU meets federal accessibility guidelines, it could be better Low standards

ANTHONY ADKINS contributing columnist

It’s no secret that JMU students spend a large portion of their time every semester locating a decent place to park on campus. They often leave their homes up to an hour early just to provide themselves with the necessary time to locate a spot in a regularly packed lot or deck.

This challenge is made several times harder for physically disabled students making their

way to classes due to JMU’s lack of significant action and attention towards making our parking decks more accessible.

According to Bill Yates, director of Parking and Transit Services at JMU, there are 468 designated parking spaces on campus for students who have handicap permits. Students are able to apply for these permits free of charge in addition to their normal parking pass by presenting a letter from a physician to Parking Services.

This is convenient, but not many eligible

students are aware of the option. Not to mention, the relatively small number of spaces available to be granted to those who need them. With under 500 spaces available to those who are even made aware of the pass, a large portion of the student body is left out.

Even with access to those parking spots, students still have a hard time reaching their destinations due to the location of the lots themselves.

“The [handicap] spaces aren’t even in a convenient spot,” junior Kaia Coles said. “At Forbes, I practically had to hike on crutches.”

Students also have their gripes with parking on campus. Angelina Nguyen, a junior, said that despite the availability of ramps near the lots and elevators within the decks, she considers them to be “essentially useless.”

The ramps are too steep for those who use wheelchairs or require support when walking. With it often taking several minutes to arrive, the elevator proves to be a lackluster choice as well.

Though these ramps and elevators show JMU has taken steps to promote a more accessible campus, they haven’t been implemented effectively. Students must deal with the inconvenience and arrive late to their destinations or place themselves in hazardous situations.

“You just can’t win,” Nguyen said.

JMU’s parking heeds to accessibility regulations on a state and federal level, even exceeding them by including a few more spaces

than legally necessary, Yates said. Despite this, there are limited practical solutions to aid students who spend most of their days on main campus and struggle with mobility.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), parking areas with 401-500 spaces are required to have nine accessible spaces. For areas with 501-1000 spaces, 2% of the total is required. This means only 20 spaces out of 1000 specifically account for disabled people.

According to JMU’s parking and transit statistics, Grace Street Parking Deck houses 414 commuter spaces with 12 of them labeled as accessible spaces. For faculty, there are 62 spaces with none designated as accessible. While JMU does exceed the national requirement for commuters, it does so by including only 3 more spaces.

The Warsaw parking deck has 556 commuter spaces with 12 accessible spaces and 223 faculty spaces with 5 accessible spaces. Commuter parking at Warsaw barely meets the national 2% requirement, which is 11.12 spaces.

While it’s true that JMU adheres to all of the requirements outlined by the ADA, there’s nothing particularly impressive about the way it has achieved this in its parking decks

CONTACT Anthony Adkins at adkinsal@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @Breeze_Opinion.

JMU should provide sustainability options in all residence halls on campus Responsibility to recycle

AVA MENONI contributing columnist

The average American uses 156 plastic water bottles every year, according to earthday.org. JMU has 20,070 undergraduate students with 31% of students living on campus — that would be 970,585 water bottles used by on campus students each year. Although there are recycling bins in areas such as Festival Conference and Student Center and Carrier Library, there’s currently no standard for recycling bins in residence halls.

JMU, being a large university, has a moral responsibility to provide students who live in residence halls the opportunity to recycle. This is especially true because the students living on campus are typically freshmen — they don’t have a car and can’t drop off recyclables in other places, so they’re often forced to throw recyclables away.

Many colleges have started advertising their efforts to be more environmentally conscious. Some such as the University of Vermont and George Washington University have made strong efforts to ban plastic water bottles on their campuses.

The University of Vermont’s water bottle ban was unsuccessful and had “unintended consequences,” according to NPR, resulting in an increase in plastic water bottles being

shipped to the campus and an increase in the consumption of unhealthy beverages by students, such as sodas and other sugary drinks.

As a campus, a plastic water bottle ban is unnecessary. Instead, there should be more opportunities for students to recycle in their residence halls and in all places that sell plastic water bottles.

The university sells plastic water bottles in several locations around campus, including, but not limited to, the vending machines, Festival and Market 64. Because the university is selling and making a profit off these products, they should be responsible for the disposal of them. There should be a plastic recycling bin in all of the places plastic is sold. JMU has made an effort to encourage the use of metal water bottles to promote sustainability, but they haven’t retired plastic bottles entirely.

A big problem for JMU in regard to recycling is the lack of consistency between residence halls.

One of JMU’s most popular freshmen residential areas, the Village, has no recycling areas.

Although there’s a dumpster for students to dispose of trash, there are no recycling bins for any recyclables like paper, plastic or glass.

For the dorms that do have recycling, students should be told at floor meetings about these recycling opportunities so they’re

aware and more likely to recycle.

“Even though my dorm [Wayland Hall] has recycling bins, most people do not use them because they do not know it’s there,” freshman Amanda Xu said.

Because JMU provides housing for students and sells plastic water bottles on campus, it has a responsibility to provide recycling. Recycling

should be a bigger priority for all residence halls and remain consistent throughout campus

CONTACT Ava Menoni at menoniap@dukes. jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @ Breeze_Opinion.

There are no recycling options in the Village, a popular freshman residential area. Daria Ausen / The Breeze

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides that parking areas with 401-500 spaces must have nine accessible spaces and those with 501-1000 spaces must have 2% of them be accesssible. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Online Adolescents

ABBY MELLO contributing columnist

Having had different social media platforms at my disposal for my entire life, I can attest that creating an online account with a fake birthday or email is an easy task. So, if kids were doing it 10 years ago, what’s stopping them from doing it now?

Every social media platform has an age restriction, and most require a minimum age of 13 for users. The age restriction exists so young kids don’t find themselves looking at inappropriate content, contacting strangers or engaging in cyberbullying. These restrictions are a great idea in theory, but in practice, there are endless ways around the restrictions and privacy settings in place.

In a culture where being disconnected from the internet means being disconnected from peers and friends, young kids want to become users now more than ever. According to a study by Common Sense Media, in 2021, almost 40% of kids ages 8-12 are using some form of social media. In 2022, the Mayo Clinic found that 97% of people ages 13-17 use a social media platform.

Regardless of whether a parent meticulously supervises their child’s social media, there’s never a guarantee that the kid isn’t exploring outside the boundaries set in place. The Huntsman Mental Health Institute said a large percent of the young adult population is at risk for suicidal thoughts because kids and teens who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression than those who don’t use social media.

Earlier this fall, The New York Times reported that a London court blamed the suicide of 14-year-old Molly Russell on

the social media company Meta, which now owns Facebook and Instagram. The content Russell viewed was described as “so disturbing and distressing” that it caused a child psychologist to lose sleep. The coroner added social media “affected [Russell’s] mental health in a negative way and contributed to her death in a more than minimal way.” The court decided Instagram had caused Russell’s diagnosed depression and lead to other mental health struggles including her thoughts about suicide.

Russell’s case is extreme but unfortunately it’s not unlikely, especially with the rising number of young users on social media apps. It’s imperative parents and kids follow age restrictions because the longer one is exposed to social media, the more likely they are to fall prey to the negative mental health effects.

“Social media is an outlet where you can portray this person or this character who’s not necessarily who you are in real life,” senior psychology major Michael Barnes said, “and I think this disconnects people from reality if you’re overusing it.”

Some parents are able to appropriately monitor their kids’ social media accounts, however that’s not the case for all. No matter how effective the sensitivity or parental controls on a social media platform may be, there will always be risk of exposure to inappropriate content, strangers and cyberbullying. If there’s an age restriction on an app, users and parents’ should adhere to it

CONTACT Abby Mello at melloal@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @Breeze_Opinion.

This week in JMU history...

On Dec. 2, 1922, The Breeze was born. Since then, it’s been the indispensable source of news for the JMU and Harrisonburg communities for almost 100 years. The Breeze will celebrate its centennial this December, so we’re traveling back in time.

Each week, The Breeze takes a look back on historic moments in JMU and Breeze history by publishing the cover from the same publication day, just years in the past.

Taj Mahal city

Burdened (with)

“Get a __ of this!”

*“Drinks are on the house!”

A- or B+

“Beauty and the Beast” heroine

*“Just what I wanted to hear!”

*“Eyes like Paul Newman!”

To the __ degree

*“Check out those Outback hoppers!”

NATO HQ locale

*“There’s the star of ‘Top Gun’!”

Racing sleds

Pesky insect

Really stink

Opinion pieces

Cries of delight, and what each of the answers to the starred clues literally are?

Figure on the shelf, in Christmas decor

Post for military pilots

Rained ice

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

Career Opportunity - Technician II - Facility Maintenance

Are you seeking a rewarding opportunity that allows you to utilize your skills in performing a variety of facility cleaning/maintenance duties while making a direct impact each day? If so, apply for the Technician II-Facility Maintenance position with the City of Harrisonburg Public Works Department! Learn more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Departmental Systems Analyst

Are you seeking an opportunity to showcase your information systems technology skill set/knowledge while making a direct impact in the community? If so, the City of Harrisonburg’s Departmental Systems Analyst position within the award-winning Smart City Public Works Department may be the right career for you! Learn more/ apply: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/ employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Outreach and Communications Specialist

The City of Harrisonburg’s Public Works Department is seeking an Outreach and Communications Specialist to market and promote the department’s various projects and initiatives. To find out more and apply for consideration, visit: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Job Opportunity - Police Records Specialist (Part-Time)

Do you want a part-time job that allows you to utilize your administrative and customer service skills in a teamwork office environment while making an impact within the local community? If so, apply to the City of Harrisonburg Police Department’s part-time Police Records Specialist position. Find out more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Equipment/ Automotive Mechanic

Are you looking for your next career move with an organization where you can apply your automotive technician experience or vehicle repair/maintenance skills? If so, consider applying for the City of Harrisonburg Department of Public Transportation’s Equipment/Automotive Mechanic position! Find out more/apply online: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Internship Opportunity with the City of Harrisonburg

MADISON MARKETPLACE

Crew Supervisor - Grounds

Do you want to use your knowledge/skills/ abilities to ensure the local community has a safe system of open spaces and public facilities for their enjoyment? If so, the City of Harrisonburg Parks & Recreation Department’s Crew Supervisor-Grounds position may be the right career for you! Learn more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Are you a student seeking real-world experience in public administration with a locality recognized both regionally and nationally for a variety of achievements? If so, apply to the City of Harrisonburg’s City Manager’s Office Internship Opportunity! Find out more/apply online: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE. amilton54@gmail.com

Career Opportunity - Sign Graphics Designer & Fabricator

Do you want a career that allows you to utilize your technical/creative skills and experience to design/manufacture a variety of signs for traffic control/City facilities? If so, the City’s Public Works Department’s Sign Graphics Designer & Fabricator role may be the right position for you! Find out more/apply: https:// www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Water Service Technician (Full-Time)

Do you want a career that helps provide a meaningful service to the community through in-field customer response? If so, the Public Utilities Department’s Water Service Technician may be the right job for you! Find out more/apply online: https:// www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Job Opportunity - Logistics Technician

Are you looking for a part-time role with a reputable agency that allows you to use your current/prior experience in fire and rescue industry services? If so, consider applying for the Logistics Technician position with the City of Harrisonburg Fire Department! Find out more/apply online: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church

Attention JMU students and faculty!! Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church is seeking some talented students (or teachers) who would like to share their musical skills during our worship services. There will be financial compensation. We have an open parttime position as a church choir director. Please contact- dkbarnett07@gmail.com or 540-746-9661.

Madison Marketplace is open for business, and all text-only listings are FREE ! Post job listings, announcements, rentals and more using our online placement tool. Ads run two weeks online and in two print editions.

CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS JOBS COMMUNITY