Friends, colleagues, students remember Tatiana Benjamin

By KASEY TRAPUZZANO The Breeze

A friend, a scholar, a colleague, a professor, a mentor.

That’s how members of the JMU community remember Tatiana Benjamin, an assistant professor of justice studies and minor co-coordinator of African, African American and Diaspora (AAAD) Studies, who died Dec. 19, 2022. She was 34 years old.

Before coming to JMU in fall 2021, Benjamin worked in higher education at the City University of New York, Miami University and the University of Maryland College Park. She’s survived by her father and brothers, a niece and other family members, according to a GoFundMe page organized by a loved one.

Graciela Perez, assistant professor of justice studies, said she and Benjamin came into JMU and the justice studies department together in 2021 and have been close friends and colleagues ever since. Perez described Benjamin as a “beloved and trusted friend.” see BENJAMIN, page 6

Often, colleagues in the department would grab dinner and go out together after work, Perez said. During these outings, Perez said she and Benjamin would have meaningful conversations about their journeys and genuine fun in the moment.

Perez said one of her favorite memories with Benjamin was a “spontaneous afternoon” in the fall after one of those outings last semester. She drove Benjamin home — the pair chatting the whole way — and once they arrived at Benjamin’s house, they didn’t want the conversation to end. Perez said they set up a blanket outside in the yard under a tree and talked for hours as the sun set.

Faculty push for inclusion, accessibility for disabled students

But still: whiff, smack.

The sound continued through LaPorte’s first-ever press conference-style interview and even as players approached the microphone.

Whiff. Smack.

It was junior pitcher Alissa Humphrey. She was putting in reps, sending pitches down the bullpen. The pitchers themselves had a date with the weight room. But even so, Humphrey was the last one off the field.

see PITCHERS, page 20

By K. MAUSER contributing writer

Laura Desportes Bowman, a professor in JMU’s College of Education, said she’s been trying to “shame the university for seven years, at least,” perceiving a lack of diversity and inclusion services for special education students at JMU.

“I’ve always thought that this was the last population of systematically, institutionally marginalized people, and it doesn’t make sense,” Desportes Bowman said, “I’ve never understood how people have to fight to be recognized as members of our community.” see INCLUSION, page 12

In 2014, Desportes Bowman said, she was approached by the parent of a young adult with Down syndrome who was interested in helping her child pursue a higher level of education after graduating high school. At the time, Desportes Bowman said there were only a few of these programs in Virginia, such as at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University. These programs all held one common issue for special education students: commuting to and from universities.