The Breeze 4.20.23

The Breeze

Following Redpoint shooting, students reevaluate off-campus safety

By GRANT JOHNSON & ELEANOR SHAW The Breeze

Junior Léa Nuevo wasn’t in her Redpoint apartment when shots were fired on the 2300 block of Newberry Lane overnight Friday. She was with her boyfriend, junior Nico McMillen, 11 minutes away in his North 38 apartment and caught wind of the commotion after seeing Sidechat “going off.”

First, Nuevo texted who she knew on Newberry Lane. But shortly after, she thought, “Why is this happening again?”

Redpoint became the fourth off-campus residential complex in six months near JMU to experience a shooting, joining Foxhill Townhomes in October, The Hills: Southview in December and North 38 in January. But Redpoint carved its own list, the only of those four where people died.

In the aftermath of now four shootings

and a week removed from a fatal one, JMU students are grappling with a new definition of safety — one that, despite many living in the “Friendly City,” is marred with violence and doesn’t escape the undertone of shootings dotting the rest of America.

“It’s sad to say,” Nuevo said, “we’re used to it.”

Do JMU students feel safe off campus?

Friday’s overnight shooting killed two non-JMU students — 22-year-old D’angelo Marquise Gracy and 17-year-old Calour Fields, a Harrisonburg High School student — at a party at Redpoint, according to a press release from the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday morning. As of Wednesday evening, the sheriff’s office hasn’t announced that the suspect has been captured.

In an email to The Breeze on Wednesday, Mike Parks, director of communications for

the City of Harrisonburg, said no injuries were reported for either the North 38 or Southview shootings, while eight people suffered gunshot wounds during the Foxhill shooting.

Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said, in the last six months, Redpoint was the sole shooting outside of a residential complex where JMU students live outside the jurisdiction of the Harrisonburg Police Department.

“It’s just been that one this past weekend and then well over six months prior, like a long time before, since we’ve had anything like that,” Hutcheson said.

Parks said there have been three “incidents of malicious shootings with injury” in Harrisonburg in the same time frame, two of which didn’t occur in immediate proximity to where JMU students live off campus.

The Breeze spoke to 14 JMU students in the aftermath of the Redpoint shooting in the areas around three off-campus JMU

apartment complexes — Redpoint, Foxhill and North 38 — that have experienced shootings in the last six months. Multiple students told The Breeze that, generally speaking, they feel safe in Harrisonburg, but that four recent shootings in what should be calm residential complexes have changed their perspectives for the worse.

For senior and Redpoint resident Abigail Chambers, she said the shooting overnight Friday reinforced the importance to be vigilant about where her friends are and of her surroundings. Nuevo said the shooting Friday night “for sure” changed her perspective about what can happen in a town like Harrisonburg — which, according to CrimeGrade.org, has an overall grade of B- between its violent, property and “other” crime; the site’s data is “updated regularly.” see

PART I, page 4

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Part II: JMU’s emergency response system overnight

Friday sparks outrage

By GRANT JOHNSON & ELEANOR SHAW

The Breeze

JMU students grapple with the fallout of the overnight Friday shooting, which is the fourth shooting to occur in off-campus student housing within 6 months. Lizzie Stone / The Breeze

Editor’s note: The Breeze’s reporting on the shooting and aftermath at the Redpoint residential complex overnight Friday is split up into four parts — the first two in this week’s print edition and online at breezejmu.org Thursday, and the last two to publish online by Saturday. The Breeze is referring to the shooting as occurring “overnight Friday” throughout the series for clarity, though it happened just after midnight Saturday morning.

from REDPOINT PART I, page 1

Nuevo called Redpoint one of the nicer o ff-campus apartment complexes — its $814 per month rent on average is more expensive than Foxhill, Southview and North 38. Redpoint also sits high on a hill, with its brick and vinyl siding overlooking fields and rolling hills deep into Rockingham County, which, Nuevo said, should imply protection.

“I mean, it doesn’t matter, I guess,” Nuevo said.

If someone asked senior Sophia Silva why she chose JMU, she would’ve said Harrisonburg is “safer” than her hometown, Richmond — which has a score of C+, according to CrimeGrade. Now, Silva calls Harrisonburg “a smaller version of Richmond.”

“I love my hometown, but it’s dangerous,” Silva said. “But with the way that the trend has been, we’ve had more [shootings] than I think I’ve ever read, like ever, in Harrisonburg.”

While college students often want to have fun and be wild, Nuevo said “you really can’t just invite random people to your house.” She said the shooting overnight Friday also reminded her to think before she acts.

Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, said in an interview with The Breeze on Monday he shares the off-campus safety concerns that many students have. He said he worries for students who host parties open to anyone; parties should be more selective and have invites just for people the host knows, he added, and party-goers should know the whereabouts of their friend group if they separate from it.

“There’s a lot of walking by, if you see an event, you just walk into it. You don’t know whose place that is,” Miller said. “We have to lift those rose-colored glasses that we know everybody and everybody’s safe and everybody’s fine.”

But not all off-campus residents are spooked by the recent shootings. Junior Corrine Kent, also a Redpoint resident, said she thinks the recent off-campus shootings are “not really random” and are a result of who people hang out with. The Redpoint shooting kind of changed Kent’s perspective on off-campus safety, she said.

“A lot of things happen in a ‘safe place,’” Kent said. “You kind of avoid it.”

Junior Jacob Grobe, who lives on Bradley Drive — roughly 2.6 miles away from the Redpoint shooting — echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “I’m never, like, looking over my shoulder” when taking the trash outside to the dumpster.

Redpoint resident and graduate student Haley Gardner, who said she’s experienced a shooting in her apartment complex each of her last three years living off campus at JMU — North 38 in 2020-21, Charleston Townes in September 2021 and Redpoint this past week — said, despite all that, she “generally” feels safe because she sleeps in a locked-door house, “but the fact that

shootings have happened is a little concerning.”

Two-year Foxhill resident and senior Martina Wulf said she didn’t feel unsafe last year, but this year, that’s changed. She said she got a master lock after hearing about Bryan Kohberger, who stabbed four female students to death at the University of Idaho — all of whom were likely asleep when the attack began, according to a coroner’s report in a CNN article — in November. Wulf said she doesn’t walk alone in any street in Harrisonburg and that being alone in her house is scary.

“Based on the things that have been happening,” Wulf said, also speaking for the rest of her roommates, “like, we’re being very careful.”

Sophomore Megan Bennett, who lives in a different apartment complex near Foxhill on Devon Lane, also bolstered her home security system shortly after winter break with a Ring Video Doorbell, which she said her parents wanted her to get after incidents on Devon Lane in the fall.

Bennett described the recent shootings as “definitely unsettling” and said they make her feel a little unsafe leaving her apartment. She said she was out Friday night and her apartment door was unlocked, so she and her roommates all rushed to get home because she didn’t know where the shooter could be going.

Friday’s overnight shooting brought a different kind of scare for Nico McMillen, Nuevo’s boyfriend who lives in North 38: It resurfaced his memories of the North 38 shooting — which he said occurred in the apartment directly below him. During that January shooting, he received a call from his brother, sophomore Alex McMillen, who lives with Nico.

During the call, Nico said Alex was crying, panicking and could hear the screams of those involved. Nico instructed Alex to lock the doors and wait until police arrived. Once police showed up, Alex was uninjured and Nico said he’s grateful “a stray bullet didn’t come through the floor.”

“You just never expect that to, like, happen to anybody else,” Nico said. “It’s super sad, but you’re never like, ‘Oh, yeah, this could happen to me or this could happen to my brother.’”

After the North 38 shooting, Nico said he felt unsafe in his apartment and, consequently, spent a couple of night at Nuevo’s Redpoint apartment. After the Redpoint shooting, Nuevo stayed at North 38, to which Nico said the fact shootings occurred at both residences was “scary for the both of us.”

Kayla Brown contributed to this report.

CONTACT Grant Johnson at breezeeditor@ gmail.com and Eleanor Shaw at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

JMU students overnight Friday not only dealt with a shooting in their community but also what some called confusing messaging from the school in interviews with The Breeze, comments on Sidechat and in off-campus housing group chats.

The shooting occurred “shortly after midnight” Saturday, according to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office’s press release. JMU’s initial report was released at 12:48 a.m. and informed students of a “heavy police presence” and a shelter-in-place order. The order was lifted by JMU at 1:55 a.m.

Senior Martina Wulf said she didn’t know for sure a shooting happened at Redpoint because JMU didn’t say so in its messaging overnight Friday — it was labeled an “incident” and not specifically a shooting. However, she said her initial thought was that it was a shooting, prompting her to stay at a friend’s house overnight Friday instead of coming home to her Foxhill Townhomes residence because she was nervous to leave.

And for sophomore Megan Bennett, who was also out of her Devon Lane apartment, she said the lack of alerts — and a killer being on the loose, who, as of Wednesday evening, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t announced being caught — piled onto her rush to get home immediately. Not knowing what was going on, who the killer was or where they could be going worried Bennett with her apartment both unattended and unlocked, she said.

“I just felt like there was more they could do for us,” Bennett said. “I don’t know, maybe they didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I felt like the people around us also had a better idea than, like, what we were getting.”

In a GroupMe group chat obtained by The Breeze for residents of Campus View Condominiums — which is right on the other side of a hill from Redpoint — senior Sophia Silva echoed Bennett’s lack-of-information complaints, encouraging fellow Campus View residents to use Sidechat to find out more regarding the shooting because it’s “better than whatever the f*** jmu is putting out.”

On Sidechat, while some users prayed and grieved about the situation overnight Friday, many others also criticized the wording of JMU’s messaging: “Calling the shooting an ‘incident’ is like calling an active tornado a ‘weather event.’”

However, Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, said the school’s response served a purpose. Bennett said she thinks JMU

could’ve been more specific or told people what they can do to be safe beyond, “If you’re in the surrounding area, shelter in place,” but Miller said JMU’s goal is to be clear, concise and quick with its messaging.

Miller said JMU “isn’t the owner of the news,” and it’s not a police department’s priority to alert the school right away after off-campus incidents — rather, they secure the scene and look for the suspect first. It’s different when an incident occurs on JMU’s campus, which in that case, Miller said, “We control that — that’s our scene.” Miller said students who are on a scene off campus often learn about incidents faster than JMU because the school can’t afford to disseminate news off hearsay and risk making a mistake. So, Miller said, when JMU got the information filtered to them from the police officers who were on the scene overnight Friday, the message JMU sent out sufficed.

“When we tell you there’s an incident, tell you where it is and tell you to shelter in place, that’s the most, best message we can give you in that moment, and that’s actually all you need to know for what we want, which is for you to stay safe,” Miller said. “I know students want us to say and there was a, you know, it was a shooting, and it was this and it was this. That’s not actually necessary in the moment for us to get the message, again, as quickly as we can and clear and concise. If we try and send you a twoparagraph message, you’re not reading that.”

In an email to The Breeze on Tuesday, Mary-Hope Vass, JMU executive director of communications and university spokesperson, added that Rockingham County — the county where Friday’s overnight shooting happened — isn’t in the JMU Police Department’s jurisdiction, so it didn’t have investigative authority nor the lead investigating agency; Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office did.

The Breeze also asked Vass in its email if JMU will make adjustments to its safety notification protocols or if it’s providing support to off-campus students in the wake of the Redpoint shooting, which she didn’t address in her response.

CONTACT Grant Johnson at breezeeditor@ gmail.com and Eleanor Shaw at breezenews@gmail.com

For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

JMU students said the chaos in the shooting’s aftermath was exacerbated by JMU’s delayed and confusing emergency notification system. Grant Johnson / The Breeze

Free speech?

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

Community members discuss implications of controversial speaker set to present at JMU next week

By ASHLYN CAMPBELL The Breeze

The JMU community has erupted into discussions of free and hate speech and who should be allowed on campus ahead of a lecture from Liz Wheeler, a conservative political commentator, titled “The Ideology of Transgenderism.”

The lecture, planned by JMU’s chapter of the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), is Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The event was originally going to be held in the Madison Union Ballroom, but due to security, the location was changed to the Highlands Room in the Festival Conference Center, according to a press release from YAF on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the press release, doors will open at 5:30 p.m., an official standby line will start at 5 p.m. and at 5:45 p.m., any remaining seats will be given to those in the line. The lecture will start at 6 p.m. and a Q&A will take place with Wheeler.

YAF first posted about the event on Instagram on April 6, but the official topic of the event, the “The Ideology of Transgenderism,” was announced by the group in an April 17 post.

The post about the event started gaining criticism Monday night and has roughly 2,400 comments as of Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., most of which condemn Wheeler and the event.

The YAF Instagram hasn’t posted about the event since Monday, other than a clip of Wheeler on the account’s story where she discusses topics like abortion, pornography, hookup culture, gay marriage and the “transgender ideology,” calling them “sexual, social, cultural” crises.

Parker Boggs, the YAF chairman, didn’t respond to requests in time for an interview.

Other than the title of the event, no other information has been announced regarding what the lecture will include.

Several student groups, Harrisonburg organizations and academic departments have posted in support of the transgender community on Instagram, including JMU’s chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, JMU’s Latin dance team Grupo Candela, the JMU women’s, gender and sexuality program, MACROCK and the Friendly City Safe Space.

“It is hard to be a trans person in a moment like this, to keep feeling the need to respond to hatred,” Director of the Friendly City Safe Space Hyacinth Bellerose said in a statement on Instagram. “By bringing Liz Wheeler to campus, James Madison University (JMU) has invited hatred and transphobia into our community. As hard as it is to be an individual trans person in a moment like this, I know that it is so much harder to respond when we feel isolated and cut off from our community, so Friendly City Safe Space will do whatever we can to support students during this time.”

Wheeler posted about the criticism and the event on her Instagram story and Twitter, where she has 239K and 917.6K followers respectively.

“I don’t hate you,” Wheeler said in one of her tweets in direct response to the Friendly City Safe Space’s statement. “The people propagating Queer Theory on your mind, body, & soul hate you. I care deeply about you. You ARE worthy, you’re worthy of being treated better than the abuse inflicted on your body in the name of transgenderism.”

Responses to the event included some advocating for JMU to cancel or stop the event, while others say the event should still be held because of free speech, although they disagree with Wheeler.

Ayle Morrow, a freshman who identifies as transgender, said they originally didn’t know who Wheeler was. But based on the title of the event, bringing someone to campus who viewed their identity as an ideology made it difficult to embrace who they are, they said. Wheeler’s topic is “hate speech,” and JMU shouldn’t hold it on campus or let it be affiliated with JMU, Morrow said.

“It’s really dehumanizing to have, like, my identity be a topic for debate,” Morrow said, “and especially over the past few days to see your classmates debating about if your identity is worthy of recognition.”

Justin Long, a graduate student at JMU, said he’d only heard of Wheeler once before the event, but the idea that someone would be prohibited from speaking when a student organization requested it was “pretty silly.” Long said JMU should let the event happen.

“Contrary to what I saw a lot on the thread yesterday, words are not violence, in my opinion,” Long said. “And I think if people are so afraid of an idea that they won’t let it be spoken or to even consider hearing it, I think that’s probably an idea worth hearing, frankly.”

Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, said in an interview with The Breeze that, as a public institution of higher education, JMU has a responsibility to uphold the constitution and allow students to host an event with a speaker of their choice in a content-neutral way, while also providing a space for other voices.

“That is at the heart of America,” Miller said. “I can disagree with the speaker, I can disagree with people protesting, but it’s our job to provide the forum, both should be able to exist in tandem.”

Having worked at George Washington University in Washington D.C., Miller said he gets concerned about extreme speakers because he believes most people are closer to the middle politically. Miller said he “didn’t know if it’s a gift or a curse to be content neutral in our view of it,” but that it is his and JMU’s job.

“I worry about shock for shock’s sake,” Miller said. “You know, I think that we should be a place about learning and growing and

helping people be challenged, but be challenged in a way that actually helps growth occur. And I’m hoping we can be that place. But that also means sometimes you’re gonna have speakers that people disagree with.”

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the First Amendment protects speech — no matter how offensive. In Brandenburg v. Ohio, the ACLU writes, the Supreme Court established that the government can’t punish inflammatory speech unless it “intentionally and effectively provokes a crowd to immediately carry out violent and unlawful action.” The Supreme Court also ruled in 1942 that the First Amendment doesn’t protect fighting words, which is a limited exception.

Adam Steinbaugh, a legal expert at the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) said in a 2020 Diverse Issues in Higher Education article that there’s no categorical exception for hateful expression.

Some comments on YAF’s Instagram discuss protesting the event. Junior Heather Dueñas is helping create a space to oppose it by gathering those who disagree and aiding the planning of an event at the same time as the lecture.

“I want this to be a space for the transgender community at JMU,” Dueñas said. “But it’s a collective effort. I’ve met with so many people that have been helping me.”

Dueñas said she thinks the Wheeler event should still happen, but she’s looking at holding an event that’s a celebration rather than a protest. She said the event is bigger than just Wheeler. Dueñas said it gets to the root of why she was allowed to come to campus and why the event was funded through student fees.

The Student Government Association (SGA) approved $3,000 in contingency funds for YAF to host Wheeler during its Jan. 31 meeting.

Contingency funds are money student organizations can apply for to hold events and go to conferences, among other things, according to their website. The money comes from student fees, and groups can get $3,000 per semester for funding.

Some SGA members have said YAF wasn’t clear about what the topic would be at the time of applying for contingency funds in the comment section of YAF’s Wheeler announcement post. The presentation YAF presented to SGA said the lecture would be on “a particular topic of our chapter’s choice.”

According to the minutes from the meeting where it was approved, two SGA members said the SGA should only approve the funds once the event’s topic was chosen. One member said Boggs presented three different topics for Wheeler to choose from.

Ultimately, the resolution to award YAF was unanimously approved, with two abstentions from Emily Butters and C Jasper. SGA Executive Treasurer Brandon Market didn’t respond to interview requests in time for publication.

As the week progressed, more members of the JMU community shared their opinion on the matter on social media. As of now, the YAF event is happening as planned, aside from a venue change, and counter events on the same day are in the works.

As the week progressed, more members of the JMU community shared their opinions on the matter on social media. As of now, the YAF event is carrying out as planned, aside from a venue change, and counter events on the same day are in the works

CONTACT Ashlyn Campbell at campbeab@dukes.jmu. edu. For more JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

After YAF’s original post, the group changed the lecture’s venue to the Festival Highlands Room. Screengrab from @yafatjmu on Instagram

Faculty Senate condemns JMU Provost

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY The Breeze

JMU Faculty Senate approved a resolution April 13 that condemns Heather Coltman, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, for a multitude of recent actions. The resolution alleges a lack of shared governance between administration and faculty and a “culture of intimidation emanating from the provost’s office.”

The resolution passed with 33 votes in support, four votes against and five abstaining. It was introduced to the Faculty Senate in January alongside another resolution that asked for more accountability and transparency in JMU’s hiring searches for leadership positions in academic affairs, which the Senate passed March 2. The hiring resolution was based on allegations that the provost dismissed faculty feedback and mishandled conflicts of interest in last year’s search for the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM).

The condemnation alleges that Coltman demanded to

know who authored the hiring resolution and threatened to put those authors under investigation for libel and breaching confidentiality rules. It says Coltman’s “silencing actions have exacerbated a culture of fear and systemic intimidation, producing among many faculty a chilling effect on their willingness to communicate concerns about JMU governance.”

In the special meeting held April 13, the Faculty Senate finalized the resolution, with some changes:

• Allegations of Coltman engaging in “potentially unethical and illegal” behavior were removed from the resolution.

• It asks that if faculty feedback on hiring searches is disputed, like with the CSM dean search, then at least two faculty members — selected by faculty, not the administration — should be allowed to participate in deliberations with JMU’s human resources and legal teams. Those faculty members would then brief stakeholders.

The resolution adds that Coltman failed to publicly address concerns raised by Jewish faculty and staff about JMU’s Holocaust Remembrance event. It condemns the provost and members of her office involved for “organizing the content” of the event; it also condemns certain actions, and a lack of action, that “marginalized JMU faculty of the Jewish faith.”

In a statement provided to The Breeze on evening of April 13 after the condemnation passed, Coltman said: “There are so many talented faculty members committed to their students, their scholarship and to the university. It is an honor to provide support to those academic leaders and I look forward to continuing to partner across campus in constructive and collaborative ways.”

The provost has previously spoken in detail about the concerns brought forth in the hiring and condemnation resolutions, both in Faculty Senate meetings and in a March 3 interview with The Breeze after the hiring resolution was passed.

JMU President Jonathan Alger also provided a statement to The Breeze on April 13:

“My office and the Office of the Provost have received and reviewed the Faculty Senate resolutions. It’s time now to move forward in a respectful, harmonious and constructive manner. The Provost has my support as we remain committed to shared governance and civil discourse, and to work productively with the Faculty Senate on a variety of issues.”

The condemnation and hiring resolutions took several months to finalize. At the end of the meeting after the vote, Hala Nelson — the faculty senator from the Mathematics and Statistics Department within the CSM, who read the

Excerpt from the “Resolution of Condemnation of Recent Actions of JMU’s Provost”

resolutions at their introduction in January — said the process has been “intimidating and emotionally draining.”

“We have been subject to biased and to exhausting scrutiny, and some of us, we have been subject to unjustified reprimands for just asking simple questions,” Nelson said. “I really hope that by addressing this troubling behavior, whether the behavior is coming from the administration or from the faculty, at any level, that it can be addressed and that the people bringing it forward do not get labeled, and this is the only way we can have a healthy and safe environment at JMU.”

CONTACT Charlotte Matherly at mathercg@dukes.jmu. edu. For more JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

“Be it further resolved that the JMU Faculty Senate condemns the culture of intimidation emanating from the provost’s office.”

SGA narrowly elects

2023-24

By ASHLEE THOMPSON The Breeze

Speaker of the Senate

ability to stand out outside of SGA, especially since he’s only been at JMU for two years.

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate voted senior Carlin McNeil Bumgarner as next year’s Speaker of the Senate, replacing current graduating speaker senior Daniel Gaffin, during Tuesday’s meeting. Bumgarner won with 52.8% of the 36 votes.

Senior Executive Treasurer Brandon Market nominated Bumgarner. Her opponent, sophomore SGA communications committee member James Love Jr., was nominated by sophomore Senator Lexi Alston.

Currently serving as student body vice president, Bumgarner told the Senate in her speech she “knows the ins and outs” of SGA and will make it her mission as speaker to “represent, serve and inform” the Senate while also ensuring transparency throughout the organization.

To represent, serve and inform “are beacons that should guide us to maximizing our fullest potential in serving the student body,” Bumgarner said during her speech. “As your speaker, it is my duty to help bridge the gap between [the SGA] and our mission.”

Love Jr., who began his speech with a moment of silence for the victims of the Redpoint apartment complex shooting overnight Friday, made a promise to remove the “barriers” between the SGA and the student body, noting there’s “tension” between the two and an overall unawareness of the SGA’s existence on campus.

Alston, who nominated Love Jr., began the debate period by calling her candidate an “amazing colleague” who’ll give SGA a much-needed “fresh voice.”

“I believe that getting James in this leadership position will be what he needs and what the committee needs to build that gap between students and the organization,” Alston said. “Having the voice of a person of color in a leadership position like that is what we really need as an organization.”

Sophomore SGA Senator Takiyah MonroseRichardson commended Love Jr. on his

“People know James Love Jr.,” MonroseRichardson said. “His name is easy to remember and he is easy to remember.”

Market, who nominated Bumgarner, said he knows his candidate is “open to communication” and has the experience needed because he’s worked with her on a leadership team.

“I jumped headfirst into SGA as a very small fish in a big pond, and Carlin helped make that big pond feel a lot less smaller,” Reagan Polarek, 2026 student body president said. “She would make a phenomenal speaker.”

Sophomore Representative Brielle Lacroix reminded the Senate that the speaker position is an internal one, and said Bumgarner has had previous SGA positions that make her “perfect” for this role. Polarek added to this, saying the speaker has to be impartial, so their own opinions and personality shouldn’t play a role in voting.

In support of Love Jr., sophomore Finance Liaison Mahek Shroff said Bumgarner only reached out to people in “obligation” due to her title as student body vice president, but Love Jr. reached out to people because he wanted to.

After the results came out, Bumgarner was rushed with support from her friends and colleagues. She told The Breeze that she was “so honored” to be chosen as next year’s Speaker of the Senate.

After the meeting, Gaffin said Bumgarner will make a “great speaker” and commended the fact that she’s been doing her homework on how the Senate works by following him as he leads meetings.

“I decided to run for this a couple months ago,” Bumgarner said. “I can’t wait to do this job.”

The SGA Senate elected senior Carlin McNeil Bumgarner to the position of Speaker of the Senate after she won with just over half the vote. Kailey Garner / The Breeze

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

Experts highlight multi-tiered approach to gun-violence prevention

Mental health, tighter policy and active shooter scenarios discussed in the wake of recent off-campus shootings

By LILLYANNE DAY contributing writer

With four shootings occurring in off-campus JMU student living complexes since October, gun violence has made itself known to the Harrisonburg community.

Extending outside of the Valley, the state of Virginia averages 1,095 gun related deaths annually, with 63.5% of those deaths being suicide. Guns are the most common means of suicide in Virginia, resulting in 57% of suicides in the state.

Gun violence is also the leading cause of death for children in Virginia. Between 2016-20, 240 children under the age of 18 were killed by a gun in the state; 43.5% of those deaths stemmed from suicide, according to Giffords Law Center’s website, a research organization co-founded by former rep. Gabby Giffords. It aims to bring tighter gun control to all 50 states by offering assistance to public officials and publishing research focused on gun control and gun violence.

Experts across Harrisonburg bring different perspectives on aspects of gun violence they deal with.

Mental health

Maureen Bowler, behavioral health and wellness coordinator at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board (HRCSB), said the group offers a variety of services, including mental health resources and crisis management services. To ensure the highest level of aid, Bowler said HRCSB collaborates with local providers to make its services more accessible to community members.

Among the services HRCSB offers, Bowler focuses on suicide prevention and substance use prevention in addition to mental health and trauma education work in the community.

Bowler said organizations like HRCSB educate the community on ways to help an individual if they’re experiencing suicidal thoughts so the situation doesn’t lead to something dangerous. It works with the community to provide education and resources that can help prevent suicides and potentially equip people with the skills to intervene when they’re concerned about someone who may be contemplating suicide.

Bowler said it could be advantageous for communities to have more access to early care and support for those experiencing a mental health or substance use-related condition to help those at risk overcome potential challenges as early as possible.

Childhood trauma is a primary risk factor for experiencing a mental health condition as an adult, Bowler said. The more robust a community is with its services for youth, the healthier a community may be — whether that’s physical or behavioral health.

“A heavy focus on multidimensional youth services and programming is one way a community, in the long run, can create more resilience through community safety,” Bowler said.

Communities that can offer support for basic needs such as housing, transportation, financial support, literacy support and food access will have a big impact on community strength, Bowler said.

“Not everything that’s related to supporting mental health has to be mental health services directly,” Bowler said. “It’s really indirect care resources that can go a long way for community resiliency.”

Bowler said she works to reduce mental illness stigmas and the idea that individuals with a mental illness are somehow a larger threat than any other

member of the community. Bowler said through community outreach at the local farmer’s market and education programs at local schools, HRCSB is working to inform the Harrisonburg community about how to respectfully help someone who may be struggling.

“In general, folks will use mental health as the scapegoat or the umbrella for why certain tragedies or events happen when we know it’s more complex socially than that,” Bowler said. “It can be harmful to folks who experience mental health conditions to be looked at as inherently violent people, or people who are more capable of violence than other people.”

Tighter policy

In terms of prevention, Rockingham County-Harrisonburg Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said implementing tighter gun laws will do very little to counteract gun violence because, if someone wants to carry out an illegal act, they'll find a way to do so — a “harsh reality,” Hutcheson added.

“If I can’t get a gun, well, I’ll make an explosive device,” Hutcheson said. “I’ll stab someone, I can get a knife if I you’re saying, ‘If this person couldn’t have gotten a gun, they

wouldn’t have done it.’”

Hutcheson said, when reporting potential gun violence, a relationship with the perpetrator cannot be prioritized over the safety of others that that individual may jeopardize.

“If you have information or observations that you are privy to because of a close relationship with someone — it’s the hardest thing to do, but you’re the person that has the best ability to call 911,” Hutcheson said.

He said he understands people are hesitant to call 911, but the sheriff’s department would rather be informed of irrational behavior that results in something minor than have to handle a situation that risks lives.

In the aftermath of a shooting, Hutcheson said the focus should be on what prompted somebody to hurt someone else, and why they’ve found themselves in a situation where the only option they can think of is violence.

“When you’re talking about gun violence, there’s the response, and then prevention,” Hutcheson said. “So on the front end of it, it’s pretty heavily focused on mental health and substance abuse. We’re very, very close partners with the HRCSB community.”

Hutcheson said the sheriff’s department works professionally with HRCSB, which is on call 24/7. He said working with mental health professionals may get to the root of why an individual may resort to violence and help prevent it from happening in the future.

After the sheriff’s department is notified of an individual who may be harmful to themselves or others, a deputy and a mental health professional will check in on the individual to evaluate the situation and determine what the next steps are, Hutcheson said. He said those in charge of a situation will identify its cause.

Active shooter scenario

The Harrisonburg Community has a variety of resources at its disposal, but the question remains: “What do I do if I find myself in a situation with an active shooter?”

Harrisonburg Police Department (HPD) Lieutenant Chris Monahan said, when faced with an active shooter, someone can either find a way to escape or a safe place to hide, but if they confront the perpetrator, they must assess the situation and determine what the rational choice looks like.

Monahan warned against “a common reaction to a shooter situation,” which is getting overwhelmed. He said clouded judgment “is not what you want when your life is on the line.”

In these confrontations, Monahan said people should make themself a hard target by knowing what to do in a shooter situation. To be proactive and prepare for a shooter situation as best as one can, Monahan recommends signing up for local training programs, like the virtual class offered by American Firearms Training in Harrisonburg.

“It’s easier said than done, but try and remain calm,” Monahan said. “If you’re able to decide between hiding, running or fighting, choose the one that makes the most sense.”

CONTACT LillyAnne Day at daymillm@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

BenMoulse/ TheBreeze

reign of the dukes

JMU music festival draws large crowd and big name guests

By K. MAUSER The Breeze

“These are hype-ass people,” Stephen Glickman, who formerly played Gustavo Roque on the television show “Big Time Rush,” said.

This year’s Purple Reign music festival, hosted by the University Program Board (UPB), was headlined by Briston Maroney and Del Water Gap and emceed by Glickman. Student bands Project Serenity and Not a Saint Band also performed after being crowned champions of the Battle of the Bands competition during the last week of March, accompanied by JMU a cappella group ReScored Acappella.

The festival began at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, with ReScored Acappella opening for the other acts. Promptly after their set, Glickman took the stage and welcomed the JMU community.

“I’ve emceed a lot over the years, but not like this, not on a stage like this,” Glickman said. “This is a lot more fun than [other events]. I love it.”

Glickman said he asked to come to JMU to sing and play piano, but was instead offered the opportunity to emcee Purple Reign.

“I was like, ‘Hell yes! That sounds like a wonderful time,’” Glickman said.

Later in the afternoon, Not a Saint performed some of its music alongside Glickman.

“Today has been absolutely unreal,” Georgia Saunders, senior and lead singer for Not a Saint, said. “Everything worked out even better than we could’ve imagined.”

The six members of Not a Saint even played an impromptu cover of the song “No Surprises” by Radiohead alongside Glickman.

“‘No Surprises’ was a surprise — we didn’t plan that at all,” junior Thomas “TJ” Oxbrough, the band’s pianist, keytarist and singer, said. “I just did the little lick, and then [Glickman] jumped on. That was awesome.”

Sophomore Brianna Tatro said she loved Purple Reign and that it was a positive event. Tatro brought her emotional support dog to the festival and said she was “loving it.”

“It’s been really, really fun seeing all of these people come together and have that community,” Tatro said, “especially during the times where we’re going through a lot.”

Tatro said she thinks it’s important to come together as a community, especially in times where the JMU is going through a lot, such as the fatal shooting at Redpoint apartments just one night prior to the festival. She said the opportunity to experience a community together is beneficial.

Glickman said the crowd’s energy was so palpable because

JMU has love for its students and that the students are able to love and support one another.

“I think playing for JMU, honestly, is a little different. A lot of people in the audience you know and they’re your friends, or they’re people you lived in a dorm with or something,” Obrine Tamon, senior and drummer for Not a Saint, said. “There’s more of a connection playing at JMU than playing outside of JMU.”

Abby Wilson, sophomore and saxophone and backup vocalist for Not a Saint, said she thought there would be only a few people in attendance but was pleasantly surprised when she saw “hundreds and hundreds” of people in the audience.

“One of the coolest parts about performing was that so [few] people in my life knew that I was going to do this,” Wilson said. “Looking out in the crowd and spotting people … that was just so warming to see.”

Saunders said the energy is completely different when Not a Saint plays for a JMU crowd compared to other audiences.

“It’s absolutely incredible to see people you know sing along to your songs, when you might not get that in a venue with an older crowd or an out-of-town crowd,” Saunders said.

Glickman said the energy in the crowd was very hot and palpable.

“There is something in the water out here,” he said, when referencing the intense energy of the JMU community.

Tatro said she’d been to Lollapalooza and Vans Warped Tour, but that neither of these music festivals had as many activities as Purple Reign did.

Sophomore Drew Dodson, bass guitarist for Not a Saint, said he enjoyed the large scale of the festival.

Morgan Blair & Evan Moody

A large number of JMU students attended this year’s Purple Reign, which was emceed by Stephen Glickman, a star of Nickelodeon’s “Big Time Rush.”

Student band Project Serenity, one of the co-winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands performed at the event.

Musician Briston Maroney headlined the event, playing songs from his discography like “Freakin’ out on the Interstate” and “Fools Gold.” Photos by Charlotte Matherly / The Breeze

“We were getting ready to sound check and I saw big bounce houses,” Dodson said, “which I haven’t seen since I was like eight years old. And the sound crew was fantastic. It’s so nice when we don’t have to set up all of our stuff — we just trust and let professionals do it.”

Oxbrough said his favorite part of Purple Reign was having the opportunity to play alongside Glickman.

“Representing Nickelodeon and representing people’s childhood, and bringing reminders of childhood to college, is a very important thing,” Glickman said. “Because when you’re in college, it’s all about growing up and being old or focusing on the future. But, you also have to focus on the past too because the past informs your future again, and again and again.”

Oxbrough also said Glickman inspired him to go into music.

“Being able to chat with him and talk about this idea of collabing together on one of his favorite songs — that is also our most popular song that we cover — it really was a dream come true,” Oxbrough said. “Hearing him talk about us and him listen to us, it just means so much. It gives us a future that we want to keep going for and keep striving for.”

Tatro said she will “absolutely” come back next year.

Nick Green, junior music industry major and lead singer for Not a Saint, said it was a “blast” to perform while sharing a stage with such fantastic musicians and people.

“I think that playing at JMU there’s such a more close-knit experience,” Oxbrough said. “JMU supports JMU, Dukes support Dukes.”

CONTACT K. Mauser at mauserkk@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.

“I’ve emceed a lot over the years, but not like this, not on a stage like this ... This a lot more fun than [other events]. I love it.”

Stephen Glickman

Purple Reign emcee and star of “Big Time Rush”

Another student band and co-winner of this year’s Battle of the Bands, Not a Saint, got to perform at the event.

The Band Del Water Gap also took the stage at this year’s Purple Reign with lead singer Samuel Holden Jaffe.

Michael Russo / The Breeze

A gift to the world School of education professor to instruct teaching course in Colombia

By MORGAN BLAIR The Breeze

John Almarode, a professor of education at JMU, didn’t start his career hoping to make international changes to the way teachers teach — but that’s what he’s doing. In his profession, he’s found himself not just teaching students in a classroom but also instructing teachers in different parts of the world. Throughout his time in the field, he’s given courses on teaching in Australia, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Thailand, not to mention his trip to instruct a course in Bogota, Colombia, in May.

“We focus on what works best in teaching and learning, not just on what works,” Almarode said of his upcoming course in Colombia.

Almarode won’t be teaching the course in Colombia alone. He’s joined by his colleagues from San Diego State University and the University of Melbourne. They won’t just be instructing Colombian teachers either; Almarode said they’re expecting teachers from other South American countries to attend as well.

Almarode said in his teaching of JMU students as well as teachers, he tries to instill many fundamental concepts, most importantly, the value of assessing the context each classroom exists in instead of all classes as one, he said.

“The context of classrooms in schools means that the translation of research has to be flexible and durable in order for it to be usable,” Almarode said. “You can’t just take a research finding and plop it into a classroom and say, ‘Well, that’s what the study said we should do.’”

Almarode said that not taking into account each class’s uniqueness means removing “the social context, emotional context, cultural context, political context — all the other things that come with being both a human and a young human.”

Almarode isn’t the only member of his family working in education. His wife, Dani Almarode

(’06, ’07,), is an adjunct professor of physical education at JMU.

“There’s nobody else that could produce the quality work my husband does,” Dani said. “He pours his heart and soul into everything he does, every class he teaches, the research he does, the school divisions he works with and even at home as a husband and father.”

Tia Tutwiler, John Almarode’s mother-in-law and a local resident of the Harrisonburg area, said what stands out the most to her about John is his humility, adding that, though he’s accomplished a lot in his career, she always finds herself having to tell people about his work for him.

“He keeps all his travels and accomplishments to himself. He doesn’t boast about them,” Tutwiler said. “I’m usually the one who has to boast about him.”

Despite his humility, John’s career has made an impact both locally and globally, Dani said.

“I’m proud to say he’s made an outstanding local impact,” Dani said. “But what I find even more impressive is the impact he has made not just locally, not just in the state of Virginia or the United States, but globally. The fact that he has been able to bless other people in other countries with his gifts.”

Dani said her husband’s greatest gift is his ability to make those he instructs feel valued and important. He uses those gifts, Dani said, to guide the teachers and students he works with to find the best teaching strategies for them and their classrooms.

“When he goes and works with a school division, not only is he sharing his research with them and talking about the best strategies and how to use them,” Dani said, “but his gift is how he delivers it and how he connects with the people [that he works with].”

Working in the educational field herself, Dani has a deeper understanding of her husband’s work when it comes to comprehending the context of each classroom more than the average person.

Almarode will be instructing alongside colleagues from San Diego State University and the University of Melbourne. Photos courtesy of John Almarode

“Context varies between classrooms, simply because no child is the same as the one sitting next to them,” Dani said. “In the [physical education] world, we call it creating a safe environment- not just physically but socially, emotionally and just when it comes to connections between students.”

John said what he finds most important is teaching his JMU education students that no two classrooms are the same and even the classrooms he’s worked in will be different from those his students will encounter.

“The goal is to prepare learners for the classrooms they’re going to walk into, not the classrooms I came out of,” John said. “So, if I’m going to be effective working with the amazing education students here, I have to know exactly what they’re walking into.”

For John, one of the biggest benefits of his work across the globe is what it gives him to bring back to his students at JMU. John said he sees his outside work and research as allowing him to provide his students with authentic examples of what classes are like in today’s field. He uses this experience to bridge the gap between the theory of teaching and the reality of the classroom.

“Every time I work with a collaborative partner, every time I interact with a teacher or an instructional coach, I learn from them what [their environment] is like,” John said. “I can then align my research as well as my teaching at JMU with those findings.”

John has many experiences to bring to his students and will continue to find more across the globe. Whether it’s in Bogota or Harrisonburg, he continues to observe and learn about the challenges faced in classrooms everywhere and brings what he knows back to JMU’s education students.

“I see it like if I were to teach without gaining these experiences, it would be like a doctor teaching at a university without having ever been in a hospital,” John said. “That would be dangerousvery dangerous,” Kensky said.

CONTACT Morgan Blair 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.

Almarode teaches his JMU education students no two classrooms are the same.

Spending for schools Students Helping Honduras hosts thrift fundraiser

By AVERY GOODSTINE The Breeze

Stacks of folded clothing, piles of books, and an assortment of modern and vintage jewelry capture the eyes of passersby and entice them to take a closer look.

This event, known as Thrift SHHop, is put on every semester by JMU’s chapter of the international nonprofit, Students Helping Honduras (SHH). This semester, the event ran from Monday to Wednesday. The club’s main goal is to “alleviate extreme poverty in Honduras through education and youth empowerment,”

SHH President Kate Peppiett said.

She added this event is its biggest fundraiser, and all the proceeds go directly to the international chapter of SHH to help build schools in Honduras. Specifically, the money goes toward building materials and paying the wages of the builders.

The items sold range from $1-5 and were donated by friends and family of club members as well as from the members themselves. In the past, SHH has also reached out to sororities and other clubs to help bring in clothing donations. This semester, there were so many donations that tables were replenished as items were bought, freshman club member Adriana Zuniga said.

Last semester, Peppiett said the thrift event raised a little over $350 and it’s on track to meet that goal again this semester and possibly exceed it, although SHH hasn’t yet reached prepandemic numbers — around $800 to $1,000, she said.

Another difficulty faced by the club, Peppiett said, is the rapid decline in membership since the pandemic. Before COVID-19, SHH had six or seven executive members, Peppiett said,

and now the entire organization has just five active members.

She added that based on the increase in student involvement with the thrift event compared to last semester, she does feel the organization is on track to getting its fundraising and membership back to pre-pandemic numbers.

The event is also usually held for a full week, she said, but this year it was only able to do it for three days due to issues with finding time to rent a space. However, Peppiett said this hasn’t diminished the fundraising efforts.

“We are reaching more people than we did last semester, which is pretty exciting,” Peppiett said.

Sisters, Rewa and Rimona Tawil are studying abroad for a semester from Egypt and visited the thrift shop Monday and Tuesday.

They both said they were impressed with the selection of items at the event, especially the books. Rewa said she bought books both days she stopped in.

“I liked the variety — there wasn’t just one style,” Rewa said. “There’s a lot of funky stuff in there.”

This was freshman SHH member Sydni Smith’s first time attending the event and she said she enjoyed the experience.

“It’s really cool to see that people come in and donate to an organization that they’ve never heard of and they’re not involved in,” Smith said. “It’s just uplifting.”

CONTACT Avery Goodstine at thebreezeweb@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.

The thrift event is the biggest fundraiser for the Students Helping Honduras club. Photos by Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

The selection of items at the thrift event were both varied and impressive, Rewa Tawil said.

Lilac War blooms: JMU alumnus pursues music with roots in the valley

By EVAN MOODY The Breeze

In between harmonica riffs and banjo melodies, Nicholas Maoury, known by his stage name, Lilac War, sings his song “Appalachian Great” on the March 3-released EP, “In Lieu of Youth.”

Maoury (’20), a Winchester, Virginia, native and former computer science major, was introduced to friends at JMU who supported his musical aspirations and gave him the confidence to begin recording music. JMU also gave Maoury the resources and performance opportunities to begin establishing himself as an artist such as TDU open mic nights, Relay for life and Madipalooza.

When he began drafting music, Maoury said he drew inspiration from the Irish singer-songwriter Hozier and the Appalachian region as a whole, stating the area has a distinct sound that’s apparent in bands like Dogwood Tails. During his time in Harrisonburg, going to various house shows to see fellow students perform also inspired Maoury to play at venues around the area.

“Clementine is a great place to play. The Golden Pony is amazing,” Maoury said. “The various breweries that are around, especially Restless Moon, probably played there, like five or six times.”

While the “Lilac War” title is exclusive to Maoury, who produces, records and plays all the instruments for his projects, the artist is often joined on stage by friends, especially when playing in Harrisonburg. Recently, Maoury collaborated with Michael Chladon, a current co-worker at Brightspot technology company in Northern Virginia. The two shared a database course together during their time at JMU and reconnected over music while at the company, Chladon said.

“Music came up kind of naturally,” Chladon said. “It’s a big part of his life. It’s a big part of my life as well.” The two began their musical collaboration this past January.

Chladon said both artists have participated in casual open-mic events in Northern Virginia and referenced a recent 45-minute show the two played. The show was particulary challenging, Chladon said, because the brewery wasn’t open to live performers for the night. The duo was able to perform, however, with special premission.

Van Fleet, a photographer who began working with Lilac War in 2017. Van Fleet was introduced to Maoury when the artist was a freshman orientation guide, or “FROG,” for one of his friends. Since meeting, Van Fleet has done several photoshoots for Lilac War and considers

the artist different from other musicians he’s worked with in the Harrisonburg area.

“Nick is definitely, like, the most serious of them,” Van Fleet said. “It’s great to see what he’s been able to do.”

Van Fleet further commented on the increase in production value of Lilac War’s projects since their first collaboration. Over the years, Van Fleet has seen Maoury’s growth both in technical musical experience and in song writing, even referencing the artist’s change from mostly acoustic to venturing further into Americana and the bedroom pop genre.

Chladon’s also observed the vast progression from some of Maoury’s earlier work. As a longtime friend and artist himself, it was interesting to see the changes Maoury made both as an artist and human, he said.

“As an artist … you start somewhere and you start writing songs and you know, as you get more experienced, just more experiences in life that translate to music,” Chladon said. “That just develops over time.”

Recently, Maoury has ventured into intertwining both Appalachian music trends with those of large pop acts, calling himself a “mega fan” of the English pop-rock band, The 1975. Clips of Maoury covering The 1975’s tracks can be seen on the artist’s Instagram and the band’s influence is evident in Lilac War’s most recent EP where Maoury said he formed his “own genre of music.” Van Fleet accompanied the release with his photography and described that the photos very much match the feelings the record evokes.

Since moving from the Appalachian region to Northern Virginia along with the artist, Chladon saw sonic inspiration of both settings evident in the EP, contrasting the ruralness of the Appalachian region to the urbanness of Nova.

“It’s a very unique genre,” Chladon said. “Just the setting of the music, the setting of grinding that music and being down there for four years in school, I think definitely translates to the music.”

When asked of his first impression of the EP, Chladon characterized the song “Hibernating,” which was released as a single before the project, as owning an entrancing atmosphere that surrounds the EP. The track displays Maoury’s peak ability of songwriting and Chladon’s even able to mimic the slide guitar portion when playing live with

Moving forward, Van Fleet said he hopes to collaborate with Maoury coming off the artist’s brief hiatus during the pandemic. Along with photography shoots, Van Fleet said he hopes Lilac War will

continue experimenting with different sounds through new projects.

Both Chladon and Maoury spoke on the past influence of Harrisonburg when looking toward their future with Chladon, stating returning to the ‘burg for shows is a possibility. An upbeat, lighter song about leaving the friendly city from Lilac War is currently in the works, Maoury said.

For Harrisonburg artists looking to implement themselves into the music scene, Maoury said to keep on pushing.

“Just pursue music because you love music and you like writing and recording,” Maoury said. “See your favorite bands, your favorite artists, see what’s happening locally.”

CONTACT Evan Moody 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.

TAYLOR DOWN UNDER ROOM 112 IN THE UNION

Maoury was able to draw inspiration from both the Valley and Northern Virginia for his latest project. Photo courtesy of Kyle Van Fleet

No cat left behind

New cat cafe works to find felines homes

By K. MAUSER The Breeze

A fter six years of hard work, it’s finally here: The Aristocat Cafe is open for business.

The Aristocat Cafe, which opened April 13, is the first of its kind in Harrisonburg — a location that combines both tea and cats into a cohesive “cat cafe.” The cafe is set up so the cats stay in one room separate from the food and drink, but it’s surrounded by glass walls so the cats can be viewed by those outside of the cat room, an optimal option for people who are allergic to cats.

Ten cats currently roam the floors of the cat room, each of which are up for adoption. One cat has already been adopted within the first week of being open, Melisa Miller, president of the Humane Society of Shenandoah County (HSSC), said.

“I think we’re more of a modern cat cafe concept where we are a tea house first,” Amanda Atwell, founder of the Aristocat Cafe, said.

Atwell said she first had the idea to start her own cat cafe in 2017 when she and her husband were visiting Quebec and stumbled across one. At that point, Atwell said she didn’t know cat cafes existed, but said they began working toward creating their own soon after.

Since she was 16, Atwell said she’s been fostering cats and has had about 60 come through her home altogether. She said she’d always wanted to combine her culinary skills with her love for cats, but she’d never known how until she came across a cat cafe.

About a year ago, Miller said she received a call from Atwell asking for cats for her cafe. “We thought that this would be great because, locally, there are not enough adopters,” Miller said. “We were happy to hear from her.”

Miller said the HSSC places about 500-600 animals a year to various adopters, the majority of these animals being cats. She said even though the HSSC tries hard not to turn people away, it can’t take all of the cats into its foster and placement program, Homeward Bound.

Aristocat Cafe gets its cats from the Humane Society of Shenandoah County. Photos by K. Mauser / The Breeze

CULTURE

“If you break that down, we average taking in about 50 animals a month,” Miller said. “That would be how many that we need to find homes for.”

With Atwell’s help, Miller said the HSSC will be able to take in more animals and “save more lives.” Atwell said anyone who’s interested in adopting can apply through the humane society which will coordinate getting the pet to them. She also said she doesn’t have any involvement in the adoption process, and the Humane Society benefits entirely from it.

“We’re their home until they find a home,” Atwell said.

Kathleen Morris, who visited the cafe Friday with her daughter Caitlin Morris, said she’s liked her experience with the cafe so far.

“We’re having fun and we just like cats and we also love tea,” Kathleen said. “You marry the two together, what could go wrong?”

Aristocat Cafe offers an extensive collection of 74 types of tea, as well as coffee from Merge Coffee, Atwell said.

“I bake everything in house that is served, or we try to source as much of it locally as we can,” Atwell said.

Atwell also said the Harrisonburg community doesn’t have a tea shop with the assortment of teas that Aristocat Cafe offers. She said all of the tea the cafe serves is looseleaf and single-origin, and they even blend some things in house.

According to the cafe’s website, its tagline is, “Fostering cats and community over a cup of tea.” Atwell said this tagline represents its “great mission.”

Miller said the Aristocat Cafe is a foster home for the HSSC rather than an adoption site. She said the HSSC still has to complete the adoptions, but that it’s grateful for the large number of cats Atwell houses.

“Saving more animals and having more room in our foster homes is the goal,” Miller said. “There always seems to be more cats than there are adoptive homes.”

Miller said the influx of cats around Harrisonburg is due to the lack of stray cats that are spay-neutered. She said adopters need to spay-neuter their cats in order to help lessen the population of stray cats in the area. Miller also said a cat can get pregnant at only four months old and can commonly have three or four litters a year.

“Please spay-neuter your pet,” she said, “Please adopt, don’t shop.”

Miller said the HSSC provides all the food, litter, vet care and resources to anyone who volunteers to foster these cats, including Atwell.

“Amanda being able to take in 12-15 cats at a time, and probably more when we switch over to kittens, will really help us out with being able to take more in and to save more lives,” Miller said.

Kathleen said she was aware of the “good service” the Aristocat Cafe is doing to the cats it takes in.

“They’re taking care of them, they’re socializing them, they’re working with the Shenandoah Humane Society to find homes for them,” Kathleen said. “And they provide the maintenance, the upkeep, for the cats themselves. And also, you can get tea.”

Kathleen said herself and her daughter would “absolutely” recommend the Aristocat Cafe to friends. Caitlin said the cafe’s a relaxing environment.

“We’re just the place for everybody,” Atwell said. “The cats are here because ot’s good for them, and people are here because it’s good fr them. You should care because we care.”

CONTACT K. Mauser at mauserkk@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.

Patrons of Aristocat Cafe can purchase tea, coffee and pastries while playing with the cafe’s cats.

The owner of Aristocat Cafe was inspired to open the business after visiting a cat cafe in Quebec, she said.

PURPLE vs. WHITE

Preview | Dukes hope to find answers on roster in annual spring game

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

For almost a month, JMU football has been practicing each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. This weekend, fans will get to see if that practice has paid off.

The offense will face the defense in the annual spring game on Saturday at 1 p.m. — this time, though, with a twist. Last year, the offense topped the defense 20-2, due in large part to the fact that the defense could only score on safeties and defensive touchdowns.

This year, the defense will be awarded three points for every third and fourth down stop, and six points for an interception or fumble recovery. Aside from the unique scoring system, the game will only be two regulation quarters with a five-minute intermission after the first 15 minutes.

“We’ll try to get the fans off their seats with some big explosive plays,” head coach Curt Cignetti said, “but I don’t know, our defense is pretty good, they’ve been tough this spring.”

Competition between the offense and defense won’t be new to this roster. Redshirt junior linebacker Taurus Jones said making the offense better was a goal for the defense this spring. It went about that by trying to beat its offensive counterparts every day in practice.

“We talked about that in the locker room, like, ‘If we think that we're the best and our offense thinks that they’re the best for those 11-12 games, that they are out there against somebody else. There is no way that they can beat us.’ It’s that simple,” Jones said.

Junior tight end Zach Horton backed up Jones, saying the competition “definitely” made the offense better, and adding that seeing everyone on the team compete is “what practice is really about.”

Will fans see that same level of competitiveness on Saturday? — “Oh yeah,” Cignetti said, “times four.”

All in all, the spring game can be fun for fans, players and even alumni, who’ll be returning for the game and a few golf tournaments the day before, per Cignetti.

Cignetti has said earlier in the spring he expects the team to look a lot different in the fall. There are plenty of starting spots still available — one of the biggest roster questions entering the game will be what it was this time last year: quarterback.

There are currently four quarterbacks vying for the starting spot, and Cignetti has insisted the competition has been close throughout the spring — praising both redshirt freshman Alonza Barnett III and redshirt senior Jordan McCloud at the Sun Belt coaches’ spring media availability April 6.

“Jordan’s done a nice job learning the offense,” Cignetti said. “He sees the field well and he’s had some good days and good play, but there’s a competition there, and I really do like the way Barnett has come on really all spring long, but in particular, the last three or four practices.” However, after practice Tuesday, he downplayed the idea of players in all positions moving up the depth chart before the end of spring practice.

“You know, I mentioned a few names in the past couple of weeks, but let's see what happens at the end of spring,” Cignetti said. “[We] watch a spring game and then we assess things. See where we are from a roster standpoint and move forward.”

In terms of shaping that roster, Cignetti said the spring game will be a repetition of things the team has been practicing — nothing new will be added for the game.

“It’s just another evaluation tool,” Cignetti said, adding that the team wants to get as many players snaps as it can.

When the spring game kicks off Saturday, there will be plenty to look out for in the new roster, and plenty of speculation afterward as to who’ll move up the depth chart and who won’t. But when it comes to the team’s focus, Cignetti put it simply.

“We just wanna go out there and play hard and execute,” Cignetti said.

CONTACT Jackson Hephner at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter at @TheBreezeSports.

EDITORS Kaiden Bridges & Jackson Hephner EMAIL breezesports@gmail.com

Redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud throws a pass during spring practice. The transfer from Arizona is vying for the starting spot with three other quarterbacks. Photos by Valerie Chenault / The Breeze

Head coach Curt Cignetti watches his players during spring practice. Cignetti called the spring game "just another evaluation tool" for him and his coaching staff.

“We'll try to get the fans off their fans off their seats with some big explosive plays.”

Curt Cignetti

JMU football head coach

A year of firsts

JMU women’s golf wins three spring tournaments for the first time in 20 years

By MADI ALLEY The Breeze

The Dukes ended their season placing eighth at the Sun Belt Championship on Tuesday despite going into the tournament as the top seed. It was a surprising end to a historic season, one that rewrote the narrative for JMU women’s golf.

“They really came back with a renewed focus and a drive this spring that I haven’t seen in a while here,” head coach Tommy Baker said.

This is the first JMU women’s golf team in 20 years to win three tournaments in a single season. Across their four tournaments played this spring, the Dukes have racked up three first-place finishes and grabbed second once.

The Dukes kicked off the spring with their first win in Oyster Shuck Match Play on Feb. 14. Redshirt senior Kate Owens went to battle for the Dukes in the final round of the championship, coming back from three holes down in the deciding matchup to lead the Dukes to their first win of the season.

JMU stayed hot, picking up a second-place finish at the River Landing Classic on March 14. After winning this tournament in 2022, the Dukes returned looking to protect their crown. They ended up taking second after falling to UNC Wilmington by three strokes. Junior Kendall Turner led the Dukes and placed third overall out of all golfers.

Fifteen days after the River Landing Classic, JMU clinched its second first-place finish at the Golfweek Intercollegiate on March 29. The Dukes stayed on top as a team throughout the invitational and finished with a team score of 865 (+13).

“Winning is a mindset,” Owens said. “It’s hard to get into that mindset until you do it. And then, I think once you do it, and then you do it again, it starts to become something that you know how to do and you’re comfortable doing instead of something that you really want to do.”

The redshirt senior shot the then-lowest score of the season, shooting a 68 (-3) in her second round. Owens finished T-3 behind Turner, who clinched second place overall.

JMU women’s golf has struggled in the past to piece together complete seasons. The Dukes started their 2022 season with a pair of ninth-place finishes at the The Show at Spanish Trail and the FAU Paradise Invitational and finished the season with a single tournament win at the River Landing Classic on March 8.

“We’re just getting used to winning, and I think that’s exactly where this program needed to be for years,” Owens said. “It’s nice to finally be there.”

JMU added its third win of the spring with a first-place nod at the ECU Ironwood Invitational. The Dukes started day one with their lowest 36-hole start ever and their second-best single round in program history. JMU shot a 283 (-5) in round one to start on top out the gate.

“I think it was more of just, like, it was a matter of time until it all came together and we started doing this,” Owens said.

Junior Amelia Williams etched her name in the record books by picking up the lowest 18-hole and 54-hole scores in JMU history at the ECU Ironwood Invitational. Williams shot a 64 (-8) in her final round of play and carded a cumulative score of 207 (-9) across 54 holes.

“It was a great tournament: I finished first, Kendall placed second and the team won,” Williams said. “So all in all, it was a really memorable tournament.”

Turner’s second-place finish, two strokes behind Williams, helped her set her own record. The junior shot the most rounds of par or better in a single season, tallying three at the Ironwood Invitational to set the new record of 15 in a season.

Owens and junior Haley Quickel helped push the Dukes to their third and final win of the spring on April 4. The pair placed just inside the top 10, finishing T-9 together. Quickel’s performance was her best of the spring campaign, shooting a 7173-72 across three rounds.

“I think that we’ve just played at another level this season that I don’t think we’ve reached in the past,” Quickel said. “It’s a really great memory to have to remember these wins.”

It all came to an end at the Sun Belt Championship, but JMU’s performance in its final tournament doesn’t take away from its success this season.

“To win three times in a season and almost win the fourth one has been insane,” Owens said. “I honestly could have only dreamed of ending that way.”

CONTACT Madi Alley at alleyml@dukes.jmu.edu. For more women’s golf coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter at @TheBreezeSports.

JMU women’s golf poses after placing first in the ECU Ironwood Invitational on April 3. Photos courtesy of JMU Athletics

Freshman Maria Atwood looks over her scorebook with head coach Tommy Baker at the Golfweek Invitational on March 29.

Following through on her shot, redshirt senior Kate Owens watches her ball fly in the Golfweek Invitational.

Pushing her cart along the green, Kayleigh Reinke prepares for her turn in the Dukes’ tournament March 27-29.

Assistant coach Kendall Ahrens and redshirt senior Kate Owens stand together as Owens awaits her turn in the Golfweek Invitational where she placed third.

Quick comeback

Women’s golfer has breakout spring for after sophomore year setbacks

By MADI ALLEY The Breeze

Junior Haley Quickel didn’t play in a match for JMU women’s golf in her sophomore season.

“She’ll probably be mad at me for saying this, but they [scores] weren’t up to her standards,” Tommy Baker, women’s golf head coach, said. “She wasn’t happy with them, she was struggling with a lot of things. I demanded a lot from her, but I wanted her to fit into the mold.”

Then, the switch flipped.

In the Dukes’ first tournament of the 2022-23 season, the junior carded back-toback career-best rounds. Quickel shot 7170-71 across her three rounds at the Yale Invitational on Sept. 11, 2022. She led the Dukes and placed T-4 out of all golfers.

“When she’s playing aggressively and swinging freely, she plays wonderful,

wonderful golf for us,” Baker said.

Quickel has become a consistent and key producer for the Dukes this season, racking up four straight top-20 finishes this season.

“The way she’s played this season has been huge,” redshirt senior Kate Owens said. “The evolution of her from her freshman year to now, I think speaks volumes to the commitment she has to her game and just getting better.”

Quickel placed her personal best this spring at the Ironwood Invitational on April 4. She went 71-73-72 across three rounds to place T-9 alongside Owens. Quickel’s finish within the top 10 helped JMU secure its third first-place finish this season.

The biggest jump in Quickel’s game this season has been within her putting, she said.

“She’s making more four- to 10-foot, even 15-foot putts than any person I’ve seen in a long time,” Baker said. “It’s something we’ve worked on a lot, and something she worked on incredibly hard this offseason. When you

can make those 10-15 footers to save a par on a bad hole or there’s 10-to-15 footers for a birdie, it really makes a big difference overall.”

Quickel’s improvements this season are a result of an intentional shift in how Baker and assistant coach Kendall Aherns have let her take the reins when competing on the course.

“This year, my assistant and I really tried to let her play freely,” Baker said. “Let her go out there and be herself, embrace her personality and on the golf course, which is aggressive.”

The junior’s aggression and competitive nature embedded within her style of play translates into her willingness to take risks on the course, Owens said.

“Haley pulls off the craziest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life,” Owens shared. “She’ll get herself into trouble, but somehow get right out. If you’re playing behind her, you’ll see her somewhere crazy and then she’ll make par. It just doesn’t surprise you.”

Both on and off the green, Baker said

Quickel adds a quirky dimension to the Dukes.

“She’s definitely the comedian who keeps everything light,” Baker said. “It takes a lot of the edge off in between the rounds.”

Owens echoed Baker, emphasizing Quickel’s ability to soften things up with her witty demeanor.

“She just speaks her mind and it’s absolutely hilarious,” Owens said. “Some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth just gets the whole team laughing.”

The Dukes will continue to count on Quickel and her competitive edge and comedic relief in her senior season next fall.

“I want to make sure that I’m putting in my all every day, because if I don’t, then I’m not giving everything that I can to get better,” Quickel said.

CONTACT Madi Alley at alleyml@dukes. jmu.edu. For more women’s golf coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

e

DUKES WIN e

Finishing her shot, junior Haley Quickel follows through and judges her ball placement. Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics

Bright spot in defeat

Lead-off hitter Mathis feels comfortable, provides upside in Dukes’ 10-2 loss at U.Va.

By SAVANNAH REGER

The Breeze

There was no hesitation in freshman second baseman KK Mathis’ eyes. No doubt, no fear. No looking away toward the outfield while answering her questions postgame about the 10-2 loss at U.Va. on Tuesday. She locked eyes and said what needed to be said about the Dukes' performance: the Cavaliers were ready, JMU wasn’t.

“Right when we step foot on the field, right when it says ‘play ball’,” Mathis said, “it’s time to play ball. We have to win every inning from the get-go.”

The Cavaliers hit two home runs in the first two innings, one of which scored three runners, to go up 7-0. Just like against thenNo. 25 Louisiana on March 31-April 2 and in game one of JMU’s series against Georgia State on April 6, when the Dukes get behind quickly, they’ve struggled to bounce back.

Mathis took ownership of JMU’s first inning woes. She said the Dukes knew U.Va. wanted to score first. The Cavaliers stuck to their game plan and JMU got caught out of it.

Even down seven through two innings, head coach Loren LaPorte and Mathis said they were happy with the Dukes’ offensive production. U.Va. started reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week and freshman Eden Bigham, who tossed five innings. Still,

LaPorte said as the game went on the Dukes needed something, a spark, to come up with a timely hit.

LaPorte turned to her lead-off hitter: Mathis, quite literally, stepped up to the plate.

The freshman doubled in the fifth and went 2-for-3 the night. Following her double, junior outfielder Kylee Gleason also doubled, scoring Mathis and getting JMU’s first run on the board.

“I like KK being in front of me because she is a great hitter,” Gleason said. “Hitting is contagious.”

So even with the loss in the final midweek matchup of the season, Mathis said she learned how to provide that spark in the leadoff spot — a spot she’s never played in before.

“It’s the highest spot I’ve been in my whole life,” Mathis said. “Personally, I like it. It makes me more at ease.”

She said she’s at ease more in that spot because instead of coming in three or four in line and needing a hit to score, she’s the one that another batter has to score. Mathis said there’s pressure no matter where you hit but since her first start at lead-off in the second game of the Troy series, she’s felt relaxed.

“Learning how to not play with that pressure on you is very, very hard,” Mathis said. “Once you find it and stay in that groove, you got to stay there. I’m finally getting in my groove a little bit so I’m playing at ease.”

LaPorte said she’s noticed through three games that Mathis has liked the spot. The head coach said that’s because of Mathis' natural leadership ability — she’s constantly talking and telling everybody what she’s seeing on the field. Being the player that sees the pitcher first and adapts quickly for the rest of the lineup is a “natural” spot for her to be in.

“You got to set the tone,” LaPorte said. “I like her there and I think she’s doing a great job of handling it as a freshman.”

Because Mathis is scoring instead of scoring others in her new spot, her mentality hasn’t changed but rather has adjusted. She said now it’s about finding any way to get on base so that when hitters follow her, someone’s there, waiting to score.

As a result, she said she’s producing more walks.

“I’m seeing more pitches to let my teammates have more of a look at them,”

Mathis said. “They have more of an idea of what they’re getting into. So any way we can find production, we’re doing it.”

JMU heads to Huntington, West Virginia, for a three-game series with Marshall starting Friday. The Thundering Herd enter the series off a loss to No. 13 Alabama and only trail Louisiana in the Sun Belt standings with three weeks remaining.

To see success this weekend, Mathis said the team needs to keep fighting. It needs to keep finding a way on base and make adjustments quickly.

“[U.Va.] was ready to jump on us from the beginning,” Gleason said. “Our weakness was getting through the first inning. So if we can capitalize early like they did, we can see a different result.”

CONTACT Savannah Reger at regersj@dukes. jmu.edu. For more softball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

Freshman second baseman KK Mathis prepares to gather a ball during JMU's 10-2 loss to U.Va. on Tuesday. Photos by Savannah Reger /The Breeze

Head coach Loren LaPorte said that she noticed Mathis has enjoyed being the Dukes' leadoff hitter, adding that her leadership ability makes it a "natural" spot for her.

Skates to Cleats

Players used youth hockey

By KAIDEN BRIDGES The Breeze

JMU lacrosse freshman attacker Maddie Epke first wore ice skates a month after she learned to walk. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Kat Buchanan started on skates when she was about 2 years old, picking up her first hockey stick when she was 3. Redshirt sophomore attacker Olivia Mattis joined her first ice hockey team when she was 5.

All three said the skills they grew up learning while playing hockey benefitted them as they now play lacrosse for the No. 4 team in the nation.

“I’d credit most of my athletic ability to hockey,” Buchanan said.

Mattis said, growing up in Minnesota, ice hockey surrounded her life from a young age. She said her dad, Matthew Mattis, can be credited for her early start in hockey, as he threw her into the sport as soon as she was able.

Like Mattis, Epke’s father, Thomas Epke, was a big influence on her ice hockey career as one of her coaches.

Buchanan said her hockey career started with small league games until she transferred into bigger, more travel-style hockey teams, where she played with the boys’ teams until she was about 14 years old. She then

transitioned to her high school’s ice hockey team as well as her club team, the Massachusetts Spitfires.

Now playing lacrosse, Mattis said much of the technique she’s developed is rooted from her years on the ice.

“I would say that the stick work in hockey has helped me a lot with being able to do some things, like cradling low and shooting low,” Mattis said. “A lot of other people don’t really know how to do that just because in hockey everything is on the ground, when in lacrosse, you don’t really see a lot of that. My cradling and unique stick work is very much from hockey.”

During her hockey career, Buchanan was actually a forward, not a goalkeeper. In her switch in both sports and positions, she said one of the biggest differences she saw was through visual points and focus.

Buchanan said her jump from a hockey forward to a lacrosse goalkeeper was stemmed from the amount of running in lacrosse.

“I don’t like long running, skating is so different,” Buchanan laughed. “Whenever I run now I get laughed at because of my skating form. I kind of ‘glide’ when I run, I don’t look fast. I push off in a way that I would if I had skates on, so I just think it’s better off if I didn’t have to run.”

Buchanan said ice hockey is beneficial for lateral and quick movements accompanied by short bursts, and for her specifically as a goalie, her time on the ice has helped her be explosive and step up to the ball when needed.

Epke played as a lacrosse midfielder throughout her high school and travel career but has moved into the attacking position for JMU. She said the shift in positions has helped her see how the two sports go hand-in-hand, while still noticing the bigger differences within the two sports, specifically the speed of play and heavier ball-and-stick control that’s needed in lacrosse.

“In lacrosse, the ball actually sits in your stick, while in hockey, someone could literally poke the puck away from you, so it’s a lot different,” Epke said. “But then the rest, I think, is very similar. Hockey is a game of keeping your head up, making good passes and I would say lacrosse is the same.”

But aside from differences, Epke highlighted how the mentality and visions of both sports are the same.

“It’s all about taking chances on yourself,” Epke said. “It’s about keeping your head up and being able to see the best option on the field.”

Despite no longer playing ice hockey, all three said they still enjoy the sport and have found it holding a place in their lives.

Mattis said she grew up not only as a Minnesota Wild fan but also a Chicago Blackhawks supporter.

“When I was 13 years old, I got to redo my room. I did it with a Blackhawks theme,” Mattis said. “I got a whole bunch of Fat Heads to put on my wall and even got a Chicago Blackhawks rug.”

Buchanan, living in Massachusetts, said she’s always been a Boston Bruins fan, and is hopeful this year for a playoff run. She said their record this year after being projected as one of the worst teams in the NHL has been fun to watch and feels like it resonates with JMU lacrosse, as it recently won the American Athletic Conference (AAC) champions in their inaugural season in the conference.

“It’s really interesting and cool to see a group of guys that weren’t necessarily supposed to be great come together and just prove everybody wrong,” Buchanan said. “It kind of reminds me of what we have going on here on the lacrosse team. It’s cool to see and it’s emotional.”

CONTACT Kaiden Bridges at breezesports@gmail.com. For more lacrosse coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter at @TheBreezeSports.

Freshman attacker Maddie Epke said lacrosse and ice hockey are similar when she has to pick her head up and look for space on the next play. Photo courtesy of Maddie Epke

to aid No. 4 JMU lacrosse

Before becoming a goalkeeper in lacrosse, redshirt senior goalkeeper Kat Buchanan played ice hockey as a forward. Photo courtesy of Kat Buchanan

Redshirt sophomore Olivia Mattis started hockey at a young age and said that her time on the ice helped construct her lacrosse skills. Photo courtesy of Olivia Mattis

Buchanan uses the skills she learned as a hockey player to be quick and explosive in the goal.

Epke keeps her head up to see the best option on the field, something she learned from a young age in ice hockey.

Mattis spoke of how her stick work in hockey has benefitted her shooting in lacrosse. Photos by Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Evan Weaver breezeopinion@gmail.com EDITOR EMAIL @Breeze_Opinion

A view behind the veil

Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts & Pats is the place to do it. Submit your own at breezejmu.org.

Government officials should prioritize transparency and avoid politics when discussing national health issues

ORIANA LUKAS opinions with oriana

A “thank-you-for-yourservice” pat to the woman who manages the Carrier Starbucks, who seemed a little tired and stressed this week.

From a senior who’s grateful for all the coffee over the years.

An “I’m-in-shambles” dart to my printer for taking forever to print my resume.

From someone who needed to get to a job fair and was stressed.

Dr. Anthony Fauci attended JMU on April 3 to discuss the details of the COVID-19 pandemic. CNN Chief Domestic Correspondent Jim Acosta (’93) interviewed Fauci with a series of questions that pertained to how he and his team managed the virus.

Though this event was beneficial for students to learn from such prominent figures, there were certain elusive answers from Fauci that made it seem as though facts were being hidden.

For example, when asked about the origins of COVID-19, Fauci answered in an indirect manner that didn’t give any definite conclusion.

“You have two possibilities on how this brand new virus, similar to SARS, which we

knew came from a bat to a market that was sold to a human, broke out,” Fauci said.

“So if the two possibilities are somebody was working on something in the lab and it leaked out versus a natural occurrence, and you don’t definitively know which it is, it is absolutely essential to keep an open mind.”

Fauci’s a familiar name to most U.S. citizens. Whether he’s on TV, social media or the radio, many people have heard his voice. He’s made a prominent name for himself as the director of the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden. He worked at NIAID during the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, according to Fox News, and has worked with many previous presidents including Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush

and Ronald Reagan.

Once COVID-19 reached the U.S., Fauci took charge as the face of the government’s response to the virus. He worked with the NIAID to mandate safety procedures such as masks, lockdowns and vaccinations. Though COVID-19 quickly became politicized, with one side supporting Fauci, and the other discrediting him and refusing vaccinations, as demonstrated in a March 8 Politico article. According to Politico, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said turning against Fauci was the wrong move.

“I want the facts, but I hope and say to my colleagues on the other side: We cannot go down a dangerous path by pushing unfounded conspiracies about Dr. Fauci and other longserving career public health officials,” Dingell said in the Politico article.

An “I’m-sleepy” dart to my workload.

From someone who’s been up past 2 a.m. doing homework for weeks now.

A “tax-fraud” dart to the person who filed taxes in my name.

From someone who doesn’t want to deal with the IRS.

CNN anchor and JMU alumnus, Jim Acosta and Hugh McFarlane, a JMU College of Health and Behavioral Studies student, interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Madison Vision Series event on April 3. Photos by Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Though COVID-19 has simmered down with countries opening back up, the skepticism of its origin has persisted.

According to the New York Times, some scientists claim evidence shows the virus came from a racoon-dog while others claim it escaped from a lab. The arguments are polarized, with Democrats siding with the theory of a spillover and Republicans siding with a lab leak. Indirectly perpetuating the Democrats’ theory, Fauci said there’s little evidence indicating a lab leak.

“You ask yourself, what is the data for a lab leak? None. Zero,” Fauci said. “Does that mean it didn’t happen? No. It could possibly happen.”

The answers are vague and reveal certain political agendas. Nick Hovis, a junior at JMU who attended the event, said government officials owe it to their supporters to tell the truth.

“I feel like a lot of them are very polished

in their responses and you were able to see that with Fauci and Acosta, who seemed to have molded his questions to have a certain response,” Hovis said. “You have to be truthful to those who put their faith and support in you. If you are able to quickly lie and evade questions, how are we supposed to support you?”

Lethal viruses shouldn’t be politicized. Every aspect of COVID-19 was politicized — conflict over masks, lockdowns, vaccines, you name it. Government officials should work harder to tell the truth instead of working toward their desired agenda — especially when eager students simply want to know the truth.

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.

All-star cast

Commentary | The 2023 women's March Madness was important for women's basketball

With an average of 9.9 million viewers and a peak of 12.6 million, the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball national championship was the most viewed NCAA women’s game ever, according to ESPN.

This comes only three years after all women’s tournament games started to air on national TV and were scheduled with staggered game times. With these changes, the women’s tournament has finally become equitable to the men’s in regard to access, according to the Associated Press.

Although a poll on The Breeze’s Instagram showed that only 21 out of 49 respondents watched the championship game, this certainly doesn’t match the rising trend of women's basketball popularity.

The teams and players in this tournament made just as much history as the national championship game, making it a turning point in women's basketball.

Louisiana State University (LSU)

LSU took home the national championship April 2 in its game against Iowa, the first national title in LSU basketball history.

It wouldn’t have been able to do it without two transfers: Angel Reese and Alexis Morris.

The NCAA transfer portal has allowed college basketball to develop drastically since a rule change in April 2021, which permits student-athletes to transfer colleges without penalty. Previously, players had to sit out one year, but now, they’re eligible to play immediately.This served as a big advantage to LSU.

Angel Reese

Also known as the “Bayou Barbie,” Angel Reese is a sophomore transfer from Maryland. This season, she set the record for most double-doubles, 34, in a single season for NCAA basketball, according to Just Women’s Sports on Twitter.

She’s also setting the precedent for college athletes through Name Image & Likeness (NIL) deals. Through these brand deals, she’s one of the highest-paid college athletes right now — her earnings are estimated at $1.3 million, compared to $370,000 before winning the national championship, according to Sports Illustrated.

Making a name and brand for herself, while being a phenomenal record-breaking basketball player, Angel Reese is setting a new standard for women's college basketball players.

In a press conference after the national championship game, Reese said she thinks she helped grow women’s basketball this year. She faced backlash over her competitive game talk but said she’ll continue to be unapologetically herself for the people who look like her.

Alexis Morris

What makes Alexis Morris so special is her story. Not only did she score 21 points in the championship game with an average of 15.4 for the season, but she also faced a lot of adversity to get there.

Alexis Morris played for Kim Mulkey — the LSU women’s basketball coach — during her freshman year at Baylor, but was dismissed from the team. Her sophomore year she went to Rutgers, transferred to Texas A&M her junior year and finally ended up at LSU, back with Mulkey, for her senior year.

“At one point when I left Rutgers, I wasn’t even going to play basketball anymore,”

Morris said to Sports Illustrated. “So this moment is literally everything to me. I am the comeback kid. I went through so much adversity. The world counted me out. Media writing bad posts, portraying this image of me. Now I can just let it all go. I beat it. I beat the odds.”

In the 2023 WNBA draft, the Connecticut Sun drafted Morris with the 22nd overall pick.

Players like Morris are cultivating perseverance in the next generation of women's basketball players.

Flau’jae Johnson

Flau’jae Johnson is finishing up her freshman year at LSU but heavily contributed

to the Tigers, even as a younger player; she averaged 11 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Johnson isn’t only successful on the court but she’s also making a name for herself in the music industry.

According to The Washington Post, Johnson's a rapper signed to Roc Nation and has even been on "America’s Got Talent." Trying to fulfill her father’s dreams, who passed away before she was born, Johnson leads with passion, determination and talent. She aims to continue in basketball and music, being great in whatever she does and inspiring many along the way.

MARY MABRY a message from mary

Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke about his role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic among other issues.

LSU's Angel Reese and the University of Iowa's Caitlin Clark competing in the 2023 NCAA women's basketball championship game. Tribune News Service

from BASKETBALL, page 25

Caitlin Clark

Caitlin Clark’s a junior at Iowa and one of the best college basketball players of all time.

The numbers speak for themselves: Clark finished the NCAA tournament with 191 points and 60 assists — more in both categories than anyone who’s ever played in the women’s tournament. She averaged 31.8 points, 10.0 assists and 5.2 rebounds in taking the Hawkeyes to the title game.

Clark also won “all of the major Player of the Year awards” in women’s basketball, including the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy according to ESPN.

After losing the national championship, Clark said this through tears in an interview posted by March Madness on YouTube:

“I want my legacy to be the impact I can have on young kids, and the people in the state of Iowa. And I hope I brought them a lot of joy this season — I hope this team brought them a lot of joy … And I was just that young girl, so, all you have to do is dream and you can be in moments like this.”

Watch any video of Clark playing and you’ll understand the enormous impact she’s had, and will continue to have, in women’s basketball.

South Carolina

The South Carolina women’s basketball team was projected to win the NCAA tournament this year, but they were upset by Clark and the Hawkeyes in the Final Four.

However, this loss doesn’t cover up the fact that South Carolina’s a phenomenal team; it won the national title last year and entered the Final Four on a 36-game winning streak.

At the 2023 WNBA draft, the Gamecocks had five players drafted: Aliyah Boston (1st overall pick), Laeticia Amihere (8th), Zia Cooke (10th), Brea Beal (24th) and Victaria Saxton (25th).

Aliyah Boston

This season, Aliyah Boston was named Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row and also won the Naismith Trophy last year.

According to Sports Illustrated, at age 12, Boston and her sister moved away from their parents and home in the U.S. Virgin Islands to pursue basketball in Massachusetts. Boston made sure this sacrifice paid off. “Her work ethic paved the way for her success on the court. It was built on the work she puts in behind closed doors,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said to Sports Illustrated.

Bringing it home

JMU women’s basketball also had a historic season. In its first year in the Sun Belt, the Dukes brought home a conference championship.

This year, the Dukes made their 13th appearance in the NCAA tournament — their first trip since 2016.

JMU’s leading scorer Kiki Jefferson, who won the Sun Belt Player of the Year, entered the transfer portal for her final year of eligibility. ESPN ranked her No. 8 out of players in the portal.

On Monday, Jefferson announced her commitment to play at the University of Louisville next season. On Twitter, she wrote, “Card Nation What’s Up? #committed.”

She’s a much-needed addition to the team, as Louisville’s leading scorer Hailey Van Lith entered the transfer portal shortly after the Cardinals’ loss in the Elite Eight.

There are many other history-makers such as Maddie Siegrist, Haley Jones and Georgia Amoore who’ve worked to progress women’s basketball, especially during this year’s NCAA Tournament.

With so many inspiring team and player narratives, women’s basketball isn’t only gathering more fans and attention but it’s also establishing role models for the next generation of women’s basketball players.

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

The University of South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston won the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the second time. Tribune News Service

Eurocentric education

JMU’s Center for Global Engagement should increase study abroad options outside of Europe

PATRICK HANOVER contributing columnist

JMU offers many study abroad options, both short-term — over breaks or parts of summer — and long-term, a semester. Short-term study abroad options are offered in places all over the world, including a few that don’t leave the U.S. The long-term options right now, all of which are open for applications, include semesters in Antwerp, Belgium; Edinburgh and St. Andrews in Scotland; Florence, Italy; London and Salamanca, Spain. For shortterm programs, 17 of 53 options are outside of Europe.

The five long-term study abroad options that currently exist are all in Western Europe. This could be due to safety concerns associated with various parts of the world. Eastern Europe, which was relatively safe prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been on alert in various places, with the epicenter being eastern Donbas. That being said, pockets of the region are relatively safe.

Most countries outside of Europe and North America are labeled as either “partly free” or “not free” by the Freedom House index.

Some countries are considered free; however, being free doesn’t automatically guarantee a functional democracy, and neighboring countries could also contribute to apprehension about sending students to that country for a whole semester. Even a safe and developed country such as Taiwan, which is in danger of being invaded by China, according to the Associated Press, can be problematic.

“At this point we are not looking to expand additional study centers or exchange partnerships,”

Kathleen Sensabaugh, director of study abroad at JMU’s Center for Global

Engagement (CGE), said. “We are still in a rebuilding period as we bounce back from COVID, so our priority now is to get all our JMU international study centers back on track to pre-pandemic numbers and continuing to foster existing relationships with our exchange partners.”

Sensabaugh cited trends at JMU and nationwide that students are choosing to participate in shorterterm programs and that these trends must be observed before considering expanding any options. She also said risk factors

such as mental health support must be considered. However, the CGE is open to increasing options, Sensabaugh said.

If the CGE is ever to consider the expansion of these programs beyond Europe, countries such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand are viable options for semester-long study abroad trips, as they’re relatively safe and currently host short-term programs.

Despite issues such as the fallout from COVID-19, which universities are still recovering from, looking into expanding long-term study abroad options in the future would provide students an opportunity to experience diverse cultures. However, it might be important to exercise caution while international tensions remain high in some regions around the world. Assuming these issues are eventually resolved in the near future, it would be a good idea to consider these countries for study abroad locations.

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

Evan Weaver / The Breeze

reign

Purple Reign, the annual spring concert and carnival hosted by the University Program Board (UPB), was held this past Saturday. Entertainment included emcee Stephen Glickman, who formerly played Gustavo Roque on the TV show “Big Time Rush,” and headliners Briston Maroney and Del Water Gap. JMU music acts Project Serenity, Not a Saint Band and ReScored Acappella performed along with the headliners. Free food, inflatables, UPB merch giveaways and other activities, paired with the warm weather, provided an enjoyable experience for Dukes in attendance. Photos by Charlotte Matherly, Ella Stotzky & K. Mauser / The Breeze

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

Bruce Venzke

Community

Dance Instructor

NOW HIRING Dance Teachers for Fall 2023-Spring 2024 at well-established studio in downtown Harrisonburg. Seeking teachers with extensive dance training, performance experience and love of teaching! Send resume to dancencompany@gmail.com and call 540810-3631 to begin the interview process. Interviews begin in April-Call Now! More info - dancenco.com/ employment-opportunities.

Fully Furnished Apartment

One bedroom, fully furnished, cookware, silverware, dishes, appliances & furniture. Electric, heat/AC included. TV & high-speed internet available. Country setting 10 miles north of city along Route 11. $1000 per month. Security deposit required. 540-432-1989 cell 540-746-7445

Springfield

Interstate Moving Summer Jobs and student internship program. * Gym Membership * know of anyone looking for summer work $100 per referral to anyone who refers somebody - once their hired. Contact Jenny for details and to be set up with an interview: Jenny Pardo 571-220-6485

REAL ESTATE AUCTION

Real Estate Auction 376 College Street, Dayton, Va.

Thurs., April 20 at 6 p.m. Beautiful brick home with a large rear yard. Great investment property. Close to campus! TOURS: Thursday, April 13-4 p.m. & Sunday, April 16-2 p.m. See Terms at MarkCraigAuctions. com. MARK CRAIG AUCTIONS - VA#2905002160 - 540/246-6430

MADISON MARKETPLACE

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.

COMMUNITY MORE CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS

Pianist/Music Leader at Church

Mount Hermon UMC, located near Bayse, VA, is seeking an energetic and talented pianist and music leader for Sunday services at 9:30 a.m. Music leader would work with Pastor Josh Orndorff, JMU Ph.D. student. Email him at orndorjr@dukes.jmu.edu for more information. Pay is $100 per worship service.

JMU Athletics Tutors

JMU Athletics is hiring Tutors for the 23/24 Academic year. GPA 3.0 or higher and tutors must have received a grade of B+ or higher in any course tutored. Tutors are needed for all Gen Ed courses and for a variety of majors. Pay rate $15-20/hour. For more information and to apply go to JMU Job Link Posting Number J2159 (https://joblink.jmu.edu/postings/14222).

STUDENT ASSISTANT: JMU International Study Center

20hrs/week, $10/hour, May or August start date. The International Study Center is a pathway program for international students at JMU that is run by Study Group, LLC. Submit resume to Jennifer Little, littl2jr@jmu.edu.

Harrisonburg English Tutor

Searching for a college English tutor. Must be available this week please to start and other times . Hours are somewhat flexible. Pay is only 15 an hr, slightly negotiable

CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS

Seasonal Job OpportunitySwimming Pool Cashier

Do you have a flexible schedule for the summer and want to utilize your customer service skills in a fun, professional, and teamwork environment? If so, consider applying for the Swimming Pool Cashier at the Parks and Recreation Department! Find out more/apply online: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Zoning Administrator

Are you looking for a career in land use or development where you can utilize your experience and knowledge related to the administration and enforcement of government codes? If so, consider applying for the Community Development Department’s Zoning Administrator position! Find out more/apply online: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Job Opportunity - Office Assistant

Are you seeking a rewarding administrative job that allows you to make a difference in the local community? If so, consider applying to the City of Harrisonburg’s Office Assistant position within the Registrar’s Office! Find out more/apply online: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

HEC Summer Position

Harrisonburg Electric Commission is looking for summer help in the customer service department. Good customer service, communication skills, and the basic computer skills are needed. Hours are M-F, 8:00-5:00. Visit harrisonburgelelctric.com to complete an online application, call (540) 434-5361 or stop by our downtown office.

Career Opportunity - Firefighter

The Harrisonburg Fire Department is seeking to create a Firefighter hiring list (due to anticipated future vacancies) of individuals desiring a challenging career in public service! No prior certification or training as a firefighter or EMT is required to apply. Find out more/apply online: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Natural Resource Management Technicians

Virginia Forestry and Wildlife Group, located in Afton, Virginia is seeking candidates for the position of Natural Resource Managment Technician. For more information please visit: https://vaforestwild.com/jobs.

Career Opportunity - Training & Quality Assurance Program Specialist

Are you searching for a challenging yet rewarding opportunity to use your knowledge/experience in adult learning and development, training program and curriculum development, quality assurance, or auditing? If so, the HRECC Training & Quality Assurance Program Specialist may be the right career move for you! Find out more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/ employment. EOE.