The Breeze 4.6.23

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Fraternity band forms through musical bond

By EVAN MOODY The Breeze

Senior Pat Poirier’s fingers flew across the frets of his electric guitar to produce the fan-favorite solo: Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” Concurrently, Tanner Greer, junior economics major and vocalist, sings of liberty to the densely packed basement just two weeks after a past show had been halted by police.

The set, complete with splattered paint, neon-bulb lights and an encore of Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold,” was the formal introduction of Doghouse, an independent, Harrisonburg-formed band that plays “music for attractive listeners,” Ben Baker, a senior international business major and guitarist, said.

The band’s members span four academic years with Chase Huff, sophomore management major and bassist, and Jackson Greer, freshman computer science major and drummer, rounding out the stage. The affiliation of each member can be attributed to their involvement in the JMU chapter of Phi Gamma Nu (PGN), a business fraternity.

Alex McMillen, sophomore hospitality major and president of PGN, said Doghouse’s formation can be credited to the tightness of the fraternity.

“It’s a group of buddies that know how to play some music and have some shared interests,” McMillen said. “Once the idea came about, and once their minds were kind of made up, there was no looking back.”

Support from the fraternity toward the band was most evident in its Friday night set, which took place in a PGN house’s basement near downtown. No matter what project a member tries to start, there’s always an influx of support, Huff said.

Throughout the crowd, brothers and sisters of the band could be seen wearing “Doghouse” T-shirts, a simple design with the band’s name created by a fellow member and unveiled to the band that night.

Doghouse has channeled the creative side of other PGN members, Huff said. Also noticed throughout the March 24 set was a phone light, film camera setup that spanned the screaming crowd capturing Doghouse chants, barks and close-up portraits of the band performing.

“It’s such an awesome addition to have to this organization,” McMillen said. “We love just getting to see our own members show off their artistic and creative talents.”

Freshman English major Isabel Henderson sought out Doghouse band for a new, local band experience and attended the show. Upon learning the group was affiliated with PGN, Henderson said, “frats should all have a band.”

The creative outlet’s ability to draw in supporters was proven at PGN’s St. Patrick’s Day party before police interruption. While a social fraternity hosted their own party across the lawn from PGN, attendees began to cross over to the business frat’s grounds because of the live music, Poirier said.

see DOGHOUSE, page 10

Dr. Fauci, CNN’s Jim Acosta reflect on COVID-19

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

The Breeze

Hindsight is 20/20, or at least that was Monday’s focus as Dr. Anthony Fauci and CNN Chief Domestic Correspondent Jim Acosta (’93) led a town hall at JMU to talk about lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on the mistakes and successes that have followed the U.S. throughout the global health crisis.

The town hall closed out this year’s Madison Vision Series, lectures that bring leaders to campus to discuss current issues. Junior health sciences major Hugh McFarlane joined Acosta in interviewing Fauci.

The conversation centered on the processes behind some of Fauci’s most difficult decisions, including the political divide and misinformation that affected the pandemic, and how the country will move forward.

Acosta started by encouraging civil discourse during the town hall to get “a better understanding of what we all went through,” as well as for audience members to see “the human side” of Fauci.

see TOWN HALL, page 4

Doghouse will be part of JMU’s Relay For Life main event April 28 alongside the Shady Trace Band and Dancing Dukes. Organizers of the event said the band’s high energy was one of the reasons Doghouse was chosen for the event. Daria Ausen / The Breeze

All Doghouse band members are also a part of JMU’s chapter of Phi Gamma Nu (PGN), a business fraternity. This has caused people to entertain the idea of other fraternities having their own bands as well. Daria Ausen / The Breeze

Dr. Anthony Fauci participated in a town hall in the Wilson Hall auditorium Monday to reflect and discuss topics surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

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‘Fidelity to the truth’

Fauci and Acosta discuss misinformation and the COVID-19 pandemic

from TOWN HALL, page 1

The infectious disease expert, recently retired from his role as the U.S.’s chief medical adviser under President Joe Biden, served seven different presidents and managed multiple public health crises, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic and ebola, before COVID-19.

Entering the pandemic with over 50 years of experience, Fauci said he watched as the virus spread quickly throughout the world, asking: “Are we able to continue without doing something draconian?”The answer was no — Fauci recalled one New York City hospital that had to turn patients down and get freezer trucks to hold bodies because the morgue was full. That’s when Fauci said the U.S. took “the only choice” — imposing the first 15-day shutdown in March 2020.

He also talked about the events following the shutdowns, when former President Donald Trump, who Fauci said was initially on board, began to change his tune, calling for the shutdowns to end and spreading misinformation — like saying hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria, would treat COVID-19.

Fauci said he felt a responsibility to maintain his integrity and that of the scientific community, so he stuck to his guns, even when that meant publicly disagreeing with the president.

Acosta said these disagreements with Trump “injected” Fauci into the political culture surrounding the pandemic. This political divisiveness still exists today, Fauci said, even in Congress — some members accused him of creating the virus and other “crazy things.”

“The political considerations get into what should be an unadulterated public health dialogue, discussion, narrative, then you get major distortions,” Fauci said. “We should all be focusing on the common enemy, which is the virus, not each other.”

After an hour, Fauci and Acosta took questions from JMU students, who raised their hands. The first speaker asked about potential changes to political culture that could help the country move forward.

“We have to have some fidelity to the truth in this country, and that’s something that we’ve been up against in the press, and the facts are the facts: two plus two equals four,” Acosta said. “As long as there is some fidelity to the truth, I think eventually we’re gonna get there.”

Fauci said it’s difficult to have a discussion when there’s no common understanding of what’s true based on facts and evidence.

“There’s facts, there’s how you interpret it and there’s more facts.

There’s not your own set of facts,” Fauci said.

Another student said a large part of the population “believe, Dr. Fauci, that you lied to the American people.” She asked how Fauci would respond to eroded trust in the healthcare industry and organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

“I would ask the person, tell me specifically about what you think I lied about. And then we’ll go one on one to each of the things they think I lied about,” Fauci said.

Earlier in the discussion, Fauci said that when people don’t know everything — which was the case at the beginning of the pandemic, he said — it’s “absolutely essential to keep an open mind” to all possibilities but that we shouldn’t close our minds to new evidence.

He said he’ll continue to believe data and evidence, specifically about the effectiveness — or lack thereof, he said — of Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, to treat COVID-19.

“If you disagree with me, I will respect that — if you show me the data that says it works,” Fauci said.

Before the event ended, JMU President Jonathan Alger presented Fauci with JMU’s 2023 Madison Award for the Public Good. The award recognizes a commitment to what Alger called “Madisonian ideals,” as well as engaged citizenship, service to the public and other contributions. McFarlane, who moderated the town hall alongside Acosta, told The Breeze after the event his main takeaway is that medicine and public health have a ways to go in addressing disparity.

Much of McFarlane’s own research centers on diversity, equity and inclusion, which he said motivated him to include that perspective in the conversation as he drafted his questions for Fauci.

He cited low percentages of doctors who are people of color — 6% identify as Black, 6% as Hispanic and 18% Asian, while about 56% are white, he said — and asked Fauci whether minorities have adequate representation in the field, as well as some strategies to improve representation.

Fauci’s answer was simple: No, there’s not adequate representation. He didn’t give specific strategies but said it’s important to get more people of color in training because it’s much easier for patients to relate to a healthcare provider they’re comfortable with. He said he’s tried for decades at the NIH to increase diversity, and while it’s better than it was, it still isn’t as successful as he’d like.

McFarlane told The Breeze he also believes there’s room for improvement in addressing healthcare disparities.

“I think our healthcare system has a ways to go in terms of adequate treatment for all, as well as trust with people of color that don’t necessarily trust providers to make correct treatment decisions for them,” McFarlane said. “As we continue to lose representation of underserved communities within this field, that’s super important, and hopefully, in the coming years, we’ll be able to figure out a way to kind of help solve the mistrust within the healthcare system.”

Despite the large crowd — 1,300, McFarlane said he was told — JMU’s town hall announcement was met with over 400 comments on Facebook and Twitter as of Monday night, many of them criticizing the university for its speaker selection.

One Facebook commenter wrote: “WOW, you really don’t want any Alumni contributions, do you? Ubsurd that anyone would go across the street to see either of these lying fools…..”

Others commented in support of the speakers: “Coming from a current student, I am so excited!!! Thank you JMU for bringing this inspiring topic onto our campus!!” one commenter wrote.

Junior Parker Boggs, a JMU Student Government Association (SGA) senator and chairman of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), a conservative student organization on campus, told The Breeze it was “definitely a choice” for JMU to invite Fauci and Acosta to speak. Even so, he emphasized the importance of free speech on campus.

Boggs said he and other YAF members, as well as some from JMU College Republicans, attended the lecture and tabled outside Wilson Hall beforehand to make sure conservatives were represented at the event. They wanted to “show that conservatives were there in the room,” Boggs said, and they wanted to do so peacefully and not in protest.

“It was free speech, and I’m glad it wasn’t shut down. I’m glad it

wasn’t disturbed,” Boggs said. “I’m glad we didn’t make a disruption because at the end of the day, corely, we’re about free speech, and that’s what we were going to be there for, was to promote free speech.”

Boggs said he wanted to “make sure Dr. Fauci knew that I was going to hold him accountable.” During the event, Boggs spoke to the audience and said school closures and online learning during the pandemic resulted in “detrimental harm” to many students’ mental health. He then asked Fauci: “Do you and your team regret the mistakes that were made in regard to the education system in America?” Fauci responded by referring back to the freezer trucks that held bodies that couldn’t fit in the morgue, saying that’s why the U.S. needed to shut down schools temporarily. Fauci said the prolonged closure was never his intention and that he advocated publicly for schools to reopen safely as soon as possible.

Many commenters on social media expressed displeasure and discontent with the selection of Fauci and Acosta. Boggs also said Fauci has become “polarizing” in the public eye. McFarlane said while the pandemic itself has become politicized, he doesn’t believe Fauci is really a political figure.

“I think he was a scientist that was giving recommendations based on scientific fact and research and statistics,” McFarlane said, adding that general mistrust in the healthcare system has also come into play. “[It] caused individuals to believe that Fauci was turning more into a political figure than a scientific figure while I don’t necessarily think that that is the case.”

Echoing what Fauci said during the event, McFarlane said to The Breeze that people don’t learn by hearing one perspective.

“We learn by seeing different viewpoints, right? So if we want to go the political route, we don’t learn by seeing … just left-sided things or just right-sided things, right? Every once in a while, we have to look in the other point of view,” McFarlane said, “and then, only then, will we move forward in what we gain and what we know.”

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

Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed his career with an emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic. Photos by Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Jim Acosta, a JMU alumnus and prior Madison Vision Series speaker, mediated the event with junior health sciences major Hugh McFarlane.

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Alger, survivors spread suicide awareness at campus walk

By GRANT JOHNSON & ELEANOR SHAW The Breeze

East Campus’s Festival lawn glistened under a cerulean blue sky, dotted with stratus clouds, and a slight chill. JMU community members gathered there Sunday not to savor a quintessential spring afternoon but rather unite in the fight to prevent suicide. Roughly 200 JMU student-athletes, LGBTQ+ individuals, representatives from student organizations, survivors and community members adorned colored beads that signified their relationship to suicide — something that would otherwise be left unseen. People who’ve personally struggled wore green, those who’ve lost a loved one wore purple and others who supported the cause wore blue.

Some attendees spoke at a lectern in front of Festival Conference and Student Center overlooking the lawn, all with messages of hope, compassion and choosing life.

For Kevin Long, board member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and father of a daughter at Turner Ashby High School who died by suicide: “Thank you for sharing your journey with us.”

And senior Emma Coleman: “Thanks to you, we remain hopeful.”

And, for President Jonathan Alger: “No one, no one walks alone.”

The speakers kickstarted JMU’s Out of the Darkness Campus Walk, brought together by Coleman, who worked with the AFSP to organize the event. Coleman said she was asked during winter break to organize the walk as the event’s chair and has spent her semester working with AFSP.

“We just really want to start breaking the stigma of mental health and suicide,” Coleman said, whose high school friend, Jared, died by suicide last year. “It’s something that’s near and dear to my heart.” The event also serves as a fundraiser, according to AFSP’s website. Individuals and “teams,” or campus groups, submitted their fundraised money before and at the event. JMU Athletics fundraised the most money, $740, among the 13 teams who donated. The event raised $8,290 of its $10,000 goal as of Sunday at 5:07 p.m.

Emily Bacalis, senior events manager for the Virginia chapter of the AFSP, said all money fundraised by the event goes toward suicide prevention, research and other programs for the local community.

Junior Alli Kreisman fundraised $1,575, the most money among individuals. Kreisman’s mom died by suicide when she was 13 and, since then, she said her family has been “really passionate” about suicide awareness.

Coleman designated Kreisman to walk in the front of the group as the event’s top individual donor. Kreisman said it’s important to lead by example because while most students realize mental health is an important issue on college campuses, they aren’t proactive about change.

Kreisman said she’s trained in active listening and suicide prevention for safeTALK and D.E.E.P. Impact and is also involved in Dukes Support Network, a new organization that looks to build community and conversation among students starting with its small-group discussions later in April. Kreisman has especially tried to emphasize mental health awareness to her boyfriend and his male friends, she said, who are more likely to “suffer in silence.”

But being together on a walk helps those suffering.

“It definitely makes you feel less alone,” Kreisman said. “The more talk, the less stigma.”

SGA president-elect Nate Hazen, who also attended the walk, said raising mental health and suicide awareness is at the forefront of his initiatives. He said being surrounded by people who’ve been affected by suicide and hearing how JMU is trying to better the campus through events like the Out of the Darkness Walk is “beautiful.”

Hazen said JMU men’s soccer redshirt junior Rodrigo Robles, a friend of his and executive member of JMU’s student-athlete advisory council (SAAC), invited Hazen to the walk and told him to bring his friends along.

“Suicide awareness and prevention, obviously, goes without saying this campus has been riddled with tragedy under those circumstances, especially pertaining to athletes,” Hazen said. JMU softball player Lauren Bernett died by suicide April 25, 2022. “It’s just a beautiful opportunity just for this part of campus to just be together and talk about this.”

Many organizations not affiliated with JMU attended the event: Q101, Lock and Talk Virginia, Health Connect America and the ARROW Project ran tables with stress balls, magnets, T-shirts and more on display.

Olivia Sablich, a JMU junior and intern at ARROW Project, said the nonprofit provides mental health services like telehealth and outpatient care to people in the Staunton area and also runs wellness groups at JMU. Sablich said she wanted walkers to know they can reach out and get help when they need it.

Sablich, Kreisman and Coleman said they feel like JMU’s done more to increase mental health awareness this year, between the walk and TimelyCare, a free virtual mental health service offered by JMU’s Counseling Center. Last school year, on top of Bernett’s death, two other people died by suicide on JMU’s campus, one a student and the other not.

Sablich said she feels JMU’s talked about mental health more and has bolstered the Counseling Center, but, she said, “I feel like that’s kind of the extent.” Kreisman said seeing Alger speak shows JMU is prioritizing mental health in its upper administration. She said since her freshman year, she feels like JMU’s made progress regarding mental health because she’s more aware of the opportunities now.

And last year amid the suicides at JMU, Coleman said, “We really saw the effects of not talking about mental health, and kind of just using, I guess, stickers as a way to cover up the problem.”

But now, Coleman said, more tangible work is happening at JMU. She said she knew the walk would raise a lot of money and she knew people would sign up.

That was just the tip of the iceberg.

Being in person, where the sun shined and her peers unveiled stories of loss with comfort surrounding them in every direction: That’s what struck Coleman the most.

“It’s a lot different seeing everybody in one place because we lost a community during the pandemic here at JMU, and I watched it crumble for, like, two years,” Coleman said. “We’re just starting to build it up and build it up the right way.”

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

‘No one walks alone’

Unaffiliated groups that advocate for mental health run tables at the event and hand out freebies. Eleanor Shaw / The Breeze

President Alger delivers a speech against suicide in front of the Festival Conference and Student Center. Grant Johnson / The Breeze

Students attend the Out of the Darkness Campus Walk organized by Emma Coleman along with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Eleanor Shaw / The Breeze

Key takeaways from SGA Senate

By ASHLEE THOMPSON The Breeze

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate approved funding for the Asian Student Union (ASU) and JMU acapella groups Low Key and Unaccompanied, as well as the budget for University Program Board (UPB), and heard a presentation from JMU Dining Services during Tuesday’s meeting.

SGA approves UPB budget

The Senate unanimously approved UPB’s budget during Tuesday’s meeting. Mahek Shroff, junior finance liaison, presented the budget to the Senate. This is a part of the ongoing front-end budgeting (FEB) approval process that began last week.

FEB groups are organizations JMU deems important, according to SGA’s website. These groups get prioritized front-end budgeting to fund their missions, rather than through fundraising. All FEB groups are funded by student fees.

UPB’s budget totaled $400,771.20, which was divided into each committee: Media and Culture, Amplify, Spirit and Traditions, and Special Events.

Amplify had the highest budget of $202,000, most of which went toward the fall 2022 Homecoming Concert featuring Armani White and Flo Milli. Special Events had a budget of $65,000, Media and Culture $35,000 and Spirit and Traditions $30,000.

Outside of the committees, $16,500 went to marketing, $15,000 went to Weeks of Welcome, administration had a budget of $1,900 and there were $17,000 of stipends.

Representative Haley Szramoski, a senior, commended UPB on its reach to the whole campus, saying it put on many events for the general student body.

Junior SGA representative Matt Haynicz initially called the UPB budget “complicated and hard to understand.” The $17,000 stipend budget, which Haynicz called a “red flag,” comes close to some campus clubs’ entire budget, Haynicz said.

He later voiced his support of UPB, saying that it “did a great job this year” and turned around many of its problems.

“UPB does a great job of putting on events for everyone,” Reagan Polarek, class of 2026 president, said. “Late Night Breakfasts provide a sense of community, and a lot of my class talk about loving going to UPB events.”

SGA approves contingency funds

The Senate unanimously passed contingency funds for ASU, Low Key and Unaccompanied.

Contingency funds come from student fees that are given to organizations on campus to hold events, conferences and other activities, according to SGA’s website. Program grants serve as grant funding to any non Front End Budgeting (FEB) student organization for a specific event that has a campus-wide impact.

ASU requested $1,200 in contingency funds for its annual semiformal April 29. Sophomore Marvin Fuentes, ASU’s treasurer, said the funds will go to supplies for the formal and a photo booth, costing $500 and $700, respectively.

Sophomore Catalina Hidayat, ASU’s president, said the event serves as a way to honor the graduating seniors while also inviting other Asian organizations on campus to come together.

Shroff said ASU always puts up really good events and thought the funds would be a great “boost” for the organization.

Low Key requested $2,610 for its April 29 album release concert in Memorial Hall. The new album will be released this spring, according to its Instagram, and it’s the acapella group’s first album since 2018.

Junior Elizabeth Bird, president of Low Key, and freshman treasurer Aubrey Price represented the acapella group. Bird told the Senate she hopes the two-hour concert will bring 100-150 attendees to the concert, which will be free.

“Since this is such a large accomplishment for us,” Bird said, “we feel like we deserve to have a large celebration to celebrate this music.”

Szramoski started the debate with a pro, saying Low Key worked hard to release an album and is one of the more diverse acapella groups on campus.

JMU Unaccompanied, which presented to the Senate on Feb. 28, was approved for $5,000 in contingency funds for its April 30 concert in Memorial Hall. The group previously requested program grants, but the resolution was converted to contingency.

Shroff, after last week’s meeting, said SGA has stopped processing program grants for this year and is currently converting all of the previous requests into contingency due to the long approval process of program grants.

“This is another wonderful acapella group on campus,” Szramoski said. “We should support their efforts.”

JMU Dining quick hits

JMU Dining presented to SGA for the third time this semester, following up from its Feb. 7 and March 7 presentations. Jenna Gray, director of student engagement, represented JMU Dining to highlight new events and share input it received from students at its March 8 JMU Dining roundtable.

Students have until May 13 to use their dining dollars, as they don’t roll over into the fall semester. Gray said various pop-ups will open around different dining locations so students can more quickly zero their dining dollars balance.

Early meal plan sign ups are available starting April 10 and last until April 29. Gray said students can find JMU Dining representatives at various dining locations around campus during the three-week period if they wish to sign up in person. Those who successfully refer a friend to sign up for a meal plan are entered into a raffle to win a free campus parking pass.

Gray said the JMU Dining roundtable gave the dining services an insight into what students want at the dining locations. Gray said they plan to work on increasing vegan and Halal foods available to students, grab-and-go options at Festival Food Court and Market 64 and creating more “nutrient-dense” recipes, following student requests at the roundtable. Furthermore, JMU Dining will focus on educating employees about Halal food options and other cultural foods in order to make meals more “authentic,” Gray said.

In celebration of JMU Dining’s Employee Appreciation Week that began on April 3, “Thank You” cards have been placed around different dining locations so students and faculty can share their appreciation for the dining staff.

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

The SGA approved funding and heard a presentation at its Tuesday meeting. Alex Clarke / The Breeze

UnclUstered General education titles renamed by department

By BRIANNA THWEATT The Breeze

As students enter JMU, they’ll have one thing in common no matter their major: The general education system. But, new students and all fall 2023 class registers won’t be familiar with the same class category umbrellas as past students. Classes in the general education program classes were officially renamed to be the topics of each cluster rather than “clusters” on March 20.

Totaling about 41 credits, the general education curriculum is meant to be an “essential part” of understanding the different colleges around campus, according to JMU’s website. This is done by dividing each college into five separate groups, specializing in areas such as critical thinking, science and health.

In creating this new overview of the different colleges, the university is still dividing classes into five groups, as they are now called. The classes within the program remain the same, the titles of each division have now changed.

While the idea of changing the titles had been discussed over a course of a couple of semesters, it wasn’t until last year’s academic general education program review that the word “cluster” was removed, Margaret Mulrooney, senior associate vice provost for academic programs and equity, said.

“Today, ‘cluster’ no longer has a useful meaning, although the area groupings still make sense,” Mulrooney said. “‘Madison Foundations’ better convey a foundational role of that area’s requirements.”

Mulrooney said she views the new titles as not only a means of conveying what students will be learning but also as working to be a supportive system of programs for students to use now and beyond JMU.

Students don’t necessarily agree with the change.

Freshman Samantha Wong first heard about the title change very briefly from a class. Hearing the news, she felt it was “easier to refer to “cluster 2’,” since the actual course titles are relatively long.

“Cluster means multiple things in a group,”

Wong said. Therefore, she said the cluster title “fits” the general education program as there are multiple classes within each category.

“I think this change will be very similar to upperclassmen calling King Hall ‘EnGeo,’” Wong said. King Hall is the new namesake of what was the ISAT building. “This language of clusters will probably stick around for a little while longer.”

Mulrooney said the process of changing the cluster names was carried out by numerous faculty governance committees. The General Education Council and five other committees each representing a specific area based upon the different majors within the colleges such as the School of Media Arts and Design and Justice Studies were involved in the decision.

Throughout their semester-long meetings, Mulrooney said their main objective was to make the program’s content more comprehensive for both students and faculty.

The committees met and collaborated on advising the program while also overseeing the curriculum, Mulrooney said. She mentioned how the process is similar to how the different academic colleges oversee their majors’ curricula.

Despite the change to the general education program titles, Mulrooney said between course numbers and search codes, nothing’s changed besides cluster titles.

In making this switch, the council and committees have informed the JMU community by uploading the 2023-24 planner, changing the names through MyMadison as well as sending a mass email to the entire JMU campus on March 20.

While this is just one update to JMU’s general education system, Mulrooney hopes that, moving forward, both students and faculty will continue developing the program to suit their needs in the future.

CONTACT BriAnna Thweatt at thweatbf@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on

General education requirements will no longer be named “clusters.” Moving forward, they’ll be referred to as the topics covered in each section. Photo illustration by Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

‘Putting our money towards the mission’

BoV holds public hearing on financial changes

By GRETCHEN NAGLE & ABBY CHAMOT contributing writers

The Board of Visitors (BoV) public hearing held on JMU’s campus Wednesday evening discussed the possible increase of tuition and fees for the 2023-24 school year.

The BoV’s main concern was student satisfaction, and whether or not it’s providing students with all the resources it needs, JMU Vice President of Administration and Finance Towana Moore said at the meeting.

JMU is one of the lowest-funded four-year public institutions in Virginia. The university receives $7,952 per in-state full-time student compared to other public universities in Virginia, where the average is $10,292, Moore said.

One of the main components of the proposed budget is education, which covers faculty pay, classrooms and other educational opportunities for students, Moore said. The other main component is general, which covers financial aid, utilities and other smaller funds, she said.

“It’s our mission to make educated and enlightened citizens, and we are putting our money towards the mission,” said Moore.

Another category of budgeting is auxiliary expenditures, which are 100% self-supported and funded by the university, Moore said. It includes parking, office costs, the Student Union, UREC,

the University Health Center, athletics, Residence Life, bookstore and dining. JMU has one of the largest dining services in America, which covers about 21.7% of the auxiliary costs, Moore said.

Moore also assured the general body multiple times the range of what JMU’s tuition and fees could cost is just a possibility, and that the top of the range is not an absolute set cost. Moore said adjustments include an increase in tuition costs for Virginia undergrad students anywhere from $0-$376 for in-state and $0-$384 for out-of-state students.

“We are very cognizant and aware that this is an expensive endeavor, and we try as best we can to hold our tuition and our fees as low as we can,” Moore said.

“The hard part about this is no one advocates for tuition increase, however we are only receiving so much money from the state,” student representative to the BoV Xavier Williams said. “[We are] trying to keep it affordable [and] provide what students are asking for, and we are doing that.”

Addressing budget changes that will be made in the 2023-24 academic year, Moore explained how thinking carefully is important when considering certain areas for the setting of the range for tuition and fees next year.

The first budget change Moore addressed is “unknown state support,” meaning the legislatures have not settled on a budget yet, leaving room for uncertainty. Moore said in the past, Virginia has been generous to JMU, giving the university money through JMU’s budget to try to make up for it being a lower funded institution, which Moore said leaves hope for the future.

Another budget change mentioned by Moore was faculty and staff compensation. Virginia’s Congress agreed on a 7% pay increase for all state employees on the education and general side of where the funds are going, amounting to $14.9 million, Virginia will fund half of JMU’s budget, amounting to $6.4 million.

Other budget changes mentioned by Moore include a Virginia military survivors and dependents educational program, which will include educational benefits to those whose spouses and dependents have been killed or taken as prisoner, which includes an unfunded mandate of $4 million per year for tuition and other costs — unavoidable and inflationary costs, debt-infrastructure and refinancing, student success investment and financial aid and scholarships.

“When tuition and fees go up, you have to increase your financial aid and scholarship for those folks to cover that as well,” Moore said. “So it’s a big list this year of all the things we have to be concerned about.”

2026 class president, Reagan Polarek, said she understands the BoV and student representatives to the BoV have fought to make higher education more affordable and available for all.

“I will continue to advocate for college access and affordability along with the expansion of mental health resources on campus,” Polarek said.

Tuition changes will be voted on at the next committee meeting, on April 20-21 at Festival Conference Center. The meeting is open to students.

CONTACT Gretchen Nagle at naglegm@dukes.jmu.edu and Abby Chamot at chamotar@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Three members of the Board of Visitors arrived to the meeting to hear input from students on tuition changes. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

arpa funds raise Questions

Harrisonburg receives $23.8 million from American Rescue Plan Act

By ABBY CHAMOT contributing writer

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awarded numerous cities with funding after being approved by Congress in March 2021. After months of planning money allocation, the City of Harrisonburg has begun work on spending its $23.8 million in federal funding.

The city received half of this grant in early 2022 and will receive the remainder in late spring and summer of 2022, Mike Parks, director of communications for Harrisonburg, said.

Parks said a large community engagement campaign was the “best decision” to decide how to spend the City Council funds in December 2022.

After multiple community feedback meetings across Harrisonburg and two public feedback surveys to reach all members of the community, it was decided to spend the money on six categories, Parks said.

These categories include enhancing community space, general government services, expanding affordable housing, improving neighborhoods, increasing affordable and accessible childcare, and investing in community mental health.

Categories were based upon many factors to serve the needs of the community. Harrisonburg wants to best reach people it’s already serving as well as help new people and organizations, Parks said.

Parks said a number of organizations that received funding have worked with Harrisonburg in the past, such as the nonprofit Community Services Board and Mercy House, a nonprofit homeless shelter.

Shannon Porter, executive director of Mercy House, said it plan to apply for the funding and specify its needs to use the money for shelter costs and upkeep.

Open Doors, another busy low-barrier shelter, which doesn’t screen individuals for sobriety, evictions or criminal history, also spoke on the new homeless shelter being fully built and funded by Harrisonburg using ARPA funds.

“This facility will provide some stability for those experiencing homelessness,” Nathaniel Riddle, executive director of Open Doors, said.

Open Doors currently changes its location frequently, operating at multiple organizations that provide a temporary

housing area, Riddle said. The organization also supports those who are at risk for losing their housing and provides the community with support. Open Doors hopes it'll be operating a new, permanent shelter by November 2023, Riddle said.

Harrisonburg’s taking this opportunity to reach residents by funding childcare and mental health resources, which are newer and more specific organizations than what it usually funds, Parks said.

One of the main points the City Council looked at was the impact of COVID-19 on health and family life. City Council looked at what residents needed and how they could make Harrisonburg a better place, Parks said.

Services funded by the grant will continue to go into action soon, Parks said. One of the largest investments is the purchase and construction of the homeless center. According to the Open Doors website, the purchase is scheduled to be done by the end of 2023.

Another large investment is the purchasing of a building for a fifth fire station. These projects will increase safety and health for the community, Parks said.

Other services will include a one-time housing fund aimed toward cutting the fees a developer might have to pay while building, Parks said. Street paving will take place in Harrisonburg's historic northeast neighborhood. Parks also said the warmer weather approaching will allow for more outside projects and an increase in possible community outreach programs.

Although childcare isn’t provided by Harrisonburg, Parks said some ARPA funds will be used expand opportunities of athletic programs for youth with the options of running in the evening as well, Parks said.

The City Council’s working on getting more information out about possible funding opportunities. The Council is encouraging people to keep an eye out for more news about the operation because it's willing to help if people have a plan, especially with more childcare opportunities, Parks said, speaking on behalf of the City of Harrisonburg.

The City Council said the funding will be spread over many categories which will allow for a greater spread of impact. Harrisonburg has until the end of 2024 to allocate these funds, Parks said.

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

Eddie Van Howlin’

Musically talented PGN brothers form the band Doghouse, bring out fraternitiy’s creativity

from DOGHOUSE , page 1

Both Poirier and Huff agreed that music acts will soon become the “name of the game” for JMU-based social functions, noting Harrisonburg’s general appreciation for live music. This may give the business fraternity an upper hand in drawing in viewers as opposed to organizations that don’t have an act of this type, McMillen said.

“It’s not the typical frat music that gets played every time,” Huff said. “People are just going to be excited for something different.”

In tune with PGN’s philanthropic theme and fulfilling a need for live music, Doghouse will accompany the Shady Trace Band, Dancing Dukes and more at Relay for Life’s main event April 28. According to the organization, from 5:00pm-1:45am participants will walk laps around a track while enjoying entertainment and fundraising for the American Cancer Society.

The energy of Doghouse assisted Relay for Life in choosing the band for the main event, the organization said. As the ultimate relay can extend into the early hours of the morning, bands with a contagious liveliness, such as Doghouse, assists walkers in striving for further financial goals.

“We didn’t build Doghouse to give back in that way, the opportunity presented itself,” Huff said. Being able to give back“is just super rewarding.”

With the set scheduled for later this month,

the group’s looking for more opportunities this semester to play before Baker and Poirier graduate. While the band’s in discussion about original songs, a potential practice with Tim Miller, JMU vice president for student affairs, and collaborations, the future of Doghouse is uncertain.

Despite the fear of an unwritten future, Huff affirmed a reunion is more than likely if the group “all stays relatively proficient throughout the year.” An aspiration for the band is a returning show in next year’s “Battle of the Bands” hosted by JMU’s University Program Board (UPB).

“I know they would be thrilled to get to perform for as many people as possible and they really want to grow their audience and

fanbase,” McMillen said. “Maybe gigs like The Golden Pony, Crayola [House]. I know a lot of bands do that.”

Despite a need to perform in heavily visited Harrisonburg venues, Doghouse differs from other independent acts in the Valley by its sole joy of creating music, which is a rarity, Baker said. Instead of reaching for money or fame with its talent, the group instead seeks to create a fun, high-energy environment in both practices and shows.

“We want the crowd to just be as involved as we are,” Poirier said. The band strived to achieve this feat March 24 by a mix of popular covers, solos and discussion between songs.

“They seemed, like, very excited to be there,” Henderson said about Friday’s show. “You could tell that they liked what they were doing.”

For Huff, being self-taught musicians and having a deep appreciation for music across the band further increases the authenticity of the group. While Doghouse recognizes anyone has the ability to form a similar band, they don’t fall into competitiveness that may cause tension among members, Huff said.

As to why people should care about Doghouse, McMillen concluded that its passion and unique talent is worth coming out to a show for.

“They really love interacting with fans and getting to know people on a personal level that they might have not met before they started playing,” McMillen said.

Huff said, the group will continue accomplishing as much as they can, beginning with the Relay for Life show this month.

“I’ve heard people in person be like, ‘I’m an attractive listener of Doghouse,’” Poirier said. “Yes, you certainly are.”

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.

Doghouse’s members span four academic years and various majors, none of which involve music. Daria Ausen / The Breeze

“We want the crowd to be just as involved as we are.”

Pat Poirier Lead guitarist of Doghouse

An everlasting love The Little Grill returns with familiar management and patrons

By LUKE FREISNER The Breeze

The doors of The Little Grill open and customers are greeted with a smile from one of the employees. This is how patrons have started their mornings, lunch breaks and family dinners since the 1940s. For the last 30 years, customers have been greeted not only with a smile, but with a pink heart on the wall and three simple words: “I love you.”

Ron Copeland is a JMU alumnus and regular customer turned employee turned owner of The Little Grill. While Copeland currently owns the restaurant, he was in the back washing dishes to help cover a shift for one of his employees. The sounds of water running over pots and pans and “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads playing through speakers, filled the room.

“I’ve always had a weird attachment to [The Little Grill] , honestly, even when I was in college and didn’t work here,” Copeland said.

Copeland said he first bought the restaurant when he was 25 without much experience in business or restaurants at the time, he’s now 55. In July 2003, after Copeland had owned the restaurant for a while, The Little Grill shifted into a workerowned collective. However, after briefly shutting down last September, Copeland bought back the restaurant and finally reopened in March 2023.

“I don’t really care about restaurants that much,” Copeland said. “I care about The Grill.”

The customer’s always right

Jeremy Houts, a regular at The Little Grill since he was a teenager, exemplifies the kind of people who call this restaurant home.

“You rarely meet anyone in here that’s rude or not willing to talk to you,” Houts said.

When looking for restaurants with consistently high quality

food, Houts said there aren’t many places that match his go-to spot. Houts said this distinct jump in quality comes from the ingredients sourced from the mennonite and local farm communities and making of dishes from scratch. One aspect of The Little Grill that keeps Houts and his wife coming back year after year is the comforting charm that’s hard to come by in other establishments, he said.

“It always feels like family here,” Houts said.

The family business

The Little Grill isn’t just important to the Copeland family —the two are intrinsically linked. The Copelands own the house right behind the restaurant. While working at The Little Grill, Ron said his boss told him to hire a new dishwasher, the first time he’d ever hired someone. That someone was Mel Copeland, now his wife of 29 years. Ron said they didn’t start dating right away, but they always carried a torch for one another. It wasn’t until Ron came back and bought the restaurant later that they finally got together.

“We’ve lived in the house next door for 23 years, my family works here, I met my wife here,” Ron said, pointing to the pink heart above the coffee bar.

“That pink heart up there? I left that for my wife 30 years ago,” he said

Rose Copeland, Ron’s daughter and current employee at The Little Grill, shared her experience working at the family business and her memories surrounding the diner she’s grown up with.

“My dad used to cook with me on his back,” Rose said.

Rose also said she’s met her boyfriend as well as some of her closest friends at The Little Grill, saying it’s just a place that attracts awesome people. When asked what she believes makes The Little Grill so special, she sighed, gesturing over to her father asking, “Did he mention the term ‘grill magic’ to you?”

‘Grill magic’

Ron laughed to himself while describing why The Little Grill is so special to him and the community of locals who’ve chosen to eat here for the last 80 years.

“There’s magic to it, but if you look too close you won’t find it.” Ron said. “We don’t know what it is, but we want to be here.”

see LITTLE GRILL, page 12

The heart above the coffee bar was created by The Little Grill’s owner, Ron Copeland, for his now wife, Mel Copeland. The couple met while working together at the restaurant. Christian Wright / The Breeze

Ben Moulse /TheBreeze

from LITTLE GRILL , page 11

Who’s to say if there’s such a thing as “grill magic ,” or if a little local diner has an influence that keeps bringing the community back to the table for generations. Maybe the secret ingredient of The Little Grill is love. The same secret ingredient that turned this tiny local diner into a family business, the secret ingredient that brought a community together to keep the lights on, and the secret ingredient that greets you with a warm smile and a pink heart on the wall with three simple words: “I Love You .”

CONTACT Luke Freisner at freisnlx@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.

“My dad used to cook with me on his back.”

Rose Copeland Employee at The Little Grill

Members of the local community have been going to The Little Grill for the last 80 years. Christian Wright / The Breeze

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The space between

JMU students bond with residents of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community through art

By CAROLINE STOAKS Contributing Writer

An exuberant man and a soft-spoken woman sit together at a table. A blank canvas, art supplies and 80 years lie between them.

Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community member, Paul, 101, and JMU student, Jamie Yedloutschnig, 21, have become unlikely friends who share a bond over art and relatable memories.

She guides Paul in laying masking tape on a canvas and encourages him to paint over the tape to reveal an abstract art piece.

Yedloutschnig is one of 24 health science students at JMU who partnered with VMRC to participate in Opening Minds through Art. According to the OMA website, the program is an “award-winning, evidence-based, intergenerational art-making program for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of neurocognitive disorders.”

“It’s very rewarding,” Yedloutschnig said. “They enjoy the younger population coming in. I hear constant chit-chat coming from the other tables and I see all of them smiling and laughing.”

OMA was founded in 2007 by Elizabeth “Like” Lokon, a gerontologist and Miami University professor who spent weeks undercover in a long-term care facility, Cindy Paullin said, the executive director of Art for the Journey in Richmond and an OMA training partner.

“She took notes and she started to understand how things were, what types of activities were being delivered and how people related to people living with dementia,” Paullin said.

Paullin flew to Ohio in 2015 in search of a failure-free art program for care facility residents with dementia. After discovering Lokon’s work, Paullin brought back an OMA certification in one hand and a hope of future intergenerational friendships in the other.

Fast forward seven years.

Over the past year, Paullin said they were able to secure a grant for over $1 million to expand the OMA program across Virginia. The grant enables the certification of 204 new OMA facilitators and

thousands of dollars of art supplies for 102 nursing homes, she said.

VMRC is one of the Virginia nursing homes reaping the benefits of Paullin’s discovery eight years ago.

Lolly Miller, the arts and education program manager at VMRC, said after winning grant money, it needed volunteers.

“JMU advocates for community outreach, so it was a win-win partnership,” Miller said.

Following a three-hour wheelchair and etiquette training, students are partnered with a VMRC resident they meet with every week to create an abstract art piece.

Each session starts with a huddle, where OMA facilitators demonstrate the art project to the volunteers. When the residents arrive, everyone sings the opening song, “You Are My Sunshine,” and the artists start creating.

The program emphasizes allowing the residents to have creative freedom, Yedloutschnig said.

“A lot of times with the elderly, people tend to want to make decisions for them ... but they still can think for themselves,” Yedloutschnig said. “I will never be like, ‘Do you want to use the color orange?’ I’ll be like, ‘What color do you want to use?’ I won’t suggest a color or suggest what to paint.”

One of the things Lokon noticed while undercover was how staff spoke to individuals with dementia using words like, “‘sweetie,’ ‘honey’ and ‘you’re so cute,’” Paullin said.

“That type of language is meant well, but unfortunately, it actually makes the person feel lesser as if they’ve gotten to be back in kindergarten or they have to be handled in a certain way,” she said.

OMA teaches volunteers to not engage in “elder speak” but rather “art talk,” using terms such as contrast, form and texture.

“We talk about how we raise the integrity of our language,” Paullin said. “Rather than the elder feeling a sense of disability of any kind, they start feeling the integrity of those comments.”

Miller said creating art improves brain and physical health because “creative expression boosts the immune system.” They also have a new role in society as an artist, she said.

OMA offers easy-to-do abstract art that can be completed in one hour, “which is very affirmative to people that sometimes have lost, you know, a sense of purpose,” she said.

“Within that short amount of time,” Miller said, “you’ve got something that shows your ability, your sense of worth to others and how you can be a part of a group cohesion.”

After each artist finishes their artwork, the name of their art piece is announced and residents uplift one another for their creations.

“You’re getting affirmation from your own peers,” Miller said. “We all strive for that.”

Affirmation is also given by the volunteers and genuine friendships are formed, Miller said.

“The most valuable thing is remembering they still enjoy things that we do,” Yedloutschnig said. “When we’re talking, they still have things in common with me, and I have things in common with them.”

“Just interacting with this very positive resident made a difference in her day”

Jacalyn Lee

VMRC OMA Facilitator

Ashley Printz, an OMA facilitator at VMRC, said after the first week, a JMU student said they needed the same resident the next week because they made such a strong connection.

VMRC OMA facilitator Jacalyn Lee said a student had a rough day and just interacting with a resident made a positive difference in her day. “When she came back again, she said, ‘Do I get to have my resident? Because I need her.’”

Paullin also shared a story of an artist, Margaret, who was the only African American resident in her care facility and had a son who didn’t visit often. Her first volunteer partner, Rahim, was a VCU student who looked a lot like her son, Paulin said, “and it was such a beautiful thing to watch their connection.”

Margaret always looked forward to seeing Rahim, and Rahim was just as excited, Paullin said. The two stayed in touch even after he left college.

“What happens when you listen to an elder, when you spend time with an elder, is you give them back their voice,” she said.

Paullin emphasized the expansive nature of the program, as it touches the hearts of the volunteers, the residents, the residents’ families and the staff.

“It gives peace to a family member because they now know somebody cares about them, especially a college student,” Paulin said. “That’s really a gift.”

Lee said the colors the resident used made him think specifically about the memory he never talked about.

Lee and Printz said they both witness change and improvement within the one-hour encounters.

“Their overall moods are better … If you have someone that is very anxious or not so positive, then at the end, they are more pleasant,” Lee said.

The artists fill out an evaluation before and after the program.

“We’re seeing the scores go from low to high,” Printz said. “One of our residents, who is difficult to please, scored the highest at the end that this was a good use of his time, which was amazing.”

Another resident who despises rain still came to the session when it was raining, Printz said. “She’s 97 and she has a lot of life in her.”

“Art has a positive impact on life,” Caitlin Ickes, VMRC OMA facilitator, said. “We show off their art after they name it and their eyes light up when they see their piece being highlighted.”

After the residents’ art pieces are framed and shown around the room, the residents end the session by singing, “This Little Light of Mine.”

The 10-week program culminates with an exhibition this month showcasing all the art, Miller said.

“All of this is creation, it’s engagement and it’s exchange. It’s bridging two different generations and letting them share a time together in creating something really, really beautiful.”

CONTACT Caroline Stoaks at stoaksca@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.

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

Strive for excess

Review | Tyler, the Creator revisits themes of relationship from previous album in deluxe version

By EVAN MOODY The Breeze

“Thank you to every ear that listened / bought a ticket/ whatever,” music mogul Tyler, the Creator spoke over the minimal backing track. “Everything must go.” These are the words that greet listeners at the beginning of the “CALL ME IF

incomplete or irrelevant music out to the public for monetary gain. Though, as we’ve now seen with Tyler’s official version, the release style can be a positive experience for listeners to revisit the themes of a prior album through professional production, songwriting and anticipatory features.

songs. For a Tyler project, known for their independence in self-producing, it was refreshing to hear him add vocals to production legends of the industry. The track, “WHAT A DAY”, even echoes the long verse format of “WILSHIRE” on the original album. In all, the ability to produce a highquality deluxe album may be attributed to artists being open to further collaboration.

YOU GET LOST”

deluxe project titled, “The Estate Sale.” From the interlude, audiences are made aware that Tyler must clear out his past emotions and ambitions.

The title of the project is a reference to the original album, which told of the creative’s travel endeavors to remote European locations, their failed love affair with a friend’s girlfriend and how Tyler used luxury ventures and incomprehensible spending habits to escape the prices of fame.

Prior to this version’s release Friday, the Tyler dropped the track “DOGTOOTH,” along with an accompanying video earlier that week. From the track, staple visuals from the original album were depicted, including a fur hat and sunglasses combination, and moon-roofed Bentley cars.

Themes from the original album, such as luxury, travel and money, were also transferred in “DOGTOOTH’s” lyricism. “I’m tryna buy my neighbor house,” Tyler raps. “I shimmy through Paris in back of Phantom of the threads.”

The track came as a surprise to Tyler, the Creator fans and the music-listening world at large. While the musician will often release related tracks or instrumentals after their larger projects, Tyler hasn’t once released a cohesive deluxe album. As written in the description of the “DOGTOOTH” video, the musician ensured the tracks were, in fact, “a collection of songs that didnt make the original album.”

Perfecting the deluxe

The ambition behind releasing a more collected, userfriendly version of additional sonic material can be attributed to Lil Uzi Vert’s highly anticipated release of “Eternal Atake” that hit streaming services three years ago. Within the same week of release, Lil Uzi Vert released “Eternal Atake (Deluxe)”, which featured professionally made tracks of popular leaked memos from the artist.

Prior to the release of “Eternal Atake (Deluxe),” deluxe albums, especially within the hip-hop genre, were a rarity and thought of as collections of throwaway tracks. Artists may even be seen as money-grabbers who are willing to throw

This trend has most resonated with the trap-rap genre, which features Lil Baby, the late Pop Smoke and Pi’erre Bourne– all who released deluxe albums the summer following “Eternal Atake” in spring 2020. The deluxe album wave, however, hasn’t been restricted to hip-hop as Taylor Swift and Post Malone have also released deluxe albums since 2020.

Collaboration

Within the first three tracks of “The Estate Sale,” audiences can appreciate the first-known collaboration between Tyler, the Creator and fellow California rapper Vince Staples on the track “STUNTMAN.” The collab, complete with energetic, urgent production with sirens, delivers a catchy, chant-like chorus and impressive verses from the artists. Again, listeners are barraged with Tyler’s fantasy-like expenses and travel through their lyricism.

“Stamps on my passport is longer than a lecture (y’all ready) / Handshake from God and some explainable etceteras,” Tyler raps.

Referenced in the track is “Flacko Jodye,” also known as New York-based rapper A$AP Rocky, who’s featured on the deluxe track “WHARF TALK.” Tyler and Rocky, both innovative DIY creatives of the past generation, own a history of collaborations beginning on the A$AP Mob label album, “Cozy Tapes: Vol. 1 Friends.” In the midst of features among Tyler’s past albums and unreleased collaborations, the two dropped a single “Potato Salad,” in 2018 that delivered standout lyrical performances from both rappers at the peak of their synergy.

“WHARF TALK,” however, fails to intertwine each artists’ now-signature style. Perhaps it was the sensitive content of the track, asking a love interest to come “get lost” with Tyler, or the slow, jazzy production that failed to deliver. Despite the three minute run time, “Flacko’s” verse was short, bringing an underwhelming collaboration to two, closely related fanbases.

As the deluxe tracks slowed in energy, guest producers, Madlib, who produced the track “WHAT A DAY” and Ye, who assisted in producing the track “HEAVEN TO ME,” shined in their contributions and maintained the quality of the excess

“You couldn’t fit in my loaders if you took a steroid / And I wouldn’t handle your baggage if I had a bellboy,” Tyler raps.

Next era

Concluding “The Estate Sale,” is the track “BOYFRIEND, GIRLFRIEND” a now complete demo accompanied by artist, YG, who owns production completely abstract to the original album. The summer house-esque rhythms and simplistic dialogue throw audiences into a whirlwind to reach the deluxe’s closing track, “SORRY NOT SORRY.”

Complete with a music video that aired two days before the deluxe’s release, the final song is an insightful look into Tyler’s perspective on themself, their past and the world through diary-like writing. The confession of verses are in tune with the light, high-pitched melody backing Tyler, yet are abruptly ended in a switch to heavy, electric noise and a harsh, cynical Tyler yelling at the audience.

“Sorry, Mother Earth / Polluted air with chemicals and dirt / These cars ain’t gonna buy and drive themselves / What the hell you think I work for?”

From the moon-roofed Bentleys crashing upon each other in the “DOGTOOTH” video, it’s apparent this erraticness from the artist is foreshadowing of Tyler’s next era. These indicators are well in-tune with the artist’s unofficial schedule of releasing a complete project every two years. In the “SORRY NOT SORRY” video, multiple Tylers are seen, each with apparel and poses from his past album eras. At the very end, the most recent era Tyler is attacked by a shirtless, blooded version.

While it’s still a mystery as to what direction the creative will take next, audiences are sure to expect as high quality of a project as “The Estate Sale.” As with his past releases, I’m sure it’ll be something audiences have never even remotely heard.

CONTACT Evan Moody at moodyte@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.

In the description of their first music video for their new project, Tyler, the Creator called the new music they released “a collection of songs that didn’t make the original album.” Screengrab from Tyler, the Creator on Youtube

Back to the gridiron

JMU football returns to the field for spring

football practice

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

Less than five months away from its season opener against Bucknell, JMU football's back in Bridgeforth Stadium for spring football practice.

The NCAA allows for each team to have 15 spring practices in one month. JMU will end its month with 14 practices, which started March 23 and will end with its spring game April 22.

There’s still 2 1/2 weeks left before the game, but just under two weeks into practice, head coach Curt Cignetti said he’s pleased with the on-field product and said after practice April 4 that JMU’s back into a rhythm where practice is flowing like it normally does.

The Dukes returned to the field after what Cignetti called a good offseason. He added that the team has made significant gains in “all the areas that are important” in developing his players.

“Now, it’s time to play football,” he said after day one of spring ball.

Cignetti said the team is using the spring to figure out who can do what. There are holes that need to be filled — like 2022 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year quarterback Todd Centeio and First Team All-Sun Belt wide receiver Kris Thornton, to name a few — but for now, the coach said his goals for the spring are to develop players, keep them healthy and improve as a whole.

Offense: searching for new weapons

The offense has four quarterbacks who are competing during spring practice for the starting spot: two returning players, redshirt sophomore Billy Atkins and redshirt freshman Alonza Barnett III, and two transfers, redshirt freshman Brett Griffis from Wake Forest and Jordan McCloud from Arizona. Cignetti said at the beginning of spring practice he’s never worked four quarterbacks before.

“To be honest, they’ve got a lot to learn, I feel like,” Junior tight end Zach Horton said about the quarterbacks, “but we’re throwing a lot at them right now too, but it's up for grabs, competition wise.”

Cignetti has remained tight-lipped on who holds the edge in the competition and said it’s hard to work four different quarterbacks. But on Tuesday, he sounded closer to a decision.

“I came out here with something in my mind moving forward,” he said. “We’ll see where it takes us.”

The spriwng is not only a time to develop players but also chemistry. Horton is returning to a tight end room that no longer features graduated Noah Turner and Drew Painter, who tallied 19 catches for 221 yards in 2022. Last year, Horton found himself looking to Turner and Painter for guidance.

Now, Horton said, he and his fellow tight ends are on their own, and if they have questions, they

need to ask one of their coaches. In Turner and Painter's absence, Horton said he feels he needs to “take their spot” and become a mentor for the younger guys in the room.

Defense: picking up where it left off

On the other side of the ball, the defense returns after losing just two players in the offseason — All-Sun Belt Second Team defensive lineman Jamare Edwards and cornerback Jordan Swann. Redshirt junior linebacker Taurus Jones said that because of the defense's continuity, it already knows the playbook well, and its focus is on fine-tuning and adding things, as well as just “being a tight-knit group.”

Among the veterans returning to the defense is graduate defensive lineman Isaac Ukwu, who’s entering his seventh season after racking up 7.5 sacks in 2022. Ukwu isn't participating in spring football due to injury, though Jones still calls him the “dad of the team.”

“He's still a big voice on a team even though he's not out here right now,” Jones said of Ukwu. “But Issac, man, I love that guy. He's really our big brother for everybody. He's a great leader, role model all the way.”

With so many returners, Jones said that the goal of the defense this year is to achieve more of the same of last year, a unit that led the Sun Belt in total and rushing defense and slotted in third against the pass. He said that the defense wants to lead in all categories in the Sun Belt in 2023.

“It ain't gonna be easy,” Jones said. “It's probably gonna be harder than last year because people probably were sleeping on us last year

because we were an FCS team, but now we've shown that we can compete at the FBS level and it should be harder, I assume.”

The defense wants to improve the offense as well. Jones said the defense understands the offense has more new pieces, and that it hopes to use practice to make the offense better. Its strategy is simple: “Beat them bad every day.”

“I know you probably hear me talking a whole lot,” Jones said. “That's really what everybody comes out here to do and we love to compete. And when we in between these white lines, we're not teammates at that point. It just is, really, we want to win every period, every rep, every single thing honestly.”

Horton said he loved the competitive practices and said “it definitely makes us better,” and it allows for everyone to get used to that competitiveness in games. Despite the competition, the offense’s goals for this year are similar to the defense.

“Pick off where we left off the Sun Belt offensively, in stats and all of that,” Horton said. The offense finished third in total offense last year.

Before the Dukes follow up 2022's 8-3 campaign, JMU has 2 1/2 weeks left until the spring game and a long summer before the season-opener at home versus Bucknell on Sept. 2.

EDITORS Kaiden Bridges & Jackson Hephner

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

Graduate defensive lineman Isaac Ukwu is returning to the Dukes for his seventh season after earning First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors last season. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Junior tight end Zach Horton says he's hoping to be a mentor for the tight end room in the upcoming season. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Redshirt junior linebacker Taurus Jones said that the goal of the defense this season is to lead the Sun Belt in all categories. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

On the come up Analysis | 6 JMU basketball players to look out for next season

By MATTHEW TADDEI The Breeze

The look ahead to next basketball season has begun.

With the March Madness tournaments wrapped up Sunday and Monday, eyes are already set on the 2023-24 basketball season, and it’s no different for JMU.

JMU men’s basketball’s highest-winning season since 2016 ended in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament at the hands of South Alabama, 75-66. Meanwhile, JMU women’s basketball won the Sun Belt tournament but went one-and-done in March Madness after an 80-66 loss to Ohio State. Both results leave unfinished business for both teams and set a high bar as they look ahead to next season.

With five players on the men’s team departing and two for the women before the 2023-24 season, here are players to watch to fill those voids.

Men’s basketball to replace graduates

Brycen Blaine, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Blaine didn’t see much playing time in his first year at JMU this past season, playing in nine games and tallying 30 total points in 66 minutes.

The guard had his best performance of 2022-23 in the season-opening 123-38 romp of Valley Forge on Nov. 7, when he contributed six points and five assists in 19 minutes.

Coming from Berkmar High School in Virginia, the then-senior led his team to a Region 7A Championship and state title game appearance in the 2021-22 season. Blaine averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists during his senior season, achieving Second-Team All-State and First-Team AllRegion honors.

Xavier Brown, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard

Averaging 50.8% from the field and scoring 76 points this year, Brown made his mark as a Duke, holding the sixth-highest field goal percentage on the 2022-2023 team.

He picked up a season-high 17 points, seven assists and four steals in a 100-54 win over Coastal Georgia on Nov. 25.

Both Brown and Blaine bring young potential to the Dukes after four of their teammates — redshirt senior guard Vado Morse, graduate guard Takal Molson, graduate forward Mezie Offurum and graduate forward Alonzo Sule — all finished their time at JMU.

Before JMU, the Williamsburg, Virginia, native made an impact during his senior year at Jamestown High School, where he averaged 28.6 points, 6.7 assists and 6.6 rebounds.

Noah

also shooting 39.2% from three points with the Jackrabbits.

Potential in women’s rising sophomore and senior classes

Kobe King-Hawea, 6-foot senior guard/forward

Coming off injuries in her 2021-22 season in Texas, King-Hawea wound up in Harrisonburg this past season, where she shot 36.7% from the field and piled on 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game; she didn’t play until January due to NCAA transfer rules after coming from Texas.

In the NCAA Tournament, King-Hawea corralled seven rebounds versus Ohio State while playing 21 minutes of that game. She finished the season with 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

The rising senior from Hamilton, New Zealand, started her college basketball career in junior colleges from 2019-21 at both Gillette College and Casper College, both located in Wyoming. She was the No. 1 junior college prospect in the nation in Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and the World Exposure Report during her sophomore season at Casper.

While receiving those accolades, she landed at Texas, where she completed her sophomore season. She appeared in five games and averaged four points and 10.6 minutes per game.

Kseniia Kozlova,

6-foot-4 senior center

This season, Kozlova averaged 10.5 points per game on 57% shooting. She had a career-high 24 points in a 68-54 win against Old Dominion on Dec. 31, going 10-for-12 from the field that afternoon.

The center used her height to her advantage, grabbing a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game in 2022-23, the 18th-highest mark in the Sun Belt.

The rising senior from Moscow, Russia, has had plenty of success abroad, playing for the Russian national program and taking part in the 16-U World Championships. Before JMU, she played at Middle Tennessee and sat out the 2021-22 season due to NCAA transfer rules.

As a rising senior along with JMU junior guard Kobe King-Hawea, the two of them will look to take an expanded role with the graduation of guard Caroline Germond and senior guard Kiki Jefferson’s entrance into the transfer portal.

Chloe Sterling, 5-foot-7 sophomore guard

With seven minutes left in JMU’s final home game of the season, the Dukes were losing to Marshall, 60-40. Head coach Sean O’Regan pulled his starters and put in four of his freshmen, one being freshman guard Chloe Sterling.

Despite the Dukes losing 71-58, Sterling helped cut the Herd’s lead by scoring five points with two assists in her seven minutes of play.

Freidel, 6-foot-4 redshirt senior guard

While racking up 798 minutes played this past season, Freidel produced 287 points and shot 34% from the field. His 3-point abilities didn’t disappear as he made 63 from deep in his first year as a Duke, three more than any of his teammates.

The rising redshirt senior will have plenty of ground to pick up likely take on an increased leadership role with a younger guard group returning.

Before starting his first season at JMU, Freidel made an impact at South Dakota University, averaging 13.6 points and 3.7 rebounds across 63 career games.

Within the first 20 games of the 202122 season, he averaged 20.1 points while

Collecting a total of 212 minutes this season, Sterling made appearances on the court during the Sun Belt Conference tournament and in the Dukes’ first-round March Madness loss to Ohio State. This year, she averaged one point and one rebound per game.

Before coming to JMU, Sterling attended Marietta High School, where she won the 2020-21 7A Georgia State Championship — also landing a Second-Team All-State selection that season.

The rising junior guard out of Kennesaw, Georgia, will be someone to keep in the back of your mind heading into 2023-24 as JMU women’s basketball looks to win back-to-back Sun Belt titles.

Kaiden Bridges contributed to this report.

CONTACT Matthew Taddei at taddeimj@dukes. jmu.edu. For more basketball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

Taking his turn at the free throw line, Brown shoots his shot in JMU’s win against Gallaudet, 106-43 on Dec 12. Emma Connelly / The Breeze

Rising redshirt senior guard Noah Freidel releases his shot from behind the 3-point line in the Dukes’ 90-69 win against Georgia State on Feb. 24. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Rising senior guard Kobe King-Hawea guards the ball as she looks to make her next move in JMU’s pink out game win against Louisiana, 65-59 on Feb. 9. Valerie Chenault / The Breeze

Rising senior Kseniia Kozlova lines up her foul shot in JMU’s first game of the season and last minute loss to Maine, 60-58, on Nov. 7. Valerie Chenault / The Breeze

In her fourth quarter appearance against Marshall on Feb. 24, rising sophomore Chloe Sterling guards the ball from Marshall junior guard Abby Beeman. Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Blaine comes off the court and is celebrated by teammates Morse, Molson, Edwards and Hall against Georgia State on Feb. 24. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Teamwork inside the circle

JMU softball sporting two-pitcher lineup

By KAIDEN BRIDGES The Breeze

It’s game two of JMU softball’s series against No. 25 Louisiana and in the second inning, the Dukes face an 8-0 deficit to the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Freshman pitcher Kylah Berry started for the Dukes, but after two innings, junior pitcher Alissa Humphrey, JMU’s only other pitcher at the moment, steps in and finishes out the game. Humphrey only allowed one run accompanied by two strikeouts and two walks through the rest of the contest.

Despite the Dukes’ 9-2 loss, Berry emphasized that, in situations like game two, the pitchers need to come into play when needed and continue to play their own game.

“If the team that you’re facing can’t hit a certain pitch, you’re throwing more of that,” Berry said. “But at the same time, you’re always trying to pitch their own game and not let that overwhelm you. You’re always pitching the best you can.”

JMU softball, sitting at 20-10 (5-4 Sun Belt), have been from sophomore pitchers Rebecca Muh and Lexi Rogers since the beginning of March. Humphrey and Berry said the hope is to regain some of their fellow pitchers soon as they recover from injuries.

“We’re just trying to get through this and

do the best we can holding the positions until everyone else comes back,” Berry said.

JMU softball head coach Loren LaPorte said, despite the injuries, it isn’t unusual for teams to only use two main pitchers, with an occasional third pitcher who fills in when needed.

LaPorte said this style of rotation isn’t uncommon, though. She explained that even if a program has a healthy pitching staff of five, you’d still mainly see two prominent pitchers.

Humphrey said high school and travel softball teams also follow the rotation with only a pitcher or two at hand. Humphrey and Berry both grew up in Florida a few hours away from one another— Humphrey added that Florida’s a very competitive state for softball. Both pitchers played for the Tampa Mustangs travel team, just at different times because of their age gap.

LaPorte said softball pitching styles are different than baseball, and softball pitchers have more endurance when it comes to throwing because the “arm circle being a natural motion.” Because of this, softball teams don’t need as many reinforcements as baseball teams do.

Both LaPorte and Humphrey highlighted the two pitchers have very different playing styles, which gives “a good balance” during games.

Taking her turn in the circle, freshman pitcher Kylah Berry pitched for the Dukes in their series sweep against Georgia Southern from March 24-26. Valerie Chenault / The Breeze

Berry begins her pitch in JMU’s game against Coppin State. The Dukes defeated the Bald Eagles, 9-2, on March Photos by Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Picking up velocity on her pitch, junior pitcher Alissa Humphrey continues through the motions of her pitch.

“You don’t want to throw someone in that’s the exact same,” LaPorte said.

Berry explained that her and Humphrey have some of the same pitches but their styles begin to vary as they have different spins and Humphrey has a higher pitching velocity than Berry.

This also isn’t Humphrey’s first time going through a season with only two healthy pitchers. She faced this scenario as a freshman in 2021 when redshirt senior pitcher Odicci Alexander was injured and Humphrey, alongside redshirt junior pitcher Alexis Bermudez, patrolled the pitching staff.

While Humphrey said this season's experience didn’t change much of her routine, she added it might differ for Berry because of her youth compared to herself. But despite the emotions Berry may be feeling, Humphrey emphasized she’s done a good job adjusting so far this season.

“From the beginning of the year to where we are now, I think Kylah is just glad to have an opportunity to play,” Humphrey said. “Just having some innings under her belt will give her some confidence and experience, so I think this is super, super important, especially as a freshman.”

Berry reciprocated Humphrey’s response and said despite the challenge, she’s enjoying the experience and playing time.

“It’s more intense, obviously more pressure,” Berry said. “But honestly, I love it. It’s one of the best things going from playing high school and travel ball and then getting to do your dream every single day.”

LaPorte said Humphrey’s provided great leadership for Berry while she teaches her more about the game. LaPorte said Humphrey’s taught Berry the thought process behind pitching certain ways.

“The nice thing about Alissa is that she knows the game so well," LaPorte said. "Sometimes pitchers go out there, they get the pitch called and they throw the pitch, and they don’t really understand the ‘why’ behind some things. Alissa has developed into understanding the ‘why’ we’re attacking hitters certain ways and she’s doing a great job of communicating that with Kylah.”

Overall, LaPorte said there are plenty of connections between the two pitchers, and their chemistry’s been strong given their circumstances.

“We know it’s just the two of us," Berry said. "So we’re constantly backing each other up.”

Bridges

Junior pitcher Alissa Humphrey winds up one of her pitches in JMU's win against Saint Joseph's, 6-2, on March 9. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

Still home in Harrisonburg EMU transfer finds footing at Division I level after midweek success

By WILL MORAN The Breeze

Two outs. Tie game. A 1-2 pitch was hammered to left field for a two-run home run. It put JMU up two and eventually won it the game. Not only was it a game winner for the Dukes against Radford on March 21, but it was the first home run for graduate transfer outfielder Jaylon Lee in purple and gold. He said it felt like a weight off his shoulders.

“It always feels good to get the first one under your belt, because everybody loves to hit the long ball, so getting that first one in, it felt good,” Lee said.

JMU baseball head coach Marlin Ikenberry said he was excited to see Lee hit his first home run and said he “knew he had that in him.” Ikenberry described the homer as a “no doubter.”

“It was a bomb. I mean, he hit it over the scoreboard,” Ikenberry said. “I think TrackMan [a distance and velocity tracker] had it at 108 exit velocity and 484 feet.”

Lee didn’t stop there.

On Tuesday against Richmond, Lee went yard not once but twice. Two solo shots, both to left field, one to put the Dukes up four in the third, and another to extend the lead to six late in the game. Redshirt senior first baseman Kyle Novak said the team was almost more excited than Lee in those moments.

“It was honestly awesome, I feel like we were happier than he was,” Novak said. “The home runs he hit weren’t just, like, wall scrapers, they were absolute bombs. I think he hit two of them over 450 feet, which is probably both the longest home runs we have this season.”

Novak praised Lee for his performance early on in the season, especially in JMU’s opening series against Florida State. In this series, Lee

recorded five hits and an RBI in 11 at-bats.

“In the beginning of the season, he started off hot in Florida State, he did really well,” Novak said. “Then he started to slow down a little bit, right, like after Florida State, I think they found out how to pitch him … he’s obviously never seen arms like we’ve seen this year, especially being in the Sun Belt.”

In the seven games following the Florida State series, Lee combined for only three hits in 18 at-bats before a three-hit, three-RBI game against VCU on March 8. Lee has rebounded since then and is currently hitting .290 for the Dukes with 17 RBIs and three home runs. This is off the back of a successful career at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). Lee averaged .332, had 132 RBIs and 30 home runs in his five seasons for the Royals.

Before joining the Royals, Lee visited JMU for a camp during his senior year of high school. Lee wanted to come to JMU, but at the time the Dukes had already filled their outfield roster, so Ikenberry told him to talk to the coaches at EMU.

After being All-ODAC first team twice in five years at EMU, he finally has his chance to make the move that Novak said he’s wanted to make his whole career.

“He’s wanted to play at JMU, he says, for five years, so him getting here and then playing his butt off is, honestly, awesome to see,” Novak said, “especially coming from D-III for five years, then his sixth year he comes here and he’s chopping 450-foot home runs. That’s awesome to see.”

Lee followed his time at EMU by spending this past summer playing for the Harrisonburg Turks in the Valley Baseball League (VBL). He hit .285 for the Turks in 41 games with 38 hits, 28 RBIs and four home runs. Lee credited his time in the valley league as a reason for his early success in D-I at JMU.

“Playing the Valley actually was a huge step to transferring over to Division I,” Lee said, “as

it allowed me to see somewhat what D-I arms would look like, especially because they had some guys from Power 5 schools in there.”

Lee said the biggest changes from the D-III to D-I level are in the quality of the players and the pace of the game. He said the D-I level has more “pro-style” players and he could “tell from the jump that these guys are legit and that they are on this level for a reason.”

Another aspect of the game that increases the game from D-III to D-I is pitching velocity. Lee said the normal speeds from weekend arms in D-III ranges from 89-92 miles per hour, with a few being able to push 93-94. This is about 8 mph slower than what he said some pitchers can bring in the Sun Belt Conference. Lee expected South Alabama to have some closers throwing 97-100 mph in its series this past weekend.

He also said the D-I level has more athletic players, and while that brings another challenge to playing, it also makes the game more exciting.

“As a position player, the pace of the game also gets quicker too, as more people are, like, athletic,” Lee said. “It’s been fun experiencing all that.”

Part of the way to combat the change he’s facing in the jump from D-III to D-I is in his preparation. Lee said there isn’t much difference in his preparation from last season to this season, just making sure that he’s keyed in on what assistant coach Mike Roberts is telling him and the team in practice.

“It’s tough on us, and it’s like that on purpose,” Lee said. “It creates a better player, and it creates more consistency with us and makes the game slow down for us … the training that we do is really hard, and it’s basically meant to fail you, so that when you get into the game, it’s a lot easier for us.”

Novak has noticed all the work Lee puts in and how it has been paying off. Ikenberry said he’s a hard worker and “always has a smile on

his face.”

“He’s just been working really hard in the facilities and Memorial Hall, just getting his swing down, working on breaking balls … and he’s adjusted really quick, like, honestly quicker than anyone else,” Novak said. “He just hit two home runs yesterday off two sliders, which was awesome.”

As far as individual expectations, Lee wants to continue to build consistency in the batter’s box.

“Hitting is always a challenge, as everybody knows, it’s one of the hardest things to do in sports,” Lee said. “I always say just try to be more consistent, in general, when it comes to hitting because everybody wants to be consistent.”

This was echoed by Ikenberry.

“I think minimizing strikeouts is something he knows he has to try to do,” Ikenberry said, “and just being more consistently on the barrel because when he does barrel the ball, it has a high exit velocity, and, you know, in the world of baseball, if you have a certain exit velocity and certain line drives the odds of getting hits are extremely high.”

Lee has gained a lot of experience at the D-III level at EMU and in theVBL, but he and his coaches aren’t letting him be defined by his previous level, but by his love, knowledge and skill for the game of baseball.

“I just came in and the coaching staff, they basically just let me know, like, ‘You’re not a D-III guy transferring into D-I, you’re a baseball player,” Lee said. “You’ve always deserved to be here.”

CONTACT Will Moran at at breezecopy@ gmail.com. For more baseball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @ TheBreezeSports.

Graduate outfielder Jaylon Lee catches a fly ball in JMU’s series-finale 14-3 loss to South Alabama on Sunday. On Tuesday, Lee homered twice to power JMU over Richmond. Courtesy of JMU Athletics

DOUBLE TROUBLE

JMU women’s tennis riding off their seniors’ success, but two ranked opponents loom

By CRAIG MATHIAS

The Breeze

As things stand, JMU women’s tennis is 7-0 in the Sun Belt Conference. Not only is it unbeaten in conference play this season but the Dukes haven’t lost a conference match since March 7, 2020.

Coming off a five-match win streak and winning eight of its last 10 matches, JMU runs the gauntlet this weekend — hosting No. 41 Charlotte on Thursday at 9 a.m. and then traveling to face No. 28 Old Dominion on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Dukes and Monarchs will square off as the only two undefeated teams left in the Sun Belt.

Strong opponents and unlucky breaks plagued the Dukes as they started 4-4, with two of those losses at the hands of current No. 9 U.Va. and at-time No. 43 Penn State. After the 4-1 loss to the Nittany Lions on Feb. 26 — the match was closer than the score indicated; the lone point in the loss came from doubles where the Dukes took two out of three courts — JMU began to find its footing.

Getting the doubles point — something JMU’s done in 12 of 16 matches this spring — is what head coach Shelley Jaudon attributed to its success this season, she said.

“I think a huge thing that has benefited our team and what we’re really thriving in is doubles,” Jaudon said, “because you see good leadership from each of our seniors.”

The three redshirt seniors — Daria Afanasyeva, Kylie Moulin and Daniela Voloh — all play alongside an underclassman or transfer. Jaudon and the team used the fall tournaments to figure out which pairings worked best, and it’s now reaping the rewards.

Jaudon said the three have been valuable for what they bring both on and off the court. Not only do Moulin, Afanasyeva and Voloh play No. 1, 2 and 3 singles, respectively, their leadership has allowed the team to grow over the past couple months.

“Their experience is so valuable and that’s what’s helping lead our younger ones,” Jaudon said. “They’re confident in these situations, they’re comfortable in the high stress environment because of the experience they have in the big matches.”

Afanasyeva, one of those three leaders, boasts a 10-5 record in doubles with her partner — freshman Reka Matko — and has won her last four matches at No. 2 singles. Earlier this season, Afanasyeva earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for her wins in singles and doubles against Louisville on Feb. 5.

As the Dukes gear up for Charlotte and Old Dominion this weekend, Afanasyeva said the team is in the right mindset to keep things rolling into the rest of April.

“I think we’re in a good place mentally,” Afanasyeva said. “Obviously our game is there. Every single person on this team works towards helping each other and making each other better.”

Looking at the season as a whole, JMU’s body of work over the past two seasons has given it a slew of tough matchups. In 2022, the Dukes faced seven ranked opponents. After this weekend, the 2023 tally will reach four.

For Moulin, she said the strength of schedule for both the upper and underclassmen over the past two seasons has prepared them for what to expect in not just JMU’s new conference but whatever may be thrown their way.

“I think all of the preparation we made has gotten us ready for the Sun Belt,” Moulin said, “and to face all these new challenges and bigger teams that we’ve been playing.”

Moulin has been steady for the Dukes at No. 1 singles after jumping from No. 2 last season. She’s 11-5 this spring while racking

up wins in seven of her last eight matches.

On top of what would be two huge victories, Jaudon said she’s looking for JMU to show its preparation has paid off in hopes of finishing the year strong. The improvement from the beginning of the season to now is apparent, she said, and she hopes this weekend will kickstart a run to the end of the year.

“We have grown a lot since January,” Jaudon said. “And I think our poise and maturity has grown because of the tough lessons learned early on, and now in March and April we see ourselves thriving in the situations we struggled in.”

CONTACT Craig Mathias at mathiack@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more women’s tennis coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

JMU women’s tennis haven’t lost a conference match since March 7, 2020, due in large part to its success in doubles play. Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

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

A “you-made-my-day” pat to the girl downtown who told me I was pretty while I was driving down main street.

From someone who needed a smile.

A “thank-you” pat to the student who helped get my walker down the stairs after Winterguard and Dukettes exhibition at Godwin Hall.

From a grateful Harrisonburg resident who’d love to give you more than just a pat for your kindness.

Thwarted in court

Biden’s debt relief faces conservative court with thousands of applicants’ opportunity to overcome loan debt put in jeopardy

College tuition has been increasing steadily over the years, and it’ll only continue to rise as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, which is affecting the price of student loans. Over the course of the pandemic, both the Trump and Biden administrations canceled $90 billion in federal student loan interest. Both presidents employed executive orders to eliminate loan interest, meaning they didn’t seek Congress’ approval. Now, the Supreme Court must preside over two cases regarding student loan forgiveness — Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown. These decisions will affect students across the country who are borrowing and paying off federal student loans.

An “I-feel-rushed” dart to my professor for posting a quiz the day before it’s due.

From someone who wanted to work on it over the weekend.

The Institute for College Access and Success released a report in 2020 concerning student debt statistics throughout the U.S. In Virginia, 55% of graduates have student loan debt averaging $29,616. In comparison, New Hampshire, the state with the highest student debt, student loan debt averages $39,928 and 70% of graduates carry debt. The state with the lowest amount of student loan debt is Utah, where 39% of students are burdened with debt, averaging $18,344.

An “I-love-you-so-much” pat to my mom for bringing me candy after a long week.

From a senior who needed a pick-me-up.

The past four years have immensely affected both the government and the population’s attitude toward student loan forgiveness, drawing in bipartisan support in Congress. Before COVID-19 struck the world, student loan forgiveness was merely a campaign talking point. However, this all began to change in March 2020, amid the chaos of the pandemic. On March 13, 2020 Betsy DeVos, Trump’s former secretary of education, suspended student loan payments for “at least 60 days,” setting in motion a wave of support for student loan forgiveness.

Trump continued the trend March 27, 2020, when he signed the CARES Act, pushing the 60-day deadline to Sept. 30, 2020. The pause

was extended thrice more under Trump’s presidency by his Department of Education. Both the Trump and Biden administrations used the 2003 HEROES Act to continuously extend the pause on federal student loan payments.

Dr. Bethany Blackstone, the dean of the Honors College at JMU and a professor of political science, discussed how the secretary of education is responsible for the federal student loan programs. Moreover, the HEROES Act of 2003, Blackstone describes, gives the secretary the power to “waive or modify” any provision applicable to student financial assistance programs to protect those

affected by a national emergency.

After Biden’s victory in the controversial 2020 presidential election, he made moves to bring his campaign proposal to life. Immediately after his inauguration, the Biden administration, which includes his Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, extended the payment pause through Sept. 30, 2021. In March 2021, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief bill via executive order. The plan provided economic relief to Americans struggling financially during the pandemic and included a provision not to subject student loan forgiveness to federal income taxes until 2025.

EMMA SELI compromising controversy

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

Biden’s Department of Education extended the deadline four times leading up to the most recent extension, the outcome of which will depend on the Supreme Court’s decision on two student loan forgiveness cases: Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown. Arguments for the two cases were held Feb. 28 to determine if the two cases have proper legal standing and if the Biden administration had the authority to forgive significant amounts of student loan debt.

According to a Feb. 2 article published by CNBC, six states — including Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — are challenging Biden’s debt relief program on the grounds that the secretary of education “overstepped its authority” in using the HEROES Act of 2003 to order the cancellation of up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans. In Department of Education v. Brown, two student loan borrowers are suing for similar reasons.

The states suing the program also “argue that by discharging millions of dollars in loans, the Biden administration could deprive states of revenue they would otherwise receive through education loan financing organizations,” Blackstone said.

Blackstone also explained the next steps in the court’s process. Specifically, Blackstone described how, before considering the debt relief program itself, the Supreme Court must determine whether or not involved parties have been harmed by the program in a way that permits them to sue. If the Court decides that either the borrowers or the states have been harmed in such a way, they will then consider whether the debt relief program was an appropriate action by the Secretary of Education.

With an overwhelmingly conservative Supreme Court, the chances of the debt relief program being struck down are highly likely. Biden’s arguments have proved fruitless in the eyes of the conservative justices, such as Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts.

In an article by AP News, authors Mark Sherman and Jessica Gresko quote Kavanaugh:

“Some of the biggest mistakes in the court’s history were deferring to assertions of executive emergency power … some of the finest moments in the court’s history were pushing back against presidential assertions of emergency power,” Kavanaugh said.

Blackstone said the debt relief program was not designed to address the causes of the student loan debt crisis.

"Students are borrowing more because college tuition has grown faster than income," Blackstone said, "In Virginia and other states, tuition increases have been used to compensate for declines in state funding, increasing the demand for student loans.”

If the Supreme Court ultimately decides to block Biden’s debt relief program, students who were eligible will no longer receive the much-needed debt relief they were expecting, including current students at JMU. Students and graduates across the country struggle with crippling student loan debt, and amid an inflated economy where tuition is increasing along with interest rates, student loans are only getting more expensive and harder to pay off.

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

Work on your writing Commentary | The Writing Center makes it easy to enhance communication skills

AVA MENONI an avalanche of opinion

More students should take advantage of the benefits of the University Writing Center.

The Writing Center is one of JMU’s learning centers located in the Student Success Center. Students can walk in or make appointments to get writing assignments reviewed by other students and faculty. This free resource should be used more by students.

A typical session at the Writing Center can be booked for 25 or 50 minutes. Students can come in with almost any writing assignment, ranging from English papers and graduate school applications to resumes and creative writing.

The Writing Center is a great resource because it’s a collaborative experience.

Lucy Bryan Malenke, interim cocoordinator of the Writing Center, said writing consultants are trained to give conversational feedback about writing structure, grammar, redundancies and problem areas specific to the student or assignment.

“The goal is that whatever we do in the session, the writer would leave with

how to continue that work beyond … and maybe even apply what they learned to future writing assignments,” Malenke said.

So, using the Writing Center not only benefits a student for that specific assignment but also gives them the tools and strategies needed during their time as college students and in life.

No matter how well-versed or strong a writer is, they can improve. A common misconception is the Writing Center is only used when a student is struggling. Although it’s a valuable tool for struggling students, every student should take advantage of its resources. Ava Seif, a student writing consultant, said there’s “absolutely no judgment” for any writer who comes in — naturals or not.

In college, many students are asked to use writing styles they’re inexperienced in. Malenke said the College of Health and Sciences students have to unlearn traditional essay structure and learn a new style of scientific writing using different language.

“It can feel strange if you’ve been trained to write differently,” Malenke said. She added that going to the Writing Center can give clarity about how to

approach an unfamiliar style of writing. Consultants can give more insight as to what is expected for a specific type of assignment.

The Writing Center’s resources are helpful beyond writing appointments. Students can use its online writing guides for quick access to information, including the writing process, types of writing, grammar, punctuation and style as well as citation and formatting resources. This can be useful for students who struggle with time management and need quick access. The Writing Center also offers online sessions for students who cannot come to in-person sessions.

No matter a student’s major or writing expertise, the Writing Center can be beneficial and help a student grow into the best possible version of themselves. More students should use the Writing Center for its valuable resources and friendly staff.

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

the University Writing Center, students can book 25 or 50 minute appointments with

structure, grammer and other areas. Valarie Chenault / The Breeze

Protect your privacy

Due to Google censorship and tracking, students should use alternatives

ORIANA LUKAS opinions with oriana

Google is the world’s largest search engine and the world’s largest stalker.

Google is the most used multi-technology company, with just over 274 million users in the U.S. It controls more than 70% of U.S. online web searches and offers more than 271 products, such as Google Docs, Google Maps and Gmail.

With this high number of users and numerous product services, Google is one of the top four most influential companies alongside Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft according to Statista. But this popularity isn’t without major flaws: Google is known for constantly tracking its users to benefit high-paying sponsors and censors many search results, though Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, denied this.

“Google will never sell any personal information to third parties, and you get to decide how your information is used,” Pichai said, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Though Google is adamant about this claim, it continuously gets away with doing this very action by supplementing the term of “selling” with real-time bidding, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which regulates the data sold to private companies, went into effect. This act enforces tech companies to allow Californians to opt out of the sale of their information. Additionally, for Google users to avoid having their data sold, they should use other search engines such as DuckDuckGo, a browser that refrains from any tracking methods.

Of course, to continue its massive revenue from tracking and selling users’ information, Google uses various loopholes to get around this law, like real-time bidding and customer match, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Real-time bidding is a strategy that allows advertisers to target groups of users based on their demographics and interests. The advertisers then use this information to bid on individual ads. Google controls almost every aspect of this process regardless of peoples’ consent. JMU research methods professor Keith Grant said this tracking can lead to users only receiving data from one side discussions.

“There’s a whole bunch of psychological biases that influence how we do thing,s and I think the biggest one here is confirmation biases,” Grant said. “People will wait on things

that agree with their perspective. So when only using a search engine that we know to an extent modifies itself towards stuff the user wants to see, it makes sense why people can’t have discussion on topics we should be able to have an objective conversation on.”

Along with these disturbing tracking methods, Google is the largest censor. As of now, online censorship is completely unregulated. Because of it, Google has freedom to block any information it disapproves of. According to the U.S. News, Google has at least nine blacklists. Of these nine, the most detrimental blacklist for students is the Google News blacklist. Google has the power to ban any news source it disagrees with. In 2006, Google allegedly blocked conservative news sources that wrote critical stories about Islam. It’s also been accused of blocking columnists who write opinions it dislikes.

So, if these tactics are implemented by Google, why are people still using it? If it has so many controversies, why are people willing to succumb to it? The answer is fairly simple: It’s popular.

Ninety-one percent of 74 JMU students who voted on a survey posted on The Breeze’s Instagram said Google is their No. 1 search engine used for class. Of those students, 66% said they were aware of Google’s tracking tactics and 59% knew of its censorship. People are always going to follow the trend of products, even if they know the potential dangers.

These tracking and censorship tactics are detrimental to students’ overall learning. If students can only find certain pieces of information that Google agrees with, there’s potential it’s missing loads of crucial information. In college, students are supposed to be able to form their own opinions based on research. If all the data students are retrieving is biased, then what’s anyone learning? Grant said students should stay away from relying solely on Google for academic research.

“I try to send my students to the library,” Grant said. “It’s fine to dump things into Google and see what pops up, but if you’re trying to do high volume academic research, that’s not a good place to start because anyone can write a blog or pay money to bots to give them a bunch of ads.”

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.

Ben Moulse / The Breeze

Spend less on trends

Fast fashion brands like SHEIN and H&M promote unsustainability and materialism

MARY MABRY a message from mary

Fast fashion is addicting. In fashion culture recently, trends pass faster than the seasons, and finding cheap clothes is a pastime.

Customers didn’t invent this culture — companies did, and it’s because they capitalize on mass consumption.

The cost

According to a poll of 29 respondents on The Breeze’s Instagram, low costs are the most popular reason respondents shop at places like Zara, SHEIN, H&M and Fashion Nova.

The Earth Island Journal said a key word in defining fast fashion is “cheap,” and that’s how it’s marketed. The publication asks: “What does it really mean for a sweater at H&M to cost as little as $9.99? And who is paying the price to produce such inexpensive clothing?”

There are no redeeming answers. Earth Island Journal said using cheap materials that harm the environment, expending immense amounts of chemicals and water and having a harsh working environment

with little wages are the driving factors in making these clothes.

Price tags are extremely important to customers, which are why companies make clothes in a way that allows low retail prices. Although low prices should be a red flag to customers, they have the opposite effect: the cheaper the clothes, the more they can buy.

According to The University of Queensland (UQ), there’s been a 400% increase in clothing consumption in the last two decades — consuming “about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year.”

More consumption means more waste; as people buy more clothing, textile waste increases rapidly. This waste is especially harmful when made with cheap materials such as polyester, nylon and acrylic, UQ wrote, because they could take up to a 1,000 years to biodegrade.

Collective Fashion Justice reported this waste burdens poor communities and releases methane while sitting in landfills.

When companies make clothes in an unsustainable way, they promote unsustainable consumption as well.

see FASHION, page 28

Fast fashion brands like SHEIN introduce thousands of cheap, new products everyday. This contributes to a culture of single-use fashion and negative effects on the environment Emma Connelly / The Breeze

from FASHION, page 27

Trends

Fast fashion companies also use trends to attract customers. According to UQ, fast fashion clothes aren’t only cheaply made and priced but also “copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through the stores in order to maximize on current trends.”

When clothing companies are on the pulse, buyers can’t help but indulge. If there’s a new style, they want to be a part of it. As Collective Fashion Justice said, “there used to be four fashion seasons. Today, there are 52 micro-seasons.”

By playing into a buyer’s desire to be on trend, fast fashion brands promote mass consumption; consumers must consume at the same rate the producer is producing. This isn’t a healthy cycle for either party and only results in more waste and harm to the environment.

SHEIN is the perfect example of this. Time Magazine cited an investigation that stated SHEIN added “anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 individual styles to its app each day between July and December of 2021.”

Time also credited SHEIN’s social media presence to its success: it reached its young, susceptible audience through social media advertisement and use influencers to promote their clothing. Time describes this strategy as “widely successful” — contributing to SHEIN being “the world’s most popular fashion brand in 2022.”

Clothing lifespan

Cost, quality and trends combine to create another issue: These clothes ensure

customers will come back for more.

If clothes don’t last long because they aren’t made of quality materials and/ or the clothes go out of style, consumers will be looking to buy again. Companies recognize these cycles and use them to their advantage.

Collective Fashion Justice cited this strategic move as “planned obsolescence” — clothes that are “designed to wear out or become unfashionable.”

This just adds to the number of ways that these brands encourage people to buy clothes frequently and in bulk.

What next?

Forbes said Generation Z is concerned about climate change and wanted to take action. However, it’s also the people keeping the fast fashion industry booming. Forbes cited a report that claims one in three Gen Z consumers said they “feel addicted to fast fashion.”

Companies use low costs, trends and short closet life to keep customers coming back. These are unsustainable, yet addicting, practices. After all, not many people want to pay for expensive clothes, dress “out of style” or wear the same clothes for an extended period of time.

So, what will break the cycle? Either fast fashion brands have to dissipate or the current culture of fashion has to. If one doesn’t give, we’ll be stuck in an endless loop of worker and environmental abuse.

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.

According to the University of Queensland, the consumption of clothing has increased by 400% in the past 20 years. Emma Connelly / The Breeze

This week in JMU history...

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

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

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

Dan Caprera

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

GRILLED CHEESE MAINIA / THE BREEZE

GRILLED CHEESE MAINIA - Come out to GCM on April 12 from 3pm to 7pm for a BREEZE Fundraiser!

Celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day and support Student Journalism! Be sure to mention The Breeze when you order your Delicious Comfort Food!

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.

CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS COMMUNITY

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

Career Opportunity - Specialist I (Traffic Signs & Pavement Markings)

Do you want to work in a team environment and repair/maintain/troubleshoot/install traffic signs and pavement markings? If so, the Specialist I-Traffic Signs & Pavement Markings position within the City’s Public Works Department may be the right career for you, and we’ll provide on-the-job training! 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.

MORE CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS

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.

Police Officer (Testing & Employment Opportunities)

The City of Harrisonburg is currently accepting applications for individuals interested in joining HPD, which offers a rewarding career plus an excellent benefits package, including enhanced hazardous duty through the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). The next Police Officer Testing is scheduled for Saturday, April 28. Find out more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.