The Breeze 5.2.24

Breeze

End of an Era

On the cover

President Jonathan Alger is departing JMU after a career that began in 2012. During his 12 years, he headed the Valley Scholars program and the Madison Center for Civic Engagement, among other accomplishments.

Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management Donna Harper ('77) is retiring after 47 years in JMU administration. Harper held multiple leadership positions during her career and created many ongoing programs.

AD Jeff Bourne retired after 25 years at JMU. During his tenure, JMU gained three national championships and invested over $250 million into athletic facilities.

For more on Alger, see page 4. For more on Harper, see page 6. For more on Bourne, see page 14.

Scan below to subscribe to our newsletter:

What’s online ...

Editorial Staff

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ELEANOR SHAW breezeeditor@gmail.com

NEWS EDITORS

K. MAUSER & LIBBY ADDISON breezenews@gmail.com

COPY EDITORS MALLORY EVANS & HANNAH KENNEDY breezecopy@gmail.com

Advertising Staff

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR MORGAN BLAIR breezepress@gmail.com

CULTURE EDITORS ABBY CAMP & EVAN MOODY thebreezeculture@gmail.com

PHOTO EDITORS KAILEY GARNER & LANDON SHACKELFORD breezephotography@gmail.com

ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR KASEY THOMPSON thebreezeweb@gmail.com

SPORTS EDITORS HAYDEN HUNDLEY & PRESTON COMER breezesports@gmail.com

AUDIENCE EDITORS MADALYN CORNWELL & KATIE WOOLSTON thebreezesocials@gmail.com

COVER BY: ELLA AUSTIN / THE BREEZE COVER PHOTOS: LANDON SHACKELFORD / THE BREEZE BREEZE FILE PHOTO

OPINION EDITOR LILLYANNE DAY breezeopinion@gmail.com

ART DIRECTOR ELLA AUSTIN thebreezeartdirectors@gmail.com

TV NEWS DIRECTOR ALEXA BONILLA jmubreezetv@gmail.com

The Breeze

Starting around 5 a.m., roughly 15 protestors gathered at the center of the Quad. The crowd grew to roughly 60 — including onlookers. Landon Shackelford / The Breeze For more on the protest, see www.breezejmu.org.

K. Mauser & Libby Addison

Farewell to the first family

University President Jonathan Alger’s 12-year presidency comes to an end

By MICHAEL RUSSO The Breeze

The year is 2011. Jonathan Alger is in the final round of interviews for the top position at a certain Virginia university named after the president known as Father of the Constitution — a place with a fondness for purple.

Alger has been traveling amid meeting search committees without access to his closet, so when he’s in northern Virginia to meet this university’s board, he makes a point to go shopping for “the perfect purple tie’” — and it pays off.

“In the last interview, the committee made special note to say, ‘And you even have the purple tie,” Alger said. “It was a good reminder of the importance of purple, and since that time, something’s going on in the closet because I have dozens of purple ties now.”

With dozens of ties to match a dozen years at the helm of JMU, Alger will end his time in Harrisonburg June 30 before transitioning to the same role at American University (AU) in Washington, D.C., on July 1. In his March 18 letter to the JMU community announcing his departure, Alger said the change presents “a true mix of emotions."

As a lawyer with a constitutional background, Alger said moving from the university named after James Madison to another named after the country aligns with the theme of civic engagement that has been “near and dear” to him and his family from the time they first arrived in Harrisonburg.

Why Madison?

Alger had been in the running for presidential positions at two other universities prior to his 2011 hiring, so what made JMU the right fit for him and his family?

He said the university’s namesake is what first resonated with him, but the positive, passionate people he met and the school’s upward trajectory were what sealed the deal in recognizing the potential impact he, his wife, Mary Ann, and their daughter, Eleanor, could make on the community together.

To set the tone for Jonathan’s presidency, the Algers embarked on the ‘Why Madison?’ Presidential Listening Tour across the country.

Nick Langridge has served as vice president for advancement throughout the entirety of Jonathan’s term. He said the months-long tour involved traveling to 18 different cities and meeting with nearly 100 kinds of constituents so Jonathan could develop a full understanding of JMU’s strengths and challenges. Through it all, Langridge said, Jonathan showed “amazing endurance to handle the pace of the presidency.”

Tim Miller, vice president for student affairs, was an involved and invested JMU alumnus at the time of the tour. Miller said he was pleased with how Jonathan made a point to evaluate the bigger picture rather than jumping in head first.

“A lot of presidents come in and decide they already know what to do even though they’ve never been to the place, and the lack of ego that President Alger had coming in and the way the whole family was a part of it was just really impressive for both [my wife] Jamie and myself,” Miller said.

Despite the conclusion of the tour, Jonathan wasn't done listening to the community. Maggie Burkhart Evans, who served as executive

assistant from 2013 to 2017, said this was a practice he never stopped, and she would help prepare him with talking points for each event he participated in.

“If there was an open space in his calendar, he accepted every single invitation,” Evans said. “That’s really genuine commitment to the work that he’s doing.”

Each engagement went hand in hand with Jonathan’s goal to “tell the story” of JMU. He said it was common to hear JMU called “the best-kept secret in American higher education,” which made elevating the university’s national reputation his priority from the beginning.

Jonathan said new academic offerings, including the transition to be an R2 research university, multiple appearances by the Marching Royal Dukes in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, JMU football on ESPN College GameDay and global study abroad and engagement programs all helped accomplish that mission over Jonathan tenure.

“When I first got here, people would sometimes say, ‘Oh, JMU, where’s that? Is that a public school or private school?’” Jonathan said. “Now, they say, ‘Oh, JMU. Yes, we know all about it.’”

Dukes hold doors

Langridge said the listening tour built the foundation for the Madison Plan, a strategy implemented throughout 2014-2020 that was “the bedrock” of JMU’s Unleashed fundraising campaign, which raised over $250 million for the university from over 64,000 donors. Langridge said the connections made through engaging with constituents and using their feedback to formulate a strategic plan put JMU in a strong position to boost the culture of philanthropy among JMU’s students, alumni, parents and more.

Jonathan said a big question for constituents he visited on his tour was what made JMU special and how it impacted them — especially because there was a disconnect at the time

between the university’s high satisfaction rate and a much lower alumni donation rate. Asking constituents to give back and “getting people to feel like this is a joint responsibility” were driving factors in securing the Unleashed campaign’s ultimate success, Jonathan said.

“We were able to bring in thousands of new donors, many of whom were younger donors who hadn’t reached the point in life where they even thought they could be philanthropic,” Mary Ann said. “We talked about giving without hesitation and without any embarrassment attached to it. We were very confident that the things going on at this university need to be supported by private donations and we were very confident that when we have conversations with people, they will hear the story and join in the circle of donors.”

Jonathan said another instrumental piece to the fundraising efforts, was Women for Madison, a philanthropic organization of women that launched in 2013. Mary Ann said she considers herself a co-founder of the group, which has raised money for student scholarships and helped empower women — a critical demographic — to give back.

“The ability to see women come together and pool their money in order to help students is just off-the-charts gratifying to me,” Mary Ann said. “Women outnumber men on … almost all college campuses around the country, not just JMU. But in higher ed in general, there are more women in undergraduate and graduate programs, with only a couple of exceptions around the country. And so it only makes sense that universities should be talking to women about making significant gifts.”

Eleanor said she helped host donor events with her parents and has both observed and experienced the impact of Women for Madison firsthand.

“It was also really special to see how much my mom was involved in that and how much passion she has for that,” Eleanor said. “It also became really important to me then when I

graduated from my undergrad to start … giving back monthly to Miami of Ohio, which is where I went. I wouldn’t have done that necessarily if I didn’t have the model that both my parents had taught me.”

Immense fundraising efforts call for many sources to receive said funds. One of the biggest priorities for Jonathan was increasing student scholarships — something he emphasized back in 2012 in order to create a more accessible and affordable college experience and continued to advocate for as a way to further diversify the student body.

A tangible manifestation of this goal was the creation of the Valley Scholars program, which forms cohorts of local middle schoolers who will be the first in their families to attend college. If students are financially eligible and accepted into JMU when it's their time to apply for college, they will receive scholarship support during their time as a Duke.

Launching and maintaining the Valley Scholars program, followed closely by the expansion of the Centennial Scholars Program and establishing the Reddix Center for FirstGeneration Students, was a family affair for the Algers. Jonathan and Mary Ann worked together on the “educational, informational narrative” to share the “why” behind opening doors for students of all backgrounds and the benefits of receiving a college education, Mary Ann said.

“We should never assume that everyone gets that or embraces that,” Mary Ann said. “Now, it seems like people at JMU, and in the general community, and among the alumni base really grasp those concepts.”

While attending Harrisonburg High School (HHS), Eleanor coached fellow students interested in theater through navigating the audition process, finding and rehearsing a monologue or growing their stage presence. Some of the HHS students she worked with have been Valley Scholars who were set to attend JMU, like one who graduated last year.

“It was really cool to get to know her when she was a freshman in high school, and I did theater with her the rest of my time at Harrisonburg [High School], and then [to] watch her grow through going to JMU,” Eleanor said. “That was just a really cool experience I’m really grateful I had a chance to have.”

Likewise, Evans said the growing opportunities for the Valley Scholars to come together within their own schools and at JMU showed the effect it was having on the students during its first years in practice.

“Those students were able to articulate how they were learning and growing and changing as a result of the time that they were spending in this program, and JMU coming to their schools … it was just really making an impact,” Evans said. “When you hear an eighth-grader be able to articulate what their future might look like [was] incredibly moving.”

Beyond the key scholarship programs, Miller said JMU’s affordability successfully pairs with the outcomes of students getting jobs, attending grad school or entering the military within six months of graduation. JMU is the fifth least expensive university among other four-year institutions in the Commonwealth with total charges including tuition, fees, and room and board, according to data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

When President Jonathan Alger was in the final round of interviews for his position in 2011, he made sure to buy a purple tie. Since then, he said he has accumulated a collection of purple ties in his wardrobe. Courtesy of JMU University Communications

“I think our students come out as better humans, as better people, and I would like to think I play some role in that and my team does with President Alger, but … he’s challenged us to do that,” Miller said. “I would say he’s challenged us every day, every year, every decade: ‘How do we do this better than we did it yesterday?’ And I think that most students would come out saying that they love this place, they love their time here. The fact that most students don’t want to leave is a testament to that.”

The engaged university

Perhaps just as important to Jonathan as making JMU a financially accessible place for fulfilling a college education was establishing it as the national model for the engaged university — an idea Evans said wasn’t quite as common as across universities today. The three pillars of that model, Jonathan said, were the “highimpact practices that transform people’s lives” as part of engaged learning, complemented by community engagement and civic engagement.

Jonathan cited the Student Success Center (SSC), University Recreation Center (UREC) and X-Labs as some of the hubs for these “cornerstones” of his vision and JMU’s strategic plan. With the SSC, students have a hub for learning resources and community among their peers, Jonathan said, while UREC accounts for the health and wellness aspects as part of a holistic education, and X-Labs models an interdisciplinary environment for students and faculty to “work in teams to solve real world problems.”

The Madison Center for Civic Engagement and the Madison Vision Series serve as additional opportunities for students to partake in civic engagement, Jonathan said, both as active participants in conversations and in hearing from notable speakers on key issues of the time.

“It’s become symbolic of something that’s important to JMU to talk not just about your rights as citizens but your responsibilities as citizens in a democratic society,” Jonathan said, “and that has really been an exciting theme that I think has permeated the culture.”

David Kirkpatrick, vice president and chief of staff for Jonathan, said this culture is a result of Alger’s work in civic engagement on the national level, which Kirkpatrick observed during his time as the Madison Center’s executive director.

“Long before my time, President Alger was leading our campus in helping students be equipped to be engaged and responsible citizens,” Kirkpatrick said. “But also on a national level, I think a lot of people at JMU are not aware of how President Alger opens doors for JMU to be in the room and to be in conversations with some of the most influential thought leaders in civic engagement. The universities that are learning from us because of President Alger are setting the tone nationally in this area.”

To commemorate Jonathan’s work, JMU announced Spotswood Hall, a residence hall located on the Quad, would be renovated and renamed to Alger Hall. Set to open in 2026, Langridge said the revitalized space will serve as the new home for the Madison Center and a residential learning community for students — like the center’s democracy fellows — with an interest in civic engagement.

Langridge said the plans to transform Spotswood Hall in this way had already been in the works among senior administrators, but with Jonathan’s departure, the team saw the opportunity to approach the Board of Visitors about naming it after the outgoing president.

Jonathan said the project excites him because it “reminds students that their education is to be used in service to others” and will be an environment for conversations of how students can make a difference.

Eleanor said she always wondered what space on campus would be named after her father, adding that the new purpose for

Spotswood is “such a perfect tribute.” Likewise, Kirkpatrick said it’s a “feather in the cap of a legacy that has been focused on strengthening our democracy and helping students be those productive voices in that space.”

‘Being the change’

In 2023, the average duration of a college presidency had dipped to just under six years, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Jonathan has doubled that with his 12-year term. As the Algers make the transition to AU, they leave behind a legacy and leadership style that many of Jonathan’s closest colleagues say they grateful for.

With a time at JMU that exceeds the national average, Langridge said Jonathan focused his efforts on a student-centered approach and provided a “continuity of leadership where leaders at Madison have come and governed with the best interests of universities for the long term, not just for their own personal career agendas.”

Since the start of his time at JMU, Evans said she remembers Jonathan and his leadership as “real partners” when making decisions about the university’s future. She said they worked together rather than compete for resources for their respective departments.

That same sentiment contributes to the type of leadership that Kirkpatrick said made him want to “run through a wall” for his boss.

“He really raises up the people around him and talks about it being a team effort,” Kirkpatrick said. “He’s always working the hardest of any of us. And yet, when he has a big accomplishment, he’s the first to say, ‘This was also the people around me,’ and that makes everybody around him better.”

Just as Jonathan’s focus on teamwork persisted throughout his 12 years as president, so did his focus on listening, Miller said. The COVID-19 pandemic brought uncharted territory, Miller said, and Jonathan had a “steady hand” as he and his team brought in experts and asked for their guidance in sending students home in March 2020, or how the university would eventually reopen to maintain JMU students’ educational experience and faculty and staff’s livelihood.

“Nothing anyone tried to do worked the way they hoped, but he knew about JMU’s impact around us,” Miller said. “He had lots of people telling him things — ‘do this, do this, do this’ — and he took all that in and then made the decision that we should try and open, even though we knew it was going to be hard and maybe not possible.”

Beyond the challenges of navigating a pandemic or undergoing an athletic conference realignment to reach the FBS level, Miller said the intangible accomplishments of Jonathan’s presidency are just as significant as the records and other measurable achievements.

“JMU serves our students better today than it did 12 years ago,” Miller said. “JMU is more respected in this world than it was 12 years ago, and Jon Alger is at the heart of that.”

With just about two months left in Harrisonburg, the president plans to bring what he’s learned from his JMU experience as he prepares for his move to Washington.

When it came to the pandemic, Jonathan said the continuous learning experience of what worked and what didn’t in collaboration with other college presidents showed him that while “it was frustrating for everybody … we helped each other through it, and people recognized this is bigger than any one person.”

Something bigger than one person at JMU is athletics’ impact, Jonathan said, which acts as “a front porch” to showcase the university. Between the football team’s ESPN College GameDay appearances, softball’s 2021 run in the Women’s College World Series, March Madness basketball tournaments and other sports’ successes, Jonathan said big events like these helped bring Dukes together.

“In a world at a time when everything seems so polarized and divided … when you root for

the JMU Dukes, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, or from a blue or a red state,” he said. “Everybody can rally around our student-athletes, and the great thing is that they are students. We’ve known a lot of them personally, and we’ve seen them succeed in the classroom and in their jobs, and that’s been exciting to see their personal growth.”

So, as he heads to the nation’s capital where AU students go to engage in a “hotbed of political activity,” Jonathan said he will perhaps bring a shade of JMU purple with him to bridge the blue and red among “the leaders of the future” and solve the world’s big problems.

“I really do think students want to have a sense of agency that they can make a difference with their education,” Jonathan said. “I love the fact that we’re always talking about being the change [at JMU] … because I think that, at the end of the day, it’s our responsibility as educators to help empower students to figure out how they can each do that in their own way.”

CONTACT Michael Russo at russomw@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

Alger’s daughter, Eleanor, worked alongside Harrisonburg High School (HHS) students and eventually watched some of them become JMU students. Courtesy of Mary-Hope Vass

Alger and his wife, Mary Ann, show support for the Dukes at the 2023 ESPN College GameDay broadcast. Courtesy of Mary-Hope Vass

Vice President Donna Harper reflects on 47-year career at JMU

By KASEY THOMPSON & MORGAN BLAIR

The Breeze

When Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management Donna Harper (’77) first arrived on campus, not as a JMU student, but as a student at Madison College. During this time, sororities lived in Eagle Hall and East Campus didn't exist. Now, Harper is retiring from her multi-position career within the JMU community after 47 years of service.

The Board of Visitors (BoV) acknowledged Harper’s retirement during its April 19 meeting. During her career as an administrator, Harper held the positions of Assistant Dean of Students, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Director of Health & Recreation, Executive Assistant to the President and BoV Secretary before taking on her current role.

During the BoV meeting, Rector Maribeth Herod presented a resolution thanking Harper for her service at JMU. She tearfully listed Harper’s accomplishments, including her role in leading the University Health Center during “an era of change” and her leadership oversight of initiatives broadening access to JMU through the new First-Generation Student Center, the Reddix Center, and the Centennial and Valley Scholars programs. Herod also acknowledged Harper’s instrumental role in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.

Immediately after graduating from Madison College, Harper was offered a one-year position to assist Greek Life in moving its housing facilities to Greek Row. She said her background as sorority president of Alpha Sigma Alpha (ASA) helped prepare her to take on this responsibility.

“I thought this could be a unique experience to try something totally different using some of my skills of knowing fraternities and sororities [to] help them in that transition,” she said.

Through Harper’s involvement as ASA president, she said she found her place at JMU quickly.

“You just got to know lots of different people, which I thought was really great,” Harper said. “We did a lot of good fundraising for our philanthropy, and so it was just fun to know that we were also contributing in a lot of ways.”

Since JMU’s growth since the ’70s, Harper said she’s witnessed firsthand how both Greek Life and the university have developed

and changed. She’s admired students' continuing interest in aspects of their social life and ability to contribute in the same ways she did. As far as the increasing university recognition that she's spent the majority of her career working for, Harper said the growth has been “phenomenal.”

“The difficulty for us has been figuring out who really wants to be here,” Harper said. “Our philosophy has been, if students are qualified, if they meet our standards, then we should admit them and let them decide whether or not they want to be here.”

Harper said students play an important role at JMU and she enjoys how they care about and look after one another. Referring to the “Dukes hold doors” tradition, Harper added that Dukes’ caring attitude, as well as the administration's role in cultivating that culture, made her job “fun.”

Having worked under three different presidents — Ronald Carrier, Linwood Rose and Jonathan Alger — during her tenure, Harper said one of her biggest takeaways was her stance that the administration's job should be student-centered.

“I think understanding that the student is the resource is very important,” Harper said. “All the decisions that we make,

the things we think about, the things we want to do, we should reflect on how it is going to either benefit students or how it is going to impact students. To me, that's been one of the very strong hallmarks that Dr. Carrier instilled here that I think is very valuable.”

During her career, Harper said she learned “a lot” from all three former presidents, but especially President Alger. She described him as “very in tune” with helping students gain opportunities and maintaining university engagement.

Mark Warner, former Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, worked at JMU for 37 years. When he and Harper first started working together in 1981, they worked on the student affairs staff in different offices. In his experience working with Harper, Warner said she was “the epitome of a student leader.”

“She’s leaving an incredible legacy — JMU would not be the same institution today if Donna Harper had not been a prominent leader,” Warner said. “Although it’s sad for the institution to lose somebody of her caliber and impact, we know that the seeds she planted are not wholly to fruition and will continue to grow even stronger.”

Also announced at the April 19 BoV meeting was the renaming of the pedestrian path on Greek Row to “Donna Harper Lane” in commemoration of Harper’s career and involvement in Greek Life. Harper said relationships like those she built as a student at Madison College, as well as during her professional career at JMU, brought her to where she is today.

“Building relationships has always been very, very important. I saw something today that it's not necessarily where you work, but it's who you work with,” she said. “To me that's been very important in terms of getting things done, and accomplishing things, building new programs.”

Eleanor Shaw contributed to this report.

CONTACT Kasey Thompson at thebreezeweb@gmail.com and Morgan Blair at breezepress@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

Over the course of Donna Harper's (third left) 47-year career, she worked under three university presidents — Ronald Carrier, Linwood Rose and Jonathan Alger. Breeze file photo

Greater Narcan availability to be implemented across campus in fall 2024

By JOELLE MCKENZIE & SIXUAN WU The Breeze

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of drug use and overdose that may be triggering for some readers. If you or someone you know is struggling with drug addiction in any way, please visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHA) website or call its hotline at 1-800-662-HELP.

ResQED (pronounced Rescue Ed) President senior Emma Ashley laid rescue kits, pamphlets and dummies outside on the Union Patio on April 15, providing interested passersby with information on opioid overdoses and a 10-minute training on how to use an overdose rescue kit.

ResQED, a club dedicated to teaching students about public health and safety, specifically, informing them about opioid overdoses and what to do, was founded in fall 2023 by Ashley. She said her experiences as an EMT motivated her to found the club since it was a position where she’s encountered numerous drug overdoses.

During its April 16 meeting, the Student Government Association (SGA) partnered with ResQED to combat the opioid crisis at the local level by enabling students to use and obtain Naloxone, a nasal spray that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses that’s commonly referred to as Narcan.

SGA endorsement

The SGA unanimously approved two Bills of Opinion that will make Narcan readily available on campus, specifically within residence halls and Greek life organizations. One of the bills called for the installation of at least one NaloxBox — an opioid rescue kit of Narcan nasal sprays — to be installed in each residence hall, which 2023-24 SGA Vice President junior Faith Forman said will be mounted to the wall and accessible to all students.

2023-24 SGA Legislative Affairs Chair senior Marcus Rand and Forman, who uses she/they pronouns, wrote the bills together to prevent opioid overdoses on campus. Both laws will be implemented at the beginning of next semester.

“We are hoping to finalize and complete everything so that the program is self-sustaining by the end of the fall semester, so we will work through the summer and fall semester on that,” Forman said in an email to The Breeze.

Rand said he and Forman became more aware of Narcan’s life-saving value after speaking with elected officials in Richmond on Student Lobby Day in February. In particular, an artwork titled “The Forgotten Fentanyl Victims of Virginia,” which portrayed dozens of individuals who lost

their lives to fentanyl overdose, “nearly brought me to tears,” he said.

“These are individual people — sons and daughters and mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters,” Rand said. “It really just brought home to me why this is such an issue worth pushing for, because I never want to see in a headline that a JMU student has passed away from an overdose.”

ResQED will organize NaloxBox implementation, Forman said, with instruction cards on the boxes so anyone could use the Narcan in case of emergency. Optional training will also be offered to resident advisers (RAs). Forman said there will be QR codes on each NaloxBox for students to submit refill requests when the boxes are empty.

Ashley said the SGA reached out to her through her club’s adviser, which sparked her close involvement with the SGA in organizing the implementation of NaloxBoxes and the administration of Narcan training to interested students.

SGA demands increased sustainability education

By K. MAUSER The Breeze

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate passed a Bill of Opinion demanding general education classes implement sustainability practices as well as a request for reserve funds for SGA tabling materials during its special Tuesday meeting.

Bill of Opinion passed on sustainability education

A Bill of Opinion was unanimously passed to “demand the intentional inclusion” of sustainability practices within JMU’s general education classes.

Six SGA senators wrote the bill in conjunction with recently elected SGA President junior Brielle Lacroix, Vice President sophomore Abby Herbert and Senate Speaker sophomore Kieran Fensterwald, who presented the bill.

Lacroix said the bill’s writers visited over 35 general education classrooms to present on the importance of sustainability in an individual’s personal and professional life and added that JMU was “falling behind” regarding sustainability education compared to other universities.

“The Sustainability Bill of Opinion wants to work with faculty to provide support and resources to increase their ability to teach about these topics as well as empower a student voice,” Lacroix wrote in an Instagram post.

Reserve funds approved for SGA tabling materials

The SGA Senate unanimously passed an $830 reserve fund request for five of its banner displays. Lacroix, who wrote and presented the bill, hopes to place these signs outside any SGA-related event, including its weekly Senate meetings and election tabling.

She also said two of these banner displays will include general information about the SGA, one will highlight this year’s elected officials, one will have “JOIN SGA” written on it and the final will have “ELECTION DAY IS TODAY” written on it.

“Essentially, they’ll just be useful to help people associate SGA [with these events] by having a very visual, large sign that says, ‘this is student government, and this is what we’re doing,’” Lacroix said. “Both of these [designs] I’m keeping very generic so that we can use them for years and years … so it’s a very good investment.”

CONTACT K. Mauser at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

The SGA Senate passed two Bills of Opinion April 16 in an effort to prevent opioid overdoses. Photo courtesy of Ella Stotzky

2023-24 SGA Legislative Affairs Chair senior Marcus Rand (left), ResQED President senior Emma Ashley (middle) and 2023-24 SGA Vice President junior Faith Forman (right) pose with their passed bills and an opioid overdose kit. Photo courtesy of Ella Stotzky

SGA passed a Bill of Opinion demanding the inclusion of sustainability education in JMU courses. Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

from NARCAN BILLS, page 7

Proposed Narcan training

The Narcan training ResQED proposed, which started this semester, will consist of at least one training per semester open to all students, Ashley said. She added that ResQED will take requests from other clubs and organizations to hold additional training sessions.

Clubs and organizations are required to schedule training at least three weeks in advance so ResQED has enough time to obtain kits from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), as well as Narcan from the JMU Police Department (PD), Ashley said.

The ResQED training sessions have a maximum capacity of 30 participants, Ashley said. For larger clubs with more people, ResQED will have “back-to-back” training sessions. Each training will inform students about what addiction is, statistics, the laws that protect the “lay rescuer” and “how to recognize an overdose and administer the Narcan,” she said.

“At the end of the training, each participant gets a REVIVE! kit, which has two pairs of gloves in it, a CPR mask, an instruction card and a certification card with their name on it certifying them as a lay rescuer with REVIVE!,” Ashley said. “They also get a free dose of nasal Narcan.”

Former Vice President of JMU’s Nursing Student Association (NSA) senior Madeline Bochis was involved in partnering with ResQED to organize a training session for the NSA earlier this semester. She said the training was informative and “an overall great experience,” adding that a JMU police officer was in attendance. ResQED has worked with the JMU PD to obtain the Narcan.

Bochis learned about drugs in her classes at JMU, but said that she wasn’t taught how to administer Narcan. After attending the training session, she said she now knows how to properly administer it.

“We don’t always see [overdoses] until, unfortunately, it impacts our lives, our friends’ lives, but overdoses are, unfortunately, a super big thing, especially on college campuses,” Bochis said. “Definitely having [Narcan] available and having many people know about it is probably the most important thing to have. I definitely think it would benefit JMU in so many different ways and potentially save a lot of people.”

Current Narcan accessibility

Ashley said JMU PD has a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which serves as a document that gives an understanding of the intentions between both parties, with the VDH.

The MOU enables the campus police to acquire Narcan if there’s an intention of distributing the Narcan to the public for free. However, the VDH has made recent changes to the MOU requirements due to Narcan’s cost and the demand for free Narcan, Ashley said, and added that ResQED is looking into reduced-cost MOUs. She also said the University Health Center (UHC) is hoping to make Narcan available to all student visitors.

Ashley met with administrators who are planning to add more NaloxBoxes to every

One bill passed requires at least one executive officer in each on-campus Greek organization knows how to administer

campus building in addition to the ones planned for residence halls. Ashley elaborated that administrators wanted these boxes to have the same availability as fire extinguishers.

Placing a NaloxBox in every residence hall is estimated to cost around $12,000, she said, and it would cost significantly more to place a NaloxBox in every campus building.

Rand said the goal of the bill is to make Narcan more accessible to students. As of 2023, Narcan has been approved as an over-thecounter (OTC) drug with a cost of around $60 for a two-pack nasal spray, according to drugs.com.

“The big focus with this is trying to figure out how to get it into the hands of the students without saying, ‘Oh, just spend $60,’” Rand said. “It’s not feasible for college students.”

He added that while the number of students abusing opioid painkillers isn’t a prominent issue, the danger of opioid overdose lies in potent painkillers, such as fentanyl, being added to other drugs that are then unknowingly consumed by students. In 2022, 79% of overdose cases involved fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and tramadol, according to VDH.

Forman hopes the community can become more conscious of the opioid crisis and its impact by introducing students to Narcan.

“Just awareness and discussion about this topic helps better prepare people that might not even know this is happening,” Forman said.

Greek life and overdose prevention

The other Bill of Opinion passed at the SGA’s April 16 meeting asserts at least one executive officer in each on-campus Greek organization has an understanding of the opioid epidemic and knows how to administer Narcan.

“Greek life covers a whole part of the campus community,” Rand said. “We realized that it’s a great opportunity for Greek life to lead the campus and to establish a good framework for how student organizations can take on this Narcan training and be more proactive on the safety front.”

Both Forman and Rand are active participants of Greek life; Forman is an Alpha Delta Pi sorority member, and Rand is a Beta Theta Pi fraternity member.

Forman said in comparison to most other clubs, Greek organizations have a specific infrastructure for risk management. In most chapters, they said there’s a specific officer position that handles health and safety issues.

Forman and Rand hope the bills will promote student conversations regarding safety, especially the risks associated with using all drugs, not just opioids. They also encourage all students to sign up for the Narcan administration training provided by ResQED next semester to better protect themselves and others in the community.

“I hope this makes people feel safer,” Forman said. “I hope this helps prevent risks related to the opioid crisis and just makes students feel more prepared that if that were to happen on campus or in the community, they know how to handle it.”

CONTACT Joelle McKenzie at mckenzjl@ dukes.jmu.edu and Sixuan Wu at thebreezeculture@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

Forman said QR codes will be on each NaloxBox for students to submit refill requests when the boxes are empty. Photos courtesy of Ella Stotzky

Narcan.

CULTURE

EDITORS EMAIL

Abby Camp & Evan Moody

Recipe for a renaissance: Theater returns to The Little Grill

By EVAN MOODY

The Breeze

Astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan once said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.” While this can be said for all of history, it can also be said about The Little Grill and their production of a play set in the future.

Located at the edge of downtown Harrisonburg, The Little Grill is a quaint, community-based breakfast and lunch spot that’s hosted its patrons since the ’40s. For the past week, its historic walls have been the artistic confinements of “Private,” a one-act play by Mona Pirnot that opened April 25 and runs through Saturday.

In “Private,” a husband is offered a dream job with the cost of giving up personal privacy.

The production marks theater’s return to The Little Grill. Director of “Private” and owner of the restaurant Ron Copeland (’90) reminisced

on a time in the ’80s and ’90s when acting was a regularly served special.

“The arts in general, and theater in particular, were intrinsic to Grill culture,” Copeland said in a press release to The Breeze. “Many plays were performed at the Grill during that era.”

Copeland’s first memory of The Little Grill was attending a production of the comedy drama “Maria and Bruce” in 1986. Since then, the owner has tasted an array of theater roles, going on to direct and act in multiple productions at the restaurant, such as “Waiting for Godot.”

Copeland and his wife, Rose, owned the spot from 1992-2003 before it turned into a workerowned cooperative. Following a temporary closure of the restaurant in 2022, the Copelands bought back the restaurant and reopened after renovating with help from JMU GIVE, an environmental-based club at JMU.

see LITTLE GRILL , page 11

JMU senior finds purpose despite COVID-19

By KAILYN HARDY

The Breeze

A typical Monday for Sarah Blais, senior health sciences major and Virginia Beach native, begins with attending her classes, heading to work at the on-campus Panera and volunteering through Empowerment3, a student-led organization. Then, she finishes her night by returning to Panera, picking up the leftover pastries and bread, and delivering them to the emergency department at Sentara Hospital with her boyfriend.

Blais’ mom began delivering meals and snack boxes to local hospitals during the COVID19 pandemic, something Blais has brought to the Harrisonburg community through her on-campus job.

“This past Monday, we took six full boxes of food for the hospital staff to enjoy,” Blais said. “I guess Mondays are my days of service in a way.”

Giving back to the community is a big part of Blais’ life and, by delivering these meals, she’s found a way to give back through each aspect of her academic and professional career. Blais has worked at Panera for three years, and it’s been a large part of her JMU experience following her freshman year during the pandemic.

“I feel like everything I do is pretty interrelated,” Blais said. “I have even found ways to connect to my field of work at Panera through volunteering.”

Blais’ senior year of high school halted due to the pandemic in March 2020. This experience carried over to her time at JMU, and she was heavily affected academically and mentally.

“I was excited to come to JMU, but I knew it would be very hard coming out of the social distancing and everything being virtual,” Blais said.

After moving to Harrisonburg, Blais spent two weeks on campus and returned home. At the time, Blais wasn’t happy with her biology major, and all her classes took place on Zoom with no students having their cameras on.

“I felt super disconnected,” Blais said.

Blais said, even through this difficult time, “giving up” wasn’t something that occurred to her. She still wanted to see what campus life was like. In spring 2021, Blais was hoping for in-person classes.

“I literally had one in-person class and it was once a week in person and once a week online,” Blais said. “It was so sad.”

Attending online classes created hurdles of its own. Blais and her roommate often had classes scheduled at the same time, and Blais would have to sit in their common area to work. Usually, she would find herself on the fifth floor of Rose Library, searching for a quiet space.

“It was very isolating, but it was what I had to do; it was not fun,” Blais said.

This isolation made meeting peers and other students difficult, something Blais feels has followed her through her time at JMU. She met other Dukes through pre-existing high school friendships, but not through her college endeavors as a result of the pandemic.

“I think a lot of my lack of social interaction came from being fearful of getting COVID,” Blais said.

When Blais’ sophomore year came around, she jumped at each opportunity that came her way. She began working at Panera and volunteering with Empowerment3, which offers physical and social activities for people with disabilities.

Through these outlets, Blais met some of her closest friends, including junior Mina Hakimpour, a double major in communications and media arts and design (SMAD), as well as Blais’ boyfriend, senior Diego Alejandro Crespo, also a SMAD major. Hakimpour and Crespo both describe Blais as a strong and uplifting person.

Hakimpour and Blais met through their jobs at Panera, and Hakimpour now serves as her student manager. She describes Blais as someone who’s always “the first to serve and help.”

“She is really, really giving, even if it means giving up her free time to help out her friends or coworkers,” Hakimpour said.

Hakimpour said seeing Blais grow through the years has been rewarding, not just as an employee, but as a person. She describes their connection as meaningful and Blais as a shoulder to lean on.

“I got to see her grow overall as a person, become more confident, stronger and more sure of herself,” Hakimpour said.

Blais is also an advocate for using general education requirements to find your place and abilities at JMU. She began her time as a Duke with a declared biology major, which she then realized wasn’t for her. Blais explained she’s passionate about speaking out about switching majors.

“I wanted health, something within sciences, and that’s why after my freshman year, I switched to the health sciences major,” Blais said.

Through this transition, Blais realized she was interested in public health, eventually picking up a minor in chronic illnesses. Blais aspires to work hands-on with those affected by chronic illnesses. In August, Blais will begin an accelerated nursing program where she will complete a Bachelor of Science in nursing in 15 months.

Crespo said he knows excellent things are in Blais’ future, and he feels she never gives up. He added that although Blais’ postgraduate goals have changed over the years, she continues to pioneer forward.

“She has the spirit of never giving up and fighting against circumstances,” Crespo said. Crespo describes Blais as someone who will “thrive” in the future and said everyone needs someone who truly cares about others, like Blais. Blais said Harrisonburg is a “cute, small town” she’s enjoyed exploring. She wants her fellow Dukes to know there’s a great community on the outskirts of JMU. She has developed relationships with local restaurant employees and others in the community, which she describes as “cool” as that may not be possible in larger college towns.

“As much as COVID negatively impacted the academic side of things, I am grateful for every opportunity at JMU, especially being in Harrisonburg,” Blais said.

CONTACT Kailyn Hardy at hardy3ka@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

Harrisonburg restaurant, The Little Grill, hosts new one-act play, “Private.” Photos by Rowan Potts / The Breeze

JMU senior Sarah Blais provides service for the community by delivering food to local hospitals. Courtesy of Sarah Blais

from LITTLE GRILL, page 10

Copeland described the magic of The Little Grill’s former nightlife, mentioning memories of poetry readings and live music. One of the reasons the couple retook the helm of the restaurant was to bring theater back to its side of North Main Street, Copeland said.

“I made a promise to myself to get a play going within the first year we purchased the restaurant,” Copeland said. “We started May 21, 2023, and this play [went] up April 25.”

“Private” was introduced to Copeland by Patrick Dooley, a former Grill employee who helped Copeland obtain a job from the restaurant while Copeland was studying at JMU.

Dooley, founder and artistic director of Shotgun Players in Berkeley, California (and who’s the namesake of a Grill dish), told Copeland about the production to which he found “perfect.”

With the play’s modern relevance, small cast size and smart dialogue, Copeland felt the script was ideal for theater’s return to the restaurant.

“This is the beginning of an artistic space, an expression of the space as a theater space, hopefully for years to come,” Copeland said.

In collaboration with Copeland’s direction is Rhys McClelland, a producer and “Godsend” for Copeland, he said. After gaining extensive professional experience in the theater field in New York City, McClelland returned to Shenandoah Valley for retirement and now plays a hand in productions across town.

McClelland said the “Private” production taps into a variety of issues and anxieties across generations, with the common conduit being technology. He relates this theme to the love customers have found in The Little Grill, no matter the generation.

For McClelland, the return of theater to The Little Grill marks the following of the artform’s original recipe.

“As soon as you hear the word, ‘theater,’ there are so many associations with that, like red curtains,” McClelland said. “The atmosphere of The Little Grill and places like it are sort of a vital return to that idea of sitting at the fireside in a holy kind of environment and seeing stories come to life.”

Both Copeland and McClelland touched on the intimacy of performing in The Little Grill, which typically holds around 50 patrons. At rehearsal, actors experimented with stage setup and made sure their positions weren’t too close to the audience.

Cooking up artistically in such a space requires the performers to be adaptive, McClelland said. In a theater where one is playing “three-dimensional chess,” being three feet away from audience members requires adventurousness, he said.

Actor MaryBeth Killian loves frequenting The Little Grill, and she’s excited to be a part of “Grill history.” She first auditioned for the production and landed the lead role of Georgia after initially trying for the part of Abby, a smaller role.

Killian works as the theater management associate for JMU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Bridgewater College alumna tried out an improvisation class during undergrad which “changed her life” and inspired her to pursue theater.

Killian said the Georgia part is her first lead and antagonistic role. While working with Copeland, she said rehearsals consist of trying out a scene in a variety of ways. At rehearsal, Killian and her co-lead, Noah Miller, who plays the role of Corbin, practiced an argument with varying levels of cadence and eye contact.

When auditioning, the “undertone message” of the script — why people stay together in relationships — related to Killian, she said.

“I just really loved that idea and that question that, ultimately, I think it’s left up to the audience to decide,” Killian said. “I just love that openness, and I think it’s the kind of show that will leave people with questions.”

Copeland expects a “buzz” from attendees following the show and said audience members will be surprised by the intimacy and intrigued by what productions are to come.

Supplementing the show’s impact, Copeland and McClelland hope the production will have a renaissance effect on cultivating arts in the area. While Harrisonburg excels in its music scene, McClelland said, in-house theater is the next medium to bring to the table.

“There’s this larger kind of mission, the role of planting an artistic flag in the ground and saying, ‘This is something that happens here,’” McClelland said. “Watch this space, because that will be a sort of declaration of artistic intent.”

Final showings of “Private” will be performed from Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. The May 3 show will also have an extra late night show at 10 p.m. “Private” is intended for mature audiences

CONTACT Evan Moody at thebreezeculture@ gmail.com.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

At rehearsal, MaryBeth Killian and her co-lead, Noah Miller, practiced an argument with varying levels of cadence and eye contact.

With the play’s modern relevance and small cast size, director Ron Copeland felt the script was ideal for theater’s return to the restaurant.

JMU leaders expand opportunities for RCPS students: ‘These kids deserve it’

By LIBBY ADDISON The Breeze

While surrounded by her new office’s blank walls, a grin stretched across Donica Hadley’s face. For her, they’re more than walls. They’re new beginnings — not just for Hadley, but for JMU.

Last March, Hadley was named the Lab School for Innovation and Career Exploration’s first executive director. The new school partnered with Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) and Rockingham County Public Schools (RCPS) to reach students from beyond JMU’s campus.

The lab will allow teachers and students “to break away from the traditional way we think about education and classrooms, specifically at the high school level.” Hadley said this will allow them to combine “amazing” talents and resources across the Harrisonburg and Rockingham communities.

High school students in this program will receive education from both JMU and BRCC, and Hadley will spearhead the process.

When she caught wind of the lab program, Hadley was especially excited for JMU to partner with RCPS as she’d previously spent around five years as an assistant principal at Plains Elementary in Timberville, just outside of Rockingham County. Her three sons, Logan, Brayden and Jack, are currently enrolled in RCPS, which made accepting the new position second nature.

“It was just like, ‘aahhh,’” Hadley said. “I might be a part of this! So I threw my name in the hat, and it just worked out.”

Road to education

Hadley is originally from Long Island, New York, and since she was a first grader, she’s dreamt of being a teacher.

As a young Black child, Hadley said she had several experiences involving inequality in the classroom, which she “didn’t quite understand” at the time. She added that these incidents shaped how she views the educational world now, as well as the ways she aims to improve upon it.

However, this didn’t dissuade her from her dreams: Hadley is decorated with achievements ranging from Sallie Mae First Teacher of the Year award at Wilderness Elementary School in Spotsylvania County, to Outstanding Dissertation from Darden College of Education and Professional Studies.

Hadley has devoted over 24 years to education in a journey she described as anything but linear. She’s been a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, practicum supervisor and is currently assistant professor at JMU for early elementary and reading education.

“Our students come from so many different backgrounds and stories,” she said. “But these kids deserve it.”

As executive director, Hadley’s focus for the school is all about benefiting the children. She wants to build trust and relationships between teachers and students, encouraging open communication across the communities involved.

Hadley’s impact

John Almarode, a JMU professor in the College of Education, he can’t think of a better person for the job than Hadley.

“As an educator, as a parent, as a community member, she brings every perspective possible to the table,” Almarode said. “She also has awareness of the ever-changing landscape of education.”

Almarode added that Hadley’s focus and drive for teaching and learning is “unwavering” and that she values each student, not as “a test score, or textbook or just another name on the roster,” but as a “human being with assets.”

Junior Kaylin Waldron sat studying in Memorial Hall with her school of education peers, all excitedly talking about their professor.

“She was the first person that made me excited about being an elementary education major. She just taught the class like it was a story

… and she loves kids books, which I do as well,” Waldron said, smiling.

The new lab program is currently undergoing test runs at East Rockingham High School and Broadway High School. The only application requirement for RCPS students is an address within Rockingham County.

“Education’s supposed to be the great equalizer. And, you know, there’s a lot of data and history that has shown that’s not necessarily always been the case. But if we do well and do it right, it really should be,” Hadley said, ready to hit the ground running.

CONTACT Libby Addison at breezenews@ gmail.com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

Inaugural Executive Director of the Lab School for Innovation and Career Exploration

Donica Hadley explained the program will offer educational opportunities to students of all ages. Libby Addison / The Breeze

SPORTS

EDITORS Hayden Hundley & Preston Comer

Bourne bids goodbye after 25 years as AD

By PRESTON COMER

The Breeze

When Jeff Bourne and his wife, Mary Lou, first saw the AD position opening at JMU in 1999, Bourne said they both thought, “Throw your name in the hat, but you’re probably not going to get it.”

Now looking back on the quarter-century he has spent as JMU’s AD, Bourne said, “God had a different plan.”

Growing up in Salem, Virginia, Bourne lived with his family on a cattle farm. Early on in life, he had aspirations of becoming a veterinarian. This dream was shot down after Bourne met the Dean of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

The dean told Bourne that he would be better off as a physician due to the academic competition of the veterinary school. Bourne remembers being told, “You’re a good student, but I’d take a different angle.”

He decided to move to a smaller college right down the road from JMU: Bridgewater College.

“Bridgewater was a good fit for me,” Bourne said. “[It’s] a very small school, which I enjoyed, and it reminded me a lot of the people that I’d grown up with.”

At Bridgewater, Bourne declared an accounting and finance major instead of going into the medical field, and he graduated in 1981 with the degree.

As a student, Bourne met current JMU Athletics Director of Operations Curt Dudley, who was a student and sports information director (SID) at Bridgewater. Dudley got to know Bourne while he was a tennis player for Bridgewater.

Following graduation, Bourne found himself in “the business world,” where he became an auditor and consultant for Virginia Tech Athletics in 1986.

Just two years later, Virginia Tech hired David Braine to be its next AD. Braine promoted Bourne to be his assistant, but Bourne was hesitant it was the right career path for him.

“Look, I don’t know if this field is going to be for me, but I’ll give it a shot,” Bourne said to Braine.

Bourne spent 11 years at Virginia Tech and was even a part-time student while he worked there. In 1994, he earned his master’s in education and sports management.

In the same year Bourne earned his degree from Virginia Tech, he also graduated from the Sports Management Institute Executive Program from the University of North Carolina and the University of Southern California.

As Braine’s assistant, Bourne did “anything [Braine] didn’t want to do.” In this position, Bourne said he got to know “a lot about the [athletics] department.”

“I was in on all the coaching hires and all the staff hires,” Bourne said. “I really was an administrative person for him, I had a lot of responsibility.”

Bourne’s “little jobs” included chauffeuring the university president to events, which he “learned a lot” from, and fundraising.

After spending five or six years under Braine, Bourne told him, “I need to be a fundraiser.”

Braine initially shot down the idea and told Bourne, “That won’t be important.” But after six months of pushing, Bourne finally convinced Braine to give him fundraising responsibilities.

Bourne said that working with and learning from the fundraising arm helped him “fill out his background,” so when jobs like JMU came along, he would be in a stronger position to be an applicant.

In 1997, Braine became Georgia Tech’s AD, and Bourne followed him there. During their time working together, Bourne had his experience with the business side but saw Braine as a mentor who helped to teach him the athletics side.

After two years under Braine at Georgia Tech, Bourne put his name in the hat for the AD opening at JMU after Don Lemish (1993-1999) resigned.

Bourne and Mary Lou met while both attending Bridgewater. Mary Lou had grown up in Harrisonburg and, while she didn’t mind the idea of going back, it wasn’t always the plan.

Bourne was worried his wife wouldn’t want to stay in Virginia. Regardless, the Bournes looked into the position at JMU, and “realized what a good job it was.”

Great university leadership drew Bourne’s attention to JMU, he said. Both Bourne and his wife had doubts about getting the job but knew it could open the door to other AD opportunities if it didn’t pan out.

Mary Lou told her husband he would just “need to get through an interview” if he wanted those other opportunities. Despite their initial doubts, Bourne was hired as JMU’s AD in 1999. At 40 years old, Bourne considered himself a “young administrator.”

Bourne said that university President Linwood Rose (19982012) and then Vice President for Administration and Finance Charlie King (1996-2021) took a real chance on him.

At Bourne’s opening press conference, he and his wife had a “comical” reunion with Dudley, since they hadn’t seen each other since being at Bridgwater and didn’t know Dudley was working at JMU.

Dudley had been working at JMU as an SID since 1988, and the Bournes had no idea he was still working at the school.

“I had been following [Bourne] in his time at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech before he was named as a prospect,” Dudley said. “In a time with no social media, you weren’t able to easily keep up with what people were doing.”

Being the athletics department head wasn’t an easy adjustment for Bourne, and he described the first decade of the job as very challenging.

“It was a tough transition because I was coming from a number two to a number one position, and [I was] in a department with a lot of responsibility,” Bourne said. “Georgia Tech operated in a different way than JMU did, and you had to learn the relationships and expectations.”

Despite all of his accomplishments during his 25-year tenure, Bourne never expected to spend the remainder of his career at JMU.

“I came in here like a lot of employees did,” Bourne said. “Stay here three, four years, make some nice improvements and end up somewhere else in athletics, thinking I’d probably be at maybe four schools before it’s all said and done.”

On Sept. 15, Jeff Bourne announced his retirement during the regular Board of Visitors meeting after spending 25 years as JMU’s athletic director. Breeze file photo

Through his early struggles at JMU, Bourne learned from “trial and error.”

Bourne confronted many challenges outside the office, such as separating his personal and professional life.

“It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” Bourne said about being an AD. “You never get away from it. You find it at the grocery store, the gas station and your church. Wherever you go, people want to know about JMU Athletics. You are the face of that organization, so it’s a lifestyle that you breathe and you sleep.”

Bourne didn’t have a lot of “easy decisions” as an AD. After JMU football won the first national championship of Bourne’s tenure, he had to cut 10 of JMU’s teams to comply with Title IX due to JMU athletics being deemed too large for a public university. The decision, which Bourne said was the most “brutal” he had to make, affected 144 athletes and 11 coaches.

Even after cutting those teams, Bourne continued the growth of the rest of JMU Athletics to a point he “never imagined.” The two biggest sports for JMU, basketball and football, have grown exponentially in Bourne’s career.

The growth of both programs began with renovations. During his career, Bourne put over $250 million into renovations for athletic facilities. This includes the Bridgeforth Stadium expansion in 2011 and the construction of the Atlantic Union Bank Center in 2020.

Under Bourne, the football team has won two National Championships, men’s basketball has made it to the NCAA Tournament twice and the women’s team has made it to the NCAA Tournament seven times.

By 2022 and after its National Championships (2004, 2016) and two College GameDay visits, JMU football was moved to FBS football in the Sun Belt Conference.

Bourne’s last year at JMU is something Dudley called “tremendous.” In his last year as JMU’s AD, Bourne oversaw JMU football’s first-ever bowl game, another GameDay visit and men’s basketball winning the Sun Belt Championship, beating No. 5 Wisconsin in March Madness.

“You never imagine in your wildest dreams that you’re going to be able to do all of this at one time,” Bourne said.

Yet, success in his last year didn’t come without more twists and turns. Bourne said he was close with both former head football coach Curt Cignetti and former head basketball coach Mark

Byington, and said he had an “inkling” they might leave if they had successful years.

Even with his retirement looming, Bourne had to hire two new head coaches after Cignetti left for Indiana and Byington left for Vanderbilt.

Bourne said “it wasn’t ideal” for JMU to lose two coaches with a departing AD, but he saw this situation as an indicator of JMU’s prestige.

“[Hiring new coaches] is not something an athletic director wants to do every three or four years,” Bourne said. “But for us, I think it’s a signal that our program has arrived. When your coaches are hired away by Indiana and Vanderbilt, it tells you how good your program is.”

Bourne said the current status of JMU Athletics is “overpowering” compared to when he first started, and compared its athletics to a rug that’s been “woven together over time.”

Bourne acknowledged that to have the success he did, he had to turn down other opportunities.

“I turned away and backed away from some really good jobs,” Bourne said. “And the difference between this job and those jobs is the money. You can go make a lot more money. But you have to decide at the end of the day, is a lot more money really what you want to chase in your life?”

At JMU football’s annual spring game, Bourne was given a plaque and named an honorary JMU alumnus.

Bourne officially wrapped up his 25-year journey at JMU after an introductory press conference for incoming AD Matt Roan on Tuesday.

Bourne said that Roan has the elements to make a program succesful, even with limited resources. Bourne had a career decorated with accomplishments and renovations, as well as “hard decisions.”

“It’s been a phenomenal run here, I could not have asked for more,” Bourne said. “I have a wonderful family that supported me over the years, and now I’m going to turn around and support them.”

CONTACT Preston Comer at breezesports@gmail.com. For more sports coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.

Bourne spoke at the introductory press conference for new JMU Athletic Director Matt Roan, and said JMU will have a “great leader” in Roan. Preston Comer / The Breeze

In his career, Bourne spent over $250 million in renovations and constructions of athletic facilities. Breeze file photo

JMU lacrosse standout Katelyn Morgan named valedictorian for class of 2024

By MAEGHAN STOCKLI contributing writer

Unlike most student-athletes, the hardest part of adjusting to the collegiate lacrosse level for first Team All-AAC senior attacker Katelyn Morgan wasn’t the academics; it was knowing that she would have to put much more time and dedication into the sport.

“The academics weren’t necessarily the big adjustment,” Morgan said. “It was more so trying to balance and find good time management with school and having so much more time and energy put into lacrosse.”

Morgan has always made it clear that she’s a student before an athlete. However, she’s excelled in both departments. Not only does she lead No. 18 JMU in assists this season (30), but the psychology major has been on

the president’s list all four years and was just named valedictorian for the class of 2024 with a 4.0 GPA.

“My family has been a big motivator for me … as a family, we’ve always valued school a lot,” Morgan said.

Growing up, Morgan always showed that she cared most about her academics. She first picked up the lacrosse stick in fourth grade, following her brother. When she fell in love with the game and entered middle school, she decided she wanted to play in college.

To many around her, she’s shown that school isn’t something she takes lightly or does only what’s asked of her. When asked about Morgan, her academic adviser Sydney Socha said, “I love watching her success as a student and an athlete, she goes above and beyond as a student and is still successful on the field.”

Morgan said that there’s one professor who helped guide her journey at JMU: psychology professor Krisztina Jakobsen. She added the two have formed a relationship of respect over the past several semesters.

“Katelyn is generally quiet, but when she talks about something she genuinely cares about, her passion and dedication are evident,” said Jakobsen. When it comes to balancing her schedule for spring practices and classes, Morgan said she’s found what works for her and what doesn’t to balance her academic success with her lifestyle. She emphasizes planning out her weeks; and making sure she gets her work done early is the biggest priority. She said she makes sure that she’s putting the same effort into her work as she does for lacrosse.

In terms of lacrosse, Morgan has moved to 14th in points in JMU history with 183 and fifth in assists with 101. Morgan said she prizes the teamwork aspect of the game, which shows with her assist total and willingness to help her offense from behind the goal.

“We’re not just machines, we’re people who care deeply to make those personal connections.”

Katelyn Morgan

Senior All-AAC Attacker

“There are 32 girls on the team and they are my best friends,” Morgan said.

Behind every athlete is a person. That’s something that Morgan has found JMU makes very well known to their athletes. She said JMU’s employees and program truly care about her and her well-being. Especially as someone who puts forth so much effort in everything she does, Morgan said it’s important to make sure she sets aside time for herself.

“That’s really important … we’re not just machines, we’re people who care deeply to make those personal connections,” Morgan said.

For lacrosse, she hopes to have success with her team for the rest of the regular season, with the goal of continuing her career in the off-season. As for after graduation, Morgan hopes to obtain an internship at a law firm to gain experience in preparation for law school.

CONTACT Maeghan Stockli at stocklma@dukes.jmu.edu. For more lacrosse coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.

OPINION

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 “for-100-please” pat to my professor for turning our exam review into a game of jeopardy.

From someone who always answers in the form of a question.

A “farewell” dart to the opinion and culture editors for leaving too soon.

From a sad editor-in-chief.

A “put-that-mask-on-a little-tighter” dart to the protester who screamed at me for taking photos of a public event.

From a student journalist who understands media law.

It’s time to pop the

A “Wahoo” pat to U.Va. for accepting me as a transfer student.

From someone who loves JMU but wants to leave the 'Burg.

question: Should JMU serve Coke or Pepsi?

EMMA CURRIE | contributing columnist

The Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi product dispute dates all the way back in the 1800s. While each brand has embedded its products into the American lifestyle, they each have a distinct taste from one another and die-hard fan bases.

JMU has a contract with Pepsi that gives them the exclusive rights to the distribution, promotion, selling and sampling of all beverage products on campus.

Student life has been in search of a proper energy boost since 2014, when JMU made the official switch from Coca-Cola products to PepsiCo products. Even a decade after the initial switch was made, students still wish to switch back to Coca-Cola products in hopes to help JMU be the school it once was.

One mere decade ago, JMU had a contract with Coca-Cola. Over the summer of 2014, JMU signed a 10-year contract with PepsiCo. At the time, the JMU Board of Visitors (BoV) gathered to discuss financial matters. It was said that the switch to PepsiCo products would bring in an estimated $6.6 million in revenue. With this being said, Coca-Cola’s growth rate decreased in 2020 due to the brand refranchising.

From the beginning, Coca-Cola products have been consumed in copious amounts. Today, it's consumed around 1.7 billion times a day. The popular soda fountain drink would continuously rank first on charts nationwide, including at JMU. According to a Breeze Instagram poll, 76% (162 respondents) of students preferred CocaCola while 24% (51 respondents) would allow Pepsi to win JMU.

After long sunny days on the Quad with friends or after hiking up snowy stairs, students search for something to satisfy a sweet craving.

Editorial Policies

Unfortunately, Pepsi products at dining locations all across campus fail to do the trick. When freshman Katherine D’Angelo was interviewed and asked if Coca-Cola products were preferred over PepsiCo products, she let out an immediate, “yes!”

D'Angelo said she felt Coca-Cola products were less sweet and artificial-tasting than PepsiCo products. When questioned about whether or not JMU should switch back to CocaCola products, she said, “100%, I have grown up drinking Coca-Cola products, it’s what I’m used to. Everytime my grandma would pick me up from school, she’d have a diet coke for me in the car.”

Other than the taste preference, D'Angelo said she believes Coke products look more aesthetically pleasing than PepsiCo products.

Currently there are more than a dozen major restaurant chains that serve Pepsi; however, Coca-Cola comes out as the undisputed winner overall. In 2020 only 42% of the population preferred the product over Coke according to YouGov poll data.

With this being said, it feels likely that once incoming students hear about this missing piece on campus, they’ll commit to another school.

According to the same Instagram Breeze poll, 52% (106 respondents) of students believe that JMU application rates would increase if the school had Coke products. If JMU could attract more students and applicants, there’s a possibility of enhancing our chances of winning more school sponsored sports events.

To go along with this, 58% (121 respondents) of students even agreed that JMU would have won March Madness if campus offered

Coca-Cola products.

In line with the increasing number of applicants, JMU has been ranked as the 64th best public institution in 2023 by the U.S. News & World Report Best College Rankings. Although 64th place is great, we still have yet to reach the top 50. Since JMU advertises, “being the change,” on their official website, we must all collectively agree that something needs to change to help JMU be in the top 50 best universities nationally.

One way JMU could make this change is by reverting to its old ways — switching back to serving Coca-Cola products instead of PepsiCo products. When poll respondents were asked if they wished JMU Dining would switch to Coke products, 74% (161 respondents) voted yes while 26% (57 respondents) voted no.

The transition back to Coca-Cola products would expand options that are offered to people on JMU’s campus. Coca-Cola aims to provide something for all consumers. The brand offers products such as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola with coffee and more. They offer around 3500 different beverages catering to different preferences and tastes of consumers. While Coca-Cola products are favored by most, PepsiCo does offer similar beverages that appeal to consumers. These products include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, as well as other well-known beverages such as Mountain Dew and Dr. Pepper. There are

LillyAnne Day

Graphics by Ella Austin / The Breeze

a variety of products offered by each brand, however Coca-Cola still seems to be preferred according to students.

Students agree with this switch. When poll respondents were asked if they believed serving Coke products would help make JMU a better school, 61% (126 respondents) voted yes while 39% (80 respondents) voted no. For the last decade, Dukes have eaten their dinners with a glass of Pepsi. Hopefully, within the next 10

years, JMU Dining will realize that a glass of icecold Coca-Cola goes better alongside Cheesy Thursdays and Peanut Butter Pie Wednesdays than a Pepsi

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

Supply of advisers doesn’t meet demand

As a student goes through their higher education journey, they must plan out their courses to get the most out of their classes and learn about what their program has to offer. This is especially true for first-generation college students, as well as those with constantly changing courses and requirements.

JMU’s website defines an academic adviser as a student resource that helps with planning classes, explaining the program, providing other resources and guiding students’ scholastic choices that lead them to their desired career goals. Students often have difficulty finding timely help, which supports the idea that there should be more advisers for each program. According to JMU’s facts and figures page, the student-to-faculty ratio is 17:1. The amount of students an adviser would have to take on would put too much on their plate. The addition of a couple more advisers in each college would spread the amount of students out evenly to provide the best support.

The National Library of Medicine says faculty and student connections are crucial for students' professional growth and for their overall college experience. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their academic careers and goals, while an adviser facilitates and guides the process. Advising is a negotiation between program and career with the student’s needs.

A good academic adviser is essential to a student’s success in making informed decisions about their career, so having an ample amount of advisers could make it easier for professors to avoid being stretched thin.

According to The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, there have been students with advisers who either aren’t updated on their program’s information or aren't attentive and

don’t answer emails or prioritize appointments. The center also mentions the lack of advisers in certain programs, leading to advisers themselves becoming overwhelmed. Students who don’t have a responsive adviser tend to lose motivation and struggle to find direction when choosing their courses.

Here at JMU, each student is usually assigned one adviser per each of their programs, but considering the ratio of students to faculty, there should be more advisers for each program, whether there are more professors or a separate advising position. When an adviser isn’t available, reaching out to Madison Advising Peers (MAP) or visiting the Career Center are good alternatives; however, someone with intimate knowledge of the student’s program would be best suited to guide.

England’s Sheffield Hallam University in performed a study in 2015 on academic advisers’ impacts on students in higher education. In this study, students expressed that their academic advisers helped guide them in their educational journey and provided them with information about experiences and opportunities that would aid them in their career path and personal growth. According to the study, the students valued this advising relationship, as it helped them manage the university environment and assisted them academically.

Read more at www.breezejmu.org

CONTACT Maya Winder is a senior, writing, rhetoric and technical communication major. Contact Maya at windermm@dukes. jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and X @ Breeze_Opinion.

MAYA WINDER The Breeze

Class sizes are becoming too big, meaning professors aren’t available to respond to all emails. Breeze file photo illustration

Lights camera fashion

Top Stories

JMU’s Young Democratic Socialists of America organize protest on campus for ceasefire in Gaza

President Alger’s 12-year legacy: a journey through memories with family and colleagues

Carrier Library under renovation: What’s happening behind the hammer, and how students are coping without a library on main campus

Weekend weather forecast

CONTACT Landon Shackelford at breezephotography@gmail.com. For more multimedia content, visit breezejmu.org/ multimedia. For more photos of the VDR Fashion Show, view the full gallery online at breezejmu.org/multimedia.

in to Breeze TV LIVE from the Alison B. Parker Studio every Friday at 3:30 p.m. Scan the QR code to view our YouTube livestream.

The Vêtement De Rue (VDR) fashion show was held Friday at Wilson Hall. The show featured JMU student-models with designs by students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Photos by Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

by Patti Varol

By Harry Doernberg

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.

SERVICE

Integrative Health Coaching

Want to get your health on-track? We’ll help you develop lifestyle practices to reach your health goals. At Align, we look at health through a holistic lens, honoring each individual’s needs and intuition. A solid foundation sets you up for success. Free consults at alignintegrativehealth.com

Activities

Beer-Wine-Cider Tours by Adventures-NTravel. Let us arrange a Spring outing and visit local Vineyards, breweries and cider venues. Small groups call or text today 540-810-1196 or email mikepackett@aol.com

Real World Money: What no one ever taught me––online webinar

Register and join financial consultants with Everence for a live, interactive online session and tap into some unexplored financial wisdom on everyday living, saving, investing and even how to think about retirement preparation. Explore ways to grow your financial health. Register online or visit everence.com/virginia.

Activities

TRANSPORTATION to local airports or any destination for individuals or small groups. Contact Adventures-N-Travel a locally owned business. Call or text 540-810-1196 or email mikepackett@aol.com

Stop the Damage.The Reserve @ Stone Port

Protest The Reserve @ Stone Port. Damaging Neighbors’ Farm via DETENTION POND DISCHARGE. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO, “ STOP THE DAMAGE” PHOTOS. PLS. CALL / TXT/ E-MAIL WOLF. 757 645-6868

TRADETALKS@AOL.COM

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

Graduation or Getaway

looking for a getaway have a timeshare to rent out for a week getaway at massanutten on the sumit please contact me at (443)603-6373.

STUDENT JOBS

Graphic Designer Wanted

The Breeze, JMU’s award-winning student media organization, seeks a student graphic designer for print and online advertising. Job requirements include creating ads fro clients, collaboration with Advertising coordinator, page layout and design. Must be deadline oriented. Knowledge of Adobe software and previous design experience. EOE. Apply at jobs.jmu.edu JOBS