The Breeze 8.24.23

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The Breeze, the student-run newspaper of James Madison University, serves student, faculty and staff readership by reporting news involving the campus and local community. The Breeze strives to be impartial and fair in its reporting and firmly believes in First Amendment rights. Published on Thursday mornings, The Breeze is distributed throughout James Madison University and the local Harrisonburg community. Single copies of The Breeze are distributed free of charge. Additional copies are available for 50 cents by contacting our business office. Comments and complaints should be addressed to Grant Johnson, editor.

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Temporary triples Almost 60 first-year Dukes are settling into an uncharted situation in select Skyline residence halls

By ELLE HART The Breeze

Nearly 60 students are temporarily being placed in triple rooms on East Campus, as JMU balances housing its ever-growing student body with one less available residence hall.

JMU spokesperson Ginny Cramer said in an email to The Breeze on Aug. 16 that while the number of temporary triples is still changing, there are 58 “as of right now.” When space becomes available as students leave the university, Cramer said, the third student in a temporary triple will move into the available space.

JMU’s temporary triples student housing information webpage emphasized the goal of “detripling,” or reverting a temporary triple back to a double, in which one student would move out. According to the page, students in a temporary triple would decide among themselves who moves out in the event of a detripling, with help from a resident advisor (RA) or hall director if needed. A student can’t be “voted out” or forced to accept a reassignment offer, the webpage says.

The temporary triples are in the Skyline area’s Chesapeake and Chandler halls, as The Breeze reported in July. Cramer said they’re “roughly split” between the two residence halls.

There are also 34 permanent triples — larger rooms that are triples every year, Cramer said — split between Chandler, Chesapeake, Gifford, Hillside, Wampler and Wayland halls.

Lisa Lee, the parent of a freshman, said her daughter was supposed to pick a room on July 21, the last day of housing selection. However, on that day, her daughter, Kyla

Lee, received an email informing her all available rooms had been taken. On July 24, Kyla received a temporary triple room assignment, and on July 28, she received her room assignment in Chandler Hall and information on her two roommates via email.

Kyla is “trying to take it in stride,” Lisa said. Her two roommates had chosen their room in Chandler together, so Lisa said she had some concerns about her daughter getting pushed into the room with them.

“She’s getting thrown in a situation where now she’s kind of the third wheel,” said Lisa,

who added that she worries about Kyla having to move again if JMU is able to detriple her room.

In an interview with The Breeze, Vice President for Student Affairs Tim Miller said the university would “continue to provide support” for students who may have been blindsided by the university’s introduction of temporary triples. Lisa said the Office of Residence Life (ORL) has been communicative; it sent her photos of what the triple room would look like, as well as responded to an email in which she detailed her concerns.

Despite the addition of some triple rooms to Skyline residence halls and the demolition and renovation of Ikenberry Hall in the Village, Miller said there was no “measurable amount” of difference in the number of students moving in.

“We were a little over 4,900,” Miller said on Friday. “The goal was 4,850, so it’s not a ton more people. You won’t even notice it because it’s also spread out across 20-plus buildings.”

This is not the first time JMU has had to find creative solutions to an overflow of on-campus students. When the student population reached 15,000 in 2000, JMU bought Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge in 2001, a hotel built in 1964.

The hotel was converted into Rockingham Hall, boasting private bathrooms and televisions. At the time of its demolition in 2014, the building housed 233 students. Apartments on Grace opened in fall 2015 to replace Rockingham Hall and housed 506 students in total.

Similarly, JMU this summer considered placing the excesson-campus students in hotels but decided against the move “for a number of reasons,” Miller told The Breeze in July.

The university received a record number of early-action applications — 24,156 for the class of 2027 — and a total of 37,001. While the exact number of freshmen has yet to be finalized, the past two classes have been the largest in over a decade.

Lizzie Stone contributed to this report.

CONTACT Elle Hart at hart2ej@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Chesapeake and Chandler on East Campus are the only residence halls with temporary and permanent triple rooms. Paul Jennings and Shenandoah halls have no triples. Permanent triples are also in Gifford, Hillside, Wampler and Wayland halls. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Freshman Dennis Pomager relaxes on the top bunk in his three-person room. Located in select Skyline residence halls, the triples have high ceilings that caused many students in previous years to loft their beds to take advantage of the vertical space. Photo illustration by Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Students in a temporary triple have their own bed, desk, dresser and wardrobe to make sure additional students are accomodated comfortably. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

A partially moved-in triple room with an empty bunk bed creating space for two roommates. This type of room typically houses two students. Photo courtesy of Lisa Lee

FROGs this year enjoy a less burdensome, full-circle workload

By ELEANOR SHAW, LIZZIE STONE, MORGAN BLAIR, EVAN MOODY & ALEXA BONILLA The Breeze

Freshmen and their families flocked to residence halls Friday during the first day of on-campus move-in with the help, per usual, of FROGs (First-Year Orientation Guides) and volunteer groups at JMU.

However, new this year for FROGs is a shift schedule that cuts their hours in more than half compared to years prior — a relief for many of the guides who spoke to The Breeze.

Last year during move-in, FROGs worked near 17-hour shifts 6:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. FROG and junior Delaney Lester said she knew of previous FROGs who experienced heat exhaustion and passed out during their allday shifts.

This year, on the other hand, FROGs work from 7:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. or 12:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Senior Megan Caulfield, who was a FROG last year, said the less-grueling workload might make being a FROG a more appealing gig going forward.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” said first-time FROG Sean Cattie, who on Friday was helping freshmen on East Campus move in. “We’re kind of going in waves, so we get a moment to breathe.”

Also taking the burden off FROGs are resident hall advisers and volunteer groups such as JMU Cru, a non-denominational campus group, and JMU’s InterVarsity chapter. Sophomore InterVarsity member Elise Pilson said the group had 90 volunteers spread out around campus to assist freshmen.

Like FROGs, the group will be working in morning and afternoon shifts, Pilson said.

“We just get as many people as possible

because, you know, a helping hand makes everything easier,” she said.

Move-in times were spread out over a full two days, while before the COVID-19 pandemic, students had a day and a half, Vice President for Student Affairs Tim Miller said. During COVID-19 years, move-in times became spread out over a few days, a change enjoyed by students and volunteers, he said.

“People liked the adjustment and said, ‘I didn’t have to push for elevators and fight for space,’” Miller said. “The volunteers are able to do more when it’s spread out.”

For one of the senior FROGs, Mary Kate Regan, the move-in process reminded her of when she moved into the Village in 2020 during the pandemic — but then, she didn’t have a FROG to help her because of it.

In Regan’s freshman year, she said she didn’t get to meet anyone right away during move-in and, as such, “felt pretty alone.”

But this year, Regan gave back something she didn’t have three years ago: helping students move into the Village — and feeling grateful in the process.

“It’s amazing. Getting to see the families move in is pretty awesome,” Regan said. “It really makes me feel like I’m doing something important.”

Grant Johnson, Maddie Gallagher, Evan Weaver, William Moran and Zoe Mowery contributed to this report.

CONTACT Eleanor Shaw and Lizzie Stone at breezenews@gmail.com, Morgan Blair and Evan Moody at thebreezeculture@gmail. com, and Alexa Bonilla at bonillag@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

ABOVE: FROGs worked in shorter shifts this year while they moved freshmen’s possesions. Past and current FROGs who spoke to The Breeze praised the change. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze BELOW: FROGs spent this weekend hauling furniture and moving freshmen into their on-campus homes. Eleanor Shaw / The Breeze

Maddie Gallagher / The Breeze Eleanor Shaw / The Breeze

American Rescue Plan Act funds 6 mental health services in Harrisonburg

By ABBY CHAMOT The Breeze

Harrisonburg distributed $400,000 this summer to mental health services, stemming from the $23.8 million granted to the city in October 2022 through the The American Recue Plan Act (ARPA) program.

Funds were mainly given to six organizations working toward improving mental health in Harrisonburg.

The money will aid the Friendly City, reaching many underfunded and low-income areas in the city, according to a July 28 press release. The money intends to accommodate the youth, survivors of domestic violence and people experiencing homelessness, according to the release.

According to a Jan. 2022 release from the Virginia Health Care Foundation, 37% of Commonwealth residents live in areas short on mental and behavioral health professionals as of January 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to an influx of mental and behavioral health issues, exposed these resource deserts.

One organization granted funds from

the ARPA is The Collins Center, a sexual assault response and child advocacy organization that provides counseling, among other resources.

Director of the Collins Center Maria Simonetti said the plans to use its grant to increase the salaries of its non-profit clinical staff. Simonetti said the center strives to provide the best service and clinicians, therefore, increasing salaries will reduce the possibility of compromising financial stability.

Also funded by the ARPA grant, Strength and Peers offers support for those who have substance abuse, mental health- and trauma-related issues.

Nicky Fadley, founder and executive

director of Strength In Peers, said the program is designed to offer support in recovery. Its peer recovery specialists offer emotional support, teach problem solving skills and navigate recovery. It also partners with clinical treatment providers and U.Va. for psychiatry.

“Our plans for the funding are to sustain a program that provides recovery support to those that are experiencing homelessness,” Fadley said.

First Step, a free program that assists survivors of domestic violence and provides bilingual and interpreting services in both English and Spanish, also received ARPA funding. First Step assists with crisis intervention, emergency shelters and advocates who set survivors up with

benefits and housing.

With its ARPA funding, the group plans to continue its counseling services and provide outreach in the community, executive director of First Step, Candy Phillips, said.

Other organizations that received funding were the Boys and Girls Club of Harrisonburg and Rockingham, the Gemeinschaft Home and the Community Counseling Center.

For Fadley, the funding is vital to fill a large void in the Harrisonburg community — but there’s still more work to be done.

“There remains a big gap in funding that’s available for mental and behavioral health in this community. We don’t have enough different types of recovery services, and it is not one size fits all,” Fadley said. “We have to serve people holistically. It’s very difficult for people to remain in the path of recovery if they don’t have a safe and secure place to live.”

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

Abigail Paredes / The Breeze

New climate minor offers versatility for all majors

The 18-credit option looks to bring context to a changing Earth made applicable to several career paths

By JASMINE MOORE The Breeze

JMU has recently unveiled a new climate science minor, created to help students expand their knowledge of Earth and its changing conditions.

The minor, which is open to students of any major, was co-created by Bill Lukens, professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science, and Mary Kimsey, a geography professor.

Lukens started at JMU in fall 2019 with the goal of enriching the university’s quantitative geology, climate and research curriculum, he said. To do this, Lukens used his experience as a paleoclimate scientist — meaning he specialized in looking at Earth’s ancient climate to make assessments on climate change across history.

In line with this, he established a research lab in 2019, crafted the lab course Archaeology 115. Lukens manages a research program that allows students to be in the field, perform scientific research and attend national conferences.

Lukens said the minor was made in part to help students be “savvy in decision-making” in future jobs and train them to respect Earth’s changing climate. He said the minor’s creation was inspired by heightened interest in climate change across all fields.

“We realize there’s a demand within the JMU community for this, and we’re hoping to fill that demand not just within the science majors

or geology majors but really for any student who has an interest,” Lukens said.

Lukens and Kimsey presented the minor to a committee of geology and geography faculty members and collaborated with them to bring it to life. After getting the committee on board, Lukens and Kimsey examined other areas of study that could be applicable to the minor, resulting in it being available for all majors.

For example, Lukens said a business-focused person would be able to answer questions about the risks that climate and weather pose to specific industries.

“If I’m headquartered or operating primarily in coastal areas, what kinds of risks should I be thinking about? How can I assess these risks?” Lukens said. “Those are the kinds of information that you will get across a variety of the courses that we offer.”

The minor begins with an introductory-level course and a lab focused on either geography or geology. As students progress, they would begin taking more intense classes about the climate system.

The major requires 18 credit hours. Coursework allows students to perform climate-related research similar to their major that, with some classes such as Geology 115: Earth Systems and Climate Changes adds credits to their minor and major simultaneously Lukens said. A goal of the minor is to prepare passionate students with knowledge of the climate that can be applied to any profession,

“My dream is that the minor will prepare students for a variety of future pathways,” Lukens said. “I imagine we’ll have students who are really interested in climatology, but we don’t have a climate major, so they’ll major in either geography or geology and have a minor in climate science.”

The majors that will have the most overlap with climate science coursework are chemistry, physics, geology, geography, engineering and biology, Lukens said, adding that liberal arts or humanities majors also intertwine.

Junior Casey Card, who’s pursuing the minor while majoring in Earth science, first heard of the minor geology classes last spring through professors and pamphlets. Card said she aspires to become a National Park Service employee, something she believes the minor will help her achieve.

Card said she thinks it was a good idea to make the minor available to all students since “they’ll be able to use it in their own fields to come up with solutions for our climate crisis.” She’s excited for the minor’s addition, which follows the steps of other schools such as Virginia Tech, U.Va, GMU and VCU. “I think it’s filling a hole in geology,” Card said. “Climate science is such an important topic right now that it’s really just, like, the perfect timing, and I feel like a lot of people are going to be very interested in the minor.”

CONTACT Jasmine Moore at moore5ja@dukes.jmu.

HEY DUKES

WHAT TIME IS IT?

By K. MAUSER The Breeze

Rockingham County Fair celebrates 75 years

Rockingham County Fair celebrates 75 years

This year marked the 75th anniversary of the Rockingham County Fair, a week-long event that started Aug. 14 and continued through the 19th. The fair, held on fairgrounds off Route 11 in Harrisonburg, offered a multitude of activities for community members such as games, rides and a petting zoo.

Established in 1949, the fair was first held at the Linville Edom High School north of Harrisonburg with 5,000 attendees and a profit of just $150, according to the history page on the Rockingham County Fair’s website.

Since then, the Rockingham County Fair has transformed into a massive event with a plethora of activities, vendors and visitors, notably Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this year.

Keith Sheets, this year’s fair president, said on Aug. 14 the fair were expecting to have more than 80,000 attendees at the fair. He also said they had over 500 volunteers to help work the fair throughout the week.

“My favorite part of the fair is seeing people from all over the community come together to put it on,” Sheets said.

The fair included multiple barns where animals could be viewed before they are shown to potential buyers and ranked by their quality of size and build. All guests could enter these barns and view the animals, some of which could be pet.

There was also a petting zoo with multiple sheep, goats, llamas and other kid-friendly animals.

Alexa Dingus, a member of the Singers Glen 4-H, a local branch of a national developmental program, recently placed second in her class when showing one of her steers — male cattle that cannot reproduce — on Aug 16. According to its website, 4-H programs are where “kids and teens complete hands-on projects in areas like health, science, agriculture and civic engagement in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles.”

Dingus, a senior in high school, said this was her last year showing animals in 4-H.

Dingus said she typically buys her steers in September and takes care of them for several hours a day before selling them 11 months later in August. She said she shows her steers at the beginning of the week in anticipation for the sale at the end of it.

Sheets said the fair had over 1,100 heads of livestock, many of which were sold at the conclusion of last week by a member of 4-H or Future Farmers of America (FFA), which is another organization similar to 4-H, to pay for opportunities such as going to college, starting a business or beginning a career.

Last year, Sheets said the fair’s livestock sale profited over $860,000. He also said this money went to the exhibitors, which are the members of 4-H and FFA who show their animals.

Another central draw for the Rockingham County Fair is the family entertainment, Sheets said. One of the draws is Coyote Clem, a clown that practices magic tricks for children and has worked the fair for 23 years. In one of Clem’s magic tricks, he

takes a yellow handkerchief, puts it in a sack and turns it into a blue handkerchief.

“I was working with a little boy [who was] 4 years old Monday, [and I] gave him a picture when I finished … His dad told me, ‘I have the picture you gave me when I was 4,’” Clem said. “I’ve entertained three generations here. And it’s amazing to see the kids year after year and now bringing their kids year after year.”

Clem circled the main path through the fair every day, entertaining children on his way.

“I’m strolling everywhere, and I’m always trying to perform everywhere,” Clem said.

Each day of the fair offers free entertainment for all ages. On Aug. 16, the fair had cupcake decorating for children, an Elvis impersonator for the older generation and a fireworks show for all ages.

The fair also housed games and rides that guests could pay for, as well as food to purchase throughout the fairgrounds. The ride section of the grounds included a rollercoaster on a circular track, a ferris wheel, a drop tower and a teacups ride.

“When I see a kid with a big smile, whether they’re looking at the rabbits or they’re riding around, or they’re down in the livestock barns,” Sheets said, “that’s why we do it.”

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

High School senior Alexa Dingus placed second in her class for her steer, her last year showing animals. K. Mauser / The Breeze

Coyote Clem has entertained generations of fairgoers. LillyAnne Day / The Breeze

Animals could be viewed and purchased at barns across the fairgrounds. K. Mauser / The Breeze

Keith Sheets, the fair’s president, said more than 500 people volunteered this year. At the start of the event Aug. 14, he said it anticipated more than 80,000 attendees. K. Mauser / The Breeze

What’s hot in the ‘Burg? 6 new and improved spots across town

By MATEO CSERNECKY The Breeze

As summer comes to a routine close, Harrisonburg starts to fill up with JMU students from summer break, ready to take on the new semester and return to their favorite spots in town. This could be a bar, bookstore, mall or thrift store they’re familiar with, but the Friendly City has recently become home to several new restaurants, stores and giant murals, all looking to become someone’s new go-to spot.

Crumbl Cookies

Harrisonburg sandwich destination recently opened up a food truck that sells the restaurant’s signature sandwiches on 25 N Liberty St. Grilled Cheese Mania was established as a food truck before moving into its current location on S Main Street. Now, the restaurant is expanding its audience by opening up the original food truck location, allowing Dukes to grab a bite as they stroll down Liberty Street.

Marco’s Pizza

One of the primary additions is one many students may recognize from social media: Crumbl Cookies. It’s become popular on Tik Tok, amassing 6.5 million followers, helping promote specialty flavors each week. Now, students have the opportunity to try these limited flavors each time one is released or have the cookies delivered right to their door. Students can buy their own cookies and participate in the latest flavor trends at the restaurant’s location on 151 Burgess Road.

Black Sheep Coffee

Students looking for a taste of something different can try out Marco’s Pizza, part of a national franchise of pizza chains established in Ohio making its debut in Harrisonburg. The franchise has locations in almost every major college town in Virginia, such as Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Richmond and Fairfax. Marco’s Pizza joins other already established pizza joints in Harrisonburg, serving as a brandnew alternative for people to potentially discover a favorite for themselves. Students can try out Marco’s Pizza on 1168 Virginia Ave. Ste 102.

MODdisplays mural

If you want to embrace the beauty of Harrisonburg rather than its food, visit the new mural on the MODdisplays building on E Market Street. According to the MODdisplays website, the mural was commissioned in spring 2023 with help from a grant from the Arts Council of the Valley. The website also notes the artist, Laura Thompson, is a Harrisonburg local who’s design showcases her own style, while using symbols and imagery significant to MODdisplays and The Friendly City. This includes children reading, referencing Massanutten Regional Library, a lion representing Eastern Mennonite University’s mascot — the Blue Lions and a bulldog representing JMU’s Duke Dog. As the mural’s located on 273 E Market St., students can go to admire the art as well as interpret what the other imagery in the mural represents in relation to the Harrisonburg community. They can also use a cheat sheet of sorts located on the MODdisplays website.

Harrisonburg Miniature Society

Among the recent additions is the relocation of a local business, Black Sheep Coffee. The coffee shop, Chance Ebersold (’05) in March 2015, moved from its original home on Liberty Street to 80 E Market St. The restaurant offers a variety of teas, coffee, pastries, sandwiches and desserts for Harrisonburg residents to enjoy. Students may be happy to hear, according to Black Sheep Coffee’s website, several of the shop’s baristas are JMU graduates or students, which may speak to those looking for a spot to make them feel at home with people who relate to JMU culture.

Grilled Cheese Mania

For Dukes who are craving more than coffee, Grilled Cheese Mania has returned to its roots as a food truck. The

Over the summer, Harrisonburg also became home to three new miniature businesses. In downtown Harrisonburg, keen-eyed students may ignore to spot three new installations from the Harrisonburg Miniature Society: “Fae Plus Mart,” “Sequel Shack’’ and “Miniscule Caverns,” which were all launched at Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance’s Best Weekend Ever festival in June. The first of these miniature business art projects is made to look like a video store named “Sequel Shack” decorated with famous movie sequel posters including “Back to the Future Part II” and “Shrek 2,” among others. The second of these miniature businesses is presented as a fairy run convenience store named “Fae Plus Mart,” with signs on the front advertising “Mountain Dew Drop” and another mentioning their acceptance of “MagiCard”. The last of these miniature businesses uses a crack in the wall as a part of the art project, with a National Parks-like sign outside naming the crack “Miniscule Caverns,” with a door to a gift shop right next to it. These “businesses” are displays of an art project created by HDR’s Committee of Joy. The HDR website features a page for the Harrisonburg Miniature Society where JMU students can find clues to help them find each of the miniature businesses, as well as a revealable image and exact location for the less sleuthy JMU students.

Harrisonburg recieved many new additions that help keep the Friendly City a fresh and enjoyable enviroment for residents and students alike. From the artistic additions of the MODdisplays mural and the Harrisonburg Miniature Society, to the new restaurants such as the social media-famous Crumbl Cookies and local favorites like Black Sheep Coffee and Grilled Cheese Mania. Students will get to explore these brand-new locations and many more during their pilgrimages in Harrisonburg, who knows, they might just find their next favorite spot.

CONTACT Mateo Csernecky at csernems@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.

Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Evan Moody / The Breeze

Evan Moody / The Breeze

K. Mauser / The Breeze

K. Mauser / The Breeze

Evan Moody / The Breeze

Former JMU student wins 2024 Miss Virginia Volunteer pageant

By MALLORY EVANS contributing writer

Accepting a bedazzled crown and a bouquet of flowers would only be the beginning of Annie Mowery’s journey as a statewide pageant title holder.

Mowery, former JMU student and Yorktown native, was crowned the 2024 Miss Virginia Volunteer at the Academy of Fine Arts on Aug. 5. She is the third winner in the pageant’s history, as well as the youngest (21). And while competing at a statewide event may be daunting for some, Mowery was well prepared with seven years of experience in the field.

“My voice teacher was the one that got me into [pageantry], and he was the director of Miss Lancaster County,” Mowery said. “So then I decided to go for it, and I really loved it. I love the community that it builds and how many amazing people you get to meet.”

With the pageant’s mission to highlight the values of SERVE (scholarships, education, responsibility, volunteerism and empowerment), women representing cities in Virginia immerse themselves in the importance of community involvement and charity work over a week-long competition with interview, talent, evening gown and fitness and wellness stages, as well as onstage questions for finalists, according to Miss Virginia Volunteer’s website. Aside from the pageant’s advocacy, the social aspect of this event also shines through.

“One day you’ll be in rehearsal during pageant week, and the next thing you know, you’re in a salt spa for an hour just lounging and having fun,” Mowery said. “The friendships that you build are just really, really important. I came away with eight new friends from our division.”

Before her competition years, Mowery said she became familiar with the internal fulfillment of humanitarian activities, as her grandparents encouraged her to volunteer at many historic housing institutions to gain experience and friendships.

“I had been volunteering at historic houses since I was 8 years old,” Mowery said. “I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and that’s a very community-centric area. Everyone really helps each other out, and it’s just a very community-driven place.”

Along with her continual volunteering at historic sites around Virginia, Mowery places a heavy emphasis on education and the joys of learning. She attended the University of Mary Washington for her first three semesters of college before becoming a scholar in residence at William and Mary, where she was a host student and helped with community outreach.

During the spring 2023 semester, Mowery continued her college course track at JMU, majoring in history with a minor

in anthropology, while also involving herself in the campus community, she said, just as she did at William & Mary.

“I really enjoyed my experience overall at JMU,” Mowery said. “I joined Alpha Delta Pi, which I really loved, and that’s going to be continuing where I go next.”

Mowery will pause her undergraduate studies for the next academic year as she fulfills her responsibilities as Miss Virginia Volunteer. In June 2024, she will move on to compete at Miss Volunteer America. She said this time away from school will allow her to grow the pageant program before refocusing on her studies at Christopher Newport University, closer to her hometown and a better fit for her education path, Mowery said. As a first-generation college student, she said completing her undergraduate degree and putting her full effort into school is important to her.

As a component of the pageant process, Mowery founded a SERVE initiative, “Our Story: History for our Future,” which prioritizes sharing history in a truthful and authentic manner. She advocates for a method of teaching that exemplifies the human nature of our collective history.

“With my platform, really being able to pull from our history and making this as accurate and honest as possible, really helps us grow as a society and makes us more understanding of why we’ve come from where we’ve come from and how we can improve in the future,” Mowery said.

Mowery works as an archaeologist at the Fairfield Foundation in Gloucester County, southeast of JMU. Volunteers convene across the state to assist with preservation, archaeology and lab managing — interests that Mowery said she wishes to continue in the future.

Her ideal career is to oversee her own preservation consulting company, creating a team to work at underfunded sites that require preservation, archaeology or research to expand their programs.

Miss Virginia Volunteer only has three winners, but Mowery said her connections with these women — including Kate Clatterbuck, who was Miss Virginia Volunteer 2023 — proved to be comforting and enjoyable. Clatterbuck was also a member of the inaugural class in 2021.

“What has been awesome to see is we started as a very small organization with few sponsors and no partners and, really in the last three years, have grown into an organization that’s partnering with people across the state,” Clatterbuck said.

A detailed schedule of events is implemented, with this year’s partnerships ranging from the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program in Bedford County to Youth of Virginia Speak Out about Traffic Safety, a statewide peer-to-peer driver safety

education program.

As the previous Miss Virginia Volunteer, Clatterbuck knows firsthand the significance of the role. Through this shared experience with Mowery, Clatterbuck said she values the sisterhood they’re creating, and that the two formed a true friendship over the course of the summer.

“We really strive to find women who are just willing to open themselves up to opportunities,” Clatterbuck said. “Annie really stood out to me as we were getting closer to the competition as someone who was just really excited about what was changing for Miss Virginia Volunteer and really had a genuine, positive attitude about it.”

The pageant’s accepting atmosphere was a true incentive for Mowery’s participation, she said. Financial gain was not a priority, but rather encouraging women to find their passions and advocate for beneficial change.

“Some places, it’s really just about making money,” Mowery said. “And this [pageant has] a huge focus on our journey and our successes and how we can better empower women across the state.”

Along with the counsel from previous winners, Mowery said she received invaluable training from Helen McCracken, a professional pageant consultant and founder of Pageant Winner Consulting. With over a decade of experience, she coached Mowery during her time competing in Miss Virginia Volunteer. She said she was impressed by Mowery’s optimism and dedication to the pageant’s SERVE mission.

“Annie is a vibrant, good-hearted, service-oriented young woman,” McCracken said in an email to The Breeze. “Working with her was a very enjoyable experience. She is a hard worker, takes direction well and brings her open and outgoing personality to the table, even when timelines are short or pressure is high.”

McCracken said she values the preparation required and qualities enhanced through this event, including poise and selfconfidence. She’s eager to see where Mowery’s volunteerism and pageant journey will take her, she added.

“Many pageant systems, like the Miss Volunteer system, emphasize a community service component and learning to give back through volunteerism, a quality I respect and believe to be useful for young women of today and tomorrow,” McCracken said. “Virginia is in good hands with Annie Mowery as Miss Virginia Volunteer.”

CONTACT Mallory Evans at evans4mr@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.

Annie Mowery, a former JMU student, won Miss Virginia Volunteer on Aug. 5. The pageant works to highlight the values of SERVE (scholarships, education, volunteerism, responsibility and empowerment). Photos courtesy of K. Jugar Creative

Mowery, at 21 years old, is the third and youngest winner of the Miss Virginia Volunteer Pageant. She has been competing in pageants for seven years and will now compete for Miss Volunteer America in 2024.

New-look Convo improves experiences for athletes, fans

200-meter track, foldable seats with backs and a photo wall for recruits gives venue a revamped look

By KAIDEN BRIDGES & JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

JMU field hockey head coach Christy Morgan first arrived at JMU in 1991, back when the basketball team was in the Convocation Center and Lefty Driesell was its head coach.

Now, it’s Morgan’s team that calls the arena its home practice facility. But on the inside, the Convo barely resembles its original look.

“It has its own little legacy, but the transformation is crazy,” Morgan said. “It’s crazy. I mean, the look, the smell. Everything just breeds champions.”

Last November, eight JMU Olympic sports said goodbye to Godwin Hall and began to anticipate the reopening of the Convo, which volleyball, men and women’s soccer, track & field (indoor and outdoor), cross country, field hockey and lacrosse would all eventually call home for practices, locker rooms and athletic training.

Since then, what is being called by Morgan and volleyball head coach Lauren Steinbrecher a “one stop shop” for academic, training, rehab and competition purposes has been greatly repurposed from the days of packed, stuffy basketball games.

“We literally have everything we could ever want here,” Steinbrecher said. “Just to be able to come here and have everything that you need in one space, that makes a huge difference when time is so limited.”

Up to this point, renovations for the Convo have totaled $22 million. The construction plans itself costed $18 million, but new sound, lights and graphics systems raised the price tag by $4 million. There are still plans for improving the Convo, such as eventually adding new video and scoreboards and more improvements to the greenery and exterior, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Kevin Warner said.

Alongside a nutrition center, weight room and athletic training center are new locker rooms for each of the teams, including their own showers and restrooms — something the different sports had to share in Godwin.

When working on the design elements of the Convo, coaches and athletes held a big role in the decisions of what to include in the interior, Warner said.

EDITORS Kaiden Bridges & Jackson Hephner

FROM TOP, CLOCKWISE: When asked what they wanted to see in the Convocation Center’s interior, JMU coaches mentioned a photo wall for recruits to use for their commitment announcements on social media. Additionally, six separate locker rooms have been added to the Convo, with track and field having the largest to fit its 61 student-athletes. JMU’s brand-new volleyball court is the center attraction in the revamped Convo, which has seats with backs for fans, something Godwin Hall didn’t. Two weight rooms, a nutrition center and a large athletic training room, among other amenities make Convo convenient for all sports stationed there. Photos by Kaiden Bridges / The Breeze

In between one of the hallways that leads to the locker rooms from the gymnasium is a wall for visiting recruits to take photos in front of. The wall, requested by the coaches, has a collage of JMU spirit including Duke Dog and a sign that says, “beware of Dog,” as well as the Nike and ESPN logos.

With the renovated Convo, fans’ spectating experiences have been elevated, too. Instead of sitting on one side of Godwin’s court in generic bleachers with no back supports, fans can now watch volleyball in purple, plastic-folding seats that have back support.

On Saturday, over 800 fans came to the Convo to watch JMU volleyball’s exhibition game against U.Va., which fifthyear middle blocker Sophie Davis said was exciting considering the regular season hasn’t started yet.

“I think it’s just honestly a gift for everyone, and it’s just going to increase JMU volleyball fans,” Davis said. “Over the next few years, I imagine every seat will be packed.”

While the volleyball court is the center of attention, another notable addition is a 200-meter track. The Convo now provides track and field with a dedicated place to train, fulfilling a commitment administration made to track & field and cross country director Delethea Quarles prior to her hiring in August 2022.

Before then, Quarles said her studentathletes took trips to VMI — almost 60 miles south on Interstate 81 — and nearby Eastern Mennonite University to train, on top of using JMU football’s indoor facilities and getting “creative” with some of the facilities in Godwin, such as having jumpers practice in the gymnastics room. Now, all of that can be done in one building.

Although the Convo can’t host track and field meets inside, it does hold equipment for pole vaulters, high jumpers, hurdlers and horizontal jumpers — all enclosed by the track. As Quarles said, “ we got everything we need.”

“The girls are just excited every time they walk in the building, and so are we, our staff,” Quarles said. “We kind of feel like we just got a new pair of shoes, and we’re ready to run on it.”

For the sports that won’t be practicing or competing in the Convo, the new facility still improves their day-to-day operations. Women’s soccer head coach Joshua Walters said that in the past, his team operated out of four buildings — the Plecker Athletic Performance Center attached to Bridgeforth Stadium for academics, Godwin for their locker room, Bridgeforth for the weight room and Sentara Park for practices and games. Now, the team only uses the Convo and Sentara.

“We’re able to see the players and have them in the different modalities of the building, really simply, and they love that,” Walters said. “I mean, they’re in love with their quality of life right now.”

Not only do coaches see their players more, but different teams can interact with each other more often. Davis said that soccer players have often stopped to watch their practices and cheer them on, and that there was a small crowd of them at the team’s exhibition against U.Va.

“It’s definitely a sense of community in this new place,” fifth-year volleyball setter Caroline Dozier said. “Just having so many sports and some sports who were not really in Godwin before, so seeing new faces, being around different people, I think that really elevates the athlete community too.”

CONTACT Kaiden Bridges and Jackson Hephner at breezesports@gmail.com. For more sports coverage, follow the sports

on Twitter at @TheBreezeSports.

desk

FROM TOP DOWN: There’s a hallway designated for laundry dropoff and pickup in the renovated Convocation Center. A resurfaced 200-meter track now wraps around the Convo. In between volleyball’s locker room and the entrance to the court, there’s a sign that says “earn it,” with Duke Dog on the side, which the volleyball team designed itself. Photos by Kaiden Bridges / The Breeze

ANALYSIS | POTENTIAL END OF PAC-12 INCREASES JMU’S PLAYOFF ODDS IN 2024

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

At the beginning of the day on Aug. 4, the Pac-12 expected to have nine members in 2024. By the end of the day, the conference had four.

The conference, which has existed in some form since 1915, might not survive past next season in its current state. One less Power 5 conference existing wouldn’t have been as significant when JMU officially joined the Sun Belt last summer. But it is once you consider that — as it stands — 2024 will mark the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Under the new format, the top six conference champions will make the cut, alongside six at-large teams. The new system guarantees at least one program from a nonautonomous conference would make the playoffs, but without Pac-12 representation, that number bumps up to two.

While there's some optimism about a Pac-12 rebound — namely, by merging with the Mountain West Conference or poaching from American Athletic Conference (AAC) or Sun Belt programs — the four remaining Pac-12 schools, Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State, have been exploring exit options. Stanford and Cal have been linked to the ACC, with ESPN reporting on Wednesday that the conference will hold meeting later this week to discuss

the potential move.

At Sun Belt Media Days on July 26, just over a week before the Pac-12’s demise seemed imminent, Commissioner Keith Gill pointed out how the expanded playoff could allow for multiple teams from non-autonomous conferences to qualify.

Going into the week after conference championships in 2020, No. 6 Cincinnati, the AAC champs, and No. 9 Coastal Carolina, the Sun Belt champs, would’ve made the playoffs over Mountain West winner and No. 19 San Jose State — ironically another nonautonomous conference champ — if that year followed the new format. The lowestranked Power 5 champion in 2020 was Oregon at No. 25, which would've missed the cut in 2024's format.

“There’s an opportunity that rather than being pigeon-holed into one spot we’re all competing for, if we have great years, we might be able to bump the ACC or someone else,” Gill said to The Breeze at media days. “I think it makes it more open and better from a competitive standpoint.”

Enter JMU.

In just its first year in the Sun Belt, the Dukes established themselves as an immediate conference contender, finishing first in the East Division at 8-3 (6-2 Sun Belt) and cracking the AP Top 25 after their 5-0 start. This season, Sun Belt coaches pegged JMU to repeat as east champions.

It’s very plausible that JMU will be in contention for the conference championship

DESIGN. PRINT. MAIL. HERE.

once they become eligible in 2024, when a Sun Belt title could put them right in the College Football Playoff. Now, the hard part is finishing the year as one of the top two non-autonomous champions.

The Sun Belt is not a cakewalk by any means. In the aforementioned preseason poll, the top four teams in the east — JMU (78), App State (75), Coastal Carolina (71) and Marshall (68) — finished within 10 voting points of each other, and the firstplace Dukes were still 14 points behind 2022 Sun Belt champion Troy, which is projected to finish first in the west.

The Dukes not only have to win the competitive Sun Belt to make the playoffs but also have to finish as either the first- or second highest-ranked non-autonomous conference champion. And history, believe it or not, is on JMU’s side. Since 2019, the Sun Belt winner has finished as the second highest ranked non-autonomous champion for four straight years.

However difficult, this playoff scenario is much more realistic for JMU than what it is in the four-team format. The only team from a non-autonomous conference to ever make the College Football Playoff was Cincinnati in 2021, and it required going undefeated in the regular season and beating both Indiana and then-No. 9 Notre Dame on the road.

“The thing that’s hard is that the year that

Cincinnati had, they had to be perfect,” Gill said. “So, it really does make it, I don’t want to say impossible because they did it, but UCF [of the AAC] went undefeated several times [2017 and 2018] too and didn’t get in, and so it just shows you how hard it is.”

Of course, this is all assuming the new format doesn’t change again. The leaders of the CFP are set to meet Aug. 30 to finalize the logistics of the new format. Ross Dellinger of Yahoo Sports reported Aug. 15 that multiple CFP decision-makers, who spoke to him anonymously, said the committee will consider dropping the number of automatic qualifiers to five or remove them altogether.

“We’d fight the adjustment. We’d be against it, but we do understand it would have to come up,” AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said to Yahoo Sports.

Regardless of if the format changes, JMU’s path to the CFP is still difficult, as it is for every team in the FBS. However, the expanded playoff format has made a potential run possible, and the possible end of the Pac-12 will only improve JMU’s chances. Whether or not the Dukes can capitalize in 2024 and beyond? Only time will tell.

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

JMU Athletics sold a record 8,718 season tickets for the upcoming football season and announced July 7 that the Family Weekend game against South Alabama is sold out. Breeze file photo

Bourne and Alger discuss new Convo, sportsmanship initiative

By JACKSON HEPHNER

The Breeze

On Monday, Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne stood inside the renovated Convocation Center with a smile on his face.

It was the first time the building had been opened since March 2020, back when JMU was preparing to open the Atlantic Union Bank Center as a replacement for the outdated Convo. But early on in the planning for the AUBC, Bourne said his department knew they had a place for the 41-year old building.

“We wanted to keep it in part of the athletic family of facilities,” Bourne said. “We knew there was already an increased need for additional space and, in addition to that, some enhanced space that we had for practice as well as competition.”

Bourne said part of the goal was to unify more sports together in one facility, which coaches and players praised about the new convo on Monday. But Bourne said he’d like to see administration and more of JMU athletic programs in the building, which could potentially happen if an annex to it is built in the future.

Ultimately, Bourne said the goal is for JMU to move completely out of Godwin and give the space to academics. He said this is in line with the desire of the university to make main campus a space for academic offices and support areas.

Speaking to The Breeze on Wednesday at JMU’s Sun Belt-mandated annual meeting on sporting behavior and ethical conduct, President Jonathan Alger said he appreciates how Bourne’s department has helped the university use the space it has effectively.

“Certainly we’re excited to get more space for academic uses,” Alger said. “We’re bursting at the seams in terms of the student body. We have over 22,000 students and the Hart School

is right [next to Godwin], and they need more space … Anytime we can get that kind of space and make it useful for our students and our faculty in that way, I think that’s a win-win.”

Godwin is here to stay, and it won’t impact any potential expansion to Bridgeforth Stadium. Bourne said the department has only looked at early designs and there’s no definitive plan yet, but it has found that it is feasible to expand the stadium without tearing down Godwin.

“Bridgeforth expansion can really be looked at almost independently as a separate element,” Bourne said.

As for the future, Bourne said the department is back in the planning stages in terms of construction, and is starting to look at what facilities need renovations most.

Focus on the fans

While the renovated Convo will be a new change for JMU this year, one change from last year will remain — the Dukes Do Better campaign. Bourne said that fan behavior was better last year, but now, the challenge is making sure the message sticks long term.

“Last year, I felt good. I really did,” he said. “I felt like it resonated, and I’m hoping that one more year of it even helps permeate more into the student body and our general fans.”

This year will present a few unique challenges for the department. JMU football sold a record 8,718 season tickets for this season and will no longer require wristbands for alcohol purchases. Bourne said the key will be to monitor the environment around the stadium, and said that members of his department may even walk around the stands to see how fans are acting.

“That’s something that we want to do and keep our finger on the pulse of where the tone is on that,” he said. “It’s a big picture, right? And

we’re sort of a living fluid type of environment, so we definitely plan on doing that.”

Alger said he talked to Bourne about changes like these “constantly,” and that when the athletic department make changes like the one it made to alcohol policy, it thinks about fan experience, and specifically the quality of that experience.

“We know that there’s increased attention on us now that we’re in the Sun Belt. We know more people are watching the games. We know

more people are coming to the events that we have on campus,” Alger said. “You look at this wonderful new facility in the Convocation Center. What a great opportunity, right? So I want when people set foot … to come away saying ‘that was a good experience.’”

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

JMU President Jonathan Alger called the renovated Convocation Center “a great opporitunity,“ and wants to give every fan a good experience. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said that his department is hoping to montior the fan enviroments at future athletic events. Breeze file photo

OPINION

Evan Weaver EDITOR EMAIL breezeopinion@gmail.com

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 “do-your-job!” dart to parking services for allowing football players to park in the Champions Drive 15-minute spaces all day.

From someone who believes in good citizenship, fairness and respect for others.

A “job-well-done” pat to Ryan Sauer for the lovely "Sunset on Summer" photos in the last Breeze issue.

From someone who walks on campus weekly but is never there at sunset and enjoyed seeing some of these scenes.

Success is subjective

A “congratulations” pat to the Breeze staff for its first print edition of the year.

From a proud former Breezer.

The term “success” holds a lot of weight. People strive to receive validation from others. From a young age, kids are taught that getting good grades equals success. As kids grow, academic success gets translated into college acceptance. And after college, success is determined by jobs and overall financial and marital status.

A “keep-up-the-goodwork” pat to The Breeze staff.

From someone who enjoys seeing The Breeze in offcampus venues and thought the first issue looked great.

These are the basic terms for success that society defines, but success isn't objective. It’s formed through personal interests and desires. According to an article by GALLUP, the personal success score in the U.S. is 68, while the societal success score is 31. These results are an indicator that people would rather chase their own idea of success than following what society says.

To further evaluate these results, the GALLUP survey asked respondents to rate different success factors on a pie chart, such as education, relationships, character, finance, health, work, quality of life and status. When comparing the personal success pie chart with the perceived societal pie chart, the percentages demonstrated a significant contrast. The largest factor for societal success was “status” at 45.9%. On the personal success spectrum, relationship status led the way at 15.6%.

These results also vary demographically. It's

common that a person in their early 20s views success differently than someone in their mid-50s. JMU senior Nicki Capaldo said her goals are to live freely while she’s young.

“I define success as whatever makes me happy,” Capaldo said, adding that people should take a few years to do something fulfilling after college if a traditional 9-to-5 doesn’t. “My personal goals are to be happy with day-to-day life. Right now while I’m young, I’d like to travel, meet new people and see new places.”

Groupthink, the idea that members of a group tend to think in consensus with a group, whether or not the members believe the conclusion to be valid, plays a large role in the desire to quickly jump into a 9-to-5 after college and start a family. Conformity is a large factor in this theory, as people would rather agree with the majority than argue against and possibly be wrong

Groupthink is especially prevalent in vulnerable, young adults. Rather than going against the grain or facing the possibility of “failure,” most people prefer to at least seem successful to outside members of society. Even if they aren’t happy, they at least can hide under the facade that they are if they have a steady job and a family

Another large part of what determines individuals’ success is validation from others. Whether that be in the workplace or from

friends and family, people strive for recognition. According to a study done by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, “intrinsic goals” such as self-acceptance and friendship bring happiness. Meanwhile, “extrinsic goals” such as fame, which rely on the approval of others, lead to “lower vitality and self-actualization,” among other symptoms.

When analyzing the components of fame, at first glance, it seems like the American dream. It’s the human embodiment of value. Though, the wealth and glamour can quickly become overshadowed by constant judgment and criticism. Even with the known dangerous factors, such as depression, anxiety and potential drug abuse, fame continues to polarize most people in one way or another. This can be as simple as aspiring to get promoted from the mailroom to a manager. The desire to be more well known and receive a “pat on the back” drives people to chase a calculated form of success.

Overall, success isn’t objective and shouldn't be formulated by society. While it's a human instinct to seek acceptance from others, success should come from within. It should come from personal goals and desires, whether they’re traditional or not.

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.

ORIANA LUKAS Breeze columnist

Kaleb Nute / The Breeze

People should avoid conforming to groupthink when evaluating their personal accomplishments

JMU guidelines make it too difficult to fire tenured faculty

EVAN WEAVER Breeze columnist

Academia is one of the few fields where employees can be granted tenure, or immunity to arbitrary removal. Tenure generally acts as a safeguard against outside influence on faculty research and also allows professors to engage in niche research areas or long-term studies that lack an immediate payoff. Though the tenure system incentivizes loyalty to an institution that in turn provides students

with a more stable learning environment, it can also cause the quality of teaching to decline because of less job competition. Tenure succeeds in protecting academic freedom, enabling professors to publish controversial findings without threat to their livelihoods; however, it fails in promoting good teaching and should be modified to address such.

Tenure came out of the Labor Movement in the U.S., which saw widespread unionization of the workforce in a variety of fields in the late 19th and 20th

Year 1 Year 2

Second

Dec. 15, Year 3

centuries. While members of the emerging industrial workforce were concerned with safe working conditions and fair pay, the nation’s teachers and professors wanted protections from censorship and interference by third parties. In 1910, New Jersey became the first state to pass legislation preventing colleges from firing professors without just cause, according to Time Magazine.

In 1915, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) was founded and has refined tenure by

Nov. 1, Year 3

issuing statements on the practice over the years. Tenure was largely codified by the AAUP’s 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Many of the standards established by this statement remain in effect today, such as the maximum probationary period, or the amount of time before a professor hired on tenure track can be considered for it, set at seven years

see TENURE , page 20

Nov. 30, Year 3

Nov. 15, Year 5

Feb. 1, Year 3

AUH

Oct. 1, Year 5

Tenured faculty member’s report on execution of remediation plan is sent to AUH and AUPAC

Feb. 15, Year 5

Dec. 15, Year 5

Date of termination

First unsatisfactory performance review received by tenured faculty member

notifies tenured faculty member of recommendation for remediation

Dean’s decision on whether remediation is necessary is sent to the tenured faculty member

and AUPAC develop a remediation plan for the tenured faculty member

AUH and AUPAC’s evaluation of tenured faculty member’s execution of remediation plan is sent to the dean

Dean’s evaluation of tenured faculty member’s execution of remediation plan is sent to the provost

Provost’s decision to apply sanctions, which may include termination, is sent to the tenured faculty member

Tenured faculty member is terminated by the date provided in the provost’s sanction notice

unsatisfactory performance review received by tenured faculty member

from TENURE, page 19

Now, in colleges and universities across the U.S., professors are oftentimes hired as assistant professors on tenure tracks. After a given probationary period, they become a candidate for promotion to associate professor, and upon approval by various parties that can include the department, college or school, university president and the board of visitors, tenure is granted to them. Subsequent promotion to full professorship requires further contributions to research and education and additional rounds of approval.

Few other occupations have the potential to tenure. One prominent example includes federal judges who are appointed to lifetime positions by the president, which enables them to issue rulings unswayed by public opinion. Academia is perhaps the largest field that enjoys the privilege, however, as federal judges make up a far smaller share of the workforce with only 870 positions across the Supreme Court, nine courts of appeals and 94 district courts. On the other hand, there were 325,675 tenured professors in 2021, with another 138,067 on track to earning tenure, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education. Like federal judges, who are not completely safe from removal with the possibility of impeachment, tenured professors can still be fired in extreme circumstances.

Federal judges’ sole responsibility is to issue fair rulings. The responsibilities of a professor, on the other hand, are twofold: research and teaching. While tenure promotes good research, it doesn’t necessarily promote good teaching. The practice incentivizes professors to

concentrate on their research, which may or may not have any practical application, and gives them the opportunity to slack off in the classroom. Though many professors enjoy teaching — and wouldn’t have made it through their probationary period if they hadn’t — the system allows for this possibility, which is ultimately a disservice to students.

Guidelines for promotion and tenure application at JMU are outlined in the faculty handbook, and individual departments have their own departmentspecific guidelines as well.

Ultimately, the board of visitors of any given public university in Virginia has final authority to approve promotions and grant tenure to professors.

At JMU, of the 1,047 professors it employs, 639 are tenured — including professors and associate professors, and 159 are on a tenure track.

Every year, all faculty members at JMU are subject to performance evaluations. If a tenured faculty member’s evaluations from two of the past three

years reveal that their performance has been unsatisfactory, their academic unit head will recommend remediation. The evaluations must then be reviewed themselves by the academic unit personnel advisory committee, which submits their review to the dean. From there, the dean makes the determination whether the professor will be required to go through remediation.

According to the faculty handbook, the remediation plan must be developed by Feb. 1 of the year after a tenured professor’s second unsatisfactory evaluation, and the faculty member will have the remainder of that semester and an additional year to complete the plan. Endless rounds of bureaucratic paper shuffling and over five years later, beginning with the first year the professor received an unsatisfactory evaluation, the professor may receive sanctions such as a reduction of their salary or dismissal if the provost still deems their performance as unsatisfactory. This means up to 12 semester’s worth of students may be

subject to poor teaching before a tenured professor can be removed.

When asked if academic tenure made students’ educational experience better or worse, the majority of respondents to a Breeze Instagram poll indicated that it worsened the experience (69% of 48 respondents). Respondents were split over whether the practice was fair, with 51% of 51 saying it was. One user justified their response by saying, “Just because they’ve been around long doesn’t mean they are good at their jobs” while another suggested that “faculty work well over 40 hours per week to produce high-quality education & research.”

The tenure system shouldn’t be completely abandoned, however. Academic freedom is vital to the development of better technology, medicine and a better society overall. It also allows professors to even criticize the government, such as in 2015, when a professor at Virginia Tech was crucial in discovering high levels of lead in the water supply in Flint, Michigan, and challenged local and state authorities. Tenure should be adjusted, though, so that it’s easier for tenured faculty members to be fired for poor performance in the classroom.

There are too many hoops to jump through in JMU’s procedure for addressing unsatisfactory performance of tenured faculty in particular. By making the threat of dismissal more immediate for tenured professors, students would be at lower risk of a negative educational experience.

CONTACT Evan Weaver at breezeopinion@ gmail.com. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @Breeze_Opinion.

61% of professors at JMU have tenure

Evan Weaver / The Breeze

WELCOME Class of '27

THIS year in BREEZE TV

SEASon

JMU on Tuesday welcomed the class of 2027 to campus with its annual pep rally and Dukes from Day One events. First-year students enjoyed many activities, including free T-shirt giveaways, lawn games and the traditional streamer toss. Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Ella Stotzky / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Kailey Garner / The Breeze

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

By Bill Thompson

MADISON MARKETPLACE

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