It runs in the family Multigenerational JMU families reflect on decades of Dukes

By MICHAEL RUSSO & AVERY GOODSTINE The Breeze

From the State Normal School for Women in Harrisonburg, to the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg, to Madison College, to James Madison University.

Through many decades, JMU, its campus and its student body evolved and grew to create an expansive legacy. Though the names of the school and its students can change, there are some things that remain constant — even some of the families.

Gary Butler: ‘Bleeding purple’

Five generations, 22 people.

The Butler family legacy of Dukes started in the 1920s with Helen Bradley (’25) when JMU was still called the State Normal and Industrial School for Women, and Roy Gordon Butler (’48) was one of the first men to attend JMU on the GI Bill after World War II.

Gary Butler (’73) said he came to JMU to play basketball.

“That worked out well for me because I’m in the Hall of Fame,” Gary said.

During his time on the basketball team, Gary had career totals of 682 rebounds and 870 points and never missed a game besides part of one during his senior year because of a knee injury, according to JMU sports.

Gary said he was influenced by his older brother, who also attended JMU. The beginnings of this Duke legacy family carried over into the younger generations.

As a season ticket holder, Gary said he’s vrarely missed a football game — home or away — and would bring his nieces and nephews to tailgate before games.

“The grandkids, particularly the nieces and the nephews, they’ve been bleeding purple because I’ve been taking them to games since they were knee high to adult,” Gary said. “So, like, they grew up with all the purple and streamers and all that kind of stuff.”

Jon Higgins:

‘A strong sense of community’

The year’s 1997, and Jon Higgins (’01) sits down in Taylor Down Under on a Thursday morning with a blueberry muffin and a copy of The Breeze. This weekly practice became part of Higgins’ routine on his way to class during his freshman year, he said.

“I always loved to read the pats and darts,” Higgins said. “I was always looking for stories about the SGA, Honor Council … and just a general read, but I would always read it.”

One of many multigenerational families at JMU, Higgins said in an email to The Breeze that his grandmother, Mary Charles Robertson, was one of the first to attend Madison College after it was renamed in 1938. Thirty years later, Jon’s father, Horace Higgins, Jr. (’70), was in one of the first classes of men to attend Madison College, Jon wrote, as it became a co-ed institution.

After graduating from a small private high school in Waverly, Virginia, Jon said he was excited to make his way to JMU and expand his horizons, which began when he moved into Weaver Hall, his freshman dorm.

“Walking down that corridor down the center of the Village, it was just like I had arrived,” Jon said. “Everybody was super happy [and] it was just like the heavens kind of opened … There was a strong sense of community from the early days, and that just grew as the years passed.”

Jon also met his wife, Allyson Higgins (’01), in one of his first classes at JMU, as well as some of their best friends that the two of them still see today. In fact, Jon said he and two other JMU couples have held dinners with one another once a month for about the past 15 years — a feat he said was “pretty powerful” and representative of the lasting relationships that come from JMU.

Now that Jon’s nephew, Sam Higgins, was accepted to join the class of 2027, Jon said he’ll have even more opportunities to visit the ’Burg. His oldest daughters have also expressed interest in coming to JMU, he said, and returning stirs up similar feelings from when he first walked through the Village on move-in day in 1997.

“It’s everything that I remember, it just seems a little more amplified,” Jon said. “Everything’s a little bit brighter and [there’s] a richer history.”

Jay Vance: ‘All part of the camaraderie’

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Forbes Center, the beginnings of Greek Row, the second ESPN College GameDay and even attempting to bring a Lambda Chi chapter to JMU: The Vance family’s been there for it all.

That’s what happens when 12 family members all attend the same university over a span of 75 years.

Olga “Kandice” Vance was the first to start this Duke family legacy and graduated from Madison College in 1954 with a degree in business.

In 2010, Jay Vance (’83) and his wife, Lara (’18), brought his mother back to JMU to witness the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Forbes Center. While she was a student, Kandice was roommates with someone whose husband donated money to Forbes. This is why it was important to the family that Kandice come back to JMU for this monumental event, Jay said.

In addition to Jay, Lara and Kandice graduating from JMU, Jay’s sister and sister-in-law are Dukes as well. Jay and Lara also have six children who’ve graduated JMU and a current sophomore.

Jay said it was a mixture of the kids both feeling at home at JMU as well as wanting to continue on the family legacy.

“I think they all had a little bit of an influence,” Jay said. “I mean, again, I started a long time ago with my mom, but it was important to me.”

Robin Goodman:

‘JMU made a difference to us’

Despite her family having eight diplomas signed by four different JMU presidents — Tyler Miller, Ron Carrier, Linwood Rose and Jonathan Alger — Robin Goodman (’83) said the university “still felt the same” after witnessing the campus grow through three generations of Dukes.

Robin’s mother-in-law graduated from Madison College in 1951, later followed by Robin and her husband Clement Goodman (’84), their two children and their son-in-law.

After graduating, Robin and Clement were still very much involved with the school through various organizations, clubs and donations.

“It feels really good to give back,” Robin said. “We wanted to make a difference because we thought, you know, JMU made a difference to us.”

Robin said she enjoys that everyone in her family chose to go down different paths at JMU.

“It shows that JMU isn’t just a one, you know, a school for one thing,” Robin said. “There are a lot of diversity and things like that.”

From being involved in various JMU councils and clubs, Robin said the family’s gotten to know a lot of the university presidents on a personal level. Robin said she feels like “half of our family is in Harrisonburg.”

Now, Robin and Clement continue to come to JMU for football games and their circle has grown to include their children’s friends as well.

“So, we had our place and they had theirs,” Robin said. “I mean, it’s been kind of nice to hear their experiences along with ours. We share stories with them and laugh about them and they share stories with us.”

Bob Woodington: ‘Like home’

Not every JMU experience is the same, but for Bob Woodington (’92) and his family, he said the similarities run deep.

Bob married his wife, Sara Woodington (’92) after they graduated from JMU together in the ’90s. Bob was an art major with a concentration in printmaking, and Sara studied music like her mother, Keri (’62), did as a student of Madison College. Bob’s sister, Teri Christiansen (’96), was also a Duke.

Now, Bob and Sara’s twin children, Kyn Dread and Marian Woodington, are seniors studying printmaking and music education — just like their parents. To top it off, he added, Bob and Kyn shared the same printmaking professor, Jack McCaslin.

As he reflected on how his experiences compare to his children’s, Bob echoed what many others said: Despite how the school has transformed, the sense of community and nostalgia is inescapable.

“It’s definitely changed, right? But in many ways, it’s stayed the same,” Bob said. “It’s hard to describe because it sounds corny, but ultimately, it becomes a part of you in a lot of ways … You talk to the people, you talk to the students and it feels the same, you know? It feels like you could be just going to take a class next semester yourself when you go back.”

Read the full story at breezejmu.org.

CONTACT Michael Russo and Avery Goodstine at thebreezeculture@gmail. com. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.