The Breeze Homecoming Special Section 10.20.22

Postgrad athletes

CANDELIER

Homecoming happenings

JMU hosts events for Homecoming 2022

Thursday Friday

Cheer Alumni Social

From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., JMU Cheerleading alumni can join head coach Tony Morris at the Friendly Fermenter brewery in Downtown Harrisonburg. Attendees must RSVP for this event.

HomecomSING Concert

At 6:30 p.m., QuadFest attendees can see performances from JMU’s nine A Cappella groups in the HomecomSING Concert. The JMU OverTones, Low Key, The Madison Project, Exit 245, Rescored, Note-oriety, Into Hymn, Unaccompanied and The JMU BluesTones will all be performing.

Saturday

JMU Football Game

The main event for Saturday will be the JMU football game against Marshall at Bridgeforth Stadium. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. Tickets for this event have sold out.

By KASEY TRAPUZZANO The Breeze

Students, alumni and other visitors to campus will have plenty of events and activities to choose from during this year’s Homecoming weekend from Friday, Oct. 21, to Sunday, Oct. 23. A full list of Homecoming weekend events and activities can be found on JMU’s Homecoming website, but here are highlights of the weekend’s events.

CONTACT Kasey Trapuzzano at breezenews@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Flo Milli Concert

Rapper Flo Milli will kick off this year’s Homecoming with an 8 p.m. concert at the Atlantic Union Bank Center (AUBC), hosted by the University Program Board (UPB). Tickets must be purchased in advance from the JMU Athletics website. Student tickets range from $15-$25, while faculty and staff tickets range from $20-$25 and public tickets range from $30-$35.

Class of 1992 30th Reunion

JMU alumni from the class of 1992 will celebrate their 30th reunion at Rocktown Kitchen from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Class of ’92 attendees will be responsible for paying for their own food and drinks at the event.

SMAD Day

JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design will host SMAD Day for faculty, students and alumni from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Harrison Hall and Darcus Johnson Hall. The day will consist of a coffee and welcome session, resume workshops, lunch, career and professional panels and networking opportunities. Registration is required for this event.

Proud & True Beer Garden

Brothers Craft Brewing will host the exclusive Proud & True beer garden on the Quad during QuadFest. There are 150 available spots for this event and registration is required beforehand. Attendees will receive an appetizer and two free pours of the Proud & True lager. IDs must be presented upon admittance.

JMU Honors Networking

From 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Hillcrest House, JMU Honors students will have the opportunity to network with recent JMU Honors alumni who are now working in various industries, along with a resume review. Light appetizers and beverages will be provided.

Mineral Museum Open House

JMU’s geology and environmental science departments will host the Mineral Museum Open House from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Festival Conference Center. Attendees will receive a tour of JMU’s Mineral Museum, which showcases a collection of minerals from various JMU faculty. Registration isn’t required for this event.

QuadFest

Beginning the Homecoming weekend festivities is QuadFest, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. — a free event featuring food, a DJ, a photo booth, giveaways, carnival games and performances from the Marching Royal Dukes, Dukettes Dance Team and JMU Cheer Team. The first 500 attendees at QuadFest will receive a free fleece blanket roll.

Engineering Brunch

JMU’s Department of Engineering will host a brunch from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in rooms 1003 and 1009 in the Engineering Geosciences building for engineering students, alumni, faculty and staff within the department to connect and network with each other.

Harvest Fest

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Harvest Fest will be held in the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum with free activities including an interactive underground classroom, lawn games, story time in the understory, the Gus Bus, enviroscape demonstration, raffle prizes, food and face painting.

The Breeze Alumni Open House

From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., The Breeze will host an open house to celebrate its centennial with current staff and alumni. The event will be at The Breeze’s newsroom at 1598 S. Main St. and a continental breakfast will be provided.

Self-guided Campus Visits

Alumni and prospective students can go to Madison Hall to speak to a JMU staff member for recommendations of where to visit on campus. Visitors will be provided maps, guides and other materials to learn about and fully enjoy JMU’s campus.

Saturday: The main event

Honors College ArboretumMorning of Service

From 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., JMU Honors College alumni and Honors students will have the opportunity to assist the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum in setting up its Children’s Harvest Festival. Participants will be able to choose different work options, including setting up tables and chairs, trash pickup and area preparation.

College of Education Tailgate

The College of Education (COE) will host a tailgate for education students and alumni at Hillside Field before Saturday’s football game which starts at 3:30 p.m. Snacks, drinks and adult beverages will be provided. Registration is required, and the first 75 people to register will receive a free ticket to the football game in a special block of seats to sit with other COE alumni.

Honors College Homecoming Tailgate

JMU Honors College will host a tailgate in the Godwin Parking Lot before Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. football game for Honors College alumni and Honors students. Potluck style food will be provided.

Phi Mu Tailgate

Phi Mu will host a tailgate for current sisters and alumni in P-Lot spot No. 99 before Saturday’s football game which starts at 3:30 p.m. Following the game, Phi Mu will have a group dinner at Vinny’s Italian Grill.

Biotechnology Tailgate

JMU’s biotechnology program is hosting a tailgate before Saturday’s football game for biotechnology students, alumni, faculty and staff in the C-12 lot. The tailgate will begin three hours prior to kickoff, and food and sodas will be provided. Registration for this event isn’t required.

StepShow

At 8 p.m., the Center for Multicultural Student Services and Intercultural Greek Council will host StepShow at the AUBC. This event will feature performances from JMU’s Multicultural Greek Life sororities and fraternities. Tickets for this event must be purchased from the JMU Athletics website. Student tickets are $20 and general public tickets are $25.

JMU Cheerleading Tailgate

JMU Cheerleading will host a tailgate in P-Lot spot No. 81 before Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. football game for JMU Cheerleading alumni and current members of the team. A donation of choice is requested during registration to help provide pregame snacks for the team and food and drinks for the alumni.

Fourth Annual Biology Brunch

JMU’s Department of Biology will host a brunch for biology students, alumni and faculty in the Highlands Room of the Festival Conference Center from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Attendees will be provided a meal, free giveaways and an update on the department.

Bagels & Beers

The Bagels & Beers event will be on the Festival Lawn from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Attendees will enjoy a private tailgate area, unlimited brunch buffet, four beer tickets, live music, a photobooth and giveaways. The first 100 attendees will win a free tailgating spot in the C-10 lot for the 3:30 p.m. football game. Tickets for the event are $30 for adults, $25 for non-drinking adults and $20 for JMU students and kids. Registration and tickets for the event can be found on JMU’s Homecoming website.

By LUKE FREISNER The Breeze

It’s that time of year again, when alumni return to JMU to celebrate the good old days. This Homecoming weekend, visitors can kick back and enjoy reconnecting with classmates and watching the football game.

That being said, planning a trip’s certainly not the most relaxing thing in the world. Luckily, JMU and the surrounding businesses have prepared to make sure the trip back to campus is as smooth as can be.

Student tickets to the Homecoming football game are already sold out, which is why JMU gets to work months in advance, Kevin Warner, assistant athletics director for communications, said. Warner said sold out games are a huge undertaking.

“It is a major operation to put on a football game with 25,000 people … but we have a high level of commitment to doing it the right way and putting on a good experience,” Warner said.

The real catalyst for Harrisonburg’s prep work is the publishing of JMU’s football schedule. The Sun Belt Conference releases the football schedule March 1, 2022, Warner said. Season tickets are sold first, and it’s not until July 1, 2022, when single game tickets go on sale.

“A lot of those sales occur over the summer,” Warner said. “In a good year, like this year, [we were] close to selling out for Family Weekend before the school year even starts.”

The elbow grease isn’t confined to the campus, however. The first people to start preparing for Homecoming weekend are the first people many go to when planning a trip back to Harrisonburg: the hotels. Paul Gladd, general manager of Hotel Madison, described the mad dash to book a hotel room months before JMU classes even begin. Once the football schedule’s out, he said, he and his staff begin preparing for the amount of bookings that’ll come through. Once their staff and software’s deemed ready for the public, he said it’s only a matter of time before all 230 rooms are filled.

“These weekends are in extremely high demand,” Gladd said. “We need to have our ducks in a row for that kind of volume,

because when we launch … it sells out in 20 minutes.”

Gladd said Hotel Madison is already booked on the weekends year round, but for events such as Homecoming and Family Weekend, the hotel doubles its normal revenue.

This is not only because the room rates are higher, Gladd said, but the occupancy numbers are higher than usual as well.

Gladd also explained how the hotel’s two kitchens get hit extra hard during big event weekends. The banquet and restaurant kitchens are both “firing from all cylinders” and are “the most fully engaged from a staffing standpoint,” he said.

every Family Weekend and every Homecoming,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson also said Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance helps inform restaurants about when to expect large crowds. In an email from Andrea Dono, executive director of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, she said the event works very closely with the school to keep businesses in the loop of every event, special weekend or community program JMU’s putting on.

When it comes to employees at Jimmy Madison’s, Dickerson said during the weeks prior, staff are prepared for the busy weekend. Dickerson knows these can be busy weekends and that many of her employees are JMU students on top of working. However, she said it’s important for employees to keep spirits up for the visiting customers.

Dickerson also said that while a large percentage of Jimmy Madison’s employees are JMU students, the restaurant doesn’t have a problem with a decrease in workers during Homecoming weekend because they’re usually excited to work busy weekends and make more money. If students do request off for these kinds of events, Dickerson said they try to “accommodate that as much as possible.”

Large events like Homecoming and Family Weekend lead to drink and food orders doubling, Dickerson said, as well as an increase of scheduling three more servers, two hosts and an extra bartender.

The JMU Alumni Association does provide decorations for the restaurant to use and Dickerson said they make sure they have their JMU “swag” displayed, but they usually don’t showcase any special menu items because they’re focused on providing a consistently good experience for the high volume of customers.

“We like to immerse [customers] in a culture that loves JMU and everything that goes into it,” Dickerson said.

Dining options downtown find a sizable influx of customers as well. Amberlyn Dickerson, general manager of Jimmy Madison’s, spoke to the annual setup for returning alums. Being one of the most popular spots in downtown Harrisonburg, it's not always easy to accommodate all the visitors while keeping wait times to a minimum, Dickerson said.

“We have a very large space, but we are definitely at capacity for

Avery Goodstine contributed to this report.

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

Paul Gladd, general manager of Hotel Madison, said the hotel’s revenue doubles during Homecoming Weekend. Ella Stotzky /

The Breeze

From Wilson Hall... ...to City Hall

Richmond mayor Levar Stoney (‘04) reflects on time at JMU

By MORGAN VUKNIC The Breeze

After visiting his cousin at JMU during a track meet, Levar Stoney (’04) knew JMU was the school for him. As a first-generation college student, Stoney said going to JMU was an important decision — he wanted to give back to his family since they’d given so much for him to be able to attend college.

He had a friend bring his JMU application to his school for him to fill out. The day his acceptance letter arrived, he said, he couldn’t wait to walk to the mailbox because he knew he was going to JMU.

“I had a feeling JMU was where I needed to be,” Stoney said.

Fast forward — now he’s the mayor of Richmond, Virginia. Stoney previously served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2014-2016 and was elected as the youngest Mayor of Richmond at 35 years old at the end of 2016.

Stoney credits his time at JMU for where he is today. From being JMU’s student government association’s (SGA) first Black president to being a member of College Democrats, Stoney said he couldn’t have made it to where he is in his career now without those experiences.

“It’s one thing to major in something you love, but it’s another thing to go out and practice it,” Stoney said. “JMU gave me the launchpad to my career because I was able to not only study the theory behind political science but I also got to practice it firsthand in student government.”

A leader’s foundation Stoney was involved in student government ever since middle school. Although he originally came to JMU for football, he later decided to drop the sport and double major in public policy and political science instead, and get involved with student leadership. He said that even as a 19-year-old, he knew he wanted to lead people.

Stoney joined SGA his freshman year as an at-large senator and continued to progress in positions. His second semester, Stoney served as the co-chair of the diversity affairs committee and was promoted to the chair of the committee during his sophomore year. Later during his junior and senior years, Stoney was elected as student body president.

“We all come from different walks of life and I thought that my background as a big brother and a person that’s always been in leadership positions would serve me well, and it did,” Stoney said. “I think my time at JMU laid the foundation for me to be a successful leader in my older years, so I’m grateful for being given that opportunity.”

One major initiative Stoney pursued while in SGA was championing the Student Bill of Rights in 2003. At the time, he said, many students and others in SGA questioned the need for such

a bill, but he said it was important to put the values of SGA and JMU in stone.

“I think sometimes you have to put your values and your principles in writing to let people know, ‘Here’s who we are today and here’s who we’re going to be in the future,’” Stoney said.

Along with SGA, Stoney got real-life experience in politics as a student. During his sophomore year, he worked for Mark Kennedy Shriver, who was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates but was running for Congress at the time. This would be Stoney’s first political campaign.

He said he’ll never forget door-to-door campaigning and the connections he made during this internship that helped him get other jobs later on.

“During my four years at JMU, I grew so much because I was able to interact with people from different walks of life,” Stoney said. “It changed my whole worldview. All I knew was little Yorktown, Virginia, and what JMU did was expand my perspective of society and of people.”

What makes a mayor

Since being elected in 2016, Stoney has made sure his initiatives line up with something of value to him: in particular, education.

He was raised by his dad and grandmother, grew up on reduced lunches, and he’s the first in his family to go to and graduate from college. He credits his successes to the sacrifices of his family — they allowed him to get a public school education, which led to a college education, and ultimately, to him becoming mayor.

“Kids born to teenagers like my parents are counted out from the get go,” Stoney said.

He said he believes in investing in public education and, under his leadership, Richmond has seen a 33% increase in public education funding according to the Richmond Public School Board’s adopted budget for the 2022-23 school year. In 2021, the budget for Richmond public schools was $180,719,490, and it increased to $185,307,625 in 2022 with a projected budget of $200,307,625 in 2023. He’s also working toward implementing free universal preschool in Richmond.

“A lot of my work is focused on lifting up children but also lifting up their families, as well,” Stoney said. “I want to give them a chance to change the trajectory of their lives like I was able to.”

He also created an Office of Children and Families, which is run by Eva Colen. This office is focused on childcare and positive youth development so children in Richmond can stay out of gun violence and crime, Stoney said.

While the number of gun deaths in Richmond has roughly stayed the same in Richmond since Stoney became mayor in 2017, he recently released a guide to gun violence prevention that details ways to curb gun-related deaths in Richmond.

Colen, in addition to running the Office of Children and Families, is a senior policy adviser to Stoney and has been working with Stoney since the beginning of his mayoral campaign in 2016. She said one of their main priorities in the campaign was to make sure that whoever was elected mayor would prioritize education through making sure that education was brought up in conversation with all candidates.

Her position came about after Stoney was elected. Once Stoney became mayor, Colen said, the next step was to elect a cabinet level position to consider opportunities to enhance education and youth development, which is what she’s doing now.

“Most of my career since graduating college has focused on public education and figuring out how we make the system better,” Colen said. “Mayor Stoney really cares, and the reason why he cares is deeply personal. His personal experiences inform his day-to-day decisions and it’s really exciting to sit down with someone who really wants to solve problems.”

Colen said she had no interest in politics, but her trust in Stoney was what prompted her involvement with his campaign. She said he’s made some decisions that may not have been popular, but they were the right decisions to make — such as the decision to remove Confederate memorials in the city and the decision to require the COVID-19 vaccine for city employees. She said she admires Stoney because she regularly sees his personal values in action through the policies he enacts.

While working with Stoney, one of Colen’s main goals is to help him put as many kids in school as possible. She said that in February 2020, she and Stoney made sure that every elementary and middle school in Richmond had a high quality afterschool program. Currently, she’s helping implement his plan for accessible preschool for kids in Richmond.

Alumnus Levar Stoney has emphasized education, diversity and inclusion throughout his time as mayor of Richmond. Courtesy of Jim Nolan

Former SGA president leads Richmond as mayor

Stoney’s also a major proponent of student loan forgiveness. As a recipient of student loans and a Pell Grant himself, Stoney said President Joe Biden’s recently announced plan for student loan forgiveness will benefit students. While some people who’ve already paid off their loans are upset over the plan, Stoney said loans were part of the reason he was able to go to college — and if he had to do it over again, he would.

“I’m excited for the recipients of loan forgiveness,” Stoney said. “Loans were my saving grace, but I do think that students shouldn’t be debt-ridden for over half of their adult lives. It’s ridiculous and wrong.”

Stoney also values diversity and inclusion, and has throughout his life. He was introduced to many different types of people and cultures while at JMU, he said, which helped him have a more inclusive view of the world. The perspectives he gained at JMU made diversity and inclusion — something that’s always been important to him — even more important to his political views and initiatives, he said.

As Mayor of Richmond, Stoney upholds a standard of inclusivity. In 2020, he condemned Richmond police for tear gassing innocent protesters during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest at the Robert E. Lee monument in an

article to The New York Times. In response to the incident, Stoney told the Times that he showed up to another local BLM protest and personally apologized to the crowd for their rights being violated.

“There are two epidemics in America: Covid19 and racism,” Stoney told the Times in 2020. “One is now 14 months old, the other over 400 years old. Both are lethal. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to cure those issues that day.”

While joining fellow Richmond citizens at a BLM protest, he told the Times, he was faced with criticism and anger. Because of this, he

knew he needed to do something to fight racism in the city.

Along with joining fellow citizens in protesting, Stoney also worked to take down over a dozen Confederate monuments in Richmond. These Confederate monuments, including the Robert E. Lee statue, Stonewall Jackson monument and the Confederate Ceremonial Canon, were donated to the Black History Museum and the Valentine Museum.

Right now, the only Confederate monuments that remain in Richmond are a statue of rebel General A.P. Hill and a statue of Confederate

doctor Hunter Holmes McGuire. Stoney said inclusivity and diversity make society better and that in order to grow, we need to embrace inclusivity.

“We are a better community, state and country when we are more inclusive,” Stoney said. “Places — like JMU, like the city I represent — those places that embrace belonging are the ones that will be more competitive in the long run. We should improve over time and there’s no better way to improve than by being more inclusive and engaging with people that may not look like you.”

Society also improves, Stoney said, when we create relationships with people who are different from us.

“My race, my community, is not a monolith and I think that goes for everyone out there; we don’t all come from the same financial or geographical backgrounds,” Stoney said. “When you create a space to have collisions among people who are different from you, you have an opportunity to grow like no other.”

CONTACT Morgan Vuknic at vuknicma@ 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.

“Places — like JMU, like the city I represent — those places that embrace belonging are the ones that will be more competitive in the long run.”

Levar Stoney

Richmond Mayor, JMU Alumni (’04)

Graphic by Evan Weaver / The Breeze

HAPPY

H

COMING

Back to the field

Former football Dukes reflect on transition to becoming a fan

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

Homecoming is a nostalgic time for alumni, but for former JMU football players, it often brings a new perspective.

D’Artagnan Townes knows this well. He was a running back for the Dukes from 199297. Since then, he’s made it a point to go to the annual Homecoming football game; he’s made about 50% of them since his playing days two decades ago, he said.

Townes remembers Mr. Chips and D-Hall most fondly from his time as a student. During past homecomings, he’s participated in the festivities with his fraternity brothers, and he’s shown his kids around campus as he remembered it.

As far as the game? A load off Townes’ shoulders, especially the first one.

“It was a great experience,” he said, “because I was there to finally be able to enjoy the game.”

Another major difference from the ’90s is the team’s performance. The games Townes has watched over the last two decades have been associated with more successful seasons than from his playing days — JMU amassed a 35-20 record from 1992-97.

“It is very exciting to know that JMU has come so far,” Townes said. “When we were playing, we were just excited to be a Division I program, even though it was a Division I-AA

[FCS] program at the time, but we knew we had potential.”

In the years since he graduated, the potential Townes foresaw in the ’90s blossomed into two FCS Championships in 2004 and 2016, which he said helped more people become aware of the team. Townes added that JMU’s administration, starting with President Ronald Carrier (1971-98), has done a great job putting JMU on the map.

Before going to JMU, Townes said, the only thing he knew about it was that it produced NFL players Scott Norwood, Charles Haley and Gary Clark.

Now, in 2022, JMU’s off to a 5-0 start in their first year in the FBS and ranked by the AP for the first time in school history. It’s building off a 19-year string of .500-or-better seasons, which Townes said he’s “very happy” to see.

“Our years in the ’90s were a stepping stone to where we are today,” Townes said.

“[JMU football] is so huge right now and so good, and the players deserve everything they’re going to get out of it.”

Former JMU wide receiver Riley Stapleton (2015-19) has been a part of the recent success, starting in the Dukes’ latter FCS days. Stapleton is second in JMU history in all-time receiving touchdowns, receptions and fifth in receiving yards.

Former JMU running back D’Artagnan Townes typically tries to attend all JMU Homecoming games. Courtesy of D’Artagnan Townes

From sidelines to stands

JMU football players experience game days as a fan

from SIDELINES TO STANDS, page 15

He was originally recruited in 2015 by head coach Everett Withers, and during his time with the Dukes, the team won a national championship, made the NCAA playoffs every year and won four CAA championships.

As a fan like Townes now, there’s less pressure on Saturdays, Stapleton said. This year he went to the Middle Tennessee and Family Weekend Texas State games, where he said he’s enjoyed mingling with fans from another point of view.

Still, though, it’s a “weird feeling” to watch rather than suit up, he said.

“You get to see the years you won the conference championships or the playoff appearances and the national championship up on the banners and whatnot,” Stapleton said. “It’s a totally different experience sitting up in the stands, knowing you had something to do with where they are now.”

Before the FBS jump, Stapleton said there was hope and excitement for what the future of JMU football could become. Regardless, before the Sept. 3 Middle Tennessee game, he said his biggest question was whether the Dukes could continue their style of play versus heightened FBS competition.

That question got answered, both this year, as Stapleton watches from the stands, and in 2015, when Everett was just a year away from taking over a 6-6 squad.

“We took it upon ourselves to rewrite the narrative of JMU and how we fit into the college football landscape,” Stapleton said. “If you know anything about JMU, and if you’ve been part of the program especially, you know what the culture is like … We’re a winning

program.”

During Stapleton’s time, he watched that culture be passed down from Withers, to former head coach Mike Houston (2016-18), to current head coach Curt Cignetti. During the Sun Belt’s weekly conference call Monday, not 24 hours removed from JMU attaining its first-ever AP top 25 ranking, Cignetti said it speaks to not just the current roster but to those who paved the way for it to happen, like Townes, Stapleton and many others.

“I think [the ranking] is great publicity for the university, for our athletic department, the booster and the people that care so much about James Madison, all of them through the years,” Cignetti said.

There have been countless students, fans, parents and others who have given their support toward JMU’s football program. Among them, the alumni who played for the Dukes represent a special group. One that helped lay the foundation for where the team is today.

“Everybody who played for a college or program is always excited about what they did when they were on campus when they were in school,” Townes said. “JMU for me, when we were there, I felt like we were the beginning of what you see now.”

Despite this, Townes on paper might be at a crossroads for the team he roots for on Homecoming. His daughter plays women’s soccer at Marshall, but her name is Madison. “I’ll definitely be rooting for Madison,” he said.

Grant Johnson contributed to this article.

CONTACT Jackson Hephner at hephnejt@dukes. jmu.edu. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

Former wide receiver Riley Stapleton said he still goes to JMU games when he can. Breeze file photo

Women in Business

JMU’s Gilliam Center hosts showcase for Global Women in Entrepreneurship Week

By SABINE SOLTYS contributing writer

When it comes to business ownership, men outnumber women 3-to-1, according to the World Economic Forum. While female entrepreneurship’s beginning to rise across the country and the world, JMU’s Women in Entrepreneurship Showcase encourages women to pursue this path.

The Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship, which assists students across campus with business ideas, will host the Showcase on Oct. 18 during JMU’s Homecoming, coinciding with Global Women in Entrepreneurship Week.

“We help students that have an idea to de-risk that idea and figure out if they should launch or pivot,” Suzanne Bergmeister, the executive director of the Center, said. “We help students that already have a business or a side hustle to grow that business or achieve goals that they have set for it.”

Bergmeister introduced the idea for the Showcase last year, and she said she hopes

this event will be a lot bigger, with at least 25 vendors already signed up to be featured — 14 more than last year. Attendees can enjoy food, a cash bar and a chance to win door prizes, all while interacting with female entrepreneurs from all over the Shenandoah Valley, as well as student entrepreneurs. The event’s free and open to anyone.

“We saw a need for women who started business to share their knowledge and experience ... and to celebrate women in entrepreneurship,” Bergmeister said. “There are a lot of us out there and a lot of women entrepreneurs tend to fly under the radar because they don’t get venture capital money, so they don’t get investment dollars as much as men. They don’t go public as much as [male] companies; they don’t get celebrated as much in the media as male companies, but there are quite a few women entrepreneurs out there.”

Julianne Pullela, a junior industrial design major, will be participating as a vendor in the Gilliam Center’s showcase to present her product, Tongo. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

AnnaLeoneandMichael

Homecoming entrepreneurship showcase offers networking, mentorship opportunities for businesswomen

from ENTREPRENEURSHIP, page 17

According to the Forbes Business Capital, women only get about 2.3% of venture capital with only about 2% of women startup companies making $1 million in relation to 3.3 percent of male startup companies making the same amount.

To promote this event, the Gilliam Center has partnered with other organizations that support women, such as Women for Madison and the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund. Bergmeister said she hopes to get local TV and radio coverage through Bluestone Communications and that the Center will be able to continue the Showcase every year, coming back bigger and better. Bergmeister added that she loves hearing the inspiring stories these women have to offer.

“Women entrepreneurs come from all walks of life,” Bergmeister said. “Some are young, some are old — all different industries from high tech to closet organizers to personal trainers. I mean, it runs the gamut.”

One such story comes from JMU alumna Tina Fox (’94), the keynote speaker for the Women in Entrepreneurship Showcase, founder of business consulting firm Fox Paradigm, Tern Mentoring and co-founder of Women on Course, a professional networking organization.

After graduating in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Fox went on to work for 22 years in different corporate

businesses helping with startup companies. She said she enjoyed working with startups because they had more opportunities to grow. This encouraged her to start her own business because of “both a necessity and a want.”

For Fox, that necessity came from starting a family and wanting to dictate her work-life balance. Her “want” came from curiosity.

“Being in a small company allows you to exercise those opportunities more freely than what I had experienced in a larger organization,” she said.

While Fox said she and her husband are very happy with their decision to self-fund and follow these business passions such as working together on their shared business of cobalt settlements, this path doesn’t come without challenges like “juggling all the different hats” and roles of an entrepreneur, she said.

“You are everything from the cleanup crew to the CEO and all aspects in between and identifying where you really do the best work,” Fox said.

For that reason, Bergmeister and Fox both said it can be helpful to hire and have other people around to help with the parts of a business you’re not the best at. On the other hand, Fox said one of her favorite parts about being an entrepreneur is that she never gets bored with the creativity of waking up each day to figure out how she’s going to improve the company that day. Fox said she enjoys the decision-making process of entrepreneurship, especially with

her company Tern Mentoring, in which she aims to inspire people globally through posts on different social media platforms and connects with other entrepreneurs one on one.

Fox said she’s looking forward to speaking at the Showcase and said it’s an important opportunity because it “lets students know that entrepreneurship is for everyone” and not restricted to business majors.

“I think it will inspire [students] to start companies, to be business owners, to know that they won’t have to go at it alone,” Bergmeister said. “There is a whole network out there to help them and share stories and mentor and coach.”

Julianne Pullela, a junior industrial design major, can attest to this sense of community. She’ll be a vendor at the Showcase as the creator of Tongo — a company that creates stuffed animals that kids can play with and also weave into play structures.

Pullela originally made them for a project for one of her classes, she said, but was then encouraged by Mary Lou Bourne, director of the James Madison Innovations, Inc., to enter investment and innovation company Techstars' competition event and accelerator program, a global event known for helping launch entrepreneurship businesses with their different products.

After winning, Pullela did an independent study with Bergmeister and a member of the Madison Incubator Program, in which she received help with deciding what she wanted her business to look like and was encouraged

by Bergmeister to participate in the showcase. Pullela said she hopes to bring the toy to an occupational therapy setting, like daycares and hospitals, and sell them locally in Harrisonburg.

“I think the coolest part about being an entrepreneur is a lot of people are like, ‘You don’t have your own boss but you are kind of your own boss,’ which is kind of nice,” Pullela said. “But then also when you make all the decisions you are literally deciding what you put out in the world. Like, I’m creating something that I have full control over like what it is going to look like when I put it out there, which I think is really cool because you have total creative freedom when it comes to what you want this business and product to look like and how you want people to interact with it.”

Pullela, Fox and Bergmeister all encouraged JMU students to come to the showcase and take advantage of the connections and inspiration. When asked about advice for prospective entrepreneurs, Fox said they just have to “figure it out step by step.”

“If you got good people surrounding you, and you got good guides, and you trust yourself and you are willing to fail fabulously and get up again, you are gonna do great,” Fox said.

CONTACT Sabine Soltys at soltysms@ 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.

Graphic by

Russo / T h e B r ezee

reunited

Take a look back

This year, The Breeze celebrates its centennial birthday in December. Each week, for the regular edition, we’ve taken a look back on historic moments in JMU and Breeze history by publishing old covers. For our Homecoming special section we look back to articles from Homecomings years ago.

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Homecoming photos throughout the years